. The American Red Cross in the great war . gees that had been quartered upon funds were needed for the purchase of hospitalsupplies and hospital garments, rubber goods, and surgicalinstruments — all matters of life and death. Unquestionably, those early days were full days. Head-quarters was on the tiptoe of expectancy and perilouslynear chaos. The whole world, it seemed to me, waswriting to Red Cross Headquarters at Washington upona thousand-and-one different subjects. Through the end of May and into June, while the Com-mission to France was hurrying across the Atlantic and theW
. The American Red Cross in the great war . gees that had been quartered upon funds were needed for the purchase of hospitalsupplies and hospital garments, rubber goods, and surgicalinstruments — all matters of life and death. Unquestionably, those early days were full days. Head-quarters was on the tiptoe of expectancy and perilouslynear chaos. The whole world, it seemed to me, waswriting to Red Cross Headquarters at Washington upona thousand-and-one different subjects. Through the end of May and into June, while the Com-mission to France was hurrying across the Atlantic and theWar Fund drive was going on, we were trying with onehand to handle the incoming business, and with the otherto frame up an organization that should be broad andstrong enough in all directions to carry on as long as thewar would last. The success or failure of this whole under-taking hung upon it. In due time we chose legal counsel,and selected a great New York trust company to handlethe money end of the business; we formally appointed the. AN AMERICAN RED CROSS SUMMONS, MASSING THE FORCES OF MERCY 15 Secretary of the Treasury of the United States as treasurerof the war fund, and the trust company provided from itsoffice force a corps of forty trained men to look after thefinances. And while we were seeking everywhere forexperienced men to fill important positions, it was a rayof encouragement to receive this message from a formerUnited States Minister: Youwill find men everywhere areready to cooperate enthusiastically with you to a greaterextent than you are perhaps aware. One by one, as the expansion progressed, we found through the hot summer months we kept on buildingup the machine. During the day the War Council heldmeetings at Headquarters, and in the evening, to changethe scene and put new fife into our work, we continued themat my house in Washington. There was no let-up to thevoliune of correspondence from all over the country; norwas there any cessation of th
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectworldwar19141918
