D 629 .U6 fiS 1917 Copy 1 The Work in Europe of the American Red Cross A Report to the American People by The Red Cross War Council American Red Cross WASHINGTON, D. C. The Work in Europe of the American Red Cross Washington^ D. C, September 1, 1917. To THE American People : The policy of the War Council of the American Red Cross is to report frequently to the Ameri- can people concerning the use which is being made of all Eed Cross money. It is important that the American people should know in detail what the Red Cross is doing, why it is doing it, and how it is doing it. That is why the work so far undertaken in Europe is set forth herewith, both as to personnel and per- formance, in considerable detail. The War Council of the American Red Cross, since its appointment on May 10th, appropriated up to and including Aug. 31, the sum of |12,339,- 681.87 for work in Europe, of which |10,692,601 is for use in France. The purposes of the over-seas appropriations may be roughly classified as follows : (1) To do everything possible to assist our Army and Navy in insuring the health and com- fort of American soldiers and sailors abroad, and (2) To relieve destitution and suffering among the armies and needy civilian populations of our allies. The War Fund. In response to the appeal of the President of the United States, the American people during Red Cross Week subscribed upward of |100,00.0,000, in order that the Red Cross might meet the extraord- inary needs this war has developed. Practically this entire sum was subscribed through Red Cross chapters during Red Cross week and up- on the condition that the local chapters might retain, for purposes of military relief to be expended by them, not to exceed 25 per cent, of the total subscribed. In some instances chapters have not felt the need of retaining any part of the sub- scription raised through them. About 150,000,000 of the subscription made dur- ing Red Cross Week has now been paid in. It is at this time impossible to forecast the total amount of the War Fimd which will be available for expenditure by the War Council. The pledging of so large a sum clearly betokened the desire of the American people that the Red Cross should measure up to the extraordinary de- mand upon merciful effort created by this the most tragic of all wars. Behind this contribution of money stand the 3,621,000 members of the American Red Cross. The membership is constantly increasing, about 1,000,000 names having been added to the list dur- ing the last month. These members, organized into 2400 chapters, are not only ready but are actually doing their part in the world-task the American Red Cross has undertaken. Obviously the great work undertaken by the Red Cross could not be accomplished without such sup- port, and while this statement will deal exclusively with the work in Europe and largely with the subject of appropriation of monies the importance of the making and furnishing of supplies by the women of the country must not be regarded as in any sense secondary. In a subsequent statement it is purposed to deal with this important subject. The Red Cross has not yet finally deter- mined its complete program of action, but at all times work which it may be called upon to do for our own Army will have first place in its con- sideration. Just what the Red Cross may be called upon to do for the American Army here and abroad cannot be fully determined until camps and cantonments in this country have been in operation, and more of our Army has arrived in France. The War Council has been impressed with the preparations made by the War and Navy Departments to care for the health and safety of the men composing our armed forces, but the American Red Cross regards it as an obligation to have available at all times a sufficient portion of its funds to enable it to perform any relief or emergency service for our own soldiers and sailors that may be needed. The needs of our Allies. The need for work among the armies and civilians of our allies is so vast that no definite plans can be laid out pending a complete first- hand report, not of the needs — they are without limit — but of what it is practicable for the Red Cross to do. By reason of the unique conditions — so far from home — surrounding American Red Cross effort in this war, and of the importance of all Red Cross work being conducted efficiently, economically and with the best American spirit, the War Council has sent to Europe five sep- arate commissions each composed of representa- tive Americans skilled in business administra- tion, in medical and surgical work, and in other lines of Red Cross effort. By reason of the crucial importance of the work in France, a Red Cross Commission to France was dispatched just as soon as it cou^d be organized after the appointment of the War Council. That commission, which has gen- eral supervision over the American Red Cross work in Europe, is headed by Major Grayson M-P. Murphy, himself a member of the War Council, and is composed of fourteen leading experts in special lines of work. The Commission to France has in a remarkably short period accomplished gratifjdng results. The Commission to Russia has re/?ently ar- rived in Petrograd, and the Commission to Ttnly reached Rome on Aug. 31. Commissions to Roumania and Serbia are now on their wav to those countries, and it is planned to send a comniission to Great Britain also. More Money will be needed. The work and policy of the American Red Cross will be determined and guided by the first- hand inquiries and the considered judgment of these commissions. Details concerning the commissions and the work already under way will be found in this statement; but information already at hand makes it clear that if the generous impulse behind the Red Cross movement in the United States is to find full expression, work for suffering humanity upon a scale beyond precedent or anticipation will have to be undertaken. This will require funds much in excess of those already pledged, and the situa- tion may become so urgent that it will be neces- sary to inaugurate, during the Christmas season, ano'f^her intensive campaign for money. Questions have been raised as to why work of such magnitude and consequence should not be an object of Government instead of private endeavor. The answer is threefold: 1. The Red Cross, as a volunteer organization, offers the one medium through which the volun- teer spirit of the country may exert itself in the war. That volunteer spirit is a very precious asset and it should be guided and directed exclusively as a volunteer effort with enthusiasm, lack of red tape, and unlimited opportunity; 2. Through the Red Cross alone can one half the nation, namely, the women, effectively serve their country in the war emergency; and 3. Some such medium as the Red Cross, un- official and unmarshalled by the machine-like processes of government, is absolutely necessary to mobilize effectively the human, the humane and imaginative qualities necessary in alleviating the suffering so inevitable in war. This world calamity gives to the Eed Cross an opportunity to give expression to the best and most characteristic side of American life, and to do it on a scale called for by the immensity of the sorrow and distress of mankind. I. FRANCE The personnel of the Red Cross Commission in France is as follows : Major Grayson M-P. Murphy, head of Red Cross Commission to France and Red Cross Commissioner to Europe. Senior Vice-President of the Guaranty Trust Co., New York. James H. Perkins, Vice-President of National City Bank, New York. Authority on industrial organization. William Endicott, of Kidder, Peabody & Co., Boston. Overseer of Harvard College. Trus- tee of several Massachusetts hospitals and the Massachusetts School for the Blind. Carl Taylor, of Byrne, Cutcheon & Taylor, New York City. George B. Ford, of New York. Expert in town planning. Ernest McCullough, of Stone & Webster, Boston; an engineer. A. W. Copp, West Point graduate and veteran of Philippine campaign. In charge of U. S. Army Red Cross work. Ernest P. Bicknell, former Director General of Civilian Belief, American Bed Cross. In charge of relief work. Alexander Lambert, professor of Clinical Medicine at Cornell University Medical College, New York. Investigating tuberculosis and medical needs of France. H. 0. Beatty, of California. Former director of War Belief Clearing House. Balph Preston, of New York. Former director of War Belief Clearing House. Homer Folks, of New York. Expert in public relief work and care of destitute and delinquent children. Edward Eyre Hunt, in charge of work in Antwerp for Commission for Belief in Belgium, Later director of Bed Cross Bureau of Publica- tions. Joseph B. Swan, of Kean, Taylor & Co., New York bankers. Infant Welfare Unit Dr. William Palmer Lucas, Professor of Ped- iatrics in the University of California, Director; Dr. J. Morris Slemmons, of the Yale Medical School, an obstetrical, authority, Dn Julius Parker Sedgwick, physiological chemist, Pro- fessor at the University of Minnesota, Dr. John C. Baldwin Specialist in diseases of children. Dr. J. Isaac Durand, Dr. Clain F. Gelston, Dr. Lucas' assistant at the University of California, Dr. N. O. Pearce, Mrs. William P. Lucas, Mrs. J. Morris- 8 Slemmons, Miss Elizabeth. Slemmons, Miss Eliza- beth Ashe, Miss Rosamund Gilder. These women are specialists in child welfare work. Commission for thb Prevention of Tuberculosis (Conducted co-operatively by the Rockefeller Foundation and American Red Cross.) Dr. Livingston Farrand, Chairman, President of University of Colorado. Homer Folks, of New York, formerly Com- missioner of Charities of New York City. Selskar M. Gunn, of Boston. Medical Advisory Committee An advisory committee to direct medical and surgical research in France, under the Red Cross "Commission, has been appointed by Major Murphy. Heading the committee is Dr. Joseph A. Blake, with whom are associated Col. Ireland, of General Pershing's staff. Dr. Livingston Far- rand, a member of the Rockefeller Foundation and President of the University of Colorado ; Dr. Alexander Lambert, Dr. John M. Finney, Profes sor of Clinical Surgery at Johns Hopkins Univer- sity; Drs. Richard Strong and W. B. Cannon, Professors at Harvard University ; Major George W. Crile, head of the Cleveland Base Hospital Unit, and discoverer of a method of eliminating surgical shock which is already reducing mortal- ity: and Dr. Hugh H. Young, Professor at Johns Hopkins University. 