American National Red Cross

“ It was with a sense of the greatest sorrow and the sincerest sympathy that the people of the United States, through their Red Cross Society, found means to express in tangible form these heartfelt emotions. To many of our people Italy is the motherland, and to many others she has given so rich a treasury of art and literature that we must remain forever in her debt. ”

“ When the Red Cross insignia was first adopted at the Geneva Convention, as a sign of a hospital in war, and for many years after that, no one dreamed of using it as a mark on goods sold in trade. Gradually, however, such use became more common, and a badge of humanity, which men in the midst of warfare respected, became more and more, in trade, a meaningless label, applied to all kinds of medicinal boxes, bottles and jars, and every other conceivable package and bundle. ”

“ Secretary Indiana Branch American Red Cross.
“Whether tuberculosis will be finally eradicated is even an open question. It is a foe that is very deeply intrenched in the human race. Very hard it will be to eradicate completely, but when we think of what has been done in one generation, how the mortality in many places has been reduced more than 50 per cent., indeed, in some places 100 per cent., it is a battle of hope, and so long as we are fighting with hope the victory is in sight.”—Dr. ”

“ Had trained nurses and hospital orderlies been at Castiglione those terrible days of June 24, 25, and 26, how many human lives would have been saved? The sight of so many brave young soldiers crippled by loss of arm or leg returning disconsolately to their homes must arouse a feeling of remorse that no measures had been taken beforehand to prevent such consequences of wounds which would have healed had proper care been given them at first. ”

“ He was the leader of the Red Cross movement in Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Hospital and the State Sanatorium especially profited by his loyal and valued cooperation. Independent in politics, fearless in denunciation of everything unwholesome, refined in thought, cultivated in speech, a gentleman of pleasing address, he gave to this community willingly of his time and labor and leaves it in his debt for forty years of good citizenship. ”

“ A Chinese merchant rarely calls upon a male physician for his family, but an up-to-date woman physician is welcome in the families of the educated. Favorable as is one’s impression of the prosperity, intelligence and generosity of our Chinese friends; the advantages of enlightened medical knowledge and sanitary science among them in San Francisco, not to mention the vast interior of the Chinese Empire itself, cannot be overestimated.
It is one of the functions of the Red Cross to create and foster enduring friendship between nations. War is often the instrument of passion rather than equity. ”

“ And the Turks and Arabs who rushed into the streets of the town were so seized with the lust of plunder that they did not pursue the rear guard of the Christians. Angry must have been the scenes as the plunderers fought with one another over the stores of raw silk, the chief product of Kessab. Cattle, mules, copper kettles, bedding, clothing, and rugs were carried out by the Turks in feverish haste, as one after another the houses were set on fire. Some of the aged Armenians, who had not the strength to flee, were caught in their houses and barbarously put to death. ”

“ The sending of doctors and nurses to Adana in the name and under the protection of the Red Cross flag was not only a source of satisfaction to the Committee, but of the very greatest help and blessing to the many who at that time required immediate medical aid.
Those of us who have lived in the Orient for years have become accustomed to the remark, and in many cases have allowed ourselves to believe, that the native will not help himself, much less others, but that he is willing to be dependent on the charity of the outside world. ”

“ Such international cooperation in relief measures would not only bring the financial assistance that does so much to relieve the sufferings of the victims and gives them new courage because of the consciousness of brotherly sympathy the world over, but the experience and knowledge of each and all as to methods of relief after various kinds of calamities, such as fires, earthquakes, famines, floods, and epidemics, could be available for the benefit of those in need of such aid. ”

“ As she listened and watched many Arabs and Turks ranged past the entrance to the cleft. Then came one who peered in closely. Their eyes met. He gave a cry to his comrades, “There is a maiden here!” and sprang forward. She summoned her whole strength and leaped up the side of a great rock which rises up above the village. It was a feat which no athlete could commonly have done. At first the Arab could not follow her. ”

“ The staff of workers included 25 doctors—English, American, French, Greek, Syrian, Turkish, and Armenian; 11 trained nurses—English, German, and Armenians; 8 first-aid men from the English and American ships, and 12 Armenian assistants. In all this work one of the pleasantest features was its international character. No friction or international jealousies were seen. Before the great need and common aim, distinctions of race or nation fell away, and one helped another with a single desire for service. ”

“ Unlike France and Germany, we have no line of communication by which the victims of war can be passed from the fighting line to safety in the hospital far in the rear. The Red Cross Society and the English people are now asked to meet the want. The scheme is so to train the inhabitants of our towns and villages that they can render first aid after a battle, convey the wounded to the nearest hospital, and forward them on through a chain of similar units from rest house to rest house till the base hospital is reached. ”

