The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 29, 1899, Page 19

SACRIFICES MADE W. B. HARRINGTON, JOHN F. MERRILL, MRS. MRS. MRS. MRS. Miss ISAAC L. REQUA, LOUIS SLOSS, HELEN GOULD That to Our Brave Women, as Well as to Our| Brave Soldiers and Sailors, | | And Others ' | Write the Story | for Sunday Call Readers. 0630 8 08 0 108 08 0 Are Due the Honors of Our Triumph Is Here Shown by This Symposium of Earnest Workers. INVALUABLE SERVICES RENDERED TO THEIR COUNTRY. OLUMES have been publi: brave soldiers and sailors during the late war. far has been placed before t women during the awful days following San Juan and Manila. The Call, through its cc ers facts of the These herc d and will posium which th d pean to the those who acted e heroic wo a lip will utter a Sun thanksgiving t honor to their race. « . Women of California Rose to the Occasion. By Mrs. W. B. Prasident of the State Red Cross Societ,. HE Red Cross of California may Twn be termed a searchlight of ex- ceeding power. It brought to light in every hamlet in the State women of brains and executive ability, who, called from the humdrum duties responded quickly and ife, intelligently The Red Cross auxi nia number over 100. To them has been intrusted e responsibilitv of caring for every detail of work, of placing the means of collecting funds and of using the best methods of disbursement. Thus the latent power of woman was brought out. The opinion prevailed to some extent that a large class of the women of Cal- ifornia, at least in our cities, were in- ies of Califor- capable of earnest effort and that those with homes on ranches and away from the rush and excitement were not fitted to c with philanthropic work on a large scale. How false are both P How Generously the Money Was Subscribed. By Mrs, Louis Sloss, Chairman of the Red Cross Subscription Committee. Y work under the auspices of the 2ed Cross was of a kind which, had the object not been what it W would have been far from agree- able to me. No lady really likes, egen in the cause of most worthy chari to go about soliciting subscriptions and urging more or less generous persons M work done. v zave of ceive the acrifice and greatne d to those who we en will send a at God hath created such women to be a glory and an | no his d eulogizing the work done by our But nothing so he public of the real work done by umns to-day, presents to its read- ver the signatures of the brave sac- their best, their all, and in 1udits of both men and women. Call presents to its readers to- | | lay of American wo- e merely onlo. thrill of pride ar a heart d admir- will repeat the nd many Harrington, | these impressions! The refined and | cultured women of both city and coun- try shared in the spirit of the great oc- casion, and with tender care adminis- tered to soldiers and sailors on sea and land, wherever duty called them. The kindly appreciations of Red Cross work received daily from mothers, sisters and sweethearts of our count defenders show that the women of the Golden State have done their share in main- taining its reputation for loyalty and patriotism. Throughout the East it has been thought a marvel by those to whom the planning and executing of great works of charity is a familiar task, that the women of this State, lacking to a great extent their experien hould in such brief period have o ted and car- gin ried out so systematically the great work of the Red Cross of California. The t. is _well nigh completed, the duty done. In coming years no record of the history of our State will stand forth more conspicuously than that made by its women in the Spanish war of 1898. - to contribute to the object in view. So it was that when I was appointed at the first meeting of the Red Cross to do what T could toward raising the few thousand dollars that Dr. Hopkins thought at that time would be suffi- clent to defray all necessary expenses along the lines proposed, I accepted the‘ THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 1899. BY AMERICAN WOMEN IN OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. position with something of reluctance. My first trip among the business houses of our city, however, completely recon d me to my lot, for in three days I collected over $3500, many of the sums given being accompanied by cor- aial invitations to - “‘come again” if I was struck, even in those by the widespread feeling of ity, the willingness with which even those who could ill afford to give anything gave what they could and gladly. People seemed to have learned nspiration, almost,. the lesson of and avhile some gave hundreds rs others bound themselvee to of doll pay 25 cents a month, and scarcely any one refused to add a mite to the