The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1930-07-03

well known st. Cloud singer, won
national recognition in leading the
men of the Great Lakes Training
station in singing and in promoting
community singing.
If the war radically changed the
lives of those who left with the
fighting forces, it also added an at
mosphere to the lives of those who
remained at home that made the
years of 1917 and 1918 different
from any that have preceded or
followed them. Side by side with
the reports of the U. S. forces
abroad, in the local newspapers,
were the accounts of the activities
engaged in by the civilian popula-
ton. An important item in wag-
ing war is the necessary money
and one after another came Liber-
| ty Loan drives, War Savings
Stamps drives and appeals for the
Red Cross funds, st. Cloud War
Chest and the United War Work
The last two were intended to aid
the seven organizations engaged in
recreation work at the camps or in
connection with the Army of Occu-
patton. It is impossible to give here
a detailed account of these activi-
ties in our community, except to
say that the leading business men
worked as chairmen of the differ
ent drives and that the different
towns and villages of the country
We'd with each other in an effort
to "go over the top" making a re-
cord that certainly must have
equalled that of any similar sectio1
of the state. st. Cloud oversub-
scribed it's quota in each bond
drive, and every section of the
county appears to have been men
toned at some time or other, or
several times for it's good showing.
In addition to it's war contributions,
st. Cloud subscribed 5000 for the
Moose Lake fire sufferers.
In the meantime the women of
every locality were uniting their eff
forts to supply knitted socks and
sweaters, surgical dressings and
other comforts and necessities for
the men in the service In St.
Cloud, Red Cross rooms were open
ed in the st. Cloud Institute under
the craftsmanship of Mrs. H. G. Err
vim, and later in the basement of
the public library, under the direc-
ton of Mrs. r. L. Gale, and in st.
John Cantius school. Mrs. A. l..
Riley gave her home as headquart-
ers for the surgical dressing work.
Red Cross branches were establish
en- in the towns and villages thru
out the county. No estimate will
ever be made, in all probability, of
the amount of supplies sent out,
but the total must have been large.
For instance, $4,000 surgical dress
ings had been shipped in October,
1918, and a Red Cross report given
about the same time states:
"A great many of our women
have worked untiringly. Two knit
tiers have sent in more than 100
pairs (of socks) apiece" A report
received, indirectly from eastern
headquarters, through friends, stat
ed that Red Cross shipments from
here were welcomed as of excellent
quality.
A Junior Red Cross, with 43
auxilaries throughout the county,
was organized with Miss Frances
Erwin, chairman, and in October
1918, had collected $1,s67. The Vic
tory Boys and Girls, organized
toward the close of the war, gave
pledges and cash of $778.5O.
Probably only once in a genera
ton does a community find itself
working unitedly for a common
cause, as happens during a great
crisis such as war. One elderly
woman, as she sat knitting in the
Red Cross room one day, observed
that she was reminded of how, as
little girl, she had helped knit
socks in Germany for the soldiers
of the War of 1870.
Many residents of the county
probably recall the Loyalty Meet
held in st. Cloud on August %, 1917,
shortly before the first draft con-
tingent left for camp. Ten thous-
and persons were estimated to be
present and it was declared to be
the largest held in the state up to
that time. Another was held in
Melrose on May 5, 1918, with an
estimated attendance of 5000, and
described as zone Of the greatest
patriotic demonstrations ever wit
messed in this part of the state" At
the same time. Americans through
out the country and here as well
were experiencing "meatless and
heatless days." eating bread made
OF substitute for wheat, and cut
ting down their supply of sugar
and sweets, in other words, under
going some mild privations with
whatever patience they could must
er, that the men at the front
might have the needed supplies to
keep them in condition for the des-
perate tasks confronting them.