Robert W. de Forest, Vice-President of the American Red Cross.
ROBERT W. de FOREST
The Red Cross has been most fortunate in the acceptance of its Vice-Presidency by Mr. Robert W. de Forest, of New York City. There are few residents of that city so widely known for their philanthropic and public spirit and work as Mr. de Forest.
Mr. de Forest is a graduate of Yale, a lawyer by profession, having received his LL. B. from Columbia, and having also studied at Bonn University. In 1904 the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Yale University. Since 1874 he has been counsel, and since 1902 Vice-President, of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. For twenty years he has been President of the Charity Organization of New York City; he was a founder and first president of the Provident Loan Society, the first philanthropic pawn-broker, the Chairman of the Tenement House Commission of New York State in 1900, trustee and secretary of the Metropolitan Art Museum, manager of the Presbyterian Hospital, a trustee and director in various business institutions, was the first Tenement House Commissioner of New York City, the President of the National Conference of Charities and Correction in 1903, President of the Municipal Art Commission of New York in 1905, and is Vice-President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Sage Foundation.
This brief statement of the important positions Mr. de Forest has occupied, or does occupy, is strongly indicative of the character and ability of the man, and the Red Cross is heartily to be congratulated not only upon its President, but upon its second officer, the Vice-President of the Society.
THE FOREST FIRE DISASTERS
BY ERNEST P. BICKNELL
All the country knows of the forest fires which caused loss of life and property in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and other States, in September and October, 1908. It has been estimated that the losses to property amounted to $50,000,000, most of which lay in the destruction of forests, of which thousands of square miles were swept by fire.
In their progress the fires destroyed several towns and villages and many farm houses. Chisholm, Minnesota, a town of probably 5,000 population, seventy-five miles north of Duluth, was destroyed in an hour. At 5:30 o’clock in the afternoon of September 6, a sudden shift of wind deluged the place in a moment with an overwhelming rain of burning leaves and embers. Almost every building in the town took fire at once. The surprised and panic-stricken people could do nothing but seize a few valuables and run for their lives. When the fire died out it was found that only sixty-five structures of any kind remained standing, but that not a life had been lost. Prompt relief measures were taken, with a state commission in charge. A relief fund of about $130,000 was contributed. Mr. Ernest P. Bicknell, National Director of the Red Cross, visited Chisholm and inspected the progress and methods of relief October 13 to 16, and reported that the methods were good and that normal conditions were being restored rapidly. Hundreds of men were employed in rebuilding the town and houses were going up like magic. Eighty-seven cottages have been built by the relief committee. Employment in the iron mines surrounding the town was not interrupted by the fire. This fact greatly simplified the work of relief, as the usual income of that part of the population least able to endure loss, was preserved.