Hilda, all of a sudden, opened her eyes and saw her beautiful mother standing over her, kissing her. Hilda rubbed her eyes and found that she had been asleep.
"O, mother," she said, "I have been asleep, and I had such a funny dream, and the fairies were so nice to me." Hilda promised her mother that she would never neglect her little servants again. This made the mother very happy, and, for making that promise, she bought Hilda a nice new doll, dressed like a fairy.
Hilda was so proud of her doll that she named her Fairy. Fairy has been very good to Hilda, for every time she plays with her doll, Hilda always makes sure that her face and hands are as clean as her little doll's.
1. What lesson can we get from this story?
I am only a tiny bit of paper, with a little green and red color in the form of a cross or a wreath. I am not much larger than a postage stamp. I am going to tell you of some of the work I have done for mankind in this big world, notwithstanding my small size. Please don't think I am boasting of myself in an unbecoming manner. I was made long, long years ago, when our grandfathers were just soldiers, and fighting each other in a long and bloody war.
The mothers and wives of these soldiers were constantly thinking out some plan by which they could do something for the "boys" at the front. It is hard to sit with idle hands when those we love are in the thick of battle, and I sometimes think that the women and children suffer most in our great wars.
So, in 1862, when the days were very dark, when the battle seemed so fierce, and when the hospitals, North and South, were crowded with the sick and wounded, some good ladies of Boston thought of me. They decided to make me into a stamp, and to sell me to get money to help the sick soldiers. I was made and sold at a kind of "post-office booth" at many fairs.
I did not look then just as I do now—you see the style of my dress has changed with the change in fashion. I have taken as my color the Red Cross, the emblem of that great army of workers who, in 1864, first organized the Red Cross Society at Geneva, Switzerland. This society works for the sick and suffering; it does not matter under what flag they live.
Did you ever think of what a great thing a flag is? Just a little bit of cotton with a few colors on it, the red, white and blue, the tri-color of France; the red, white and black, of Germany; the stars and stripes of our own free land; or the Red Cross of Greece on a white field, the flag of the Red Cross Society.
Men have fought and died for the thing which these bits of rag and color mean to them.
But I am getting away from my story. With all the newness of the idea, and my very small size, I helped to make nearly a million dollars during that terrible war between our own beloved States. This money was used for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers.
My mission has always been one of mercy. I cannot but feel good when I think over the days of the past, and recall to memory the deeds I have done.
For a long time after that war I had nothing to do but to think of these past deeds, and, as I thought of the poor fever-stricken soldiers to whom I had brought medicine to cool their fever, and how I had gotten bandages to bind the wounds made by shot and shell, I thought sadly that I was forgotten, and that my mission was ended. These thoughts were sad, for I knew there was a work to be done, and I wanted to be up and about it. I wondered if the time would ever come when I could go on another errand of mercy. I felt that I must be needed somewhere in the big world, but I hoped I would never see another war.
The time of waiting was a weary one, but one day in 1892 I heard a call from little Portugal, far across the ocean. I was needed by the Red Cross there to aid in getting money for the sick and suffering.
Since I answered that call I have been at work in every country in the world; in coldest Russia, in sunny Italy, and even in far-away Australia.
Sometimes I work to provide money for soldiers, for men will not stop fighting each other, and the Red Cross owes allegiance to the sick and wounded of every nation. Sometimes I work for the benefit of the homeless ones; and, again, I work for hospitals for sick children. My work is broad, indeed.
I have always been happy in this work, for it is a great one, but in the year 1907 I started the work I like best of all.
It was that year that Miss Emily Bissell, a little woman of Delaware, did what Jacob Riis suggested. He suggested that Americans adopt the plan already begun in Norway and Sweden. This was to sell the Red Cross stamps to aid in raising money for the great fight against tuberculosis.
So the first real seal for this purpose was issued in 1908, and since that time I have brought to this cause over a million dollars. One little seal, on which shines a red cross of Greece, for one little penny, has grown and grown, until with the seals and pennies I have made over a million dollars to help suffering human beings.