9 General Advisory Committee William G. Sharp, American Ambassador to France, James Stillman, Chairaian of Board of Direc- tors, National City Bank of New York City, Edward Tuck, of France. Many other important volunteers, men and women, are now working for the American Red Cross in France. No attempt will be made to give a complete list of personnel in this state- ment. The headquarters of American Red Cross work in Europe is, of course, in France. The personnel of the Commission, as above noted, shows the character and skill which have been enlisted in meeting the Red Cross problems in Europe. In spite of the very brief period of its stay in Paris the Red Cross Commission to France has already worked out a well ordered organiza- tion. It has perfected a complete understand- ing- Tvith French authorities, and Major Murphy has been made a member of General Pershing's staff, thus co-ordinating all American Red Cross effort with that of our Army in France. The Red Cross in France has assumed manage- ment of the War Relief Clearing House. It has taken over, under the control of the United States Army, the administration of the American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly. It has assumed financial responsibility for Dr. J. A. Blake's American Hospital at Paris. It has allied with 10 itself the work of the American Surgical Dress- ings Committee, which distributed in France, in July, 782,949 dressings among 435 hospitals. The effort has been in accordance with the ex- pressed views of the President of the United States and of the civil and military authorities of France to co-ordinate along helpful lines, all relief work being done in France from America. GENERAL POLICIES. Objects sought by work in France. The general lines of activity undertaken in France by the American Red Cross have been determined after a careful survey of the situa- tion by the Red Cross Commission. These pur- poses may be outlined as follows: 1. To establish and maintain hospitals for soldiers in the American Army in France ; 2. To establish and maintain canteens, rest houses, recreation huts and other means of supplying the American soldiers with such com- forts and recreation as the Army authorities may approve; 3. To establish and maintain in France can- teens, rest houses, recreation huts and other mean« of supplying comforts and recreation for the soldiers in the armies of our allies; 4. To distribute hospital equipment and sup- plies of all kinds to military hospitals for sol- diers of the American or allied armies; 11 5. To engage in civilian relief, including: a — The care and education of destitute children ; b — Care of mutilated soldiers; — Care of sick and disabled soldiers; d — Relief work in the devastated areas of France and Belgium, such as furnish- ing to the inhabitants of these districts agricultural implements, household goods, foods, clothing and such tem- porary shelter as will enable them to return to their homes; e — To provide relief for and guard against the increase of tuberculosis. 6. To furnish relief for soldiers and civilians held as prisoners by the enemy, and to give as- sistance to such civilians as are returned to France from time to time from the parts of Belgium and of France held by the enemy; 7. To supply financial assistance to com- mittees, societies or individuals allied with the American Red Cross and carrying on relief work in Europe. The Needs of France. France has suffered beyond description. It will not be possible for the full force of American military effort to be felt in France for many months to come. To assist the French people in their very present distress is, therefore, not only an undertaking of the greatest mercy, but is U also the most effective work which can be done by the American people to strengthen the cour- age and keep vigorous the morale of both the French Army and the French people in this critical period. Every particle of strength and confidence which America can give to the French people while they wait for the coming of the American strong arm is a real contribution, not only toward relief but toward shortening of the war. If the matter be put on no other than a purely practical basis all the assistancQ we can render to France right now, either in caring for her sick and wounded or relieving her destitute people, is a means of reducing the number of Americans who may be killed or wounded in France. Our Army cannot get to France in force im- mediately, but the Red Cross is there, and it is the purpose of the Red Cross to see to it that both the French Army and the French people understand that the heart of the Amer- ican people is behind them, and that the im- pulses of that heart are expressed now in works of real mercy and assistance. Every appropriation which has been made for work in France has been with that thought in mind, and the policy which will be followed will be in the light of that obligation and priv- ilege. 13 MILITARY RELIEF. Work for the American Army. Speaking broadly, the first and supreme object of American Red Cross care is our own Army and Navy. Nothing that we can do to co-operate with the Army and Navy will be left undone. The safety, the health, the comfort of our men who are fighting the country's battles three thou- sand miles from home, will at all times be the prime objects of our attention. The Army will do its full part, but the Red Cross will stand ready to supplement in every possible way the efficient efforts our Army will make. The American Army in France is received in large reception camps on the coast, and after sev- eral weeks of preliminary training the men are sent across the country to permanent training camps back of the firing lines. Because of the overtaxed railroad conditions and the length of the route the transfer often occupies seventy- two hours. Along the route followed by the troops the Red Cross has established infirmaries and rest sta- tions, each in charge of an American trained nurse with an American man to assist her. Each in- firmary contains ten beds, a stock of drugs and other necessities. The seriously sick are cared for at French hospitals in the neighborhood. Daily calls are made upon the American sick in the hospitals by nurse and attendant, who take with them reading matter, tobacco, and other comforts. Additional infirmaries and rest stations will be 14 established in tlie near future, and adequate build- ings are also being erected wJierever needed. When our men reach their French base the Red Cross will continue to act as a friendly agency as opportunity may offer to supplement what the Army itself does to make the men comfortable. Canteens are being established by the Red Cross at railway stations where American soldiers on reserve duty or on leave, and those returning to or from duty, may lind rest and refreslunent. Baths, food, games and other comforts will be made available at these canteens. Nearly four million cigarettes, 20,000 packages of smoking tobacco and 10,000 cuts of chewing tobacco have already been sent to France i-- the use of our men. Red Cross Chapters in America are now working up 1,100,000 pound;' of knitting wool into garments for the use o' soldiers and sailors both in France and in this Country this winter. When American troops start for France, the men are given comfort kits. Each kit contains heavy socks, handkerchiefs, wash-cloth and soap, pencil and writing-paper, a pipe and "the mak- ings", playing cards, a mouth-organ or game, but- tons, pins and other small articles. Christmas par- cels will be sent over later. The Red Cross expects to see to it that no American soldier or sailor is forgotten at Christmas time. Anaesthetics and Surgical Apparatus. In response to an urgent cablegram from Major Murphy, the Red Cross is planning to ship to Europe 100,000 one-half pound tins of ether. 15 The War Council, in addition, has authorized Major Murphy to establish, as soon as practicable, a central plant to manufacture nitrous oxygen, or "laughing gas", one of the most effective and harm- less of anaesthetics for short operations. American machinery will be shipped to France for this purpose, and American operatives will be sent over to conduct the plant. Also, by reason of the shortage of surgical appar- atus, the Red Cross has planned to establish in France a small factory for the repair of surgical apparatus and the manufacture of the more simple instruments. Four men, expert in the repair of orthopedic appliances are to go to France imme- diately and the necessary manufacturing machin- ery will be sent over as soon as it can be obtained. Medical Research in France. The War Council has appropriated $100,000 for medical research work in France. This action followed a report from the Red Cross Commission in France to National Head- quarters as follows: An extraordinary opportunity presents itself here for medical research work. We have serving with various American units some of the ablest doctors and surgeons in the United States. Many of these men are already conducting courses of investigation which if carried to successful conclusions will result in the discovery of treatments and methods of operation which will be of great use not only in this war out, possibly for years afterwards. To carry on their work they need certain special laboratory equipment, and suitable buildings. At present equipment and personnel cannot be ob- 16 tained through ordinary government sources without delay, which makes this source of supply quite im- practicable. Enthusiastic co-operation with the Red Cross in its plans for medical research work in France was pledged by Dr. George W. Crile, of Cleve- land, 0., who headed the first Red Cross unit to reach France; Dr. Lambert, Dr. J. A. Blake and Colonels Ireland and Bradley of General Persh- ing's staff. All recommendations to the Red Cross War" Council covering appropriations or work of a medical, surgical or hospital character are, be- fore being made by the French Commission, submitted to an advisory medical board in France, composed of leading American doctors working with our own forces in that country. Such recommendations are also laid before the Red Cross Medical Advisory Board in this country, of which Dr. Simon Flexner is chair- man. The Red Cross War Council thus has at its disposal in this vital matter the most expert advice obtainable. Hospital Warehouse Service. To be able to do it£ work without delay, the Red Cross is establishing warehouses at differ- ent points of importance in the French theatre of war. An appropriation of $519,000 has been voted to establish this service and provide its first stock of supplies. How to coordinate all the military hospitals maintained by American and other foreign so- 17 cieties and individuals, and to provide them with the supplies and materials they needed at a mini- mum cost, was one of the first problems under- taken by the Red Cross Commission on its ar- rival in Paris. Several warehouses are now being established throughout France as a part