The provisions of this decree will be communicated to the commanding generals of the Armed Forces for the information of said forces, and to the provincial Governors for the information of Alcaldes in their respective jurisdictions.
The Department of Government is intrusted with the fulfillment of the provisions of this decree.
JOSE M. GOMEZ, President.
NICOLAS ALBERDI, Secretary of Government.
FRANCE.
The Life Saving Society of France has asked to become affiliated with the French Red Cross. It has been in existence thirty years, and its object is to provide assistance to the victims of accidents of public calamities and epidemics. This society, in time of war, will place its litter bearers at the disposition of the Red Cross. The French Society of Secouristes, composed of volunteer men nurses, whose object is to install emergency first-aid stations in Paris and other large cities, has asked for a like affiliation for the purpose of placing its 1,000 trained men at the disposal of the Red Cross in time of war. The Navy Department has issued an order permitting the French Red Cross nurses to study in the navy hospitals. Both the Army and Navy Departments have issued orders authorizing their officers to become members of the Red Cross. The methods of discovering the wounded after battle, especially when the search has to be made at night, is receiving particular attention in France; the use of trained dogs and of powerful lights are being carefully studied.
The income of the Central Committee of the French Red Cross last year amounted to $71,162, without including those of the two branches, the Association of French Women and the Union of the Women of France. Legacies amounting to $11,200 were also received. The Academy of Moral Science, in recognition of the Red Cross work in Morocco, awarded the society the Audifferd prize of $3,000, the highest distinction it can confer. As a recognition of the same services, the Chamber of Deputies voted an appropriation of $3,000 to the Red Cross “as a testimony of the gratitude of the nation.” The society, during the past year, sent to the military posts 6,800 books and magazines, not counting 360 subscriptions to periodicals; 3,612 games were also sent for the soldiers’ use. The French Red Cross presented to the Queen of Italy and to the Duchess of Aosta the gold medals of the society in appreciation of their heroic work for the earthquake victims.
Red Cross and Aviation.—Near the Red Cross temporary hospital stood a man with a telescope, sweeping the whole plain. Beside him was an automobile, ready to start at a second’s notice. As soon as Bleriot fell assistance was rushed to him and he was quickly in the nurse’s hands. His injuries, considering that he had fallen sixty feet, proved slight, but his nervous system received a terrible shock. When he appeared at lunch on the stand his left hand was bandaged and he walked with a slight limp. He was heartily cheered.
In an hour’s time after news of the earthquake in Provence had reached it, the Marseilles Committee of the Association of French Women of the Red Cross had ready a fully equipped hospital with its personnel, which was established at Rognes. In speaking of this work one of the Marseilles papers said: “The promptitude of this mobilization proves to us the value of the Red Cross and the necessity for its practical instructions.”