Evening star., 1940-06-17

Workers in the District Red Cross
Chapter war relief fund drive re-
doubled their efforts today after
hearing last night stirring mes
sage that the Red Cross is among
those defending Verdun that must
not fall.
Gathered in "goal-to-go" meet
ing at the Departmental Auditorium,
nearly 500 persons, including Secre-
tary of State Hull, were told by
Clifton Fadiman, literary critic of
the New Yorker magazine and inter-
locutor of the radio feature, In
formation Please:
This comfortable hall, filled with
Well-dressed men and women, Is a
trench, a trench now beginning to
lengthen around the whole world.
The Red Cross is in that trench and
you and I are in that trench and
each of us has his own per-
sonal city of God whose beautiful
towers he will not willingly see
crash to ruin.
The life of the mind and of the
free spirit, all that we have been
taught to love and that all men of
good will have been taught to love
all that's our Verdun. And Ver-
dun must not fall"
Confident of Success.
Mr.. Fadiman spoke after Bruce
Baird. chairman of the drive, ex-
pressed confidence that the chap
ter's 100000 quota will be reached
shortly. About $50,O00 remains to
be raised.
Brig. Cen. Frank M. Keefer,
U. S. A., retired, chairman of the
chapter, who presided, pointed out
that all its drives have gone over
the top and I am sure that this
will be no exception"
Guests of the evening, seated on
the platform which was decorated
simply with the American flag and
the Red Cross banner, were intro
duced by Courtland Ferguson, mas
ter of ceremonies. Among those he
called on to take bows were Secre-
tary Hull, Rear Admiral Russell R.
Waesche, commandant of the Coast
Guard; Charles Dillon, radio direc-
tor of the American Red Cross;
Henry F. Grady, Assistant Secre-
tary of State: Earl A. Nash, chair
man of the Rally Committee; Will
liam Blum, jr., executive assistant
to DR.. Baird; Joseph Hines, chair
man of special gifts; Robert P.
Smith, chairman of the professional
group; Edgar Morris, Roll Call
chairman, and Admiral Charles
Conard, retired.
Musical Program Presented.
Leading the audience in singing
God Save America" and THE Star
6pangled Banner" was Gene Archer,
National Broadcasting Co. radio
singer. The Navy Band Orchestra,
directed by Assistant Leader Charles
Brendler, accompanied and also
played several numbers prior to the
program.
The Rev. Charles T. Warner pro-
hounced the invocation.
Mr.. Fadiman, who was given a
rising ovation at the close of his
moving talk, said the gates that are
being stormed today guard the very
citadel of civilization itself"
Hitler say shis Reich will last for
thousand years." the speaker de-
clared. He is wrong; but the dark
ness into which he and men like him
can plunge the world may very we'll
last for thousand years; and per-
haps that darkness is the Reich he
means"
Reverence for Individual.
"We are not angels" he continued.
'France and England are not the
homes of angels. Yet, on the whole,
1t must be said-and in my opinion
this is one of the very few wars of
which it may be said-that one side
Is fighting, not only to preserve it.
self, but to preserve that reverence
for the individual man, woman and
child upon which our Western cul-
ture is founded. Not that they have
always shown that revenence-but
they have shown more of it than
have their enemies who openly sub
stitute for it a contempt for those
things that make one human soul
different from another.
Let us by all means throw our
selves into the task of grim and
dreadful preparation, but let us not
forget that the purpose of this
preparation is to keep alive and ex-
tend way of life which, with all
Its imperfections, holds out vital
hope for men and women, instead of
condemning them to the corpselike
security of slavery"
S7,560,955 Outlay.
Meanwhile, Chairman Norman H.
Davis of the American Red Cross
announced war relief expenditures
and commitments to date of $780,
955 He said cargoes of about 81 ,000,-
600 each are being bought for the
S. S. Executive and the S. S. Narbo,
which will begin loading in New
York June Is.
Mr.. Davis said that due to the
acute emergency in France, the
greater part of the money has been
appropriated for relief there.
The s. s. McKeesport sailed Sat-
urday for Bilbao, Spain, with food
stuf1s. clothing, surgical dressings,
drugs and other relief supplies. The
port was changed from Bordeaux
to Bilbao because protective meas
ures could not be assured the ship
In French waters.
Community Chest Plans