Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 266, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 November 1914 — HEROINES of the BATTLEFIELD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HEROINES of the BATTLEFIELD

HEN the first shock of Wan unexpected war had abated a little the mind of the world turned for CTSjSprSFS relief to the one bright sppt in the dreary pic- * ture, the red cross on a white sleeveband, the symbol of comfort to those who had been denied the kindly boon of sudden death, those who had been left wounded and suffering on the battlefield. It is now half a century since the work, begun by Florence Nightingale during the Crimean war, was incorporated and made of international importance, and the accumulated experience of 50 years will be none too great to meet the strain imposed on the brave women who have gone out to do more than a soldier’s duty. The nursing of the Vounded is the one great service which woman can perform, in times of war, and from all over the world come the announcements of women of rank and wealth who are eager to learn something of the hardship imposed by international strife. In the main, these earnest pleas for a chance to do something practical and useful are gently but firmly rejected, -since the woman who makes them would be a hindrance bather than a help. The requirements for membership in the Red Cross ranks are exceptionally severe. The' candidate must not only be a graduate of a reputable training school and a registered nurse in the state in which ,she is practicing her profession, but she must give

satisfactory evidence that she is • strong, both mentally and physically. One of the royal leaders who was accepted for real work was the second daughter-in-law of the kaiser, Princess Sophie, who has not only taken actual training as a nurse, but who has devoted all her leisure, time, since her 8 marriage, to philanthropic, and especially hospital work. All the other princesses; have offered their services; but the best they could do was that of organizing sewing societies feu* the making of bandages, to be sterilized and sent to the war zone. In Paris, our American novelist, Edith Wharton, has established an institution in which the poor women whose husbands have gone to the war can earn enough money to keep body and soul together. Their work is that of making garments for the soldiers, and they are paid from funds received by popular subscription. One of the first suggestions, coming even before Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt and a score of other expatriated American

women volunteered for service, was that of transforming the entire country of Switzerland into a great hospital to which the wounded of all nationalities could be conveyed. This would be fitting in the extreme, inasmuch as Switzerland was the country in which the Red Cross had its birth,' in 1864. It was a Swiss, Henri Dunant, who wrote the famous pamphlet, “A Souvenir of Solferino,” setting forth the horrible side of Var as he had witnessed it duritig the fighting between the French and the Austrians, In northern Italy in 1859, and it was this pamphlet that led directly to the formation of the Red Cross society, founded under a treaty in which 2? sovereign states were invited to join for the sake of insuring absolute neutrality to the wounded, in case of war. a

The most important elements in the foundation of the society were the Geneva Society of Public Utility, the American sanitary commission and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of which Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia was grand master, and which had descended directly without a break from the old military nursing order that came into existence at the time of the crusades. With the exception of the basic principles of neutrality and humanity, the societies in the various countries haye little in common. Each nation has worked out its Red Cross according to its own ideas and needs. In France there are three sections, the Societe de Secours aux Blesses Militaires, the Union des Femmes de France and the Association des Dames Francaises. These three societies maintain more than ten thousand beds, in addition to the auxiliary field hospitals which can be established between the fighting army and its base of supplies, and they have established emergency hospital service in the waiting room of railway stations. The one serious defect in the French system is the training of the nurses, in whioh particular it is not to be compared with the American,

The German Red Cross is a direct branch of the military service, and it is organized for efficiency to the last degree. Its strongest points ate the excellent training of its nurses and its unlimited supply of hospital stores. The Red. Cross' society of Germany comprises more than 500,000 members, and in addition to its regular military hospitals, it maintains 196 auxiliary hospital, 600 railway medical rooms and 521 convalescent homes. There are thousands of trained male nurses, ambulance corps and stretcher bearers, and there is one section of the ’female nurses to which special training is given, so that they may act as assistants to professional nurses in emergency work. The Austrian system is similar to the German, although less extensive,

and many of the Red Cross nurse* wear the costume of a sister. • The Russian Rgd Cross is a state institution, drawing a large part of its funds from the sale of passports. During the Russo-Japanese war the organization Was unified and made efficient, after the fighting had been in progress long enough to show the futility of the two branches which had long shown the keenest rivalry. The Japanese Red Crops came to the notice of America especially at the time of the Russo-Japanese war, when it was assumed by most of us on this side of the-world that Japan knew nothing about military nursing. A corps of trained nurses was organized, under the direction of a woman physician of Washington, a ship chartered and a relief expedition sent to Tokyo. The mikado received the ladies kindly, but informed them that it would be just as well for them to go back home, since they could not be permitted either on the battlefield or In the hospitals. The care of was so well provided for that no outside help could be accommodated).

In Germany, France and Belgium there is another interesting creature who goes forth in search of the wounded, bearing the symbol of neutrality and humanity. It is the Red Cross dog, trained to search for the wounded who have fallen into-ravines or are concealed by sbrubhery. Of greater interest to us than the organizations of the countries directly involved in the war is the Red Cross that has developed in the tJnited States, since the organization, at the outbreak of the Civil war, of the sanitary commission. When the Geneva convention was called our country was in the throes of the! most cruel war of modern times. Although there was a representative of the sanitary commission at the Geneva our government did not the Red Cross treaty, and in 1871 the American organization lapsed. Ten years later the American Association of Red Cross was forme s d in Washington with five members— Clara Barton, Wiliam Lawrence, Joseph K. Barnes, A. S. Solomons and Alexander W. F. Garnett. A year later the treaty of Geneva was ratified, but the society was given no official status by congress. Until the outbreak of the Spanish-American war the T society made little progress, and its activity was confined to looking after flood sufferers and the victims of fire, rail and mine disasters. It was not until 1905, when the society was reorganized by congress and given a distinct place in the affairs of the nation, that the Red Cross began to make real strides. Ex-President Taft did much to establish this valuable institution in the esteem of the people, and in no other land has such progress been made as that wUich our Red Cross can show, as the result of nine years of systematic development.