of the new Hospital Supply Service. Here drugs, medicines, sur- gical instruments and other supplies will be avail- able for all hospitals in the department in which the warehouse is located. Orders can be filled promptly without even awaiting approval from Paris. As Director of the new Hospital Supply Ser- vice the War Council is sending to France Stan- ley Field, of Marshall Field & Co. of Chicago, Assisting Mr. Field and in charge of the var- ious warehouses, will be business or profes- sional men volunteering their services for the period of the war. Five of these have already been selected and are now on their way to re- port to Major Murphy. These men are: John Woodward of the Curtis Publishing Company, New York City; Todd W. Lewis, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Kennard Windsor, of Boston, Mass.; J. Shelden Tilney of New York, and Russell Armstrong, also of New York. As an operating force for these warehouses, the Red Cross mil recruit in the United States a force of five hun- dred men over military- age. Men of experience in the building of warehouse?; and the handling of stores, will be preferred. What this hospital supply service will mean in increasing the effectiveness of many of the war 18 hospitals in France is shown in a message re- ceived from Dr. Harvey Gushing, of Boston, now a Major in the United States Army and in com- mand of Red Cross Base Hospital No. 5, which is- in use behind the British lines in France. Major Gushing wrote in part: I cannot tell you how cheered I was when I found how well organized the Red Cross was in Paris and what a great start you had made. 'When an American officer could actually walk into the warehouse you had taken over and And Squibbs and Mallinckrodt's ether, bathrobes, adhesive plaster, aspirin, surgical instruments, kerosene lamps, canvas aprons, as- pirating needles and many other things which our camps happen to need, I for the first time began to realize what the Red Cross might be able to do for waifs like ourselves over here. Since we are almost the first people to come, there was no reason for us to expect that we should find you so well prepared and equipped at the present stage of our participation in the war. It all goes to show what an enormously important part the Red Cross will undoubtedly come to play as more people come over and our affairs overseas get more and more complicated. Unquestionably countless emergencies will arise and •udden calls such as ours will be made for odd and diverse things ; and I hope that we may see huge storr- houscs established under you where those in need can jS:et the supplies which are absolutely essential to their work — whether it be an automobile or a hypodermic needle. Certainly the people at home will subscribe with their accustomed liberality to an organization of this kind and you will do as much toward winning the war as the men who carry the rifles. roodstufTs for the Sick and Needy. In response to a cable from the Commission in France, the War Council appropriated $1,- 19 500,000 to purchase food stuff to be sent to France. The cable was as follows: We hope you will use all transportation you can pos- sibly secure to ship to us the following supplies. We must begin to prepare for the coming hard winter, and you cannot possibly send us more than we need of the following list, except where definite amounts are speci- fied: Twenty 4-ton motor trucks ; 50,000 yards of flannel ; condensed milk ; flour ; dried preserved vegetables ; corned beef; rice; beans; canned beef; preserved fruits ; sugar ; heavy shoes ; blankets ; knitting wool ; heavy white cotton sheeting. The foodstuffs purchased will be used particular ly for the relief of sick, wounded and starv- ing people. They will be carefully stored in France so as to be ready for any emergency which may confront either our own soldiers nv^ sailors in France or the French population itself. Through the courtesy of Mr. Herbert Hoover and Mr. W. L. Honnold, of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, these foodstuffs^ were bought through the very efficient purchasing organiza- tion of that commission. The Commission for Kelief in Belgium very Idndly offered to do this work for the Bed Cross at a merely nominal Hiargp for overhead expenses. Supplies Purchased In France. The War Council has also appropriated $1,- 000,000. for the purchase of supplies in France, all for use in the hospital supply service. In reference to the items to be purchased in France, Major Murphy advised as follows: 2« We have opportunities to purchase locally splendid stock of blankets, hospital clothing of all kinds and oth?r hospital supplies absolutely necessary, after thorough in- vestigation and study of situation. We have also located supplies of preserved food- stuffs, exactly suited to our needs, and we expect to be called on immediately to undertake certain temporary relief work in devastated regions, probably in accord- ance with plans worked out to meet the views of Gen- eral Pershing and the French Army. Our transportation problem is tremendous, and we must be in a position to prepare for it promptly. By buying here, we get immediate delivery and avoid trans- portation difficulties. We also place ourselves in a posi- tion where we can very largely take care of emergen- cies, not only for France but for our own Army. We are working as an absolute unit with the chief medical officers of our own Army here, and they desire us to accumulate a reasonable reservoir of supplies on which they can draw in case of emergency. Certain immediate purchases are necessary in order to avoid loss of material. It is absolutely necessary for us to take a position where we can properly care for our own troops. Tobacco for the Troops. The Eed Cross recently received the follow- ing cablegram from its Commission to France: Please arrange to ship ten tons tobacco earliest date; 60 per cent, cigarette mixture ; 20 per cent, pipe tobacco ; 20 per cent, chewing tobacco. For use of troops. No suitable tobacco obtainable here. Supply American to- bacco exhausted. Y. M. C. A. shipment lost. Prompt shipment important. The War Council, therefore, availed itself of a very generous offer of the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co., and the Lorillard Company to donate for the use of American troops abroad 3,000,000 21 cigarettes, 20,000 packages of smoking tobacco and 10,000 ten-cent cuts of chewing tobacco. A large consignment of tobacco was accord- ingly forwarded immediately. The French Go- vernment having arranged to admit free of duty all articles consigned to American troops, chocolate, tobacco, cigarettes, games, playing cards and other ''comforts" are permitted fre« entry. Red Cross Transportation Service. Fundamental to all Ked Cross and all other American activities in France, and indeed in all Europe, is the problem of transportation. Mater- ials must be gotten across the Atlantic, they must reach the place in the interior where they are needed. A Red Cross transportation service has accord- ingly been established to handle the vast quantities of medical and relief supplies now being shipped almost daily to France, Belgium, Serbia, Russia and other belligerent countries. This new branch of Red Cross activities was made possible through the cooperation of the French, British and Italian governments, the United States Shipping Board and the leading steamship and railroad corai\anies. President Wilson has taken a personal interest in the es- tablishment of this service. His aid and that of Chairman Edward N. Hurley, of the Shipping Board, formerly a member of the Red Cross War Council, have been invaluable to its success. 22 Practically all the cargo space needed for the shipment of Red Cross supplies abroad has now been placed at the disposal of the War Council. Much of it has been given free bj the steamship companies and the allied governments. This will be used only for supplies most urgently needed abroad. The Red Cross will have cargo space on every steamer chartered by the United States Shipping Board. Army transports also will carry Red Cross supplies. Practically every line has made reductions in its passenger rates for Red Cross nurses and representatives traveling in Europe. In making its o^ean shipping arrangements, it will be the policy of the Red Cross to distribute shipments among as many steamers as possible. By using all available lines losses at sea, if sus- tained, will not seriously interrupt th^ Red Cross work of mercy. Motor Transport Service. Materials can be conveyed across the At- lantic in transports, but upon arrival at the French port the vitally necessary step is to get them where they are needed in the quickest possible time. The French railroads are overtaxed, and their facilities must be available for the military needs of the Army. The Red Cross has accord- ingly determined to develop its own motor trans- port service. This has called for an original investment of considerable size, but it was fun- damentally necessary and will make it possible 23 for Eed Cross service to be flexible and elastic to an immensly important degree. The first unit of trucks has been forwarded. The unit now being forwarded will be com- pletely equipped and manned, ready for im- mediate service. Fifty experienced men — includ- ing drivers, mechanics, body-builders, painters and other craftsmen — will be inclucJed in the per- sonnel. Practically all of these men will receive special training in their respective tasks and will be given sufficient military instruction to meet the requirements of service with the fighting forces in Europe. Canteens and Rest Stations. The War Council has been trying to find out just what the Red Cross could do to hearteD the French army and to give to French soldiers a concrete token of American co-operation. When the question was put to French army offi- cers, they said: ''Give us canteens and rest stations." The poilus come out of the trenches, to go home on leave, mud-stained, and reeking with vermin. In that condition they are marched to the nearest railroad stop where, perhaps, they find a little station with scanty accommodations for a dozen passengers. At each of these places the Red Cross is establishing shower-baths, laundries, and mending and disinfecting rooms. Then there will be rest- 24 rooms, with books, writing materials and games. Some of the stations will have dormitories and lunch rooms. The soldier on his way home will thus be in a very different frame of mind from what he would have been otherwise and it will be a source of help and encouragement that this i •■ ticular form of assistance is rendered by Amer- icans. Canteens in the Field. Near the firing line the Red Cross is establish- ing field