The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1930-12-12

sis association. His story of 1.-THE
First Christmas Seal'' follows:
December, 1907-the World war
seven years ahead. but a deadlier
war at lood-tuberculosis taking
one-tenth of all who died from dis
ease-folks everywhere wondering
what could be done to stem the tide.
Mid-morning, December IS = a
ragged, dirty newsboy walked into
a Philadelphia newspaper office.
Reaching up to a marble counter
higher than his head. he put down
a copper cent.
"Gimme one, me sisters got It."
(What he was given is the seal
illustrated above directly under the
letters och" in the title Of this ar
ticle).
Noontime, December 9, 1907, in
Wilmington, capital Of little Della
ware, two pretty girls in Red Cross
uniforms taking their place at a
table in the post office corridor. ask
ing a quarter each for little nay en-
velopes thus labeled:
25 CHRISTMAS STAMPS
One Penny Apiece
Issued by the Delaware Red Cross,
to stamp out the White Plague.
Put this stamp with message bright
On every Christmas letter,
Help the tuberculosis fight,
And make the New Year better.
These stamps do not carry any
kind of mail, but any kind of mail
will carry them.
Mid-morning, December II, 1907,
eighteenth floor of the North Amer
lean building in Philadelphia, a day
member of the staff in his cubby-
hole. "A lady to see you." passing
a card engraved "Miss Emily p.
Bissell.'' sis she good looking?"
Sure" "Show her in"
Enter the secretary of the Della
ware Red Cross on unofficial bust
ness. She had come to ask favor
of the Sunday editor and thought
she'd pay her respects to the col
umnist, who hoped the Sunday edi-
tor had granted her wish.
He had not. She had wanted him
to run a little story about this. TAX
ing q sheet Of stamps from her hand
bag. Delaware was worried about
tuberculosis, needed few hundred
dollars to start caring for poor pa.
tients. She had read Jacob Riis'
story about the Danish Christmas
Stamp in the Outlook, wondered If
Delaware couldn't issue one and sell
enough to build a small shelter
here it was, but she was afraid.
Downstairs went the occupant Of
the cubby-hole, two steps at time,
to the office of e. A. Van Valken-
burg, president and editor of the
paper that had been first to dis
please the doctors by proposing pub
licity as the weapon to use against
the white plague.
"Here's the way to wipe out tuber-
culosis," half-shouted the man from
upstairs. as he waved the sheet of
stamps under the editors nose!
"What the hell do you mean?"
A brief explanation. "Tell Miss
Bissell the North American is hers
from today"
"How soon can we have $4,000 of
the stamps?" was asked of the lady
from Delaware. She gasped and
said she'd telephone from Whining
ton that evening. Fifty thousand"
she echoed as she left, "Isn't that
too many?"
Ten o'clock the morning of De-
cember Is. 1907, few thousand of
the stamps, they were so-called at
first, on sale in the publication Office
and few more at a booth in Wanna
makers. Also top-of-column five
bank head on page one Of the North
American. Next day the whole edi-
torial space devoted to plea to buy
these bullets in the battle against
the worst foe."
Next day seven-column spread"
on page one, and on December is,