Among the branches or centres of supply and distribution of the United States Sanitary Commission, though some with a wider field and a more wealthy population in that field have raised a larger amount of money or supplies, there was none which in so small and seemingly barren a district proved so efficient or accomplished so much as the "Soldiers'

Aid Society of Northern Ohio."

This extraordinary efficiency was due almost wholly to the wonderful energy and business ability of its officers. The society which at first bore the name of The Soldiers' Aid Society of Cleveland, was composed wholly of ladies, and was organized on the 20th day of April, 1861, five days after the President's proclamation calling for troops. Its officers were (exclusive of vice-presidents who were changed once or twice and who were not specially active) Mrs. B. Rouse, President, Miss Mary Clark Brayton, Secretary, Miss Ellen F. Terry, Treasurer. These ladies continued their devotion to their work not only through the war, but with a slight change in their organization, to enable them to do more for the crippled and disabled soldier, and to collect without fee or reward the bounties, back pay and pensions coming to the defenders of the country, has remained in existence and actively employed up to the present time.

No const.i.tution or by-laws were ever adopted, and beyond a verbal pledge to work for the soldiers while the war should last, and a fee of twenty-five cents monthly, no form of membership was prescribed and no written word held the society together to its latest day. Its sole cohesive power was the bond of a common and undying patriotism.

In October, 1861, it was offered to the United States Sanitary Commission, as one of its receiving and disbursing branches, and the following month its name was changed to The Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio. Its territory was very small and not remarkable for wealth. It had auxiliaries in eighteen counties of Northeastern Ohio, (Toledo and its vicinity being connected with the Cincinnati Branch, and the counties farther west with Chicago), and a few tributaries in the counties of Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania, which bordered on Ohio, of which that at Meadville, Pennsylvania, was the only considerable one.

In this region, Cleveland was the only considerable city, and the population of the territory though largely agricultural was not possessed of any considerable wealth, nor was the soil remarkably fertile.

In November, 1861, the society had one hundred and twenty auxiliaries. A year later the number of these had increased to four hundred and fifty, and subsequently an aggregate of five hundred and twenty was attained.

None of these ever seceded or became disaffected, but throughout the war the utmost cordiality prevailed between them and the central office.

In the five years from its organization to April, 1866, this society had collected and disbursed one hundred and thirty thousand four hundred and five dollars and nine cents in cash, and one million and three thousand dollars in stores, making a grand total of one million one hundred and thirty-three thousand four hundred and five dollars and nine cents. This amount was received mainly from contributions, though the excess over one million dollars, was mostly received from the proceeds of exhibitions, concerts, and the Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair held in February and March, 1864. The net proceeds of this fair were about seventy-nine thousand dollars.

The supplies thus contributed, as well as so much of the money as was not required for the other objects of the society, of which we shall say more presently, were forwarded to the Western Depot of the Sanitary Commission at Louisville, except in a few instances where they were required for the Eastern armies. The reception, re-packing and forwarding of this vast quant.i.ty of stores, as well as all the correspondence required with the auxiliaries and with the Western office of the Sanitary Commission, and the book-keeping which was necessary in consequence, involved a great amount of labor, but was performed with the utmost cheerfulness by the ladies whom we have named as the active officers of the society.

Among the additional inst.i.tutions or operations of this society connected with, yet outside of its general work of receiving and disbursing supplies, the most important was the "Soldiers' Home,"

established first on the 17th of April, 1861, as a lodging-room for disabled soldiers in transit, and having connected with it a system of meal tickets, which were given to deserving soldiers of this cla.s.s, ent.i.tling the holder to a meal at the depot dining hall, the tickets being redeemed monthly by the society. In October, 1863, the "Soldiers'

Home," a building two hundred and thirty-five feet long and twenty-five feet wide, erected and furnished by funds contributed by citizens of Cleveland at the personal solicitation of the ladies, was opened, and was maintained until June 1, 1866, affording special relief to fifty-six thousand five hundred and twenty registered inmates, to whom were given one hundred and eleven thousand seven hundred and seven meals, and twenty-nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-three lodgings, at an entire cost of twenty-seven thousand four hundred and eight dollars and three cents. No government support was received for this home, and no rations drawn from the commissary as in most inst.i.tutions of this kind.