canteens. Extending the work already begun by the French Red Cross, it will provide one of these canteens for every corps of the French Army and as well as later for the Ameri- can Army. Such canteens are placed in or near the second line, and the refreshing drinks are carried riol.t into the front trenches. Each station can keep about 125 gallons of hot drinks at the boiling point. Four thousand portions — coffee, tea, cocoa, bouillon, lemonade, mint — are sometimes served from one canteen in a single day. Here, too, American workers will be found. The ''convoyer" in charge of the canteen will be a Red Cross man, with French soldiers to help him. Many of the poilus will get their first glimpse of the American uniform in this way. To carry out these plans the War Council has made appropriations of about $700,000 which 25 will establish the canteens and maintain them for about three months. Much of the equipment will be supplied by the French Army. In recommending the foregoing appropriation, Major Murphy sent the following cablegram to the War Council: Great assistance can be given the French Army by co-operating in the organization of canteens, resting and sleeping quarters for men passing to and from the front. At points where trains must be changed, ordinary station facilities are absolutely inadequate and men re- turning tired and dirty from trenches wait many lonj hours and often over night for train connections and sleep on exposed platforms and in all available comeri. Buffets are v^^anted beyond any possible capacity. These men averaging several thousand at each station daily should be provided with proper hot food at low prices, proper sleeping and reading rooms and given facilities for vs^ashing and disinfection from disease-car- rying trench vermin which otherwise would be brought into homes while men returning to the front would be given additional stimulus and enthusiasm through such special attention on the part of American women, all of which tends to develop better morale as well as physique Work can be and should be started immediately to provide against particular hardships of winter month*. Remember that the diseases brought from the trenches to the homes constitute a grave menace, al«o that long journeys in an exhausted condition deprive men of necessary power of resistance. We believe no work more immediately important ti safeguard the homes and the soldiers and to convince the country at large that we are working witli them, amd earnestly recommend an appropriation for the pui-pose. The entire plan will be carried out in accordance with the views of General Pershing and the Frendi Army. We are working in close touch with the Young Men's Christian Association, who are entirely in accord with our undertaking this work in certain definite districts. 26 The work will be handled at first by American women already in France. We will advise you as we need additional women, but we will organize them here. Base Hospitals. Shortly after the beginuing of the war in Europe, the American Red Cross began to pre- pare for the call that has since been made upon it. Colonel Jefferson R. Kean, of the United States Medical Corps, was detailed to Ked Cross Cross service as Director-General of Military Re- lief. He proceeded at once to organize base hos- pital units in connection with medical centers like the Presbyterian, Mount Sinai, Believue and Post-Graduate Hospitals in New York; the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore; the Lake- side Hospital in Cleveland, and others in St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere. Each of these base hospitals has a staff of 22 physicians, two dentists, 65 Red Cross nurses and 150 enlisted men of the Army Medical Corps. Before war was declared, twenty-six of these units had been formed, while the total number of units ready for service is now 47. Through the American Red Cross and private donations each unit purchased equipment for five hundred beds and stored it away for use in war time. It costs at an average of $75,000 to equip a base hospital with beds, blankets, sterilizers, op- erating-tables, tents, dental outfits, automobiles and kitchens. 27 In advance of the fighting forces the United States sent to the European battlefields six base hospitals — organized during the last year by the Eed Cross — the first United States Army organ- ization sent to Europe. These were sent at the request of the British Commission. More than a dozen base hospitals organized b\ the American Eed Cross are now seeing active ser- vice in France, and others are rapidly being made ready for foreign service. New Uniforms for Americain Nurses. On account of the limited laundry facilities in France, it has been decided that Red Cross nurses with base hospitals and other military hospitals in France shall wear gray uniforms instead of the usual white. The War Council has appropriated sufficient funds to supply the American nurses now in service abroad with the new uniforms. # * * The whole Red Cross campaign in France is being carried through in close co-operation with General Pershing. The Red Cross is in perfect accord with the medical officers on his staff, and nothing which we can possibly forsee to save the soldiers of our army from suffering or hardship will be left uncovered. CIVILIAN RELCEF. Prevention of Tuberculosis. Nothing is so vital in France as to free the coun- try so far as possible from tuberculosis. It is esti- 28 mated that some 500,000 persons are afflicted with the disease as the direct result of the war. Scien- tific efforts to control the spread of the malady are not only of supreme concern to France herself, but they are of great importance in making France healthy for our own troops. The Red Cross is accordingly co-operating with the Rockefeller Foundation in financing a commis- sion for the prevention of tuberculosis, the Rocke- feller Foundation paying administrative expenses. The commission sent to France is headed by Dr. Livingston Farrand, President of the Uni- versity of Colorado, and formerly President of the National Association for the Study and Pre- vention of Tuberculosis. The sending of the commission was preceded by a very careful sur- vey of the situation by Dr. Herman M. Biggs, of New York City, formerly Health Commissioner of New York State. The work is beginning on a modest scale, the service to be extended as opportunity may offer and results justify. All work is being done under the general administration of the French Government, and by French people. The administration of the work is centered in Paris, in co-operation with the Central Committee for the Aid of Tubercular Soldiers. The central administration will conduct an intensive education- al work by means of four mobile educational units. These educational units are establishing local anti- tuberculosis dispensaries. Four training centers for educating workers to man these dispensaries are being established and maintained; one in Paris, one in Bordeaux, one in Lyons and one in Marseilles. It is ex- 29 pected that ultimately France will have between 300 and 400 anti-tubercular dispensaries, and upon them will fall the burden of controlling tuberculosis in France. They will be maintained largely by local funds. In connection with each of the dispensarip.s provided three factors will be needed, which it is proposed the Red Cross shall provide, except in so far as they may be provided by French public authorities, organizations or citizens, viz: (a) Special home relief for destitute families in which there is a case of tuberculosis, this relief being of such nature and amount as the sanitary conditions require ; (b) A hospital to which moderate and advanced cases, whose home conditions are such that they cannot remain at home without being a menace to their fam- ilies may be sent. It is not expected that these pa- tients will recover, though they may improve, and the primary object of the hospital is not the cure, but the safeguarding of the health of other members of the family by removing the tuberculosis patients. (c) Special provision for the care of children who have already been intimately exposed to a serious case of tuberculosis. This provision may either be institu- tional, with a special "regime" and special feeding in the nature of a preventorium; or it may be the estab- lishment of a special "regime" with medical and nurs- ing supervision and special food in the homes of the children. A Tuberculosis Sanitarium. In addition to the foregoing, the Red Cross Commission in France has just advised that it had arranged, on the invitation of the sanitary 80 service of the French Army, to proceed at once to complete the unfinished building of the tuber- culosis sanitorium at Bligny, some twenty miles from Paris. This admirable institution, which is in many respects a model, was occupying about one-half of its proposed plant when the war broke out. A large building, intended to accom- modate two hundred patients, was about eighty per cent, completed. The walls, floors and roof were completed, doors and windows in place, but heating, lighting and plumbing were lacking. All work was discontinued on the opening day of the war, and everything has remained to the present day just as it was left. It is estimated that even at present prices the building can be completed at a cost of 180,000 francs ($36,000.) and made ready for use before winter. On the invitation of the Army authorises and with the approval of the Sanatorium Association, the American Red Crof^s will accordingly proceed to complete the building. It will be used by the military authorities during the war, and will then revert to the Sanatorium Association. ReBlef of Sick and Wounded. The American Red Cross has appropriated $1,000,000 for the relief of sick and wounded French soldiers and their families. A portion of this amount will be used for the aid of such sick and wounded soldiers in the French Army as may be considered in special need by the French commftnding generals. The relief to the families of sick and wounded 31 soldiers is to be handled through the agency of the Conseils Generaux, non-political bodies com- posed of representative citizens, meeting in each Department of France -with, the purpose of con- sidering the physical needs of their various dis- tricts. This form of distribution has been recom- mended by the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs as the best possible means of effectively aiding the largest possible number of needy families. An Infant Welfare Unit. Before the war the birthrate and deathrate ii^ France were so nearly equal that publicists voiced their concern over the future of the national life. Last year, however, with the deathrate probably over 20 per 1000, not counting deaths of men in military service, the birthrate was ofScially estimated at only 8 per 1000. In New York State the birthrate is 23 or 24 per 1000, th^ deathrate about 14 per 1000. The total deaths in France in 1916 were about 1 ,100,000. Births numbered only 312,000. The net loss in population was 788,000, or nearly two per cent, of the whole. In Paris, where 48,917 babies were born in the year ending August 1. 