Evening star., 1943-07-20

The Red Cross In this war is no.
only spending the largest budget ol
its history, but 1t is also rendering
many services that it has never be.
fore been called upon to do. One
of the important items on the list
is the shipping of food packages
to our own prisoners of war in
the Eastern theater. In this phrase
we include many of the prisoners
of our Allies held in enemy prison
camps.
To see these neatly packaged
boxes, 10 inches square and inches
high, rolling down the conveyo;
belts on the assembly line prac-
tically one every minute during the
hours when these depots are in op-
Grafton, is an emotional experience.
1t does not require much imagi-
nation to realize how much they
must mean to the men and women
behind barbed-wire fences to whom
this weekly box brings the message:
Courage, you are not forgotten.
There are no written messages in
the boxes, of course, but the regu-
lar arrival of the boxes at the camps
is message enough for a prisoner
In each box there is an assortment
of food, selected to augment the
prison diet by 1000 calories a day
or $4,000 calories week.
American dietitians have seen
that these boxes carry the fats and
proteins. vitamin enriched. which
prison fare so badly lacks. The
food is bought by the Government
from our large food processing in
dustries. and the boxes are assem-
bled, shipped and delivered by the
American and international Red
Cross. Every package costs about
$3.50.
There are four food assembly
points: Philadelphia, New York,
Chicago and st. Louis. To carry
this precious cargo, the Red Cross
has chartered its own boats, which
travel to Europe under a neutral
nag, without convoy and with lights
on. They are small boats and the
trip takes from two to three weeks,
but as many as 100000 packages
can be shipped on one boat.
The food In each package con-
sists of: One S-ounce package of
cheese, one 8-ounce package OF
biscuit &C." two 4-ounce bars OF
chocolate ration d." one 12-ounce
tin of corned beef, one 15-ounce
package dried fruit, one 6-ounce tin
liver paste, one 1-pound tin powder
ed milk, one 1-pound tin margarine
one 4-ounce tin orange concentrate,
one 12-ounce tin pork lunch, one
S-ounce tin salmon, one 8-ounce
package sugar, one 4-ounce package
soluble coffee, two 2-ounce bars
soap, five packages of cigarettes.
Everything is sealed and pack
aged against damage by moisture
At the New York packaging center,
the volunteers succeeded in pack
ing about $4,000 packages every
week. Volunteers are supplied by
the New York City and metropolitan
area chapters of the Red Cross.
The Office staff supervising the
work are paid employees of the Red
Gross. The volunteers are selected
by the local Red Cross chapters and
they work during the day from 6
to 8 hours, depending on the need.
Most Of them have never done work
of this kind before 1t means stand
ing along an assembly line behind
moving conveyor belt which
carries the boxes. Into each box,
every volunteer places the package
assigned to her place on the line.
AS result of this factory method
in the organization, a top produc-
ton schedule is maintained each
week.
The Red Cross boats sail to Lis
bon, and the packages are then
transshipped to Marseille and from
here forwarded to Geneva, Switzer-
land. from which point distribution
to all prison camps is made. From
the moment the packages arrive on
foreign soil, they are in charge Of
members of the International Red
Cross from neutral Switzerland,
thus assuring equitable distribu-
ton.
Families wanting to send an extra
box to a war prisoner may do SC
by paying $3.50 to the Red Cross
who then send the box from a depot
In Geneva, where small surpluses
are held. 1t is not encouraged, how
ever, since the food contained in
each box is enough for one week
and distribution to the camps is
made weekly.
The American Red Cross under
took the distribution Of prison boxes
under this system on January !
and the work has been constantly
expanding, since each week as the
war progresses the need grows.
At the present time we are not
sending packages to japanese prison
camps since Japan did not sign
the Geneva Convention. though it
agreed to the findings of that con-
vention However, through the Red
Cross food for American prisoners
of war in Japan is purchased locally
In Japan through member of the