# The United States Christian Commission

Was organized by the Young Men's Christian Associations, for the purpose of promoting the spiritual and temporal welfare of the Army and Navy of our Country. It sends its delegates as volunteers to battle-fields, to aid in the care of the wounded on the ground, and in removing them to hospitals; also, to hospitals, to aid chaplains where needed, and to act as chaplains in such hospitals and places as have not been supplied by the Government, and to camps of our soldiers in the service.

The stores sent to the Christian Commission, if specially designed for any particular person, or regiment, or hospital, are faithfully sent, without charge, to those for whom they are intended. If sent for distribution where most needed, they are distributed by our own agents or delegates in person.

The demand upon us is daily increasing, and stores of all sorts are urgently needed, especially such as are designated herein. But of all donations, **MONEY IS THE BEST**. We can purchase with it the *right things* at the *right times*, and can purchase at *greatly reduced prices*.

The vast numbers now in the service, and entering it, and the thousands of sick and wounded in the hospitals call loudly upon the people for help, whilst the eagerness of their friends to send help is as great as theirs to receive it. Already more than seven hundred boxes and barrels of books and stores have been sent to our men, and over one hundred gentlemen of the highest respectability have gone as volunteers to distribute them, and to give sympathy, instructions, and prayers therewith.

The Commission will endeavor to distribute everything committed to them by everybody, in any and every part of the field, in accordance with the purpose of its organization, accompanying each distribution with the consolations of the Gospel.

The following instructions will aid friends of our soldiers and sailors in deciding what to send, and how to pack, and how to direct what they send:

**I. AS TO WHAT TO SEND.**—**MONEY IS BEST OF ALL.** It is injudicious to spend money or labor for trifling articles. Clothing is greatly needed, such as cotton shirts, woollen shirts, woollen socks, Canton flannel drawers, woollen drawers, surgical shirts of the same pattern, but tied with tapes down the sides and sleeves, instead of being sewed; cotton drawers large enough to serve as pants in-doors, dressing gowns, slippers, sheets and pillow cases, bandages of muslin, four to six yards long, and three or four inches wide, rolled up, each by itself, but not fastened; lint, picked, not scraped, wash-rags, handkerchiefs, and small hair and feather pads for fractured limbs. **OF STORES**—oatmeal, farina, corn-starch, dried rusks, soda biscuits, jellies, fresh fruits, dried fruits, lemons, white sugar, brandy, wine, bottled ale and porter, beef tea in cakes, canned meats for soup, good black tea, cranberries, pickles in kegs, good fresh butter in small stone jars, barrels of onions and apples, and tin cups: all these are always wanted. **TO AID THE SOLDIERS IN CORRESPONDENCE,**—paper, envelopes, and pencils. **OF READ-ING MATTER** for convalescents, a library is a valuable hygienic appliance, and for the able-bodied, good publications are mental and spiritual food. For convalescents, lively, interesting books, the monthlies, the pictorials, the works of science and literature, as well as those for moral and spiritual culture,—such as you would put into the hands of a brother after severe illness, are such as are wanted; and for the well, also, good interesting books, tracts, and papers. Those designed specially for the soldier and sailor are the best, but send no trash. Our noble men love and deserve those that are fresh and the best. To suspend in the hospital, The Silent Comforter, Green Pastures, and Choice Hymns are excellent.

**II. AS TO PACKING.**—Never pack perishable articles like eggs, sausages, bread or cakes, nor jars of jellies and jams, with other goods. Never send perishable articles unless specially called for, to supply some place to which they can be immediately sent. Pack eatables by themselves in separate boxes. Tin cans should be always soldered; all other modes are worth-less for the army. Stone jars of jellies should be corked and firmly bound with oiled linen or leather over the cork, and packed in sawdust or hay, in boxes very tight, never exceeding a dozen and a half bottles in a box, and nailed strongly, to bear tipping. Boxes should not be so large that two cannot conveniently lift them into a wagon.

**III. AS TO DIRECTIONS.**—Mark: "GEORGE H. STUART,"

President Christian Commission,
13 BANK STREET, PHILADELPHIA."

Mark, also:

From _________ [giving place and donor's or Society's name.]

No. 1, 2, 3, &c. [numbering on from the first sent to the last.]

Mark legibly with ink or paint on the boards (cards rub off). Send, by mail, an invoice, on paper about this size, and written only on one side, specifying the articles, and the marks and numbers of each package, and giving the Post Office address in full to which acknowledgments are to be sent. WRITE PLAIN; give the signature in plain hand, so that it can be read without mistake. If the writer is a man, mention whether or not he is a minister, and if a lady, state whether Miss or Ms. Besides the invoice sent by mail to Philadelphia, let the donor put in the box, under the lid, in an envelope addressed to himself and stamped, a copy, on which the delegate, opening the box in camp, can indorse an acknowledgment and the regiment or hospital to which it is given, and mail to the donor

Send all Moneys to JOSEPH E. PATTERSON, Esq., Treasurer, Western Bank.

The demand upon us is daily increasing, and stores of all sorts are urgently needed, especially such as are designated herein. But of all donations, **MONEY IS THE BEST**. We can purchase with it the right things at the right times, and can purchase at greatly reduced prices.

I. AS TO WHAT TO SEND.—MONEY IS BEST OF ALL. It is injudicious to spend money or labor for trifling articles. Clothing is greatly needed, such as cotton shirts, woollen shirts, woollen socks, Canton flannel drawers, woollen drawers, surgical shirts of the same pattern, but tied with tapes down the sides and sleeves, instead of being sewed; cotton drawers large enough to serve as pants in-doors, dressing gowns, slippers, sheets and pillow cases, bandages of muslin, four to six yards long, and three or four inches wide, rolled up, each by itself, but not fastened; lint, picked, not scraped, wash-rags, handkerchiefs, and small hair and feather pads for fractured limbs. OF STORES—oatmeal, farina, corn-starch, dried rusks, soda biscuits, jellies, fresh fruits, dried fruits, lemons, white sugar, brandy, wine, bottled ale and porter, beef tea in cakes, canned meats for soup, good black tea, cranberries, pickles in kegs, good fresh butter in small stone jars, barrels of onions and apples, and tin cups: all these are always wanted. TO AID THE SOLDIERS IN CORRESPONDENCE, paper, envelopes, and pencils. OF READ-ING MATTER for convalescents, a library is a valuable hygienic appliance, and for the able-bodied, good publications are mental and spiritual food. For convalescents, lively, interesting books, the monthlies, the pictorials, the works of science and literature, as well as those for moral and spiritual culture,—such as you would put into the hands of a brother after severe illness, are such as are wanted; and for the well, also, good interesting books, tracts, and papers. Those designed specially for the soldier and sailor are the best, but send no trash. Our noble men love and deserve those that are fresh and the best. To suspend in the hospital, The Silent Comforter, Green Pastures, and Choice Hymns are excellent.

II. AS TO PACKING.—Never pack perishable articles like eggs, sausages, bread or cakes, nor jars of jellies and jams, with other goods. Never send perishable articles unless specially called for, to supply some place to which they can be immediately sent. Pack eatables by themselves in separate boxes. Tin cans should be always soldered; all other modes are worth-less for the army. Stone jars of jellies should be corked and firmly bound with oiled linen or leather over the cork, and packed in sawdust or hay, in boxes very tight, never exceeding a dozen and a half bottles in a box, and nailed strongly, to bear tipping. Boxes should not be so large that two cannot conveniently lift them into a wagon.

III. AS TO DIRECTIONS.—Mark: "GEORGE H. STUART,

Mark, also :

From —————— [giving place and donor's or Society's name.]