1914, only 26,179 were born in the second year of the war ending August 1, 1916. There is urgent need for effective work among children, Major Murphy cabled. He reported that there was also special need for doctors and nurses for work with mothers and children. The Red Cross accordingly organized and sent to France an infant welfare unit. SS These specialists are surveying the situation and studying the work already being done by the French. They are practicing among the people without receiving compensation from patients. The task before the Red Cross, which is being carried on by this unit and will be by succeeding units, is not only to co-operate with French specialists but also to conduct a general educa- tional campaign among French mothers in the interest of better prenatal hygiene and scientific feeding and care of the babies. Special efforts will be made to protect children from tubercular infection. Special Relief for Children. As an example of the activities of the Amer- ican Red Cross in behalf of the civil population of France, the War Council has received the following report from the Commission in France : We have established a temporary childrens' shelter at Toul, a city in a section of the war zone recently bombarded by the enemy. Gas bombs were being used by the Germans and' the inhabitants of the nearby villages were obUged to wear face masks to escape asphyxiation. This mode of protection, however, is not feasible for children, and it was found necessary to send the children away at once. The prefect of the Department telegraphed to a worker in Paris that 750 children had been suddenly thrust upon his hands and that he needed immediate assistance. ' The next day eight workers left the Red Cross head- quarters, a doctor, an experienced nurse, two auxiliary nurses, a bacteriologist, an administrative director and 33 two women to take charge of the bedding, clothing, food, etc. They found tliat 2i of tht children were infants under one year and the remainder were under eight years. They were herded together in an old barracks, dirty, practically unfurnished and with no sanitary ap- pliances. Sick children were crowded in with the well, and skin disease and vermin abounded. Within two days the children had been thoroughly cleaned and transferred to a new and clean barracks. Medical care had been given and nurses secured for the babies, suitable food provided and a classification of all the refugees made to prevent the separation of members of the same family. The organization of an institution for the care of these children has been worked out. The French Government has provided a new brick barracks of ten buildings, situated on a hillside a mile from Toul, and will furnish coal, water, light, rough labor, beds and bedding, rations and transportation of supplies. The Red Cross is to direct the work of supplying doctors, nurses and administrative officers, and of in- stalling sanitary apparatus. Twelve shower baths have already been set up. SuppHes are being provided for recreation, education and the vocational training of children. It is expected that four or five hundred more chil- dren will come in the near future, and the Red Cross is planning to increase its staff to care for this number. The children will be kept here as long as conditions remain such that they cannot return to their homes. Relief for Refugees. A peculiar call for relief in France is on be- half of French refugees. The people come from the regions devastated by the German army, having either fled on the original ap- proach of the invader, having been driven out by the German army before the evacuation, or having been sent back into Germany and forced 34 out over the Swiss and French frontiers. The number of destitute refugees in France, in March 1917, was stated by the Ministry of the Interior to be 400,000, but there is reason to think that the number is much larger. The position of refugees is becoming more difficult as the cost of food rises. Their housing condi- tions are also bad in many instances, especially in the cities. The relief agencies report that in the cities an entire family often resides in a single room. When persons live under these conditions of bad housing and malnutrition, disease is sure to take hold and increase. Repatriated Frenchmen from the occupied re- gions of France are now beiug brought to France via Switzerland at an average of about a thousand a day. At Evian they are examined and those who are ill are put into hospitals, whence they are dis- patched, either to a relative or to the town or vil- lage on which they are billeted. Large numbers come to Paris. They arrive from Germany in most cases insufficiently clad and in very bad physical and mental condition. The German Government has always been care- ful to keep as secret as possible its intention to return civilians. On more than ^ne occasion as many as a thousand refugees have come over the frontier without notice. The effort of the Red Cross is to endeavor to separate the large num- ber showing evidences of tuberculosis infection from the others, and to have them placed in special hospitals. Arrangements are being made by the Red Cross to furnish in Eviaji and the neighborhood an am- S5 balance servke in connection with the hospitals and rest houses for the reception of these "repa- tries." A large number of these refugees require further assistance. The agencies from which they are al- ready receiving aid are not in a position to increase the amount of relief given. The American Red Cross, therefore, plans to be able to take care temporarily of these returning populations, and have facilities available tem- porarily to aid in clothing, feeding and housing any number from five thousand to a hundred thousand. Relief of Sick and Disabled Soldiers. The sick and disabled men discharged from the Army on account of wounds or physical disabilities are divided into two classes: 1. (Mutiles.) Those discharged or account of wounds (this class receives a pension) ; 2. (Reformes.) Those discharged on account of physical disabilities (this class receives no pension). The number of class 2 was stated, in April, 1917, to be 300,000. Probably the majority of class 2 are tubercular. Dr. Biggs estimates the number of tubercular ''reformes" at 150,000. Many of the "reformes" who are not tubercular are so broken in health that their earning power is slight. When they are discharged from the Army, separation allowance to their wives and children ceases. The family needs assistance until the man recovers and finds employment, or if un- employable, they may require relief indefinitely. 36 The uniforms of many of these discharged men are taken from them soon after their discharge, and they have no money with which to buy clothes. The work which the Ked Cross has undertaken will comprise giving temporary relief to the man immediately after their discharge from the Army, and more permanent relief to the tubercular and unemployable. For the tubercular, special provi- sion must be made, and in some cases, hospital care must be secured. The Re-education of "Wlutiles". The re-education of mutilated soldiers is being carried on partly by the Government and partly by private organizations supported by voluntary contributions. There are between 50 and 60 schools for this work but many of them are small. There are a few, large and important, which are believed to be doin^ excellent work and which could extend their work and improve it if a rea- sonable amount of additional money were pro- vided. The American Red Cross is, at the present time, as an experiment, providing about 15 ''mutiles" per week with artificial limbs. This means that in 12 weeks, a total of 180 persons will have been supplied. The average cost of an artifical limb is about $80. The Red Cross has also undertaken to aid in establishing homes for a small number of blind soldiers, who have been re-educated and are to earn their living henceforth. 37 The Relief of Families. It is not the policy of the Eed Cross to re- build the villages of France, but it is our hope to be able to give a new start in life to a large number of persons who have been left destitute by the ravages of the German army. These populations, suffering from many forms of discouragement, the chief of which is separation from their homes and families, are largely idle. Many of them are too old to adapt themselves to new conditions and can be serviceable only in the districts from which they came. From the purely economic consideration of making it possible for this excess of people to recommence their usual labor and to regain the self esteem that results from self support the necessity of providing some form of habita- tion in which to work cannot be exaggerated. To aid them get started in life again is surely an effort which must appeal to everyone. The Red Cross has accordingly appropriated $403,090 for a provisional experiment in this direction, the plans for the experiment having been worked out in France by Mr. Homer Folks, one of the most competent of living authorities on the relief of dependents. The plan undertaken is to reconstitute 60 families in each of four villages. Each family is to consist of five persons, including in some cases persons not actually members of the family. There will be a total of 300 persons per village and of 1,200 persons for the entire enterprise. The Red Cross hopes and expects to do no 38 more than to help these stricken people help themselves. But it does expect that its effort in that direction will be a source of aid and encouragement to a great many beyond those immediately affected. In reference to these efforts at rehabilitation; the Red Cross Commission to France has just reported as follows: Our feeling is here that we should aim to give the dweller in the devastated regions a shelter which will keep out wind and weather for two or three years, during which period he will have time to get on his feet and do his own permanent reconstruction work. However, owing to the location of materials and th« transportation situation, we may often find that we can at less cost do concrete construction work or brick work than wood work, and under these circum- stances we should do that kind of construction which is cheapest. We plan, for instance, to establish at various points in the