Mondovi High School - Mirror Yearbook (Mondovi, WI)

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THE HIGH SCHOOL MIRROR r

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THE HIGH SCHOOL MIRROR speak to you on the subject of one of our mo3t vital and absorbing interests, the Red C.oss. It may seem that there is no connect on between the school and the Red Cross, but President Wilson, who is also President of the Red Cross has deemed the school so vitally connected with this work as to have issued a proclamation to the school children of America, telling what it me.:ns, what it does, and how they can help. What would the war be like if there were no nurses to go into the hospitals to care for the wounded? It is not very long ago that we had no nurses. The name of Florence Nightingale is dear to every soldier and every sailor, because she founded nursing as a profession for women. She spent all her life in the protecting of the lives of others. However her work did not end with her death. Others had become interested, among them a young Swiss. Henri Dunant. As a result of the work of Florence Nightingale, the idea of an international organization came to him. The object of this organization was to prepare for war in times of peace. Dunant wrote a book giving an account of the horrors which he had witnessed on a Solferino battlefield in Europe. His book was widely read and many became interested. He called a meeting of fourteen nations at Geneva Switzerland. The result was the adoption, in 1864, of an international treaty which gave to the world the organization of the Red Cross. Two of its most important provisions were that each nation pledged itself to work with the other nations in caring for the wounded of all countries alike, and never to fire on a doctor or nurse, or an ambulance bearing the sign of the Red Cross. The banner of the organization, a red cross on a white field, was chosen as tribute to Switzerland, whose flag is a white cross on a red field. The two words. “Humanity” and Neutrality” are the watch words of the Red Cross; its aim is to take care for those who used it, regardless of race or creed. All this was in Europe. Few in America had heard of the Red Cross or of Florence Nightingale. During the Civil War there were many women who devoted their entire life to the care of the wounded. Among them were Dorothy Dix and Mother Bicker-dyke. They did much to lessen the suffering of the soldiers. A third worker was Clara Barton. She saw that the soldiers were well cared for in every way. She went behind the lines and nursed Northerners and Southerners alike. When the Civil War was over, Clara Barton went to Europe where she first heard of the Red Cross She saw how the medical staffs of two opposing armies, working together, did so much in a short time. Thus she became inspired with the idea to introduce the Red Cross in America. She found that the ideals of the Red Cross were the same as those for which the Civil War women had worked “Humanity” and “Neutrality.” Largely through the influence and the efforts of Clara Barton, the United States signed the Geneva treaty, and in 1882 the American Red Cross was established with Clara Barton as its first President. The best thing about the Red Cross work is that it includes all humanity, peoples of all races and creeds. It is the only relief organization that receives special protection from Congress or can give it special aid. It has the confidence and support of the United States in every way. The last evidence of this is a beautiful marble building erected by the United States government and dedicated to the Red Cross as a memorial to the heroic women of the Civil War. The reason for the wonderful work of the Red Cross lies not in its organization and wealth, but in its spirit of unselfish cooperation and sacrifice. This can best be expressed in the poem. “The Red Cross Spirit Speaks.” Wherever war with its red woes Or flood or fire or famine goes There, too, do I. If earth in any quarter quakes Or pestilence its ravage makes Thither, I fly. I am your pennies, and your pound I am your bodies on their rounds Of pain afar; I am you, doing what you would If you were only where you could Your avatar.

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THE HIGH SCHOOL MIRROR A GLIMPSE OF WAR. Minneapolis, Minn. Dear Gladys: — This has been the most entertaining of all the entertaining days we have spent on our tiip. You know by my last letter that we have been all over the Fort Snelling grounds and seen soldiers until a civilian really looks peculiar. On the streets, in the stores, parks—everywhere are these khaki-clad men. To-day sixteen thousand of them, gathered together on the fair grounds, presented a sight worth seeing. We have to pay for our pLasuie, however, for entrance was a dollar, and a reserved seat a dollar more. But what was this extravagant thing we have been spending our money on? Well, tobe-gin at the beginning, to-day was the day set for the Giand Pageant and Military Review, for the benefit and comfort of all the soldiers who are to take part in the world’s war. And such crowds!Surely they made money enough to tide them over for some time. When we finally got there, having waited a full half hour on one corner for a car which was not crowded to the doors, the next step was to find a seat. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds for the crowd was ahead of us. At last we got settled and the fun began. The program was very long, but interesting from first to last. It started with a parade and review which was very fine indeed. The soldiers looked so straight and trim, not a superfluous ounce of flesh on them, marching back and forth, all perfectly at ease, knowing just what to do next. These were the boys, ready for active service at the front. The next scene in this military drama was a band concert, followed by songs of the front and home. They sang, “Keep the Home Fires Burning, and it was worth the admission to hear all those soldiers singing together. It took the three bands to keep them on the tune. Next came the physical drill. Oh. such perfect unity and obdience. all working together like a machine. They went through all kinds of maneuvers which I knew nothing about, but which were certainly intended to develop and train muscles for work they had to do. The biggest display was the wo.k with the guns, which the boys tossed around as tho they were balls, and I know they must have been heavy. All kinds of commands went along with it, but they were all Greek to me. Then we had an artillery drill. The loud reports of the guns, especially the first, made everyone jump. I have said a lot about the number of soldiers, but nothing about the horses and mules. There were more of them than there were soldiers, all black or dark colored, standing in groups of fifty or more, upon which the discharges of the guns made no effect. Evidently they had been trained as well as the boys. They appeared to understand just as well as their masters what they were expected to do. The report went around that one horse, and they pointed him out- -a beautiful black, had been so trained by his master that he stopped when they said “halt” and started at the command “forward.” You can believe it or not as you please. By the way he pranced and danced, I am inclined to question such perfect docility. May off in the distance, at the old soldiers' home, a cannon answered the shots of our artillery. It was so far away that the report was very faint, but the puffs of white smoke from the thick green trees looked warlike indeed. It was said that it was loaded with real cannon balls, and it made the crowd a little restless for the thing was pointed straight at us. Any way we didn't see anything of the balls, and I don’t believe they could have reached us, it not being one of the new guns, but one used during the Civil War. Following that was a wall scaling contest. That was amusing because they worked so hard to get over properly. Two men formed a step at the bottom, and It worked very well for the tall ones, but the short fellows had to kick and squirm pretty hard before they went“Over the Top. After that came the real thing, the battle which we must imagine took place on Vimv ridge. The grounds were all cut up with trenches just as they are in France. The battle was divided into six parts. The first was the opening attack made by the Allies. The little bullets zipped and sung through the air making quite a commotion. They were blank cartridges, but they made a