The Delta Independent

Good Health Report
FROM
DELTA
Gauze Room

Since our organization in June, 1917 the Delta County Chapter has shipped 98,340 surgical dressings, comprising 91,402 folded dressings, 3,266 pads, and 3,674 muslin bandages and shot bags.

Delta, Crawford and Rogers Mesa have each maintained one gauze room, Hotchkiss two and Paonia five.

Considering that proper rooms and equipment had to be provided, all our volunteers taught from the beginning, and that we have had no resident certified instructor in the county I feel that our work has been successful, and that it represents great cooperation and effort on the part of all who have shared in it.

I regret that applications to establish gauze rooms in Redlands Mesa, Fruitland Mesa and Stewart Mesa had to be refused, largely owing to the difficulty of securing materials last spring.

It is doubtless generally known now that since July 1st Red Cross work all over the country is conducted on a definite allotment and production basis.

Washington has given the Mountain Division a very small allotment of surgical dressings, and in turn our chapter has been called on for very few, no more than an average gauze room could turn out in five or six afternoons a month.

Denver instructs us that for the next two months we may expect only this small amount to do, and even if we have extra material on hand, the allotment shall be completed exactly as given.

no more, no less. Mr. Swan, assistant manager, Mountain division, addresses all chapters, under date of July 8, as follows:

"We are very appreciative of the excellent work done by those surgical dressings workers who have helped us so magnificently in the past, and we particularly urge that your surgical dressing equipment be carefully taken care of, and your organization held intact, as we cannot tell when it will be necessary for us to ask you again to stimulate the production of surgical dressings."

Following these instructions all our rooms closed early in July, except the Woman's Relief Corps Auxiliary room in Delta. I asked this auxiliary to take care of the July and August allotments, and our executive committee concurs in my suggestion that upon completing them, we ask this room to close and give the September and October allotments to another gauze room, in order that interest may not die down and our workers lose their facility through too long a period of inactivity.

I trust that this will explain our new basis to all interested and I assure you that no one regrets more than I do that we cannot continue to produce at our best capacity the dressings which we feel go so directly to relieve the suffering of our brave men at the front.

May I take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation of the splendid support which both the workers and those in charge of our gauze rooms have given our chapter? It has been a pleasure to organize our work and to see it grow, and we thank all, including workers, financial supporters and the local newspapers which have given us much valuable space, for their devotion to our common cause.

T. L. HAYWARD,
Chapter Supervisor Surg. Dressings.