THE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRA8KA.
P ! I he fee) Cross
Needs You
j4nd above all things have fervent charity among your
selves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." -1
Peter 4:8
Agonized Europe cries for your aid. Make Christmas
really worth while by answering generously the ap
peal of the Red Cross Society. Read this stirring
article by Charles Lee Bryson
CHmiS DAKA CIMOJf In Til Kt4 Cm I Mijiilm
T WILL take not fewer tliun 15,000,
000 members of the Amorlcnn lied
t!roHH to tuko euro of the sick and
Wounded soldlors, look after their
families, and relievo the suITciiiigfJ
of the women wnl children and old
men of wsr-trodden laads. Fifteen
million members 1 Tlmt menns 10,
000,000 new members, nnd the Hed
Cross haH net out to Ret them heforo
the nun Bets on ChrlHtnms day.
'i'liey aro to be known us Christmas members,
these 10,000,000 now ones, and It is In the Christ
mas spirit that they nro to bo recrultcd-rtho spirit
of unselfishness, of caring for the afflicted, of
Alleviating suffering.
While It Is getting these now members, tho
5,000,000 who now wenr the Red Cross emblem
flre giving all tho Christmas cheer they can to tho
boys In khnkl. They need it. Tens of thousands
af them, and it may bo hundreds of thousnnds, are
now In France with Pershing, facing tho terrlblo
Germans across tho desolate wasto of No Man's
Land. Millions more nro to go after them, and
other and still other millions until tho foo which
claims the world for Germany is willing to go
home and behave ns a civilized nation.
They will have a cheery Christmas this year.
Every man In Franco will hnvo a little packet
from "home," with the lovo and good wishes of the
American people nnd that means n lot to tho
young fellow who perhaps never before spent
Christmas away from his homo folks. It will put
- 'irlt into him for tho task ahead.
Tho men on this side, woltlng In tho training
camps for their turn to go ncross, will also lmvo
in merry n Christmas as tho Red Cross can pro
vide. Christmas trees, with gifts of some kind,
bearing a world of cheer nnd hope from tho grent
henrt of tho American people, will greet every
man in uniform, wherovor ho may be.
This Christmas will bo n merry ono for tho
wholo of tho nnny nnd navy. Tho boys hnvo
not been long nwny from homo, they have had
almost none of tho hardships of war, and thoy
como to tho fenst with light hearts.
War has taken almost no toll from them thus
fnr. Relglum and France, Serbia and Roumnnla,
Great Britain and her colonies, Ilussln and Italy,
hnvo home tho brunt of frlghtfulncss and our
hoys hnvo been spared. So it will bo a merry
Christians for them.
Next yenr It will bo different. Tho pinch of
privation will bo felt 'In tho land voluntnry, to n
great extent, but it will bo felt. There will bo loss
lo cat and less to wear, and millions to bo fed
nnd clothed who no longer produco, and nil the
nation will snvo nil It can to give to those who
are lighting, nnd to those dofctlsolcss ones on the
slher side who hnvo nothing.
And there will bo gaps In tho ranks, and thero
will bo full hospitals. There Is whero tho Red
Cross comes In wherever there Is disaster. The
hospital buildings, the equipment, the surgical sup
plies, tho surgeons nnd nurses nnd orderlies, the
iirobulnnccs nnd tho drivers and tho stretcher
smoulders of tho Red Cross. It will carry It, bo
;nu80 It has tho hocking of tho American peoplo ;
Hnd In the tnenntlmo It must carry tho lond ot
ho nntlonn which hnvo already suffered moro
than thrco years of rightfulness.
Here nro porno of tho things tho Amorlcnn Red
Cross Is right now doing in Franco ; where it has
gpctit $10,000,000. These extracts were taken from
t report hy tho Paris headquarters to Henry P.
'Davison, ehnlrmnn of the Red Cross war council,
which raised a fund of $100,000,000 for its work:
"We lmvo Just given $1,000,000 for needy sick
VI nit wounded French soldiers and their families.
' ""Our hospital distributing sorvlco sends supplies
"io fM2il French military hospitals, and is lnylng
In a largo stock for future needs.
"Our surgical dressings sorvlco supplies 2,000
French hospitals, and Is preparing Immense sup
plies" for our own armies.
"We !. . iH-intlntj at tho front line, in co-opora-tlon
with tho French Red c4oss, ten canteens,
aid nro preparing for 20 more; and i-t six can
teens for French soldiers at railway stations wo
,ro mrvlng about I'.O.OOO men a day.