The officers of the society gave daily personal attention to the Home, directing its management minutely, and the superintendent, matron and other officials were employed by them.

The society also established a hospital directory for the soldiers of its territory, and recorded promptly the location and condition of the sick or wounded men from returns received from all the hospitals in which they were found; a measure which though involving great labor, was the means of relieving the anxiety of many thousands of the friends of these men.

In May, 1865, an Employment Agency was opened, and continued for six months. Two hundred and six discharged soldiers, mostly disabled, were put into business situations by the personal efforts of the officers of the society. The families of the disabled men were cared for again and again, many of them being regular pensioners of the society.

The surplus funds of the society, amounting June 1st, 1866, to about nine thousand dollars, were used in the settlement of all war claims of soldiers, bounties, back pay, pensions, etc., gratuitously to the claimant. For this purpose, an agent thoroughly familiar with the whole business of the Pension Office, and the bureaus before which claims could come, was employed, and Miss Brayton and Miss Terry were daily in attendance as clerks at the office. Up to August 1st, 1866, about four hundred claims had been adjusted.

The entire time of the officers of the society daily from eight o'clock in the morning to six and often later in the evening, was given to this work through the whole period of the war, and indeed until the close of the summer of 1866. The ladies being all in circ.u.mstances of wealth, or at least of independence, no salary was asked or received, and no traveling expenses were ever charged to the Society, though the president visited repeatedly every part of their territory, organizing and encouraging the auxiliary societies, and both secretary and treasurer went more than once to the front of the army, and to the large general hospitals at Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, etc., with a view to obtaining knowledge which might benefit their cause.

In August, 1864, a small printing office, with a hand-press, was attached to the rooms; the ladies learned how to set type and work the press, and issued weekly bulletins to their auxiliaries to encourage and stimulate their efforts. For two years from October, 1862, two columns were contributed to a weekly city paper by these indefatigable ladies for the benefit of their auxiliaries. These local auxiliary societies were active and loyal, but they needed constant encouragement, and incentives to action, to bring and keep them up to their highest condition of patriotic effort.

The Sanitary Fair at Cleveland was not, as in many other cases, originated and organized by outside effort, for the benefit of the Branch of the Sanitary Commission, but had its origin, its organization and its whole management directly from the Soldiers' Aid Society itself.

In November, 1865, the Ohio State Soldiers' Home was opened, and the Legislature having made no preparation for its immediate wants, the Soldiers' Aid Society made a donation of five thousand dollars for the support of its members.

With a brief sketch of each of these ladies, we close our history of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio.

Mrs. Rouse is a lady somewhat advanced in life, small and delicately organized, and infirm in health, but of tireless energy and exhaustless sympathy for every form of human suffering. For forty years past she has been foremost in all benevolent movements among the ladies of Cleveland, spending most of her time and income in the relief of the unfortunate and suffering; yet it is the testimony of all who knew her, that she is entirely free from all personal ambition, and all love of power or notoriety. Though earnestly patriotic, and ready to do all in her power for her country, there is nothing masculine, or as the phrase goes, "strong-minded" in her demeanor. She is a descendant of Oliver Cromwell, and has much of his energy and power of endurance, but none of his coa.r.s.eness, being remarkably unselfish, and lady-like in her manners.

During the earlier years of the war, she spent much of her time in visiting the towns of the territory a.s.signed to the society, and promoting the formation of local Soldiers' Aid Societies, and it was due to her efforts that there was not a town of any size in the region to which the society looked for its contributions which had not its aid society, or its Alert Club, or both. Though plain and _pet.i.te_ in person, she possessed a rare power of influencing those whom she addressed, and never failed to inspire them with the resolution to do all in their power for the country. At a later period the laborious duties of the home office of the society required her constant attention.