Now, let me tell you how it has been done. I am printed about six weeks before Christmas. After I am printed, with my red crosses and holly wreaths, and "Merry Christmas," agents advertise me in every nook and corner of the country. I go to every little village—especially where there are women interested in doing good for others.
I am sold to seal packages to go to far-away countries; I am used to paste on the back of letters; I go everywhere carrying the message of "Peace and good will to men."
In every place that I go some one is talking and writing about how to prevent tuberculosis, the "great white plague," as Oliver Wendell Holmes called it—the terrible disease that has killed so many people—more than all the wars of the world. Seventy-five to ninety per cent. of all the money I bring is used in the community in which I am sold.
The money I bring is used to hire nurses to go down into the crowded city districts to care for the poor consumptives crowded in the tenement houses. It may help to send a poor little cripple, with tuberculosis of the hip-joint, to the "Fresh Air Home" in the mountains, where she has a chance to get well. It often aids in sending a tired, sick mother to the seashore in summer, where she finds rest and health. It aids in sending some one to the schools to teach the gospel of fresh air, good food, and pure water for the children.
So you see my mission has always been one of mercy, hope and health. Yet I am such a little thing—just a bit of paper, bearing a little red cross on a white shield, worth only a penny. "Great oaks from little acorns grow," you know.
1. When were the first stamps used to make money for charitable purposes?
2. Who first suggested using such stamps to aid the fight on tuberculosis?
3. Who was Jacob Riis? Who was Oliver Wendell Holmes?
4. Why is the cross of Greece used on the stamps? What does it signify?
5. What is done with the money gotten from the sale of the Red Cross seal?
6. Do you think it a good cause? Why? Will you join the band of workers who are fighting "the great white plague?"
"Oh, Jack, Uncle John says, if we will build a play-house for Mary and her dolls, he will take us to Washington with him when he goes next month."
"All right, Stuart, we can do it. Let us begin right away. Here is a nice place for the house, just on the little hill. The ground is nice and sandy, and the rain-water runs off. Here are some pretty trees for shade. The hill is not high enough for it to be very cold.
"Now, for the house. We will place it so that it will face the south. Then the living rooms will have plenty of sunshine. We will put it about two feet off the ground, in order that it will not be damp; we can have a wide piazza nearly all around the house; and on the south piazza we can screen off a part for a sleeping porch. I am sure the dolls would like one.
"We will screen every door and window to keep the flies and mosquitoes out of the house. Mary says that each room must have at least two windows. She wants the walls of the rooms painted a soft cream color. We will oil and wax the floors. She can put a few rugs on them. She does not want large ones that she cannot take up when she sweeps.
"The little white iron beds, with dainty pillows and white covers, will surely please the dolls.
"Even in the parlor we will not have a single chair with plush or velvet on it, for, Uncle John says, such furniture collects and holds germs. The plan for the kitchen is a beauty. Everything is white except the stove. There is a nice little table, and a cupboard, where the pans and dishes are to be kept. The table is covered with zinc, and the floor is covered with oil-cloth, so that it will be easy to keep it clean. A shelf, on which are fastened hooks for spoons and forks, is near the sink.
"The windows will have white muslin sash curtains. Mother says it is just the kitchen to delight the heart of a neat little cook, with 'a place for everything, and everything in its place.'
"Look at the cloth-covered broom we are going to use for sweeping, no dust and no feather-dusters in this play-house.
"We can put the well here, this is near the house and on a hill above the barn and chicken houses. We can put a little gasoline engine in, to pump water into the bathroom and kitchen.
"We will plant some roses in the yard.
"Well, Stuart, we have worked hard on Mary's doll-house, and, now that it is finished, I am sure Uncle John will take us on the promised trip."
"I showed the house to Uncle John to-day, Jack, and he said he wished that some of the 'grown-ups' houses were as carefully planned for sunshine and health as Mary's doll house."