"Wo hnvo opened a children's refuge and hos
pital at n point whero several hundred children
, j '..mi timbered to keep them from danger of
.s- and holl lire. At nnother point wu hnvo
ptttnbllslMHl a medical center and a traveling dls
jensary to accommodate 1,200 children.
"We are making arrangements on a largo scale
10 help refugee families through the winter with
Inthlng, beds, shelter, and for this work tho
Mo devastated portion of France has been dlvliUn
1 1-, ' r.-lc'f" Willi a resident Red Cross dele
gate in each. Warehouses hnvo been established
'it four points to which nro shipped food, clothing,
oeddlng, beds, household utensils and agricultural
Implements.
"Wo hnvo n largo control warehouso In Paris,
and distribution warehouses at Important points
rroin tho Swiss border to the sea. Two hundred
mus of supplies are arriving in Paris dally, and
125 tons nro shipped to branch warehouses,"
From other authorities word has como that tho
Germans are driving back Into France, through
Switzerland, tho ragged, sick, hungry ,nnd home
less ivomen nnd children of tho conquered districts
of Franco nt tho rnto of 80,000 n month. Held In
rnptivlty for moro than three years, they aro
now driven forth even from the ruins- In which
thoy lmvo existed, so tlmt the Germans may
no longer be responsible for their stnrvlng
to deatli.
The Red Cross would not be true to itself
or to the peoplo who have founded it and
arc supporting It, if It did not do everything
It could to comfort nnd help those sorely
tried ones. Tho relief of human suffering
Is Its solo object, nnd It hns never withheld
Its hund when thero was anguish to bo
soothed. Rut In this case-there Is another object to
bo attained call It selfish If you will. In bncklng
up France, nnd making her people stronger to en
duro, tho Red Cross is saving tho lives of Ameri
can soldiers. This wns admirably expressed In tho
great Chicago Red Cross conference by Henry P.
Davison, chairman of tho Red Cross wur council.
"You may ask how all this work among the
French peoplo Is of any help to our boys how It
Is saving their lives," said Mr. Davison. "I'll tell
you: Wo ask General Pershing what ho wants,
and ho says, 'I don't want anything, for our boys,
but for God's snko buck up the French. Give them
courage. Hearten them. They hnvo been lighting
for three years, and if you want to do anything
for me and our boys, mnko tho peoplo understand
that wo aro here, und nro going to take our places
In the line ns soon ns we can get ready.' "
Then Mr. Davison went on to show tho strain
under which the French have lived for more than
three years, with tho German terror holding much
of their land and hammering night nnd day nt
their lines to break through and take Paris.
"And If that French lino should break," he said,
"you know whnt that menns. There's nobody but
those hoys of Pershing's to stop tho Germans,
nnd, rendy or not, they'll lmvo to fill tho gap. If
wo can help tho French lino to hold, wo save our
own boys until they are nil ready to take their
part."
Mr. Davison pictured tho weary French soldier
coming out of tho trenches for a ten-day rest, ne
Is tired half to death, covered with dirt and vermin,
his clothing worn. Docs he go home? He hns no
home, perhaps. His wifo and children wero, swept
awny before tho German tide. Ills homo is gone,
no says, "I can live in hell In tho trenches, but I
don't sco why my family should be In hell too."
Rut now the Ainerlcnn Red Cross Is-In Frunce.
It meets tho soldier when ho comes from tho
trenches, takes him to n hoqso prepared with your
money, and ho Is mndo comfortable. Ho is given
a bath, his clothing is cleaned and sterilized, his
hnlr cut, his whiskers trimmed, and ho sleeps for
an hour maybe ten hours.
Then he Is taken to his family, if tho Red Cross
has been nolo to find his family. Ho finds his
wlfo nnd babes, or his old mother, In a houso or a
shelter of some kind supplied und furnished by
tho Red Cross.
When tho days of his lenvo aro up, that soldier
goes back to tho trenches n now mnn. Ho knows
now that America, with her millions und millions
of fighting men, nnd her billions and billions of
money, nnd the tender euro of her Red Cross, arc
behind him. And ho goes back Into tho war with n
now determination, and says, "so long as I live, I
will fight."
And so long ns ho hojds that line, ho is taking
tho plnco of some American boy who Is not yet
trained to tnko tho trenches. That line, must bo
mndo to hold for months yet, for General Pershing
hns snld that If ho can help it, his boys shall not
go Into the hard fighting before February.