Miss Mary Clark Brayton, the secretary of the society, is a young lady of wealth, high social position and accomplished education, but of gentle and modest disposition. Since the spring of 1861, she has isolated herself from society, and the pleasures of intellectual pursuits, and has given her whole time and thoughts to the one work of caring for the welfare of the soldiers. From early morning till evening, and sometimes far into the night, she has toiled in the rooms of the society, or elsewhere, superintending the receiving or despatch of supplies, conducting the immense correspondence of the society, preparing, setting up and printing its weekly bulletins, or writing the two columns weekly of matter for the Cleveland papers, on topics connected with the society's work, now in her turn superintending and purchasing supplies for the Soldiers' Home, looking out a place for some partially disabled soldier, or supplying the wants of his family; occasionally, though at rare intervals, varying her labors by a journey to the front, or a temporary distribution of supplies at some general hospital at Nashville, Huntsville, Bridgeport or Chattanooga, and then, having ascertained by personal inspection what was most necessary for the comfort and health of the army, returning to her work, and by eloquent and admirable appeals to the auxiliaries, and to her personal friends in Cleveland, securing and forwarding the necessary supplies so promptly, that as the officers of the Commission at Louisville said, it seemed as if she could hardly have reached Cleveland, before the supplies began to flow in at the Commission's warehouses at Louisville.

Miss Brayton possesses business ability sufficient to have conducted the enterprises of a large mercantile establishment, and the complete system and order displayed in her transaction of business would have done honor to any mercantile house in the world. Her untiring energy repeatedly impaired her health, but she has never laid down her work, and has no disposition to do so, while there is an opportunity of serving the defenders of her country.

Miss Ellen F. Terry, the treasurer of the society, is a daughter of Dr.

Charles Terry, a professor in the Cleveland Medical College. Her social position, like that of Miss Brayton, is the highest in that city. She is highly educated, familiar, like her friend Miss Brayton, with most of the modern languages of Europe, but especially proficient in mathematics. During the whole period of the war, she devoted herself as a.s.siduously to the work of the society as did Mrs. Rouse and Miss Brayton. She kept the books of the society (in itself a great labor), made all its disburs.e.m.e.nts of cash, and did her whole work with a neatness, accuracy and despatch which would have done honor to any business man in the country. No monthly statements of accounts from any of the branches of the Sanitary Commission reporting to its Western Office at Louisville were drawn up with such careful accuracy and completeness as those from the Cleveland branch, although in most of the others experienced and skilful male accountants were employed to make them up. Miss Terry also superintended the building of the Soldiers'

Home, and took her turn with Miss Brayton in its management. She also a.s.sisted in the other labors of the society, and made occasional visits to the front and the hospitals. Since the close of the war she and Miss Brayton have acted as clerks of the Free Claim Agency for recovering the dues of the soldiers, from the Government offices.

We depart from our usual practice of excluding the writings of those who are the subjects of our narratives, to give the following sprightly description of one of the hospital trains of the Sanitary Commission, communicated by Miss Brayton to the _Cleveland Herald_, not so much to give our readers a specimen of her abilities as a writer, as to ill.u.s.trate the thorough devotion to their patriotic work which has characterized her and her a.s.sociates.

ON A HOSPITAL TRAIN.

"Riding on a rail in the 'Sunny South,' is not the most agreeable pastime in the world. Don't understand me to refer to that favorite _argumentum ad hominem_ which a true Southerner applies to all who have the misfortune to differ from him, especially to Northern abolitionists; I simply mean that mode of traveling that Saxe in his funny little poem, calls so 'pleasant.' And no wonder! To be whirled along at the rate of forty miles an hour, over a smooth road, reposing on velvet-cushioned seats, with backs just at the proper angle to rest a tired head,--ice-water,--the last novel or periodical--all that can tempt your fastidious taste, or help to while away the time, offered at your elbow, is indeed pleasant; but wo to the fond imagination that pictures to itself such luxuries on a United States Military Railroad. Be thankful if in the crowd of tobacco-chewing soldiers you are able to get a seat, and grumble not if the pine boards are hard and narrow. Lay in a good stock of patience, for six miles an hour is probably the highest rate of speed you will attain, and even then you shudder to see on either hand strewn along the road, wrecks of cars and locomotives smashed in every conceivable manner, telling of some fearful accident or some guerrilla fight. These are discomforts hard to bear even when one is well and strong; how much worse for a sick or wounded man. But thanks to the United States Sanitary Commission and to those gentlemen belonging to it, whose genius and benevolence originated, planned, and carried it out, a hospital-train is now running on almost all the roads over which it is necessary to transport sick or wounded men. These trains are now under the control of Government, but the Sanitary Commission continues to furnish a great part of the stores that are used in them. My first experience of them was a sad one. A week before, the army had moved forward and concentrated near Tunnel Hill. The dull, monotonous rumble of army wagons as they rolled in long trains through the dusty street; the measured tramp of thousands of bronzed and war-worn veterans; the rattle and roar of the guns and caissons as they thundered on their mission of death; the glittering sheen reflected from a thousand sabres, had all pa.s.sed by and left us in the desolated town. We lived, as it were, with bated breath and eager ears, our nerves tensely strung with anxiety and suspense waiting to catch the first sound of that coming strife, where we knew so many of our bravest and best must fall. At last came the news of that terrible fight at Buzzard's Roost or Rocky Face Ridge, and the evening after, in came Dr. S. ---- straight from the front, and said, 'The hospital-train is at the depot, wouldn't you like to see it?' 'Of course we would,' chorused Mrs. Dr. S. ---- and myself, and forthwith we rushed for our hats and cloaks, filled two large baskets with soft crackers and oranges, and started off. A walk of a mile brought us to the depot, and down in the further corner of the depot-yard we saw a train of seven or eight cars standing, apparently unoccupied. 'There it is,' said Dr. S. ----. 'Why, it looks like any ordinary train,' I innocently remarked, but I was soon to find out the difference. We chanced to see Dr. Meyers, the Surgeon-in-charge, on the first car into which we went, and he made us welcome to do and to give whatever we had for the men, and so, armed with authority from the 'powers that be,' we went forward with confidence.

