The Hungry and Naked

"O Lord, bless the young," was the prayer of Anitsa Sheulic, little Yugoslavian girl, "make them sympathize with all living creatures and all human things. . . . Thus there shall be no hungry and naked children through the whole world; there shall be no more wars or any slaves among us, only brethren helping each other."

Anitsa Sheulic's prayer was read at the opening of the American Red Cross's 1938 convention. Last week it was still timely. As the Red Cross, in the 75th anniversary of its founding, got its annual Roll Call for membership well under way. it still found plenty to do in the world.

First to be enrolled in the District of Columbia's drive was 90-year-old Mrs. Peter Voorhees Degraw, only living founder, onetime aide to Clara Barton, organizer of the American Red Cross.

In Manhattan, World War Veteran Lewis H. Brown, president of Johns-Manville, accepted the Roll Call chairmanship.

> Already a quarter of a million dollars has been appropriated to finance immediate needs.

> The first shipment of surgical dressings has gone forward on an unnamed ship. Women-in local chapters throughout the nation have begun the manufacture of layettes, operating gowns, hospital accessories.

> Three men last week boarded the American Clipper--Ernest J. Swift, Wayne C. Taylor, James T. Nicholson--delegates of the American Red Cross going to Geneva to consult with the League of Red Cross Societies, to learn the plight of the hungry and naked children.

Behind all this nationwide activity sat the woman who has made the American Red Cross her lifework, for 35 years its driving force. In 1904 Clara Barton's Red Cross was gallant, revered, but loosely knit and fundless. That was the year the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House said to a young Washington society leader: "You've been appointed to the executive committee of the Red Cross."

Mabel Thorp Boardman had come back from Berlin, where her uncle was U. S. Minister. Unmarried, she was no longer a Victorian young lady but a Victorian spinster. The Red Cross job was just what she wanted. Imaginative, energetic, with a passion for detail, she got to work with a will. Fifteen years later she was national secretary, has kept the job ever since.

At the death of Admiral Gary T. Grayson last year, she was urged to fill his position as national chairman. She had declined many times before, declined again. Her reason: "If there ever arises any doubt about the conduct of the Red Cross or its finances, investigators might be inclined to go easy with a woman. A man would have to accept a merciless inquiry.'' Norman H. Davis accepted the post, and Mabel Boardman remained secretary.

And she remained a Victorian. Tall, with a changeless hat crowning her changeless pompadour, she bears a striking resemblance to Britain's Dowager Queen Mary. When Edward VIII, then visiting Washington as Prince of Wales, was ushered into her presence, he exclaimed, "Good Lord--there's Mother!"

Last week Mabel Boardman could look with satisfaction on her handiwork. She had reorganized the national system; she had established closer connection with the Government; she had seen the membership swell from 300 to 5,500,000, the treasury expand from a few hundred dollars to an endowment fund of $14,000,000, plus a reserve fund of $15,300,000 in cash and securities.

Chief Justice Hughes observed to her one morning: "I read about the tornado this morning. The same paper showed photographs of Red Cross rescue work. How did you get there so fast?"

"The Red Cross doesn't have to get there any more," she told him. "It is there."

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