devastated regions, brick yards. Through these yards Ave can supply bricks for con- struction purposes at a much cheaper cost and much more rapidlv than we could furnish lumber for con- tractors' shacks. In every case our governing prin- ciple Avill be to spend the least possible money in the least possible time in providing a dwelling for a given individual family. I may add that I am very hopeful that we can put a great many people under shelter simplv by renairing those houses which have merely shell holes in the roofs and in the walls. In many cases the beams which unite the top walls have been cut away by the Germans, so that the tendency of the roofs is to thrust the walls apart, bu^ I believe we can tie the walls together with steel or wire from the wire entans'lements and military Avorks in the neighborhood of the devastated villages. T believe that with great speed and with very small expense Ave can make livable a substantial number of housles in the course of the next few months. Co-operation with tlie Friends' Society. In this work of rehabilitation the Red Cross has established a plan of co-operation with the Friends both from the United States as well as from England. The American Friends' National Service Com- mittee as a preparatory step to the practical service it has organized, is training the Ameri- can Friends' Reconstruction Unit of one hun- dred men at Haverford, Pennsylvania. This unit was put in training about the middle of July, under a corps of practical instructors, including six native French teachers. The train- ing includes instruction in the mending of roads, the building of portable houses, first aid, the operation of automobiles, bricklaying and car- pentry, the French language, and in every foriv of relief work. Scarcely had the instruction begun when a cablegram was received from Major Murphy in Paris requesting the immediate dispatch of the Haverford unit for urgent standardization work in France. Accordingly, the hundred trained workers plan to leave early in September. Their work will be altogether with the civil population in the de- vastated area. Entrance into the zone for this work is by special permission of the French government. The members of the unit will wear the Red Cross uniform. With the unit will go large supplies of equipment, including tractors, road-bnilding machinery, trucks, motor cars anrl motorcycles, portable houses, agricultural ma- chinery, and three months' food supplies. 40 In addition to this American effort, the follow- ing cablegram dated Aug. 28 from Major Murphy- speaks for itself. The American Red Cross and the English Friends Relief Committee for the Victims of the War estab- lished on Saturday last an effective basis of active co- operation. The English Friends have 150 workers in France and an American unit of 100 is about to sail, and is likely to be followed later by an addition of 150. The work done by the English Friends has been carefully looked into by the American Red Cross. It deals with the care of refugees from the war area and with reconstruction and rehabilitation in the devastated areas. It has been supported by gifts from friends in England and America. The American Red Cross is so impressed by the spirit and efficiency of the work that it has made an appro- priation of francs 533,000 ($106,600) for necessary plant and equipment for the immediate extension of the work, including an addition to the furniture fund, en- larging the Maternity Hospital, establishing a new refuge for children, a new work-shop and construction camp for making temporary houses, building materials for 100 temporary houses, agricultural machinery, in- cluding thrashing machines and a stock of smaller agricultural implements and tools for distribution. With this added plant and equipment, the additional workers from America will be fully utilized and the de- mands upon the Friends in both England and America for even larger gifts for maintenance of the work wiJl be increased. The Friends who are enlisted in this work are conscientious objectors to war, but they will be a powerful factor in remedying the evils of war. 41 SUMMARY Detail of Appropriations in France. The work described above, as well as all other activities of the Red Cross in France are covered in the complete list set forth below ■ appropriations made by the War Council for work in that country. The total amount of such appropriations up to Aug. 31. 1917, was 110,692,601. The detail of tho appropriations follows: Appropriations for Military Work in France Budget to cover period until Nov. 1, 1917; prepared by J. H. Perkins, Directors of Depart- ment of Military Affairs, Red Cross Commis- sion in France : Work in connection with the United States Army, such as equipment and operation of rest stations and infirmaries, enlisted men's clubs, a portable hospital and base hospitals $220,575.0C Divided as follows : Rest stations and infirmaries $134,940 Enlisted men's clubs 4,325 Base hospitals „ 73,525 Portable hospital 7,785 American Red Cross Hospital supply service 519,000.00 Equipmf^nt and operation of diet kitchens in French hospitals 2,162.50 American Eed Cross surgical dressings service 17,300.00 42 (This provides for that branch of Red Cross work formerly conducted by the Surgical Dressings Committee and which is now allied to the Red Cross organization.) Canteens at the front 50,689.00 (This work includes co-operation with French Red Cross in operating canteens for French soldiers at the front.) Canteens at other important points 519,000.00 (This provides an amount estimated as sufficient to equip and to operate for three months, eleven canteens for the French Army at various points behind the lines.) Work with permissionnaires at stations 43,250.00 (This provides for all expenses con- nected with canteen and other relief work for French soldiers at railway stations in and about Paris.) Hospitals other than above mentioned 216,250.00 (This provides the expenses of equip- ping, maintaining or contributing to sev- eral hospitals, such as the American Red Cross Hospital, now under the charge of Dr. Blake; Mrs. Trcnor L. Parks' Hos- pital at Annel near Compiegne; Dr. Ralph R. Fitch's Hospital at Evcreux, and new Red Cross Medical Hospital to be established for the care of nurses and ambulance workers and Red Cross personnel suffering from any non- surgical illnesses. This item also in- cludes the equipment and operation of a laundry to be operated for the benefit of hospitals in which the Red Cross is interesled.) American Red Cross Motors, Ambulance Service V 103,800.00 (This covers equipment and operation of the American Red Cross sanitary sections, sometimes called the Norton- Harj€s Ambulance Service.) 43 Administration expenses of the Depart- ment at headquarters 37,973.50 Prisoners, casualty and information Ser- vice 43,250.00 Total $1,773,250.00 II Depaetment of CrvtLiAN Relief in France The Budget prepared by Homer Folks, Dir- ector of the Red Cross Department of Civil Affairs in France, up to Nov. 1, 1917, is as follows : Provisonal reconstruction and rehabilita- tion of four villages in devastated areas $403,090.00 Care and prevention of tuberculosis 523,152,00 Clothing, bedding, garden implements, live stock for small farms, cooking utensils for practically destitute in devastated areas; this estimate based on unit of 10,000 children, 5,000 women and 2,000 men 432,500.00 Artificial limbs for mutilated soldiers, relief of the blind, &c 25,085.00 Assistance of orphans, destitute and neg- lected children, promotion and carrying on of agencies for prevention of infant mortality _ 173,000.00 Aid of refugees throughout France 259,500.00 A.c.sistance of repatriated as received through Switzerland or elsewhere, par- ticularly their temporary care, classifi- cation, diagnosis and distribution 129,750.00 Clothing, employment, transportation and home relief of reformes, medical ex- amination, supervision and special relief for tuberculosis reformes 129,750.00 44 Supplementary work in re-education of mutilated at 59 centers throughout France 5 1 ,900.00 Work of American organizations for civil relief _ 51,900.00 General administration of the Depart- ment 10,726.00 Total $2,190,353.00 III DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION IN PARIS The Budget prepared by Carl Taylor, Director of Administration, up to Nov. 1, 1917, is as follows : Salaries in Directors' offices $ 1,040 Bureau of Accounts 15,080 Bureau of Purchases _ 5,190 Bureau of Stores and Warehouses 34,690 General expenses 54,185 Insurance 2,475 Secretary's office - 1,975 Unclassified personnel _ 1,065 Total _ $115,700 IV Planning Department. The Budget prepared by Geo. B. Ford, Direc- tor, up to Nov. 1, 1917, is as follows : Salaries - - - $2,440 Supplies 775 Traveling expenses - 675 Total $3,890 45 V Additional Appkopriations. In addition to the foregoing appropriations covering departmental work for the next few months, the following appropriations have also been made: Purchased in France : Hospital Supplies 500,000 Foodstuffs 250,000 Building Material and other Require- ments in Devastated Regions 150,000 Transportation Supplies 100,000 Material, Sheeting, Shoes, and for Ware- house service in France 235,000 Foodstuffs 1,500,000 Tobacco 8,700 Ether 23,000 Red Cross Transportation Service : For investment in France 562,900 10 Motor trucks 28,925 10 Motor trucks _ 47,833 Operating Expenses, trucks, &c 172,700 Other Appropriations: Material for use in buildings, Machin- ery, &c 93,000 Relief of Sick and wounded French soldiers and families 1,000,000 Medical Research 100,000 Pediatric (Infant welfare) Unit 18,350 American Ambulance Hospital Ex- penses: 400,000 Nitrous Oxide Plant 35,000 Blankets 820,000 General and Contingent Relief Funds 520,000 Id Relief of Nurses: Commutation to Nurses- abroad 15,000 Grey Uniforms for Nurses 14,000 Re-outfitting Nurses 15,000 Total $10,692,601 Before appropriations are recommended by the French Commission they are carefully pre- pared by the director of the particular depart- ment concerned. They are then considered by a Finance Committee, consisting of Major Mur- phy, Chairman, J. H. Perkins, H. H. Harjes, H. 0. Beatty, Carl Taylor, Homer Folks, William Endioott and Ralph Preston. Three of this com- mittee constitute a quorum, and every appropria- tion reported must receive the consent of all present. In addition, tlie French Commission has the general assistance of an advisory council con- sisting of Hon William G. Sharp, American Am- bassador to France, James Stillman, Edward Tuck. The two latter have been long resident in France and are familiar with French conditions. After appropriations are made, the money is expended with great care. A thorough account- ing (system has been installed in France, and the whole administration there is economically and carefully conducted. Every detail of the work done in France will sooner or later be accounted for to the American people. By reason of the magnitude of the work being done and the importance of quick action, most of the reports, directions and advices must be made by cable. To facilitate the work of the 4T French conunission, the French government has arranged that all cables from Paris shall be given free transmission. Through the generosity of the Western Union TelegrajDh Company, a very large amoimt of free cable service is given from this side, thus greatly facilitating the close co- operation on an economical basis of the War Council and the Red Cross Commission in France. It ought to be added that most of those in charge, for the Red Cross, of the work in France are giving their own time and paying their own expenses. A special fund of $100,000. has also been privately contributed to meet expenses of members of the Fren-ch Commission unable to pay their own way. The rent of quarters in Paris is paid for the current year by Ralph Preston, as a contribution to the Red Cross. The actual charge upon Red Cross funds for administration is accord- ingly very small. 