Charity chain letter (as published).
Red Cross (Whitman). Send 24¢ for chloroform, four copies. US, 1917.
Owing to the scarcity of anaesthetics, operations that cause indescribable
pain have to be performed daily, without their aid to mitigate suffering.
We make an appeal to you to contribute 24 cents toward the purchase of
chloroform for use in the hospitals of the Allies. Please send four
copies of this appeal to your friends, and put No. _ on your letters.
Do not fail or the chain will be broken. Please send money to Miss
Elizabeth Whitman, Superintendent of Nurses, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary,
281 Second Ave., New York City.
New York Times, June 3, 1917 (I, 12:1). Article titled "WAR
ENDLESS CHAIN OVERWHELMS NURSE," subtitled "Appeal She Started with Four
Friends Brings in Thousands of Dollars for Relief" and "END IS NOT YET
IN SIGHT." See also New York Times, Feb. 9, 1917 (20:4) and April
1, 1917 (letter). Says "started more than two years ago." "She [Miss Whitman]
proposed to stop the chain when it reached 100 letters, through the medium
of numbering each letter sent out, but the chain went on beyond 100, and
is now on its way to the 500 mark, where the American Committee of the
British Red Cross hopes to stop it, but is not certain of being able to."
Article says quarters were sent - but letter solicits 24 cents (typo? or
one shilling). After two years it had raised about $28,000 when taken over
by the American Committee of the British Red Cross. The text as published
apparently omits a number at the top, and instructions for self-termination.
Was 15-04@.
ce1915-04u_redcross_s24q4
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