Whgn they do go in, then will come tho real
test of tho American Red Cross then will bo the
days of harvest, of which today Is tho day of sow
ing. Kor when tho wounded begin to strcnm from
tho evacuation hospitals back to tho bases, tho
warehouses of bandages nnd pnds and gauze and
splints nnd hospltnl garments and surglcnl sup
spiles will melt away llko mist heforo tho sun. And
In that day. if tho Red Cross have not a member
ship of something near tho desired 10,000,000.
trained to make and ship nil these supplies In a
great, nover-folterlng stream, the American soldier
will ho ashnmed of tho land for which he Is light
ing, nnd mnny will loso limb or life which could
have been saved.
These aro not the opinions ot n novice thoy
nro tho convictions of men who are now at tho
front In Franco nnd Belgium, and who see, every
day, tho horrors of war which it Is tho work of
tho Red Cross to mitigate. It Is only n few weeks
since MaJ. Grayson M. P. Murphy, an olllcer of
tho regular nnny of wldo experience nnd grent
ability, now Red Cross commissioner for Franco,
cabled Ills convictions on this subject. And what
ho said was, in substance, that unless tho Red
Cross Immediately sent a vast supply of all man
ner of hospital supplies, tho American nnny would
stand In danger of disaster and disgrace. Ho
used those words "disaster and disgrace."
Fow who lmvo not been through n modern mili
tary hospital can conceive what an enormous
amount of supplies It requires. French surgeons
report tlmt It-often requires an entire box of 7,000
gauze dressings for a single patient. Thero has
been such a scarcity of dressings In Franco that
they have boon driven to use these dressings over
and over, trying tq boll and clean and sterilize
them as well as they, can, Instead of throwing
them nwny and putting on fresh ones.
There has, at times, been such a dearth tlmt
wounded soldiers lmvo had their bleeding wounds
stanched with old newspapers, with the result that
they have always'been Infected, nnd gangrene and
lockjaw have claimed mnny n poor fellow who
could have boon saved.
Terrlblo as It Is to think of. they lmvo nt times
been driven to opornto in France without chloro
form or vthor none was to bo hnd.
Thesew no doubt, are tho things which Major
Murphy had In, mind when he said that disaster
and disgrace awaited Atncrlcu loss tho supply of
surgical necessities is hastened.
Even 4 the lads who aro about to go Into tho
fighting line were not our own American boys, tho
Red Cross would he bound to do all It could for
them. Rut they arc our own. We do not fully
realize It yet, but we will Inter on. From every
city, every vlllnge, every farming community, from
almost every family n the whole land, one or more
hoys will help fill tho lines In France and It Is
for them, for your friends and mine, for your rein
tlves and mine, that tho Red Crons Is working.
It Is going to take men and women by tho mil
lion, working all their spare time, and a good deal
of time which they do, not now think they can
spare. And It Is going to tnko hundreds of mil
lions of dollars all wo can spare, and maybe all
wo have, whether or not we think we enn spuro
It. Belgium Is crushed, Serbia Is obliterated, Rou
mania Is little more than u memory, Russia Is Im
potent, Itnly Is bearing n henvy cross, Frnnce Is
Immortal In spirit but growing thin. There nro
left chiefly the British lion and tho Amorlcnn
engle, nnd the English-speaking boys who benr
them aloft. If they fall, civilization Is dead.
Thero Is no longer any question that-civilization
Is fighting for Its very life. Germany has set out
to forco tho whole world to live under the German
Imperialistic plan. President Wilson, In his now
famous Buffalo speech, said:
"It Is amazing to mo that nny group of people
should suppose Hint any reforms plnnncd In the in
terest of the peoplo can live In the presence of
Germany strong enough to undermine or over
throw them hy Intrigue of force. . . . Any man
who supposes that tho free Industry nnd enterprise
of tho world can continue if the Pan-German plnn
Is nchleved und German power fastened upon the
world, Is ns fntuous as the dreamers of Russia."
There never has been uny question thnt the
Amerlcun soldier will fight to death, If need be,
when once ho begins the Job. It Is the tnsk of
the Amorlcnn RCd Cross to so supply nnd fortify
those boys thnt Just as few of them us possible
may bo sacrificed.
That Is what tho Red Cross has In mind when
It comes to your house, or your office, or your
kitchen door, or wherever you may be found, nnd
asks you to bo ono of the 15,000,000 Red Cross
members to stnnd .hnck of those boys In khaki.
This is not to be a money campnlgn. Money is the
least Important matter of this moment. Whnt is
wanted is members. .The Red Cross wants theso
15,000,000 men, women nnd children bnnded to
gether In chapters, organized Into committees, and
trained to tho minute to do wlmtever Is needed for
the boys In Frnnce and for their fnmlllcs nt home,
and for those suffering ones who have lost every
thing but bare life.