general fund. I appreciated then and since, as never ENobIe Work Accomplished by Oakland Women, before, how warm are hearts, and it was more than a pleasure | to see how the plea “for the soldiers” | found a ready response everywhere, San Francisco alone contributed over | $60,000 for Red Cross work, and over | 10,000 badges at $1 each were sold to add to the amount collected. The school children should be par- ticularly mentioned here, for they proved themselves veritable little pa- triots. Many of them denied themselves in different way to send in a few nickels each month. Some devoted all! the time possible outside school hours | to earning, “‘soldier mone: Others held fairs and parlor sales for the same object, and scarcely one failed to con- tribute in some way to the Red Cross treasury, by means of which so much | real good was accomplished. . | | By Mrs. Isaac L. Requa, President of the Oakland Convalescent Soldiers' Home. WISH to speak in terms of the highest praise concerning the work done by our Oakland women during [ the past ten months for the relief, | the care and the comfort of our coun- try's soldies Granville Abbott, president of the Oakland Red ( is peculiarly fitted for the duties of that onerous po- gition, and she guided and directed her enthusiastic co-workers with judgment xeellent and tact so unfailing that us of supply nor friction of opin- ion ever occurred to mar the efficiency of the organization. Her executive board was composed of ladies who for the time being devoted themselves ut- terly to the work in hand, with the re- sult that perfect order and tem pre- 50 e | vailed and all that was done was well done. While I had charge of the Oakland table at the ferry my thirty-five as- sistants—recruited from the very flower of Oz nd society—rose at 4 in the morning, went across the bay on the first boat, and often came home on the last one at night, and worked indefa- tigably all day long. They made sand- wiches, prepared the coffee, and s our popular Ozkland “‘army stew s . What Some of the Earnest Workers Did. By Mrs. Russell Sage. Y interest in the Woman's Na- tional War Relief Association was first awakened by Mrs. Ellen Har- din Walworth, who called to see me'one afternoon long before war was proclaimed—at a time when there was even a possibility that the vexed Cu- ban question would be settled by arbi- tration. When she first broached her plan to me of a society of women band- ed together for the relief of soldiers in a war which had not been declared as yet, T exclaimed in astonishment at the very idea of such a thing being necessary. She sald: take hold of it when it comes. you allow your name to be used 1 consented to this on condition that I was put on no committee, as I was very busy at the time putting the fin- ishing touches to my book, and felt I could not spare a moment from the work in which I was so interested. “We must be in shape to Wil after day and never thought.of com- plaining of fatigue or relegating the | noble duty of caring for our army boys | to_hired hands. While We worked in the lunch room | other Oakland women were busy col lecting and forwarding fresh miik, e butter and vegetables and ng | money to buy the other necessary ar- | ticles and to pay the two men whom | we kept at the ferry all night to look | after sick and straggling soldiers. The | generous response made by our Oak- | land people to every call for material assistance is too weil known to require | comment. e at | It is not necessary to speak here length of our Convalescent Soldiers’ Home, where we have cared for so ! many. Organized soon after the begin- ning of the war, it was never empty | until its closing last week, and the good done through its instrumentality can- not be overestimated. The grateful let- | ters which have come, and are still| constantly coming, to us attest this fact. I am proud of the work done by the | ladles on this side of the bav and wish | here publicly to thank all those who labored with me in the good cause, those who gave their time, those who gave their money and those who gave both to cheer, comfort and assistance to our brave soldiers in their hours of need. . Not long after that Miss Gould re- ceived a letter asking her to join, urg- ing upon her the fact that I had al- ready done so. After war was proclaimed and the need of such an organization became more apparent, a board of directors was chosen, consisting of the following la- dies as officers: Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, direc- tor general; Mrs. Daniel Butterfield, chairman; Mrs. Russell Sage, vice chairman; Mrs. McLean, corresponding secretary; Miss Anne Rhoades, record- ing secretary; Mrs. Raymond, treas- urer. Funds