and how, if he is reported sick or wounded, she can obtain particulars about his condition.
Here also she learns about the government allowance to which she may be entitled. She is advised to write to her son and to urge him to insure himself with the government and she is informed about the compensation to which her boy is entitled in case of wounds, sickness, or injury. When there is delay in the payment of the allowance or any other difficulty of this kind, the Red Cross acts as her agent and makes the necessary adjustments.
This and other matters of business furnish some of the most perplexing problems which the mother or the wife has to solve. Hitherto the overhead expenditures of the household—the payment of rent and insurance, the purchase of furniture, and so forth—have been attended to by the husband or, perhaps, by the oldest son. Now when the mortgage falls due—and this has happened frequently—the woman turns to the Red Cross for advice. Shall she renew the mortgage? Is the property worth holding? Can she meet future interest charges? To such questions the Home Service worker must help her to find the answer.
One woman sought the assistance of the Red Cross because her husband, before going to the front, had borrowed $100 from a loan shark giving as security the furniture which was worth many times this amount. The loan shark demanded interest at thirty-six per cent. With the assistance of the Red Cross the woman was able to secure release from this extortioner, to return the principal to him immediately, and to obtain the money her needs demanded.
