Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-07-14
Task Called
Privilege by
Great Corps
Members Pay Their
Way by Providing
Garb and Fares
By Blair B0Ues.


The spirit of humanity embraces
Washington, and the city's women,
the young and old, wives and moth
ers, grandmothers and spinsters, as
well as few men here and there,
are contributing their time and
abilities to the furtherance of a
great cause whose Importance has
caught the attention of all-the
care of those millions of civilians
of Western Europe torn from their
homes, separated from their fam
lilies and confronted with starvation
by the hard course of war.
The rallying center for this hui
name attention is the District OF
Columbia Chapter of the American
Red Cross. Under its aegis thou
SANDS of Washingtonians are en-
rolled In special volunteer services
whose work benefits the needy over
the seas. In countless homes here
now the visitor will find women
knitting with speed and fervor.
They are knitting for these for
eign homeless, knitting sweaters for
women and children whose sweat
ers were in homes that cannons
leveled; knitting, we might say, the
cloth OF decency that binds man.
kind by its goodness.
The knitters are but one spectac-
ular group. There are women who
sew hospital shirts, dresses, sweat
ers, shawls, suits for children and
other garments for shipment abroad.
There are women who work long
hours making surgical dressings to
bind the wounds OF the men injured
in battle and lying in European
hospitals. There are, in all, nine
special volunteer groups of the Dis
trict chapter OF the Red Cross, en-
listing the enthusiasm, almost re-
ligious in its intensity, of women
struck by the nobility of the OPP
portunity which the bellicose times
and the humane Red Cross provide
them.
Not only do the volunteers work
hard. They pay for the privilege,
FOR they must buy their uniforms
and provide their own carfare.
They work by day if they are free
and they work by night from 7:3O
to 10 o'clock if they have duties.
such as jobs, which occupy them
during the day. Admirals' wives
and rooming house jewellers alike
have joined in this great enterprise.
At the Red Cross they all are one.
all equal, all joined by their single
desire of doing good.
The different volunteer corps, for
each of which a different colored
uniform is specified, are these:
l. Administration, who, if women,
wear red uniforms. The chief adj
ministration volunteer for Washing
ton is a gentleman for whom no
uniform is provided. He is Brig.
Gen. Frank R. Keefer, U. S. A., re-
tired, chairman of the chapter for
nine years. The chapter recently
provided him with chevrons sig
nifying his length of service, two
red cloth "v's" and a red cloth
bar to be sewn above them. but he
keeps these modestly in a desk
drawer. Miss Mabel Boardman,
who In the District chapter is Sec
ond vice chairman and chairman
In charge of the volunteer services,
wears pink. Another gentleman who
wears only the usual clothes of q
man Is the first vice chairman of
the chapter, Victor Deyber, chair
man OF the board of the Second
National Bank. :!
2. Staff Assistance Corps. The
ladies attached to this section wear
yellow uniforms and are known as
the "yellowbirds." They aid in office
work, in assisting other services or
In carrying out any special duties
proposed by their chairman and ap-
proved by the chairman of Volun-
teer Service. This service is COM
posed of women who have taken
the staff assistance course of lee
lures and who may be trained as
future leaders of Volunteer Service.
In many ways their work is the
most interesting of all the Red
Cross volunteer work. j
Mrs. Hugo Huettig is chairman
OF the corps Of ITS staff assistants,