poured in upon us, contribu- tions and donations, until our ex- chequer was a full one. There was no particular system at that time. The war relief women were all enthusiastic and working themselves to death, but without any business detail or sys- tematized routine of work. Into this Californian | g | & personal superv looked. . breach stepped Miss Helen Gould. She wrote a letter inquiring as to the disposition of the funds. She perceived that a head was needed, and, never tak- ing unto herself the credit for the exe- cutive which she so distinc inherit r father, in her quiet, to work to set How she plished by the Woman's National War Relief during those awful days follow- ing San Juan and Santiago amply shows. Miss Helen Gould's éxecutive ability put the war relief in shape. She not gave her money, which to her was but she gave her time, her . and bent every energy of her mind to the duty which she saw before her. When the home from ¢ s were being sent go Miss Gould made ion of all the hos- pi on Staten d, on Governors Island, at Fort Hamilton, In Brooklyn and in New York Cit No detail v too small or too Insigntficant for her personal supervision, and a want once told to her was never forgotten or over- Modest Summary of the Work Accomplished. When the camp was opened at Mon- tauk Miss Gould left the city for Camp Wikoff, returning to the city at 2 o’clock in the morning of the following y. For days she investigated all the needs and requirements of the men and established a diet kitchen at her own expense. Her home at Irvington was, literally speaking, turned over to the soldie It is needless to speak of what she did for the sick soldiers in the hospitals at Tonkers, the cottages at Irvington and Tarrytown, and no one save one who knew her as intimately and loved her as dearly as I do has any idea of the strength and energy she expended in glving, doing and organizing. In actual money, I am sure she gave more than $30,000 to the war relief fund, besides the $100,000 which she gave tc the Governmeift at the beginning of the war. I can only say in closing this record of the Woman’'s National War Relief, which is really synonymous with Helen Gould: “That God has given her his Holy Spirit, and through her flows his bene- ficence to all mankind.” . By Miss Helen Gould. Acting Direstor General of th: Women's National War Relief Association, N response to your request that T give you a report of the work of the Women's Natjonal War Relief ociation, I would refer you to Mrs. the director general of our ., who is familiar with the details o worked untiredly through the summer and autumn. Her daughter’s life was given in the cause, for she con- tracted the fever while nursing in the detention hospital at Montauk, and she died soon after. can women seem to have considered it a privilege to do what they could to show their affection for their country in the emergency that arose, and in many instances it has been touching to watch the enthusiasm and energy with which they worked. . One of our neighbors and her daugh ters worked for months as hard though they were working for a liveli hood. They distributed garments for both the Red Cross Society and our own; their barn was used as a work- shop through the summer, and the wo- | men and young village girls spent many hours in sewing under their direction, as well as taking garments home, It was touching to see women with large families of children, and with husbands on small salaries, who still found time | to do a great amount of this work. The experience of "the last few months, where people from all over the country have united In giving their time, money and services for a common cause, makes us feel than ever that we are a nation and not simply a loose federation of States. . Eastern Appreciation of Our Women’'s Work. By Mrs. John F. Merrill, President of the San Francisco Red Cross Society, summer by our San Francisco women has been in every way cred- itable. Without going into details, which our public reports have made common property, 1 feel that I have every cause to congratulate most warmly the members of our local or- ganization upon what they have ac- complished since they began their pa- triotic labors. Believing as I do that no body of women did more or better work for our country’s defenders than was done here on this coast, it has been a very great and special pleasure to me during my recent trip East to see how widely rec- ognized is this fact in our sister States. In every ome of the thirty cities in which I made a brief stay, praises for our Red Cross work were to be heard on every side. Miss Clara Barton, whom I visited at her home in Glen ‘Echo, Maryland, expressed herself