If the cull Is for warm clothing, It wnnts these
15,000,000 trained to mnko and turn out the kind
of garments needed so that they may go by trnln
load and shipload at once. If It is for knitted
goods there hns already been n call for 0,000,000
knitted articles and It Is nlmost or qulto filled by
now theso 15,000,000 must bo organized to get
yarn nnd knit, or get others to knit, nnd deliver
tho goods nt once. And If it is for bandages and
gauze dressings und other things for tho wounded,
ns assuredly It will bo many n time, thero must
bo n trained Red Cross membership to get them
mndo and In tfio hospitals In time to save life.
God help the American army in thnt day if the
people have not been quick to unite with the Red
Cross nnd supply the things the wounded boys
must have. And God pity you and me in tho dnys
when tho boys como back from over there such
of them ns come home nnd listen to the excuses
we will try to mnko If wo fall to keep them sup
plied with everything they need in their fight
for us.
Thero will bo nnother call for money before
long. When the country guvo $100,000,000 to the
Red Cross wnr council Inst summer, the grent men
nt tho head of It estlmuted thnt, by careful spend
ing, they could mnko it last six months. Tho
next call probably will be for a larger sum, may
bo us much as a quarter of a million dollars. If
so, tho American peoplo must glvo It. Every cent
goes for relief work. In what he termed his "pub
lic nccountlng," Henry P. Davison, chairman of the
Red Cross war council, said in n recent speech
that of every dollnr given tho Red Cross for relief
work, nhout $1.02 Is spent for relief. What ho
irittint is that not , one cent goes for overhead
expanse, which is cared for In nnother wny, but
that tho whole fund, together with nhout 2 per
cent Intorest which it nccumulnted whllo In bank,
goes for relief.
All that will como lntor, when tho Red Cross
needs moro money to enrry on Its work of mercy.
What It needs now Is members 10,000,000 add-
ed to the 5,000,000 It now hns. Every member
should bo nt least of the class culled "Magazine
Members." It costs $2 a year, and entitles tho
members to the really wonderful Red Cross Maga
zlno every month, filled with news and colored
pictures of what tho great order Is doing nil over
the earth.
If you aro a member, renow; if not, becomo ono
when tho Red Cross committee comes. It Is mere
ly trying to get you to help win your wnr. and
care for the unlucky who mny be some of your
own lnmlly.
HAD LITTLE DESIRE TO ROAM
Tho Americans have contributed largely to the
European spirit of patroimne. Eneh vonr in
hordes, they traveled to Europe, brenthloss with
curiosity una witli linste. curious of dress and
bearing (to European eyes) and nasnl ns to speech,
wnn reverence anil iamiunrity umnzlng contend
lug. "Why do the Amerlcnns lovo so to inr m-n.
tho world?" I onco hoard an old French lady ask.
It wns lucomprohcnslvo to her, this munla for
leaving Home, tier desire of happiness was
Btuy forever in ono place. Exclmngo
to
ELIZABETH STUART PhELPi I
The Christmas Fire
forking In the Name
Of the Christ Child
SOME thirty years ago there lived
In the city of Washington n young
girl, the daughter of Rlchnrd T.
Merrick, a distinguished lawyer, says
the Survey. A serious Injury, due to
nn accident, hnd left her an Invalid,
confined to her couch. The Christmas
season wns fast approaching and amid
the preparations for tho holidays,
which the happy family were busily
making, this young Invalid, renred in
luxury, conceived the desire of clothing
In the nnmo of the Christ Child some
poor babe who was to como into the
world In poverty. She made a simple
but complete layette, sent for a friend
who she knew could Hnd the very
mother who needed such nsslstnnce,
aj(l one small child was clothed in tho
onme of the Christ Child.
The Christ Child, society, founded
7 years ngo, distributed 139 layettes
lust year. Not ono request bus ever
been refused to nn applicant indorsed
by its visitors. - And from this hus
developed tho material relief depart
ment, which clothes and shoes chll
dven, furnishes a fortnight's outing,
a brace for a crippled leg or n book
from the library. Thero arc no religious
qualifications. Active members con
tribute n definite number of hours'
work each week, and nnyone may be-
amo a member by promising to an
swer the Christmas letter of n poor
child. Washington numbers 1,000 mem
bers, nnd there nro more than 4,500 In
ell, Including the branches In 22 cit
ies.
From her couch, where she has lain
for moro than 25 years, Miss Mer
rick directs and leads all tho socl
ety's work.
St Nicholas Day and Christmas.
