Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-17
The
Rambler
Finds Progress
At Barton House
By GEORGE KENNEDY

ny OEOROE hE1NENEDL
The Friends Of Clara Bar
ton" have made some prog
ress In purchasing the I'M
usual house at Glen Echo
that was the early head
quarters Of the American
Red Cross, which she found
ed, and her home.
They have made a down
payment and signed a con-
tract to purchase it for
$4,000 in January. An cat
home" there last Saturday
increased donations to $13,-
900.
Like Jefferson's Monticello,
the house tells a great deal
about its owner.
The Red Cross flag Is the
Swiss national emblem in
reverse.
In the big house at Glen
Echo is an exquisite little
gilded table with a round
marble top, the gift Of the
Grand Duchess.
Miss Barton was a small
person, no more than five
feet in her shoes. The build
ers thoughtfully made the
steps less than six inches.
It is a large frame build
ing-S5 feet deep-with a
big front porch facing the
amusement park.
The architecture derives
from Mississippi steamboats,
"a long grand court three
stories high with balconies.
Above the square piano is
her photograph taken in Civil
War days, her dark hair
parted in the middle and
coiled behind. The skirt of
her black taffetta dress is
flounced on crinolines.
She was 80 when Fort
Sumter was fired on. She
hired a man to take her place
as writing clerk in the Patent
Office.
She paid the substitute SIS
a month less than her salary,
which continued. On that
difference she went to the
front and purchased items
for the wounded.
She helped in amputa-
tons but she was more than
a nurse. She had a genius
for obtaining supplies,
usually donations, and trans
porting them to the right
place at the right time.
Once she aided a wounded
young Swiss named Jules
Golay. Later this led TO her
bringing the Red Cross to
America.
After the war she made q
fortune on the lecture plat
form. One night in Portland,
Me. she went silent. It was
a complete breakdown.
SHE WENT TO EUROPE
to recover and was visiting
the Golsy family in Switzer-
land In 1870 when Prussia
invaded France.
Grand Duchess Louise
Baden, who knew of her
work, sent for her. She fol-
lowed the Duke of Baden's
army into strasbourg and
distributed supplies to the
beseiged people sent her by
the Duchess and by the
international Red Cross,
which is a Swiss organiza-
ton.
1t Is hard TO believe but
the Red Cross effort in that
war Git amounted to about a
billion in the last one) was
largely run by one woman
and she was at the front.
Right after that war she
had another breakdown. She
had been surprised to learn
that the United States had
refused to sign the treaty
known as the Geneva Con-
vention, recognizing the Red
Cross as a symbol of mercy
on the battlefield.
As she recovered she
started a one-woman lobby
to have It ratified. After
five years work she obtained
the signature Of a President
(Arthnr) and confirmation
by the Senate.
AS president of the Ameri-
can organization she would
take the first train to the
scene Of disaster. On arrival
she would size up the situa-
ton and issue a call for sup
plies and money. Her name
on the appeal always brought
abig response.
At IA she went to Con-
stantinople to supervise re-
lief for the Americans.
SHE WAS Is and in
Havana arranging relief for