most enthusiasticaliy concerning it, and whenever I was in any city from which soldiers had been sent here, I, as our Red Cross representative, was almost overwhelmed with the heartfelt grati- tude expressed by all whom I met! My reception by the Cuban Relief Commit- THE work done during this past tee is also one of the exceptionally pleasant memories left by my trip. We are inclined to feel sometimes, here in California, that we are some- what isolated and are working alone as it were, but my visit East this time has for me destroyed all this impression forever. nians are part of a great whole, bound together by tles of warmest affection and truest sympathy. I think that the work for the sol- diers which was done on the coast this summer has not only helped them, but has helped all the workers. It has made them more patriotic, more con- siderate and more unselfish, and has | created between the hundreds of men and women who were for a time united | 23 in earnest labor for a noble cause bond of sympathy that cannot readily be broken. Until the reign of the Empress Jose- phine a handerchief was thought in France so shocking an object that a lady would never have dared to use it before any one. The word, even, was carefully avolded in refined conversation. An actor who would have used a handkerchief on the stage, even in the most tearful mo- ments of the play, would have been un- mercifully hissed; and it was only in the | el more strongly | I realize now that we Califor- | | beginning of the present century that a celebrated actress, Mlle. Duchesnois, ired to appear with a erchief d. Having to sp this handker- chief in the she never could summon enou agé to call it by its true name, ed to it as “a | light tissue.” —_———— The Oldest Emigrant to California. of urse of the pieci h cou ref N a beautiful ranch, three miles from Santa Rosa, lives one of the daintiest and sweetest little old | women that ever seen. True. her complexion is not quite as fair and smooth s eighty years ago, nor he quite as bright, but her just as and her heart 8 and her daughter, Mrs. Byers, the dear. digni- ly lady with whom she makes her home, and with good rea- | son, “the sunshine of the house. | Just 102 rs and seven months ago | a pretty little baby girl was born to Mrs. Mellissa M. Mye . Lawrence ate of New York, and this little baby girl has lived on and on until now, when has seen over » years and a half more than a cen- of existence, and is looking for- ing at lea 't several vears our ant California County, in the S tury ward to pz more under ple ¥ Myers grew up to be a comely voung woman, well versed . ways of good ho . and when the h red she married a named fellow Du Plaunty, and made the pleasantest kind of a home for him and the little ones who came aftery After Mr. Du Pl death his | widow made a brave fight for some | time to care for herself and her chil- dren alone, but after made a second, and very happ, ge with | a Mr. Stuart, whose widow she now fis. Mrs. Stuart been the mother of a large family, . members of which Two of her boys she gave in its hour of need thir- were SOnS. | to her country ty-seven yea though she them with willi ess she never yet ceas in her mother rt, to mourn 5. One died at Memphis, a | ville, and the mention of either place, or of them, still brings tears to the eyes that watched the boys march away | nearly forty years since. Mrs. Stuart’s claim to public interest not alone in the fact of her -ad- anced age, but to her belongs the dis- tinction of being undoubtedly the old- est person who ever emigrated to our hospitable State. Last spring, when she lacked only weeks of being 102 | years old, Mrs. rt started from her | home of many y | eighty miles south of Kans came straight through to San Francis- co. She is delighted with California, its climate and the conditions which sur- round her here, and only regrets that she did not make the trip earlier in life. My mother lived to be 104." she says, “away back there in the freezing East; if she had come here she | might have lived longer. I feel now as if T might live to be at least 110" And all her many friends hope that she may. B — Wire Fence Telephones. Telephonic communication has been ef- fected between a number of farms in Australia by means of wire fences. The Australian Agriculturist publishes a note from a correspondent writing from a sta- tion near Cobar, stating that it was easy to converse with friends at a station eight miles distant with in: nected on the wire fences kind of communication was over a distance of thirteen miles number of stations are connected in this way, and the system, if widely adopted, will 'do much to relleve the monotony of back-country life. 11 |