The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-11-09

erty damage, then II is that
q - ~ those messengers of mercy, Amer
lean Red Cross officials and workers, mobilize
swiftly and speed to the place where they are
most needed
1t was only few weeks ago that word flashed
down from the north that fire had swept Nome,
Alaska, leaving that town. once famed as a gold
camp but now a modern American city, a heap
of ashes. Within few hours after the receipt
of this news a Red Cross relief director was
stepping into an airplane at San Francisco and
few minutes later he was winging his way
toward the stricken CITY,
When the Inflated MORO Castle" burst into
flames off the coast of New Jersey Red Cross
disaster units in coastal chapters Of that state
Immediately rallied to the work of rescue, the
care Of survivors and the reuniting of separated
families, relatives and friends. More than a
score Of nurses were summoned from their beds
in the chill dawn to take up long vigs on board
rescue vessels, in hospitals, at piers and at
morgues. There they ministered to sufferers
from injuries, exposure, shock and grief
Andyet these spectacular examples were onlytwo
of the IS disaster jobs in the continental United
States Ii which the Red Cross was active during
the past year. Add to these, assistance given
in % insular and foreign catastrophes and the
aggregate is 103-just about the average for an
organization that has been shouldering this sort
of task through more than half a century
No part of the United States escaped some
ties in which the Red Cross assisted 10000 vic
Tins. Tornadoes and fires were the leading
agencies Of destruction with 25 cases of each
necessitating Red Cross relief work
Besides these, II foods-one of which took
the life of a Red Cross relief worker on duty
swept down out of the hills and forests to lift
houses from their foundations to destroy crops
and live stock, and to send refugees scurrying to
higher points. Tropical storms hung up new
record for frequency within single year. and
for the first time in hundred years hurr-
cane starting in the West Indies whipped with
undiminished force as far north as the Virginia
coast.
There were also epidemics cyclones explo-
sions, hail storms, typhoon, earthquake a
cloudburst and other emergencies which acted
to bring the Red Cross with shelter food med-
cal supplies, nurses, disqualification and rehabi-
tation programs
In the highest state Of disaster-preparedness
in history, the Red Cross introduced something
new when 1t conducted % disaster institutes at
strategic points in particularly vulnerable zones
Veteran disaster workers schooled local chapter
officers community leaders, police fire and
health officials In the surveying of hazards and
organizing of relief. In the case of number of
approaching storms, disaster experts from ma
tonal Red Cross headquarters rushed to the
scene hours and even days in advance of the
calamity, saving many lives by the precautions
they invoked
Members of the Red Cross nursing reserve
public health nurses home hygiene instructors
continued as one of the nations first lines of
health defense. More than $4,000 nurses are on
the active list Of the reserve, ready to respond
to calls from army, navy or Red Cross disaster
service.
Several were dispatched to North Carolina
community stricken by pernicious tropical
malaria. Others were sent to cone with tv-
phod epidemic. Still others performed heroic
work in connection with a forest fire in a Cali
fornia canyon. To first aid station In connec-
ton with convention of Spanish-American war
veterans was assigned another group And these
are only few instances from record of varied
and numerous services given by this nursing
army which is always available for duty
But before taking leave of the disaster relief
service let these other items of service be also
recorded. Fishing nets were replaced homes
were repaired, poultry and live stock were SUD-
animals, seed was supplied and fences were
patched. Yes, even a wooden leg was furnished
to take the place of one that had been broken.
Some $50 public health nurses were regularly
employed by 424 Red Cross chapters, for the
most part in rural territory. They made more
than a million visits in line Of duty-giving
baths to bedridden patients, massaging aged
joints and little crippled legs, assisting physi-
clans at childbirth and in many instances finding
II necessary to preside alone at such occasions
administering medicines and hypodermics under
doctors orders, bathing mothers and their new
babies. advising health problems in the home
They responded to the needs of miners and