Doc. No. 287: Letter from Clara Barton, President of the American National Red Cross to Edward F. Fletcher, Mayor of Worcester

287 THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS. FOR THE RELIEF OF SUFFERING BY WAR, PESTILENOE, FAMINE, Flood, Fires, AND OTHER CALAMITIES OF SUFFICIENT MAGNITUDE TO BE DEEMED NATIONAL IN Extent. THE ORGANIZATION ACTS UNDER THE GENEVA TREATY, THE PROVISIONS FOR WHICH WERE MADE IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CLARA BARTON, AT GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, AUGUST 22, 1864, AND SINCE SIGNED BY NEARLY ALL CIVILIZED NATIONS. THE UNITED PRESIDENT. STATES GAVE ITS ADHESION, MARCH 1, 1882. RATIFIED BY THE CONGRESS OF BERNE, JUNE 9, MRS. JOHN A. LOGAN, 1882. PROCLAIMED BY PRESIDENT ARTHUR, JULY 26, 1882. INCORPORATED VICE-PRESIDENT OCTOBER 1, 1881, APRIL 17, 1893, AND JUNE 6, 1900. EDWARD D. EASTON, TREASURER. SAM'L W BRIGGS, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, SECRETARY. 49 EAST 58TH ST., NEW YORK. August 31, 1903. To the Honorable Edward F. Fletcher, Mayor of Worcester, Worcester, Mass. My dear Sir: - My Secretary, Mr. Howe, has advised me of his inter- view on Saturday, and I desire to convey to you my warmest thanks for your courtesy and interest, and for the list of dis- tinguished gentlemen you were good enough to suggest for a com- mittee to inaugurate the new Educational Humanitarian work of the Red Cross in your city. These gentlemen I am sure will take the keenest inter- est in this work, and will join heartily with me in this great educational effort of the Red Cross. They will know so well of the appalling, ever-growing deatbroll and long list of maimed and wounded that makes up the annual records of our industrial battle field; and they will see as I do, that the only way to deal with this condition is to educate the rank and file of our industrial army in the best methods of emergency treatment, in order that they may be equiped with sufficient knowledge to deal intelligently with cases of accident, in the absence of a Doctor.