A writer In tho Pall Mnll Gazette
thus speculated concerning the amalga
mntlon of Christmas eve and St. Nlcho-
ls evo: "Perhaps tho amalgamation
of tho two festivals wns brought about
by motives of economy, tho giving of
presents on December 5 and again on
December 25 constituting too heavy a
toll on parentnl purses. That this was
tho case nppcars to be proved by the
custom prevnlllng In Catholic Germany,
whero St. Nicholas duly appears In
each homo on December 5, and, lnqulr
ing Into tho conduct of the children,
rewards the worthy with fruits and
cakes and lectures the unworthy on tho
duty of obedience. Ho then asks the
Christ Child to bring them at Christ
mas, and on tho morning of that day
they usunlly find the desired articles In
tho shoes which they placed overnight
on the hearth. This variation of tho
original Nicholas eve custom, for so
long obsolete in England, probnbly ac
counts for our possession of Santa
Claus in his present form. Ho Is
supposed to lmvo been nn Importation
from Americn nhout 40 years ago
(us a llttlo earlier wo had derived the
Christmas treo from Germnny on the
Initiation of tho prince consort, hus
band of Queen Victoria.)"
T
On Christinas Eve.
Oh, llttlo babo, oh, gentle babe,
That In a manger ilea,
A-llstenlng to the choral sweet
Which lloats a-down the sklea,
Wo, through tho year, who only hear
Tho world's harsh thundering,
Listen that wo, dear babe, with thee
May hear the angels sing.
3h, llttlo babo, oh, gentlo babe,
Who looltest toward tho star
And seest when they bear their gifts,
Those wlso men from afar,
From wandering wldo back to thy side,
Woary and worn, wo floe;
Dot hearts that bleed and hands that need
Aro all wo have for theo.
Oh, .llttlo babo, oh, gontle babe,
Our hearts wero hard and cold;
The star we loved, tho star of fame
The song tho song or gold. '
At tho manger's side this Christmas tide
Wo llston and wo long
To see that star shlno from afar
And hear tho angelH 'song.
Ulchard P. Souter,
By HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD
HE tree grctv green in the forest,
Grow green in the sttn and tho
dew;
His branches reached for the shadows,
He feathered his tops in the blue,
And happy the air about Mm
Wherever Ms balsams flew.
Drenched with the rains of tho sum
mer.
Fine from his stems spun the showers,
Soft dropped the snoio on his mantle,
Dream work of silver and flowers,
And over him white light trailing
The stars swam through darkling
hours.
Groping where great rock pillars
Stand shouldering rank on rank,
His roots at the cold sweet sources
The ancient juices drank,
And he swept with the earth compan
ion As the vast skies rose and sank.
His boughs brushed low on your fore
head As a passing wing might brush,
When night winds made shrill music
In the heavens, arid hush, oh, hushl
For deep in his depest covert
He hid the hermit thrush.
Loio have they laid the giant,
And they hale him home with mirth,
And they fan the fires that twinkle,
And sing round his mossy girth,
And make with a mighty magic
The life of the Christmas hearth.
For his flames give the spicy fragrance
Of the summer atmosphere,
While the breath of the woody hol
lows, The luster and light of the year,
The blossom, the bird song, the
breezes,
He sheds through the Ohristmat
cheer. '
And the message of peace and bless
ing In the great fire's glow they wiarfcj
With the lad from the war and tht
sailor
Home from his tossing bark
Ere the Christmas bells come chimina
Like the touch of the frost on tht
dark.
And widely on pane anl ceiling
Sparkles a fiery foam,
And the children dance with theU
shadows
Like the forest sprite with tht
gnome,
While the great log roars and blazer
The heart of the joy of home.
And the cheek that has long been with
ered With an old rose blooms once mort
As memories glow like the embers
Whose flashes sink and soar
With the Christmas fire's warm glon
Where the log burns red at the core,
Woman's Home Companion.
The Christmas Spirit.
nowever It mny be, when Christmas
comes it finds us nil to n greater or
less degree ready to cry "A merry
Christmas to all" nnd to the best of
our ability keep It with good cheer.
Deep down In our henrts every one of
us cherishes what may be called tho
Christmas sentiment. Even If we go,
ns so mnny have done of past years,
outside of the walls of our own homo
wo still observe our Yuletlde In a moro
or less conventional manner. We mny
escape our relatives, save ourselves tho
bother of home preparations, pretend
that wo have cut adrift from the old
fashioned methods, but It all amounts
In reality to tho same thing. We nro
animated, after all, by the same spirit,
whether we are in n country house, a
flat, a restaurant or hotel.
A Joyful Yule.
Then drink to the holly berry.
With hey down, hey down derry;
The mistletoe we'll pledge also.
And at Christmas all be merry.
Christmas Joys-UnderlheHisfidoe
pk t v
