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Red Cross. To forestall propaganda stories of brutality and mutilation and to show that Ethiopia intended to abide by the rules of civilized warfare, smart bearded Haile Selassie last week established the Ethiopian National Red Cross Society, appointed his Foreign Minister, Belaten Gheta Herroup, its first chairman. It was an impressive ceremony. In a great canvas pavilion hung with wine red velvet the chieftains gathered to hear their Emperor explain the purposes of the Red Cross. Aides passed out little booklets stamped with a bright red cross, explaining the whole thing in Amharic and French. Mountain chieftains greeted each phrase with rhythmic handclapping, but more than a few were sorely puzzled. From time immemorial a red cross on a white ground has been sign & symbol of an Ethiopian brothel.
Tolls-One group which viewed the coming Ethiopian war with less than complete dismay last week was the international directors of the Suez Canal Co. At Port Said, official figures indicated that the Italian Government has paid the company $10,000,000 in canal tolls in the past three months and transported 240,000 soldiers and laborers through the canal. Not all the traffic was southbound to East Africa. Within the last three weeks six Italian transports have gone north through the canal carrying over 5,000 victims of malaria, dysentery and typhoid from the great adventure before a shot has been fired.