Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 124, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1918 — Page 3

HUSBAND GONE—SONS GONEHOME AND RELATIVES GONE

A Fact Story Telling Just What the Red Cross Did for Mme. PeHier.

Thia Is the picture I saw last January in France, —and you have mercifully changed It! Color enough there was—-above, the eternal blue; in the hackground, fields of living green, which the German shells could not prevent from creeping back; in the middle foreground, a. long village street so battered and burned that it was merely a canyon of cream-col-osed ruins. In front of one little broken house were four figures in black—an old womans poking among the fallen stones In a vain search for something that could be used; a younger woman, seated on what had once been a doorstop, with her face hidden In her arms; and a little boy and girl, who stared, half frightened, half curious, at the desolation about them. The little boy held in his thin hand a Bed Cross flag. All four were pale and gaunt; the faces and bodies of the children showed none of the round curves that make the beauty of a child. Thia is their history: When the war broke out, Mme. Pellier, her mother and her four younger children were visittag her husband's mother in the north of France. Her husband and two older sons were at home In Lorraine taking care of the summer crops. Thon the war! The mother In-law of Mme. Pellier was ill and could not be left Her old mother was afraid to travel to Lorraine with the fnß care of the four children. Before they could all start together the Germans Invaded. Bad news is allowed to some Into northern France, and so as the months passed Mme. Pellier learned that her village home had been bombarded and that her husband and two sons had boon killed. Except for the Belgian Relief Commission, which operates In northern France also, she and her little ones would have starved outright At the best they were undernourished. Then the great push began, and hopes for France grew high- But as the French soldiers advanced they had to bombard the northern towns. Mme. Pellier begged the Germans to let her go away with her children—even into Germany. This was refused. She tried to seek safety in some cellar whenever there was a bombardment Nevertheless a shell Mllert two of her children. Found Her Home Gone. Home gone; husband gone; bravo soldier sons gone; little, tender .boys torn Into shreds! That.woman's face would have shown you what she had sufferedtrher face against the battered ruins the Germans had made. At last she and her mother and her two remaining children were repatriated. They knew the infinite relief of cross-

HE GAVE HIS SHIRT OFF HIS BACK

How an Italian Officer Traveling on. Trap Helped a New Bom Baby.

One of the ways to say that a man to good hearted 1* to descend to expressive Amerlcanese slang and say “he’d give you his shirt.” A young Italian officer did exactly that —gave the shirt off his back to a be by just born. It was during a flight of the Italian refugees just after the Italian army had been tricked by the Austrians. Here’s the story: An Italian officer, who had been a volunteer worker at the station when the crush came through, walked into the American Bed Cross office at Bologna, Italy, and told of a poor young woman who had given birth to a baby on the train In which he was riding a few night’s previously. They had been riding for over 16 hours, and the

FULL MAN-SIZED HAM SANDWICH

What Tea Minutes fur Refreshments Means in Modem War. Think of what refreshments mean ••ver there." Think of the Sammie or the Pollu coming out of the trenches ylts a thirty-six hour leave of absence, getting aboard the train or motor on the L. O. C.—the Une of Communication between the front and the gear. Think of those tired fellows

By an Eye Witness MAUDE RADFORD WARREN

Ing into Switzerland and then into Haute-Savoie. From there they went to Lohralne. Mme. Pellier hoped that, even though her village had been bombarded, her home might have escaped. She found nothing except her bare fields. You changed that picture, you Americans, who cad never be bombarded, who can never lose through War five out of the seven dearest to you. It was not your husband and children who died; not your wife who was widowed; not your little ones who came back, bony and tubercular, to a home that had vanished. Not yours, but only the grace of accident saved you; not yours, but It might have been and so you changed the picture. You could not build up with your own hands that heap of stones into a home, nor till the fields, nor bring Mme. Pellier back to hope and the children back to health. But through the Red Cross you saved the remnants of that family that bad suffered as you might have suffered. Things the Red Cross Did. You took the mother of Mme. Pellier to a Red Cross hospital to be treated for anaemia. You took the little girl, who was In the first stages of tuberculosis, to a Red Cross sanitarium. You found a place which could be made habitable for Mme. Pellier near her fields which she was anxious to till. You gave her clothes and furniture; you got her seeds; you lent her implements. You sent a visiting doctor to watch over her health and that of her little boy. You sent nurses, who achieved the mighty victory of making her and the child take baths. Later you persuaded her to let him go to a refuge not far away where he might attend school and where she could often visit him. Through the help of your Red Cross hope and coms age and ambition have come back to that woman, and she Is rebuilding her family life. The biggest thing one human being can do for another you, if you are a helper of the Red Cross, have done for that mother. Red Cross! I saw Its work everywhere In France. In fields and In blasted villages; In hospitals and schools and clinics; In refuges and vestiaries for widows and orphans and for the sick children of soldiers fighting to keep you safe from the enemy. This symbol of help has a double meaning now for Americans, who have always taken for granted the blessing of safety. It stands for your willing ness to pay the price of exemption, of pity, of sympathy. A bitter, black road this road of war, but across it, like a beacon of hope, you have flung the Red Cross.