"Imagine a car a little wider than the ordinary one, placed on springs, and having on each side three tiers of berths or cots, suspended by rubber bands. These cots are so arranged as to yield to the motion of the car, thereby avoiding that jolting experienced even on the smoothest and best kept road. I didn't stop to investigate the plan of the car then, for I saw before me, on either hand, a long line of soldiers, shot in almost every conceivable manner, their wounds fresh from the battle-field, and all were patient and quiet; not a groan or complaint escaped them, though I saw some faces twisted into strange contortions with the agony of their wounds. I commenced distributing my oranges right and left, but soon realized the smallness of my basket and the largeness of the demand, and sadly pa.s.sed by all but the worst cases. In the third car that we entered we found the Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Adjutant of the Twenty-ninth Ohio, all severely wounded. We stopped and talked awhile. Mindful of the motto of my Commission, to give 'aid and comfort,' I trickled a little sympathy on them. 'Poor fellows!' said I. 'No, indeed,' said they. 'We _did_ suffer riding twenty miles'--it couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen, but a shattered limb or a ball in one's side lengthens the miles astonishingly--in those horrid ambulances to the cars. 'We cried last night like children, some of us,' said a Lieutenant,'but we're all right now. This Hospital Train is a jolly thing. It goes like a cradle.' Seeing my sympathy wasted, I tried another tack. 'Did you know that Sherman was in Dalton?' 'No!'

cried the Colonel and all the men who could, raised themselves up and stared at me with eager, questioning eyes. 'Is that so?' 'Yes,' I replied, 'It is true.' 'Then, I don't care for this little wound,' said one fellow, slapping his right leg, which was pierced and torn by a minie ball. Brave men! How I longed to take our whole North, and pour out its wealth and luxury at their feet.

"A little farther on in the car, I chanced to look down, and there at my feet lay a young man, not more than eighteen or nineteen years old; hair tossed back from his n.o.ble white brow; long brown lashes lying on his cheek; face as delicate and refined as a girl's. I spoke to him and he opened his eyes, but could not answer me. I held an orange before him, and he looked a Yes; so I cut a hole in it and squeezed some of the juice into his mouth. It seemed to revive him a little, and after sitting a short time I left him. Soon after, they carried him out on a stretcher--poor fellow! He was dying when I saw him, and I could but think of his mother and sisters who would have given worlds to stand beside him as I did. By this time it was growing dark, my oranges had given out, and we were sadly in the way; so we left, to be haunted for many a day by the terrible pictures we had seen on our first visit to a Hospital Train.