1. Why did Jack and Stuart build a sleeping porch to the doll house?
2. Why did they put the house on a little hill? Why did they put the barns and out-houses at the foot of the hill?
3. Where did they place the well?
4. Why did they use a cloth-covered broom for sweeping?
5. Would this be a good way for grown-ups to build their houses?
A long while ago, so the story goes, there was a time when the Lion, King of Beasts, had a little mouse at his mercy. The Lion was about to crush the mouse with his paw. The little mouse begged for his life, and the great King of Beasts spared him.
Not a great while after that day the Lion was caught in a net. He could not get out, and howled with rage. The little mouse heard him, and ran to help his old-time friend.
The great King of Beasts did not think the little mouse could help him. But the mouse gnawed the cords in the net with his teeth, and thus set the Lion free.
This story that I am going to tell you is of a rat—a kind of cousin to the mouse.
In many of our cities the City Fathers have not thought much of the many rats that live in the alleys and big warehouses, where cotton and grain are stored.
The City Fathers, like the King of Beasts, have looked with contempt on the little rats. They did not believe they were large enough to do any great harm, but rats and mice are dirty little animals and can carry disease. The Health Doctors, who are always digging into things, have made a serious charge against Mr. Rat. They say that he is the "Carrier" of a terrible disease, and that he is to be more feared than the biggest lion.
The rats have brought this disease from the far-away countries in Asia. You will ask—How could the rats bring this disease, which is called "the plague," since they cannot swim across the ocean? No, that is true. But you know that the rats are great wanderers, and they frequently get on the ships which are loaded in the harbors in China, or Japan, and travel with the ships to the next port. You must remember that rats have fleas on them. In the far-away country the fleas bite persons who have the plague. The fleas then get on the rats in the neighborhood, and even give the plague to the rats.
When the ship unloads its cargo, in Mobile, San Francisco, or New York, these rats, with their fleas and plague germs, go ashore, and in this way they spread the disease.
When the fleas from the rats bite persons, they poison them with the plague germs. Many persons in Asia die of this disease every year.
In this country we prevent it by doing what the Lion of long ago did not do. We kill the rats, for they are dirty little animals.
1. Tell the story of the Lion and the Mouse. Who wrote this fable? What is a fable?
2. Why are we not so merciful to the rat as the Lion was?
3. What disease germs does the rat carry?
"I say, Jack, what do you think; I am going to join the Boy Scouts."
"What is that, Tom? I don't know anything about Boy Scouts. Is it something new? You are always starting some new stunt. Is it playing soldier?"
"Oh, no, Jack; it is a company made up of boys, who are learning to be manly and brave. Being a Boy Scout takes you out-of-doors a great deal, and in that way it helps make you strong and healthy. I wish you would come with me and join."
"Well, tell me all about it."
"The Boy Scouts were organized in England, in 1907, and a brother organization was started in America in 1910. It was started by men who knew all about boys, and who wanted to help them to get the best out of life.
"The Boy Scouts elect leaders; they form troops, that is, so many boys under one leader. They go camping. They go on long 'hikes.' A hike is a trip into the country, over hills and through meadows.
"The Boy Scout must learn to swim, and to do many things to help himself, and to help others. A Boy Scout has to promise to do something for some one each day—lend a helping hand.
"Mr. Brown, the lawyer, is our Scout Master. Come, Jack, join us. You are twelve years old. It will help to make a man of you. A number of us are going to be initiated this afternoon; then we will be Tenderfoot Scouts."
"All right, Tom, I'll ask mother. I am pretty sure she will let me join. She wants me to be a manly, healthy boy."
When a person faints, lay him flat, loosen his collar and belt, and bathe the face in cool water.
When a person is cut, and the wound is bleeding, put a clean cloth on the wound, and press on it with the fingers until it stops bleeding, or until a doctor comes. Tie a bandage above the cut.
If a bone is broken, carry the person so the broken bone will not tear or injure the flesh near it. Put a board or pillow under the broken bone to steady it.
They also learn to bind wet soda to a burn.
To put clove oil or turpentine on a bit of cotton in an aching tooth.
To put three drops of carbolic acid in half a teaspoonful of warm glycerine into an aching ear.