wretchedly poor and disheartened mother had been jammed in with tho hundreds of other frightened Italians on the same train. Hungry, tired and miserable and in a frightfully weakened condition, she had scarcely sufficient clothes for herself, not to speak of properly caring for a newborn babe. The young officer stripped himself of his shirt, and there among this frightened, half starved, forlorn crowd the poor Italian Infant was wrapped in its first body covering. •Mother and babe were afterwards nursed back to health, clothed and looked after by the American Red Cross. And this is only one small, isolated Incident among thousands that come under the working of the Red Cross.

stopping ten minutes for refreshments at a Red Cross Canteen. Think of a big cup of hot coffee and a wealth of man-sized ham sand* wiches served by the Red Cross — women with the joy of service in their eyea Think of ten minutes for refreshments within sound of the guns—such refreshments served by such women. Did ever a weary lad have such refreshments? Did ever a cup of coffee and a sandwich taste so good? ft Is service like this, the supplying of “food that’s got a homey taste” at e time when a man’s spirits are likely to be at loyresfebb, that moved a Commanding General of the American Forces to write on December 80: “The extent of the work of the Red Cross is only.limited by the number of members it has and the amount of funds available for its use."

TUB BVBNING REPUBLICAN, BBMMBLABB,

Compare Your Baby’s First Four Years With This

fa 1913 uttle Marie was born tn a village not far from Mezieres, tr. the Ardennes. In 1914 Marie’s father, called to the colon, fell at the Marne. - And Maria and her mother stayed in the village, which was now tn the Germans' hands. In 1915 a poster was pasted up on the door of the village church, and that night Marie’s mother vanished, dlong with a ecore or more of other women. In 1916 Marie was still living tn that village—existing through the charity of the few elderly folk the Germans permitted to stay. In 1917 Marie, with all the children under fourteen years and all the old people left alive tn the village, was bundled into a crowded car and shipped Into Germany, round through Switzerland and thence into France, arriving at Evian. She was underfed, of course, emaciated, sickly, dirty, too lightly dressed for the time of year. And she came Inte Evian with not a relative, not a friend left in all France to take care of her. Who took her! Your Red Gross! Over there in Evian your Red Cross took charge of her, cared for her in the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, clothod her, fed hor, built up her strength, taught her to play—and then helped the French authorities find her a HOME. Multiply Mario by 500 and you will have some idea of just one day’s work your Red Cross does at Evian. It is only one of the Rod Cross activities in France, to be sure—but for just that ono alone can you help being proud of It? Can you help being glad you are a member of It, supporting its great wort of humanity? Can yen help wanting It to go on helping the Martes and the “grand-daddies’’ that come to at Evian?

THE TRAIN THAT SAVED A NATION

How the Red Crow Helped Roumania.