"My next experience was much pleasanter. I had the privilege of a ride on one from Chattanooga to Nashville, and an opportunity of seeing the plan of arrangement of the train. There were three hundred and fourteen sick and wounded men on board, occupying nine or ten cars, with the surgeon's car in the middle of the train. This car is divided into three compartments; at one end is the store-room where are kept the eatables and bedding, at the other, the kitchen; and between the two the surgeon's room, containing his bed, secretary, and shelves and pigeon holes for instruments, medicines, etc. A narrow hall connects the store-room and kitchen, and great windows or openings in the opposite sides of the car give a pleasant draft of air. Sitting in a comfortable arm-chair, one would not wish a pleasanter mode of traveling, especially through the glorious mountains of East Tennessee, and further on, over the fragrant, fertile meadows, and the rolling hills and plains of Northern Alabama and middle Tennessee, clothed in their fresh green garments of new cotton and corn. This is all charming for a pa.s.senger, but a hospital train is a busy place for the surgeons and nurses.

"The men come on at evening, selected from the different hospitals, according to their ability to be moved, and after having had their tea, the wounds have to be freshly dressed. This takes till midnight, perhaps longer, and the surgeon must be on the watch continually, for on him falls the responsibility, not only of the welfare of the men, but of the safety of the train. There is a conductor and brakeman, and for them, too, there is no rest. Each finds enough to do as nurse or a.s.sistant. In the morning, after a breakfast of delicious coffee or tea, dried beef, dried peaches, soft bread, cheese, etc., the wounds have to be dressed a second time, and again in the afternoon, a third.

"In the intervals the surgeon finds time to examine individual cases, and prescribe especially for them, and perhaps to take a little rest. To fulfil the duties of surgeon in charge of such a train, or endure the terrible strain on brain and nerves and muscles, requires great skill, an iron will, and a mind undaunted by the shadow of any responsibility or danger. All this and more has Dr. J. P. Barnum, who has charge of the train formerly running between Louisville and Nashville, but now transferred to the road between Nashville and Chattanooga. With a touch gentle as a woman, yet with manly strength and firmness, and untiring watchfulness and thoughtful care, he seems wholly devoted to the work of benefiting our sick and wounded soldiers. All on board the train gave him the warmest thanks. As I walked through the car, I heard the men say, 'we hav'n't lived so well since we joined the army. We are better treated than we ever were before. This is the nicest place we were ever in,' etc. Should the Doctor chance to see this, he will be shocked, for modesty, I notice, goes hand in hand with true n.o.bility and generosity; but I risk his wrath for the selfish pleasure that one has in doing justice to a good man.

"After breakfast, in the morning, when the wounds were all dressed, I had the pleasure of carrying into one car a pitcher of delicious blackberry wine that came from the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, and with the advice of Dr. Yates, the a.s.sistant surgeon, giving it to the men. The car into which I went had only one tier of berths, supported like the others on rubber bands. Several times during the day I had an opportunity of giving some little a.s.sistance in taking care of wounded men, and it was very pleasant. My journey lasted a night and a day, and I think I can never again pa.s.s another twenty-four hours so fraught with sweet and sad memories as are connected with my second and last experience on a hospital train."

NEW ENGLAND WOMEN'S AUXILIARY a.s.sOCIATION.

Among the branches of the United States Sanitary Commission, the a.s.sociation which is named above, was one of the most efficient and untiring in its labors. It had gathered into its management, a large body of the most gifted and intellectual women of Boston, and its vicinity, women who knew how to work as well as to plan, direct and think. These were seconded in their efforts by a still larger number of intelligent and accomplished women in every part of New England, who, as managers and directors of the auxiliaries of the a.s.sociation, roused and stimulated by their own example and their eloquent appeals, the hearts of their countrywomen to earnest and constant endeavour to benefit the soldiers of our National armies. The geographical peculiarities and connections of the New England States, were such that after the first year Connecticut and Rhode Island could send their supplies more readily to the field through New York than through Boston, and hence the a.s.sociation from that time, had for its field of operations, only Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Ma.s.sachusetts. In these four States, however, it had one thousand and fifty auxiliaries, and during its existence, collected nearly three hundred and fifteen thousand dollars in money, and fully one million, two hundred thousand dollars in stores and supplies for the work of the Sanitary Commission. In December, 1863, it held a Sanitary Fair in Boston, the net proceeds of which were nearly one hundred and forty-six thousand dollars.

The first Chairman of the Executive Committee, was Mrs. D. Buck, and on her resignation early in 1864, Miss Abby W. May, an active and efficient member of the Executive Committee from the first was chosen Chairman.