To put wet cloths on the throat for sick stomach.
To bathe a sprain in hot water, and not to bandage until it stops swelling.
To turn an eyelid and take out a cinder, or a bit of dirt, with a soft cloth.
When a person has taken poison, to give him something to make him vomit—salt and warm water, or mustard dissolved in warm water; call for a doctor.
For sunstroke, to put the person in a cool place, and bathe in cool water. To put ice-cap on head.
For heat prostration, to give stimulants, 10 to 12 drops of aromatic spirits of ammonia in a little water, or hot drinks. Put hot-water bottle to the feet.
When on fire, to lie down, not to run. Wrap in a rug or blanket, or anything that will shut off the air from the flame. To protect the face from the flames.
In nose bleed, to raise the head and arms. To press on the nostril from which the blood is coming. That a small piece of cotton dipped in very weak vinegar or lemon juice and placed in the nostril will cause the bleeding to stop.
Should a child swallow a penny, or ring, or other small things, to give bread and potatoes; not to give a laxative, or purgative.
If a child has convulsions, to put it in a warm bath without waiting to undress it.
For snake bite, or the bite of a dog, tie a string above the bite, wash the wound with clean water, and rub carbolic acid or luna caustic on it.
The most important thing that the Boy Scout learns is that common sense and self-control are two of the best things to possess.
The Boy Scout must be well trained to use the last two aids for the benefit of the injured.
Tom, Uncle John told me last night that he was going to make a hard fight. I thought he was going to war. He could not tell me all about this fight then, because some one came for him, to go to see a sick child.
When I went to bed, I dreamed Uncle John was a soldier, and that he had on a uniform, and was riding away on a big black horse. In my dream, I could hear the bugle blow. Then I dreamed he was fighting wild beasts. My! how hot I got while I was dreaming this.
This morning, when I told Uncle John about my dream, he said he was going to fight something that did more harm than wild beasts. He told me that, as soon as I helped mother, to come over to his office, and he would tell me all about it.
I could scarcely eat my breakfast, I was in such a hurry to learn what my Uncle John was going to fight. I could just see him with a sword buckled to his side, getting on a big war-horse, galloping off to the music of fife and drum.
After breakfast, I ran to the office. "Well, my boy," said Uncle John, "you have come to learn about the big fight your peace-loving Uncle is going to make. I am fighting for others, not for myself, and I hope we will win this fight.
"I will show you the enemy, he is in ambush." My eyes were wide open when Uncle said that. Uncle John walked quickly over to a shelf and took down a bottle of "Soothing Syrup." I wondered what he was going to do, when he returned and said, "This bottle holds one of the greatest enemies of little innocent children. It contains opium. Opium is a poison. Little babies don't need it. Sometimes a mother will give too large a dose, and kill her little one. The mother does not know that the 'soothing' part of the syrup is opium.
"The English people have told the makers of such stuff that they must take the opium out of it, or label the bottle poison. Much of this kind of medicine is sold. The people do not know how harmful it is. I am going to fight this enemy of little babies to the last ditch.
"Some of the well-known captains of regiments of these fake cures are known as 'Compounds,' 'Bitters,' 'Kidney Cures,' 'Cough Cures,' 'Asthma Cures' and 'Liver Regulators.' These are mighty captains, and flaunt their false colors in the daily newspapers which come to our firesides. Many of them contain alcohol. 'Corn Cures' and 'Skin Foods' are little corporals in the army of the enemy.
"The great generals are the fake consumption cures which are advertised in so many daily papers and magazines. Their shot and shell are the most dangerous, because they attack those already weak. They rob persons of the judgment to choose such allies as Fresh Air, Food and Rest. They are not even brave soldiers—they strike the weak and ignorant.
"These, my boy, are the enemies I am going to fight—in the trenches and out. I am buckling on my armor and sword. Will you join me, and help to put down quacks and patent medicines of all kinds?"
1. Give the names of some patent medicines you know.
2. What do nearly all patent medicines contain?
3. Will you promise to help in stopping the use of patent medicines?