The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1931-05-29
THOUSAND DISASTERS
RECEIVED RED CROSS
AID IN SO YEARS
American Society to Celebrate
(; Its Birth Year With Nation
7 wide Observance 4

, Tornadoes, foods, forest fires and
other calamities and upheavals Of ma
ture have visited the United States
more than one thousand times in the
last half century.
All Of these were Of severe intensity,
causing loss Of Life and great property
damage. Minor catastrophes were not
counted in this list Of disasters, which
has been made public by the American
Red Cross. In connection with the cele-
bration this year Of its nftieth birth
day.
It was on the evening of May 81.
1881, in the modest home Of Miss Clara
Barton In Washington, d. c.. that the
American Association Of the Red Cross
was first formed. Before the year was
out, and before, indeed, the United
States Government had officially
moved to approve the Treaty Of
Geneva, adding this nation to the COM
pany of thirty-two others adhering to
the treaty to protect wounded in war.
fare, Miss Barton had plunged the small
society into O disaster relief task.
First Red Cross Unit
This was In the north woods Of
Michigan, where forest fires swept the
homestead farms of pioneering fam
lilies. Miss Barton, as president Of the
Red Cross, had organized branch in
Dansville, New York, where she was
sojourning. This little group imme-
diately raised money, food, clothing
and other supplies and sent them to
the forest fire victims. In Rochester
and Syracuse, New York, nearby. word
spread Of this charitable enterprise,
and Red Cross auxiliaries were organ
lied there to help. So began the disas-
ter relief work of the Red Cross fifty
years ago. In the intervening years,
millions Of men. women and children
have been aided. Thousands Of homes
have been restored. Thousands Of
persons, overwhelmed by floods, tor
nadoes, and fires until all they pos
sessed had been wiped away, have
been rehabilitated and prosperity and
happiness again smiled upon them.
81 This year has been dedicated by the
Red Cross and its chapters in $500
communities to commemoration of the
events which led to the birth Of the
society In the United States.
President Hoover Speaks
The celebration of the anniversary
was inaugurated in Washington at a
dinner, attended by many distin-
guished men and women, at which
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
presided, and President Hoover. who
10 the president Of the American Red
Cross. was the chief speaker. Judge
Max Huber of Geneva, Switzerland.
the president Of the International Com
mittee Of the Red Cross, In which fifty
seven nations are Joined in Red
Cross brotherhood. also was speaker,
as were Chairman John Barton Payne
Of the American Red Cross. and Miss
Mabel +. Boardman, secretary, and
veteran leader of the'society.
The Red Cross standard, which flies
all around the world where mercy is
needed, was first introduced as an
ideal In our modern civilization in
Geneva In 1864, when the international
Red Cross convention, afterward to be
known as the Treaty Of Geneva, was
signed by twelve countries agreeing
that on the battlefield the wounded
should be given aid by doctors. nurses
and others. who should wear the sign
of the Red Cross, and be treated as
neutrals in the warfare.
Two Americans attended this first
convention. the American Minister
George c. Fogg, and Charles s. p.
Bowles. representative In Europe of
the United States Sanitary Commits
sion, q volunteer organization of sym
pathizers with the North in our Civil
War. Facts they gave resulted in adop-
ton of some of the American ideas.
Returning to the United States. Fogg
and Bowles sought recognition Of the
Geneva Treaty. but the Grant admin
istration took no interest. Under
Hayes. the same iethargy was en-.
countered.
Clara Barton Founder
But there had emerged from the Civil
War period middle-aged woman who
had seen much service ON the battle
fields around Washington. This was
Clara Barton I'll health caused her to
make trip to Europe In 1869. There
she became interested in the Red
Cross idea. and joined a unit which
saw service In the Franco-Prussian
war. Upon her return home. she
launched an active campaign for the
treaty. but met the same opposition
as her predecessors. However, Presi
dent Garfield. when he came into Of
flce, recognized the merits of the
movement. and when death by assassi
nation removed him. his successor.
President Arthur. sought approval by
the U. s. Senate of the treaty. Thus
was consummated a seventeen-year
fight In this nation for humanitarian
ideal. Clara Barton was recognized as
the society's founder and was its presi
dent for twenty-three years. She died
in 1912 at the age of 80 years.