The rare executive ability displayed by Miss May in this position, and her extraordinary gifts and influence render a brief sketch of her desirable, though her own modest and retiring disposition would lead her to depreciate her own merits, and to declare that she had done no more than the other members of the a.s.sociation. In that coterie of gifted women, it is not impossible that there may have been others who could have done as well, but none could have done better than Miss May; just as in our great armies, it is not impossible that there may have been Major-Generals, and perhaps even Brigadier-Generals, who, had they been placed in command of the armies, might have accomplished as much as those who did lead them to victory. The possibilities of success, in an untried leader, may or may not be great; but those who actually occupy a prominent position, must pay the penalty of their prominence, in the publicity which follows it.

Miss May is a native of Boston, born in 1829, and educated in the best schools of her natal city. She early gave indications of the possession of a vigorous intellect, which was thoroughly trained and cultivated.

Her clear and quick understanding, her strong good sense, active benevolence, and fearlessness in avowing and advocating whatever she believed to be true and right, have given her a powerful influence in the wide circle of her acquaintance. She embarked heart and soul in the Anti-slavery movement while yet quite young, and has rendered valuable services to that cause.

At the very commencement of the war, she gave herself most heartily to the work of relieving the sufferings of the soldiers from sickness or wounds; laboring with great efficiency in the organization and extension of the New England Women's Auxiliary a.s.sociation, and in the spring and summer of 1862, going into the Hospital Transport Service of the Sanitary Commission, where her labors were arduous, but accomplished great good. After her return, she was prevailed upon to take the Chairmanship of the Executive Committee of the a.s.sociation, and represented it at Washington, at the meeting of the delegates from the Branches of the Sanitary Commission. Her executive ability was signally manifested in her management of the affairs of the a.s.sociation, in her rapid and accurate dispatch of business, her prompt and unerring judgment on all difficult questions, her great practical talent, and her earnest and eloquent appeals to the auxiliaries. Yet fearless and daring as she has ever been in her denunciation of wrong, and her advocacy of right, and extraordinary as are the abilities she has displayed in the management of an enterprise for which few men would have been competent, the greatest charm of her character is her unaffected modesty, and disposition to esteem others better than herself. To her friends she declared that she had made no sacrifices in the work, none really worthy of the name--while there were abundance of women who had, but who were and must remain nameless and unknown. What she had done had been done from inclination and a desire to serve and be useful in her day, and in the great struggle, and had been a recreation and enjoyment.

To a lady friend who sought to win from her some incidents of her labors for publication, she wrote:

"The work in New England has been conducted with so much simplicity, and universal co-operation, that there have been no persons especially prominent in it. Rich and poor, wise and simple, cultivated and ignorant, all--people of all descriptions, all orders of taste, every variety of habit, condition, and circ.u.mstances, joined hands heartily in the beginning, and have worked together as equals in every respect.

There has been no chance for individual prominence. Each one had some power or quality desirable in the great work; and she gave what she could. In one instance, it was talent, in another, money,--in another, judgment,--in another, time,--and so on. Where all gifts were needed, it would be impossible to say what would make any person prominent, with this one exception. It was necessary that some one should be at the head of the work: and this place it was my blessed privilege to fill. But it was only an accidental prominence; and I should regret more than I can express to you, to have this accident of position single me out in any such manner as you propose; from the able, devoted, glorious women all about me, whose sacrifices, and faithfulness, and n.o.bleness, I can hardly conceive of, much less speak of and never approach to.

"As far as I personally am concerned, I would rather your notice of our part of the work should be of 'New England women.' We shared the privileges of the work,--not always equally, that would be impossible.

But we stood side by side--through it all, as New England women; and if we are to be remembered hereafter, it ought to be under that same good old t.i.tle, and in one goodly company.

"When I begin to think of individual cases, I grow full of admiration, and wish I could tell you of many a special woman; but the number soon becomes appalling,--your book would be overrun, and all, or most of those who would have been omitted, might well have been there too."

In the same tone of generous appreciation of the labors of others, and desire that due honor should be bestowed upon all, Miss May, in her final Report of the New England Women's Auxiliary a.s.sociation, gives utterance to the thanks of the Executive Committee to its fellow-workers: