ties, churches, and communities
in New York and elsewhere. Simultaneously, the Sanitary Commission
issued an explanatory circular, urgent and minute, "To the loyal women
of America."

Then began that slow yet sure stream of supplies which flowed on to the
close of the war, so slow, indeed, at first, and so impatiently hoped
for, that the members of the committee could not wait, but must rush to
the street to see the actual arrival of boxes and bales. Soon, however,
that good old office, No. 10, Cooper Union, became rich in everything
needed; rich, too, in young women to unpack, mark and repack, in old
women to report forthcoming contributions from grocers, merchants and
tradesmen, and richer than all, in those wondrous boxes of sacrifices
from the country, the last blanket, the inherited quilt, curtains torn
from windows, and the coarse yet ancestral linen. In this personal
self-denial the city had no part. What wonder that the whole corps of
the Woman's Central felt their time and physical fatigue as nothing in
comparison to these heart trials. Out of this responsive earnestness
grew the carefully prepared reports and circulars, the filing of
letters, thousands in number, contained in twenty-five volumes, their
punctilious and grateful acknowledgement, and the thorough plan of
books, three in number, by which the whole story of the Woman's Central
may be learnt, and well would it repay the study.

First, The receiving book recorded the receipt and acknowledgement of
box.

Second, In the day book, each page was divided into columns, in which
was recorded, the letter painted on the cover of each box to designate
it, and the kind and amount of supplies which each contained after
repacking, only one description of supplies being placed in any one box.
So many cases were received during the four years, that the alphabet was
repeated seven hundred and twenty-seven times.

Third, The ledger with its headings of "shirts," "drawers," "socks,"
etc., so arranged, that on sudden demand, the exact number of any
article on hand could be ascertained at a glance.

Thus early began through these minute details, the effectiveness of the
Woman's Central. Every woman engaged in it learnt the value of
precision.

A sub-committee for New York and Brooklyn was formed, consisting of Mrs.
W. M. Fellows, and Mrs. Robert Colby, to solicit from citizens,
donations of clothing, and supplies of all kinds. These ladies were
active, successfu