18 n. RUSSIA. As an initital step in carrying out its declared purpose "to do something immediately to heart- en afflicted Russia," the War Council dispatched to Russia the American Red Cross Commission. The commission carried with it three car loads of medical supplies and surgical instru- ments with which to meet most urgent needs. These are to be distributed to hospitals, institu- tions and Red Cross organizations in Russia. The commission is composed of twelve eminent experts in problems of medicine, public health, bus- iness and social service. The primary purpose of the commission will be not alone to render such im- mediate aid as it may, but to ascertain along the broadest possible lines in what manner the Ameri- can Red Cross can extend most effective relief to the wounded soldiers and the needy and suffering civilian population of Russia. The commission is headed by Dr. Frank Bil- ling, of Chicago, and Mr. William B. Thompson, of New York. As advisers in solving the problems of sanita- tion, public health and social service, the pom- 49 mission has the expert assistance of Raymond Robins, of Chicago; Dr. J. D. McCarthy, Pro- fessor of Public Health of the University of Pennsylvania; and Dr. George C. Whipple, Professor of Sanitary Engineering of Harvard University. To deal with general medical problems, the commission has the services of its chairman and Professor William S. Thayer, of Johns Hopkins University; Professor E. A. Winslow, of Yale University; and Dr. Wilbur E. Post, of Chicago. In its studies how best to assist Russia in providing adequate food supplies for its civilian population, as well as for convalescent soldiers and prisoners, the commission will have the assistance of Harold H. Smft, of the packing firm of Swift and Company, of Chicago; and Professor Henry C. Sherman, of Columbia University. In co-operation with the American Railroad Commission already in Russia, the Red Cross Commission will study the problems of transpor- tation, especially with reference to making sure that shipment of relief supplies may reach destination without delay. For this special work the Commission has as one of its members Henry J. Horn, formerly vice-president of the New Haven Railroad. In addition to the foregoing, the members of the Commission are J. W. Andrews, Thomas Thacher, and Dr. Orrin Weightman. Accompanying the Commission as inspectors and attaches, are the following: R. I. Barr, Norton C. Travis, William Cochran, William C. 50 Nicholson, Cornelius Kellcher, Malcolm Tirnic Allen War dwell, and Major Malcolm Grow, U. S. A. The traveling expenses and salaries of the Eus- sian Commission are being very generously borne by Mr. William B. Thompson, himself a member of the Commission. A large number of the members of this, as well as other com- missions, pay their own expenses, as well as give their time free. Just after the United States entered the war and before the Red Cross Commission started to Russia, the American Red Cross forwarded drugs valued at $6,500 to the Russian Red Cross. The Red Cross Commission to Russia was au- thorized to expend $116,280.87 for immediate needs. The Commission accordingly carried with it from the United States among other supplies, over 50 microscopes and 45,000 slides; 4600 clin- ical therometers; 288 operating knives, 23,000 lengths of catgut, 1,700 ice caps,. 175,000 mor- phine sulphate tablets, and 200,000 antiseptic tablets. Russia has had great difficulty in securing enough hospital equipment and supplies to take proper care of her large armies. The shipment was planned to include a well-rounded stock of the most useful chemicals and apparatus. In response to reports from Dr. Billings, the War Council appropriated $200,000 for addition- al consignments of drugs for Russia. The most serious problem which will this winter confront Russia and especially Petrograd, is food, clothing and footwear. A large number of Rus- 51 sians have already starved as a result of tMs war, and if the Russian army is to stay in the field and Russia be able to avoid being compelled to make a separate peace, the Russian army and the Russian people in the north will have to be fed. The Red Cross awaits definite advice as to how it may best serve the cause of Russian people. 52 III. ROUMAXIA. On July 22iid, the Red Cross War Council an- nounced the dispach of a Red Cross Commission to Roumania. It was headed by Henry Watkins An- derson, of Richmond, Virginia. This commission planned to undertake at once, in addition to its investigation of sanitary and health conditions, ac- tual relief work among the Roumanian refugees. To do this work, a Red Cross medical unit of twelve doctors and twelve nurses accompanied the conunission. Quantities of medical supplies, serums, vaccines, and foodstuffs, urgently needed in Roumania, were sent with the commission by the War Council. A special emergency appropriation of |200,000 was voted for Roumanian relief. In addition to Mr. Anderson, the Chairman, the members of the Cormnission to Roumania are : Arthur Graham Glasgow, an engineer of Washington, D. C. Mr. Glasgow is one of the leaders of his profession, and has lived for more than twelve years in London where he maintained extensive offices. 53 Dr. Francis W. Peabody of Boston, who re- presented the Rockefeller Foundation in its med- ical investigation in China. Bernard Flexner of Chicago, a lawyer who has taken a prominent part in many sociological movements in the Middle West. Dr. H. Gideon Wells, of Chicago, Professor of Pathology in the University of Chicago. Dr. Roger Griswold Perkins, of Cleveland, Professor of Hygiene, Western Reserve Uni- versity. Dr. Robert C. Bryan, of Richmond, Virginia, who is one of the leading surgeons of the South. Doctors and nurses of the Medical Unit ac- companying the Commission were: Dr. W. D. Kirkpatrick, Bellingham, Washing- ton; Dr. Richard Penn Smith, Fort Loudon, Pa.; Dr. D. J. McCarthy, Davenport, Iowa; Dr. George Y. Massenberg, Macon, Ga. ; Dr. R. H. Rulison, Syracuse, N. Y. ; Dr. B. C. Hamilton, Syracuse, N. Y. ; Dr. Benjamine Earl Le Master, Macomb, 111.; Dr. Louis H. Limaure, Lynn, Mass.; Dr. E. F. Hird, Bound Brook, N. J.; Dr. W. T. Lowe, Pine Bluff, Ark.; Dr. Joseph P. H. Gruener, Chicago, 111.; Dr. Feo Dure Guca, Chicago, HL; Dr. Wm. J. Kucera, New Prague, Minn. Florence Patterson, Head Nurse, Washington, D. C; Rachel C. Torrance, New York City, N. Y.; Katherine Olmstead, Milwaukee, Wis.; Alma Forester, Chicago, HI.; Alice Gilbourne, Chicago, HI, ; and Anna T. Pederson, New York City. 54 IV. ITALY. Late in July, the War Council dispatched a special Red Cross Commission to Italy. The purpose of the commission is to advise how American Red Cross activity can best be exerted to meet needs of the suffering soldiers and the civilian population of that country. This was the fourth Red Cross commission to go to Europe. It was headed by George F. Baker, Jr., Vice-President of the First Na- tional Bank of New York City. With Mr. Baker went John R. Morron, President, Atlas Portland Cement Company; Dr. Thomas W. Huntington, President of the American Surgical Association; Dr. Victor G. Heiser, of the United States Public Health Service; and Nicholas F. Brady, Central Trust Company, New York. Accompanying the commission also, was Chandler R. Post, Professor of Greek and Fine Arts at Harvard University, and one of the leading authorities in this country on Italy. Through the American Academy in Rome, it was arranged that the commission to Italy should have detailed to assist it, Gorham Phil- 55 lips Stevens, Director of the School of Fine Arts, and Charles Upson Clark, of Yale Univers- ity, Director of the School of Classical Studies, both of whom are now resident in Eome. To enable this commission to meet the more urgent needs which might be found to exist, an emergency appropriation of $200,000 was made by the Red Cross War Council. Other work in Italy will depend upon the report of this commision as to how such efforts can best be made. The Commission arrived in Rome on Aug. 31. M V. SERBIA. Late in August, the War Council of the American Red Cross was able to announce the sending of a commission to Serbia to begin inunediate relief work in that stricken country and to help its scattered population in the struggle against privation and disease. The Red Cross had done much relief work in Serbia before the appointment of the War Council. Early last spring in response to a re- quest from the Serbian Government, Dr. Edward W. Ryan, formerly head of the American hos- pital in Belgrade went to Saloniki to organize the sanitary and relief work of Serbia. His work was to organize a war relief clearing house at Saloniki and to coordinate and develop relief work in and about Saloniki now carried on through American effort. The work has necessarily been limited to the territory behind the Allied lines north of Saloniki. In the districts under Dr. Ryan's supervision, though small as compared with the whole of Serbia, the demands upon American relief re- sources have been large. Around Saloniki there 67 have been thousand of refugees, reduced by the privations of more than two years of war to conditions even worse than those in Belgium and Roumania. Many of them have been dependent upon relief given by America. Next to Belgium and France, the chief center of American relief work abroad has been Serbia. The American Red Cross maintained a base hospital in Bel- grade before the Teuton-Bulgar invasion, and with the aid of the Rockefeller Foundation