THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 309, 25 September 1919, Page 4

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

MISSION TO MONTENEGRO,

aid for hungry and dcstituto Mouteiiegrins, Anieriuitn lied Cross workers arrived in Cettinjo on January 21, according to letters just received from Montenegro. Major IS. A. Dexter, chief of tho mission, \landed in Cattaro, Dalniatia, on tho s,'tmo\ day, with .'iHujor Lionel A. B. feti'cefX head piiysician. They passed through Cottinje on their way to l'odgoritza to e.}tablisli head(|Uiirtcrs. Tho advance guard ol tho Montenegrin unit, numbering two doctors, olio dentist, thirteen nurses and fourteen olliuors, clerical workers and ciuuiffeuis. sailed from Toulon on January 8, aboard the Asie, a former hospital ship in tho Saloniku-Tou-lon scrvice. Captain E. J. Swift, .comptroller, was in temporary command. Upon landing at Cattaro, tho unit had its nrst taste of Slavic hospitality. Th# newcomers were met by -M. Vucoticli, i'unner Dalmatian deputy to the Austrian Ivaichsrath, who welcomed them on the quay with a ringing tribute to America and its licit Cross. As pneumonia and influenza are taking their toll in the back country, doctors and nurses make daily excursions from Cattaro. Conditions are at their worst in the mountain hamlets, where rocky goat trails are the only lines of com. munieation. In the retreat, tlio Austrians pillaged .at will, driving off sheep and cattle stealing blankets from sick beds and clothes Iront. women and children. Deprived of their usual diet of meat, the Montenegrins do not take kindly to vegetable fare.' Jjiow at the critical moment tho American Itcd. Cross has begun relief work. Ttie first workers to go. into quarters in Cettinjo were Captain Richard IvcUor, Hobert G. Whitloclc and Bruco M. Vi oltl, and tho Misses Georgia B. Green, Llizaboth Mitchell mid Bernice Brady. 11l Cettinje, a town of S(H)U, children walk barefoot in the snow, and they may i)B seen crving at doorsteps lor lack oi rood and clothing. But Cettinjo, being <rlie capital, is wealthy and well supplied as compared with other centres. Podgoritza, for instance, has 11,000 people, ol whom the grower part are in want. It is at Podgoritza that tho lied Cross is establishing its control hospital and largest distributing base. Another hospital and warehouse will bo a.t Nikshick, and a convalescent homo probably at Dulcigno by the sea; Aid from tho personnel may lie lent at Cettinje, where tho Government already owns a modern hospital, lacking only equipment winch the Austrians wantonly smashed ill their retreat. ... Teodo, according to present plans, will be used as a discharging port, from wlucn goods will bo sent by barge up the Scutari Eiver to -Scutari Lake, and from thoro by auto to Podgoiitza. This plan is inevitable, for though a, good road leads over the mountains from Cattaro to Cettinje, it is too steep and winding and too olteu snow-blocked to bo of great use for transportation. lleeeiit shipments include canned foods. Clothos are to follow shortly. • The Red Cross will work with the Goveminent, represented by, a coniuiittco of live at Cettinje. This body is preparing a survey of newly cases throughout MonteiioTo, which it will present to the lied Cross, unit. In all probability, local oommittceis will have charge of village distribution. The wolcomo accorded tha Red Cross in Montenegro has been cordial beyond all expectation. Desnite the remoteness of Cettinje and the present hardships ot the pcoplo the. Americans find- themselves, somewhat to their embarrassment, housed almost in luxury. Wherever they go, they are offered tho best buildiiiirs for quarters and office rooms. Recently they were the luncheon guests of tho Committee of Five. Among their hosts were M. liadovich, former Prime Minister, and tho Greek Orthodox Me. tropolitan of Montenegro. Such a meeting 'has rarely, beoir hold in Cettinje. "orvent enthusiasm prevailed; find each statesman, as ho spoke saluted the Amor San people as the saviours of Monteneuro.