Haye you heart! what happened In Roumanla when that stricken nation stood tn rags and starving before the shocked eyes of the world? We had thought ourselves grown used to tragedies until thia greater horror etruck a blow that 'roused still untouched sympathies. And yet we Mt so helpless, you and I, so terribly weak la our ability to offer aid. But were wo? After all, were we not the very ones who carried new life and hope to the heart of Roumanla? You shall be your own judge. Fighting with the desperation of de spalr, the shattered Roumanian army stUl struggled to beat off the Kaiser’s bloody Huns, who wore mercilessly trampling the life out of the little kingdom. And the Kaiser smiled brutally as he saw his wolves at work and knew that from behind the lines, attacking the fighting men of Roumanla from the rear, entering the homes where mothers clung to ttye frail, distorted forms of their babies —was starvation. No country around Roumanla could help her—end America was too fax away. Thousands would die before supplies held in our own country could be sent her. Hope was gone. Death by hunger and by the dripping sword of the Kaiser was closing in. A bravo little nation was being torn to pieces. Then came the miracle. Ono morning the streets of Jassy, the war capital of Roumanla, swelled with sounds of rejoicing. A city where the day before there was heard nothing but the walls of the starving and the lamentations of those mourning their dead now was awakened by shouts of joy. You, my friend; you who have helped In the heroic work of the American Red Cross, had gone to the rescue of Roumanla. A train of 81 big freight cars packed to their utmost capacity with food, clothing and medicine, tons upon tons of It, had arrived in Jassy after making a record breaking trip from the great store houses of the American Red Cross In Russia. Other trains followed it; thousands wore fed and clothed and nursed back to health, yor weeks and even to this day the bravo people of Roumanla are being eared for in countless numbers by our own Rod Cross. So was Roumanla helped, and when history records how this last fragment of a sturdy nation was kept out of the hands of the terrible Huns it will give the victory to your American Rad Crosa

WHAT YOUR DOLLARS DO

One Hundred Cents’ Worth of Marcy and Relief for Every War Fund Dollar.

Your Red Cress dollars—every cent of every Red Cross dollar —actually relieves suffering—actually gees as you give It, for war relief. Not one cent of any contribution goes into Red Cross administration expenses—the overhead of War Fund administration to more than covered by the Interest accruing from the banking of the funds. All relief work not pertaining to the war Is amply covered by the normal revenues of the Red Cross through membership dues. Your answer to humanity’s cry—your donation to war relief —includes not only the care and restoration of the wounded. It to a mission of mercy to the famished, the homeless and helpless, the lame, the halt, and the blind —all the victims of war that appeal to the heart of mankind. The relief of invalided soldiers, relief of the mutilated and Hind, training of crippled soldiers for useful pursuits—relief service tor the care and revival of soldiers ee furlough from the front—relief of children throughout devastated territory—relief of dependent families of seMiere—relief to prisoners In Germany—relief among repatriated people returning to France —children’s refuges and hospitals—these are among the divisions of organized work that carries practical aid to Its every objeet in a wide field of activity. Its scope embraces Russia, Roumanla, Serbia, Italy and Armenia —besides the great field of France. Your donation makes this great mission of mercy your own. The Red Crees earrles 190 cents* worth of aid for every dollar donated.

THIS IS THE TRUE RED CROSS SPIRIT

A Little Story With a Big Thought in It. .

A month ago the Red Cross chapter in Bay City, Mich., received a hurryup call for 100 dunnage bags. Troops were about to move, and through an oversight their equipment was not complete. The bags had to be made and sent within 48 hours. A request for help was sent over the town, and the stores were searched successfully for the right materials. Among those who quickly responded and came to the chapter workrooms to help were two little girls, sisters, about ten and twelve years of age, each eager to lend a hand and do something tor the boys who were going to the front. All day long the fingers of the women and the little girls were fairly flying. Bag after bag received the last stitch until scores were piled up ready for shipment. Closing time came, and the woman superintending the making of the bags counted those- completed and announced that if every one of the workers could come early, the next morning and work all day the bags would surely be finished In time for shipping by evening. Two crestfallen little girls, the little sifters, were waiting for her at the door as she departed. _ Red Cross Dunnage Bags., “We are awfully sorry, ma’am,” said the older of the two, “but we can’t come back tomorrow. You see tomorrow we have to—” And, without finishing the sentence, she Iqoked baek wistfully at the pile of bags. “It is too bad you can’t come back,” said the superintendent, “but 1 want to thank you, and we all thank you, for the work you’ve done today. You two have been a wonderful help, and that pile of bags wouldn’t be nearly so big if you hadn’t been here. Good night.” The next morning when the superintendent came down to unlock the workrooms for the day she was astonished to see the two little girls standing in the cold by the locked door. “Oh, Tm so glad to see your she said. "I thought you said you couldn’t eomeF “Oh, we knew those Red Cress bags just had to be finished for the soldiers,” exclaimed the little t one, with glistening eyes, “and we got up at three o’clock this morning,aad got the washing done early I” • y

SUPPLYING FRENCH HOSPITALS.