un- dertook the battle against typhus. Cordenio Arnold Severance, of St. Paul, Min- nesota, headed the special Red Cross Commis- sion to Serbia. Deputy Commissioners were: Dr. Severance Burrage, Sanitarian, formerly of the Massachusetts Institute of Techno- logy. Dr. Frederick T. Lloyd, physician of Boston. Dr. Eugene A. Crockett, Surgeon, of Boston. Father Francis Jager, University of Min- nesota, Minneapolis. John W. Frothingham. W. A. W. Stewart, New York City, N. Y. L. D. Wishard, Pasadena, California. Edwin D. Haskell, Secretary; Minneapolis, Minn. Two hundred thousand dollars was appropriat- ed by the War Council to buy medical and other supplies for use in the discretion of the com- mission. This, the fifth of the Red Cross commissions, went to study a problem acknowledged as one 68 of the most formidable in Europe. There is hardly a family in Serbia that has not been uprooted and torn from its home, and few that have not lost some member on the battlefield. What have been the nation's losses during the past few years of blood-shed cannot be estimated. From an army of nearly half a million at the beginning of the war, over a hundred and fifty thousand men are estimated to have been taken prisoners by the Central Powers and are suffer- ing from malnutrition in prison camps. Many thousands were lost in the retreat through Albania. Of the army of one hundred thousand now on the Saloniki front, about sixty thousand are actual fighting men. The civilian population has suffered as greatly as the army. It has been harried over the face of Europe. One hundred and fifty thousand fatherless Serbian families, it is estimated, are facing destitution in various countries. Refugees in Russia, Roumania, Greece, Italy, France and Switzerland number over thirty thousand. The pressing needs of Serbia have been laid before the War Council by Dr. Edward Ryan, Red Cross representative at Saloniki and by Miss Emily Simmonds, graduate of Roosevelt Hospital, New York, who enlisted in the Serbian Red Cross in 1914 and has since then assisted in the relief of thousands of refugees. Miss Simmonds urged the dispatch of food, clothing, bandages, blankets, seeds, agricultural tools, as well as doctors and nurses. In her in- formal report to the Red Cross, she said: ''There were only 400 doctors in all Serbia at the beginning of the war, and the death rate has 59 been high. Sixty died of typhus alone in January and February of 1915. There are 116 doctor; now in the army, but only one dentist. Women doctors are especially needed for maternity work in the villages. One doctor in a small car could furnish medical supervision for several villages. A system of soup kitchens in the villages is an absolute necessity if famine is not to make good its threats this winter. ' * The War Council will await the first hand in- quiries of the Red Cross Commission as to what can be done in Serbia. eo VI. RELIEF IN ARMENIA. In addition to the foregoing activities, the War Council has appropriated $600,000., to be expended for relief work in the Near East, through the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian ReHef. The Red Cross will ap- propriate a like amount for each of the four remaining months of this year if the work of the Committee is not so hampered by the Turk- ish Government to make further grants inadvis- able. The American Committee is the only organiza- tions outside of the Red Crescent, (controlled by the Turkish Government), which is allowed to administer relief in certain portions of the Turkish Empire. The American Committee's field of operations includes not only Asia Minor and those portions of Armenia and Syria that are in the Ottoman Empire, but it also includes a large section of Armenia now dominated by the Russian army, as well as the Russian Cau- casus, Persia, Mesopotamia and portions of Egypt, into which refugees, Armenian, Syrian and Greek have fled in large numbers. 01 The making of appropriations for relief in the Near-East is in accord with the policy of the Red Cross to co-operate with relief agencies in the theatre of war to the end that there shall be the utmost aid accorded, while overlapping of effort is as far as possible avoided. The ap- propriation is made upon application of James L. Barton, Chairman, and C. V. Vickrey, Secre- tary, respectively, of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, and, after in- vestigation and approval by the Red Cross Com- mittee on Co-operation. Thousands of children in need. There are 2,000,000 people in Western Asia whose death can be prevented only by direct and continued help from this American Com- mittee. These people have been exiled from their homes and are in regions where self sup- port is practically impossible. From one town alone there is a call to provide for 10,000 fa- therless children. The estimated number of or- phans in another district is given by the Amer- ican Consul as 40,000. In the entire field the number of orphaned children is estimated to run into the hundred of thousands. In the Caucasus, the American Committee has found it imperative to provide employment for women, many of whom have lost their hus- bands, their children and all their material pos- sessions. These women take wool in the rough and make it into garments for other destitute people. 62 While it is true that the larger part of the American Committee's relief has been given to Christians, this has not been because they were Christians, but rather because they were re- siding under Moslem rule and were first to suffer. Of the Armenians alone, nearly a million were massacred or driven to death in 1915, and the remainder of the race within Turkish dominions were deported from their homes into the desert regions where self support was impossible. Since then approximately 500,000 Greeks, who formerly resided in prosperous villages south of the Black Sea, have been deported in similar manner and are now destitute and helpless. fW VII. CAR£ FOR AMERICAN PRISONERS IN GERMANY. The American Red Cross has perfected plans to care for Americans who may be captured and held in German prison camps. A Prisoners' Re- lief Committee has been organized at Berne, Switzerland, under the supervision of Ellis L. Dresel, of the American Legation. Mr. Dresel served from the outbreak of the war in 1914 up to our breaking off diplomatic relations as an at- tache of the American Embassy at Berlin, where his duties included relief work for men of the entente nationalities in German prison camps. Today only about 100 American prisoners are held in Germany. Most of these are civilians taken off American merchantmen that have been sunk by Teuton submarines. More recent ar- rivals in the prison camps had served as gun crews, since the arming of our merchant ships. Speedy provision for their relief and for those who may be taken prisoner is necessitated by the German policy of giving prisoners war food to- tally inadequate to keep men in good health. The extremely high death rate among Russian, Serb- ian and Roumanian prisoners in Germany and 64 Austria (30 per cent, in the case of the Rou- manians) has been largely due to the inability of Russia and the Balkan states to organize the rationing of prisoners of their nationalities from their home countries. A recent cable dispatch from Paris tells of a French soldier just back from a German prison camp and in the last stage of tuberculosis. This soldier was one of a battalion of a thousand young and healthy men captured in a body, early in the war. More than fifty per cent of the num- ber are now dead, or have been returned to France, via Switzerland, as incurables. Malnutrition, no less than unsanitary condi- tions, produces these results. British, Canadian and Australian prisoners of war in Germany now depend exclusively upon food shipped to them from London, and generally give the prison camp ration to prisoners of other countries, who are, as a rule, less well provided. Bread is already being dispatched from Berne to the Americans in Germany, and arrangements have also been made for transmitting letters and money from their families and friends in this country. Thus far only bread has been supplied by the Berne Committee of the American Red Cross. Assorted food parcels and clothing will also be forwarded soon. In the meantime the Central Prisoners of War Committee of London is act- ing on behalf of American prisoners in Ger- many, sending them such foods as the Committee regularly despatches to British and colonial prisoners. By arrangement with Germany, these food par- cels are sent to the prisoner three times a fort- 65 night. The parcels supplement the bread which is also regularly supplied, and each of them con- tains ten pounds of meat, butter, sugar, jam, cof- fee or tea, salt, rice, and dried fruit. The Ameri- can Eed Cross is forwarding to Berne stocks of the same foodstuffs, as well as cheese, evaporated milk, codfish, and mixed biscuit. Tinned goods cannot be sent to prisoners, for Germany has made over the tin containers as hand grenades. Ninety-five per cent of the British packages sent into Germany, with postal card receipts ^'^ be mailed back by the prisoner, have been duly receipted for. The American Red Cross, also, will enclose postal cards, as a means of making sure that American prisoners do actually receive the food parcels. 1 66 VIII. RECAPITULATION OF APPRO- PRIATIONS. A complete re-capitulation follows of the ap- propriations made by the American Red Cross for work in Europe outside of France: Russia Drugs $ 6,500 Medical Supplies 316,280.87 Total _ 322,780.87 Rotifytdfitci Relief Fund and Medical Supplies $200,000 Expenses of Commission to Rou- mania 47,000 Total 247,000 Italy Relief Fund and Medical Supplies 200,000 Expenses of Commission to Italy 10,000 Total - 2 10,000 Serbia Emergency Relief Fund 200,000 Condensed Milk for Serbian Military Hospital 6,000 Expenses of Commission to Serbia ... 16,500 Total - 222,500 67 England Surgical Supplies sent to London Chapter American Red Cross 3,800 Expenses Commission to Great Bri- tain „_ _. 5,000 Total - 8,800 Other Appropriations : Armenian Relief _ 600,000 Relief of Americans in Germany 26,000 International Red Cross Geneva 10,000 Total 636.000 It will thus appear that the War Council has made appropriations for work in Europe as fol- lows: In France $10,692,601. Outside of Trance 1,647,080.87 Grand total $12,339,681.87 Some of these appropriations are to cover a full year, but the greater part will have been expended by November of the current year. Eespectfully submitted, RED CROSS WAR COimOIL, Henry P. Davison_, Chairman. Chas. D. Norton, John D. Ryan, Grayson M.-P. Murphy, Cornelius N. Bliss, Jr. Ex officio : William H. Tait, Eliot Wadsworth. 66 iSS,£,,2^''«s 020 9i5'-«,'«