Evening star., 1926-05-30
BY ALICE ROGERS HAGER.

Suffering is universal. Misery
knows no creeds and no boundaries.
and the one universal language is
spoken with the tongue of pity. Not
the pity Of almsgiving, built of con.
descension and a "holier-than-thou"
state of mind, but the pity that lies
in the deepest place OF the human
heart. and that grows like flower
out of understanding.
The second Pan.American Red
Cross Conference, which Is meeting
in Washington until the 5th of June,
has in it's keeping the part given to
the western world in a new crusade.
We hear q great deal Of crusades
these days, and are grown rather mis-
trustful and cynical about them, hut
here is one that has too often dem.
onstrated it's sincerity and usefulness
to be doubted.
Florence Nightingale's vision was
the caring for the wounded in the
time of war, and she startled the ma.
tions with it in it's beginnings. But
she lived to bear it to fruttion, and
when the terrible stress of the World
War was at an end others saw that
her vision of mercy should be carried
| over into the healing Of the disasters
of peace time. There had been All
organ international Red Gross
| committee in Switzerland much
earlier, but it took the period of 1914
| to 1918 to bring the national societies
to their present strength. and the
League Of Red Cross Societies was
formed in 1919.
The halls of the Red Cross Building
last week resounded 10 the sonorous
rolling tongues of neighbors to the
south: with the lifting patter OF
French, used as frequent mediator
when two American tongues could not
| understand each other. and with
other languages from the four cor.
ners of the globe. Friendly European
observers and consultants have come
to tell of their experience and &c
gather our information in the give
and take OF the council table.
Such n one is DR.. Andrea AndreeI
Svedberg, chairman of the Junior Rec
Cross in Sweden and member of the
central committee in her country. She
has been in the United States since
January, doing research work at the
Harvard Medical School. She it was
who said, I'VE from Eulwpe are here
only to listen and discuss. The i'm
pulse for our peacetime program was
largely from you, although we haG
done much service in the war as neu
trails. Our Junior Red Cross is bu;
three years old but we have great
hopes for ii. and our little ones are
corresponding with the children OF
other Red Cross states. that they ma
grow up knowing each others minds
and so think in the terms Of peace.
you would be interested, I think
in some of our special problems. which
are unique in the far northern ma
tions. Our people live widely sepa
rated, and often they have died. Wher
there has been "a sudden emergency
because they could not be carried over
the hundreds of miles to the hospital:
in time. SO now we have curious
stretchers, made to fit OH skis. ant
which can be drawn by men on skis
before and behind, and we have az
aeroplane service that can transport
the i'll or the injured in a few hours
at most. to the centers where help i:
waiting them. We also are fortunate
in that Prince Carl, brother OF the
King, and uncle of the Crown Prince
who is visiting yoU, is our moving
spirit
1t is a long way from Sweden II
Cuba. and, by contrast, / talked to al
eminent Cuban who had been a friend
and co.worker with Gen. Gorgas ir
his battle against the plaques OF tn,
tropics. This was the DR.. Don jose
Antonio Lopez del Valle, professor ir
the university at Havana and for e
years chief sanitary officer Of thai
city and director of the Cuban health
service. Entering the field of public