The Bod Cross hospital supply service in France has. 16 warehouses filled with drugs, medicines, surgical instruments and dressings. It serves M*» French atilltary hospitals,

The Great Neighbor

made a little more comfortable, a little happier, a little stronger for the struggle of life through its effort, the Red Cross is content. And while it b not affiliated exclusively with any religions body, it is essentially a Lay Brotherhood and Sisterhood of all denominations, putting in practice the teachings of all religions,—unselfish service and good deeds. The works of mercy which it is banded together to accomplish are the result and evidence of its noble sincerity and inspiring faith. . _ . _ In the great emergency of the present war the Red Cross is doubly enlisted. In all it does to help us to win, it b helping to save and maintain those ideals of faithfulness and honor, kindness and loyalty on which its own existence rests. And every man, woman and child who realizes this realizes the peril we are in—and who can help the Great Cause in no other way, can at least support the generous efforts of the Red Cross. It b the best equipped agency in the world to bring succor in the day when only organized and well directed help can avail.

COf one million sweaters furnished by the Bed Cross to " Amari on soldiers, half were made by the hands of tho knitting women of America.”— January Report.) We are the knitting women; weaving swift Our webs of olive drab and navy gray; We are the women, keeping thought away By this ijew work of love, this eager gtft Through which our men, facing the bitter fight Under the stars of far and foreign lands, Shall know that still a million women’s hands Uphold them in the darkness and the night We are the knitting women, knitting fast A web of love ; our million hearts are sent As one, with ev*ry marching regiment Love’s own democracy is come at last High over stricken France the black smoke towers; Beneath it in the hurry and the noise Are eastern, western, northern, southern, boys, No longer yours or mine,—forever ours! We are the knitting women; weaving strong A web of prayer; our eyes with tears are dim. But. wife or mother, we shall search for him Across tne seas, morning and even-song. Lord God, —we pray—look down on what we do I Bless this our work, help us to play jour part The God of Battles —Father, still Thou art The God of waiting—waiting women, tool

25 TONS OF ETHER—THAT’S ONE ITEM

Only the quickest action Imaginable, which included the shipment of tremendous quantities of hospital supplies from Red Gross stores In France, as well as large porch a see In Italy, made the emergency work of the American Red Cross possible during foe recent distress in Italy brought about by the rout of the Italian army. No such mission for human help has ever seen the Uko of this heroic work by the American Red Cross in Italy. For the winter's needs It was found that 700 tons of hospital supplies were required, and these were ordered tn America for immediate delivery to Italy. Some ot the things ordered were anaesthetics, surgical instruments, rubber goods, enamel ware, gauze, absorbent cotton and drags. Just what such a shipment means to difficult flor a layman to grasp. If you’d like to see your druggist loco all his senses at once just tell him about some of these quantities that were ordered for use in Italy. Ten trim that 290 pounds of quinine were ordered. Since the war quinine has been difficult to get st any pxtea,

By JOSEPHUS DANIELS

SumliyMba Nasy.

The Red Cross recognizes neither party, nor race, nor creed. It is world-wide in scope and humane in purpose. It has no political nor economic ends to serve. It only asks where it can be helpful to men and women in distress—afflicted by disease, overtaken by some sudden disaster or caught in the ordeal of war. There it finds its place and opportunity. There it springs to serve mankind. > The Red Cross b the Great Neighbor, it treats every man as a brother, and asks no return. If the world of toiling people is

Knitting Women

By KATHLEEN NORRIS.

It has jumped from 9300 a pound In France to 980 a pound. Quinine to very badly needed in Italy, and this Bed Cross shipment has been nothing short of a boon. Other items which give a better idea In terms of the things which mean most to the wounded are 10 tons of chloroform and 20 tons of ether. These items are beyond the power of tiie layman to visualize, but bo eas come nearer to picturing 2,000 bales of absorbent cotton, the quantity asked for. Orders for ail these goods for Italy were placed last winter in America, and ths American Red Cross has seen . to It that shipments of each Item are In process of deli very right along tore- . Hove the terrible misfortune of tbs people in Italy.

Over 1,000 Repatriated Franck Arrive at Evian Daily.

The number of “repatrtes" ar riving at Brian dally varies from 1,000 to 1000. Two trains a day come Into this tittie town loaded with thebe unfortunates, most of foam chO dren under fourteen years of age. Tha task that the American Rod Cross hat undertaken Is the care of theca ttttfr children.