“ On the Canal Zone there is less need of such an organization in some ways than there would be in a community of 50,000 people in the United States, because here the government, through the Isthmian Canal Commission, maintains a good system of hospitals and district physicians, and also because there are few people here who cannot work, and almost none who cannot get work if they want it. But there is a limit beyond which the Commission may not go in the expenditure of government funds, and, broadly, that limit is that it may not aid people who are not employed on the Canal work. ”

“ When the time for this change should come, it was desired that some permanent good might remain as a memorial of the relief work in Adana, and it was planned that the patients remaining from the American Red Cross Hospital, together with whatever hospital equipment might have been accumulated, should be left to the care of the American Mission in a large building belonging to them, which is now being altered for use as a hospital. There is no hospital in Adana, except one poorly equipped and totally inadequate charity institution, and the field of usefulness for a good hospital would be great. ”

“ The Red Cross badge justifying your membership in a great organization gained you immediate entrance to the heart of the disaster, and all agree in saying that you proved by your splendid work and helpful sympathy your right to be considered an honor to the great order. ”

“ May you find the medal and diploma we now send you as tokens of our gratitude, of which, however, they are but a modest outward sign, acceptable. More durably than in the metal is our gratefulness engraved in the hearts of the Italians, whose mindful blessings will stand as the sacred heritage of the generations to come. ”

“ And yet the love of home is so strong that the people have settled down there with the determination to clear up the debris and rebuild their houses. If generous gifts arrive from England and America the Local Relief Committee hopes to put into the hands of the Kessab men such tools as shall enable them to earn their usual livelihood by one of the trades or by farming. For the present food supplies and clothing must also be forwarded from Latakia and Beirut. But as soon as a man begins to earn a daily wage, no matter how small, his name is struck off the ration lists. ”

“ During 1909 our people, by means of the American Red Cross, have been able to express their sympathy and give their help to thousands of their fellowmen who have suffered from earthquakes in Italy and Portugal, from massacres in Turkey, and, just as this Bulletin goes to press, from floods in Mexico. In San Francisco the Relief Home and the thousands of little cottages built after the fire are monuments beside the Golden Gate to our Red Cross. Again, in sunny Italy the American Red Cross Orphanage and hundreds of little cottages are witnesses of its zeal and its sympathy. ”

“ Even if it helps you to sell a few articles by using this mark on them, is it worth while bringing the red cross into the domain of commercialism, when so many thousand Americans, men and women, in private and in public life—President Taft as well as the smallest worker in the smallest branch—are trying to make the red cross the emblem of the great Red Cross work all over this country, and of that work only? ”

“ In looking over the summary of receipts it is more than gratifying to note the very generous response which has come to our appeal from the Syrians, or those whom we designate as “natives.” When we consider that out of a total of 564,538 piasters received fully one-third has come from native sources, this fact in itself may be considered a success commensurate with any relief and help which the money itself has brought to the sufferers. It is proverbial that it is difficult to get money from the native. It is a satisfaction to know that he is sympathetic, and that he can and will help. ”

“ Among their officials should be the most honorable and esteemed men. In our century of egotism what an attraction for generous hearts and chivalrous characters to brave the same danger as the soldier, with a voluntary mission of peace and consolation! History proves there is nothing chimerical in counting upon such devotion. Two facts especially confirm this. While the Sisters of Charity cared for the sick and wounded of the French army in the Crimea, the Russian and British armies witnessed the arrival from the north and the west [70] of two legions of noble women nurses. ”

“ Where many men have survived, the common trades of carpentry, masonry, stonecutting, tailoring, and weaving may be reestablished by a sufficient financial backing from relief societies. There is also great need of men to specialize in relief work and administer the large funds required. Missionaries can not rightly give up all their regular work, nor can navy officers nor consuls, but a few American volunteers, such as those sent to southern Italy and Sicily after the earthquake, could do a wonderful amount of good. ”

“ Before entrusting the sale of Christmas stamps to any society, the Red Cross will require satisfactory evidence of the reliability and standing of the society and its ability to creditably carry out the Red Cross purposes in the expenditure of the proceeds from stamp sales.
Every State branch or subdivision and every other society desiring to sell Christmas stamps is required to first submit to the Central Committee a statement of the particular anti-tuberculosis work which it proposes to support or promote with the proceeds from the stamp sales. ”

“ Whether war is eternal or not the function of the Red Cross is to be neutral and to heal. With acquaintance comes understanding. We have our superstitions regarding the Chinese; they have theirs regarding us. Beyond the Pacific the pulse of a mighty nation is quickening, and through the Golden [87] Gate the young Chinese will soon be lured by opportunity to the Flowery Kingdom. Nor will they go as student, tourist or commercial man alone. Slow, indeed, will be the opening of the vast interior. ”