A meeting of the Cesky Vypomocny Vybor (Bohemian Relief Committee) was held in the Conway Building located at the corner of Clark and Washington Streets, in the offices of the American Red Cross, yesterday afternoon at four o'clock. It was attended by Municipal Bailiff Anton J. Cermak, who is chairman of the committee, representatives of the press, and by the following men: John A. Cervenka Reverend Vaclav Vanek, Alderman John Toman, ex-Alderman Felix Janovsky, State Representative Josef Placek Matousek, of Cicero, and City Clerk Jan Siman. The principal purpose of the meeting was to arrive at a decision concerning the disposal of the money collected by the Vybor, for the families of the victims of the "Eastland" catastrophe.

In the first place, the Vybor did not know how the Red Cross would treat the 2Bohemian cases, so the treasurer, Mr. Jos. A. Holpuch, held the money ready for distribution to Bohemians only, in case the Red Cross would not treat them fairly. Fortunately, however, our Vybor had an excellent and energetic representative, Mr. Anton J. Cermak, in the committee in charge of the money donated to the Mayor's fund, and our people will soon see the beneficial results of the work done by our Vybor. We are certain that all concerned will be perfectly satisfied.

The Cesky Vypomocny Vybor collected $8,865.50, and the expenses incurred were $139.75. Treasurer Holpuch is a member of the Chicago Board of Education, and could not be present in yesterday's meeting, becuase he had to attend a most important meeting of that Board. He has $8,725.75 on hand at this time. The meeting was called to make a final disposition of that money, but, however, since the meeting was not attended by a sufficient number of members, and could not make a binding decision without a quorum, it was postponed for this morning. The final meeting will be held in the same office at ten o'clock this evening, and will wind up the activities of the Cesky Vypomocny Vybor.

Even so, yesterday's meeting was both important and interesting. It was interesting because we had the opportunity to learn from carefully computed tables and the complete list of victims, how the Red Cross determined their method of procedure when given consideration to the allocation of funds. There were numerous points taken into consideration: the economic situation of those who are left; the amount of insurance of the victim; the amount received from the Western Electric Company; the position of the victim in the household; and finally, how many members the family had lost in the disaster. All of these details were carefully considered, and used in the computation of the tables. These reveal that $200 is the least amount to be awarded. There are so few Bohemian cases in this category that it is unnecessary to pay any attention to them. The Bohemian public will learn about them from the final list, which will also show the cases where the contribution from the Red Cross is the only money to be received by the family. In some cases it is as much as $3,000. In addition to this information the list will also show amounts paid to the families by the Western Electric Company, by the various insurance companies, and, finally, from various benevolent associations. It is interesting to note 4that it is only in the Bohemian cases where the family is in a comparatively favorable financial situation, and rather well insured. This, however, is not the case with the German and other non-Bohemian cases. The American Red Cross has, therefore, formed a most favorable opinion about us Bohemians. But this opinion has in no manner affected a just distribution of the money. The formula for the determination of the final amount to be awarded calls for the subtraction of ten per cent from the amount which otherwise would be the family's share, if the victim left property of $1,000 or more, and a subtraction of twenty per cent where there is considerable insurance. In family "A", for example, the mother and two children lost their lives. The father is left with a number of other children. His property is valued at $2,000 over and above the mortgage, and he has received $1,000 insurance. The children who perished were small, and unable to earn any money. The family will get $250 for the loss of their mother and $500 for each child unable to work. In addition to this there will be the basic amount of $200 in every case. Thus, family "A" would be entitled to $1,450. There will be subtracted from the amount ten per cent of the net value of the property, that is $200, and twenty per cent of the insurance, that is 5$200, so that the amount family "A" will actually receive will be only $1050. Larger families will receive proportionately more. For the life of the father $500 is paid; for children this is according to their age and earning capacity after 18 years of age.

According to what we have seen, the deductions were kept low in most of the Bohemian cases. Consideration was being given to the recommendations of the Ceska Dobrocinna Spolecnos (Bohemian Charitable Association), and particularly to the recommendation of Mr. Anton J. Cermak, to whom most of the credit is due.

At yesterday's meeting, a review was held of all Bohemian cases so far considered by the Red Cross committee, dealing especially with those where no compensation for funeral expenses had been given. In some cases the Western Electric Company paid for the funeral, or paid to the family an amount of money in proportion to the time which the victim had spent in its employ. In cases where the victim had been employed up to five years, the Company paid for the funeral, but not an amount in excess of $200; from five to ten years, the Company paid an amount 6equal to a half year's salary for the employee; for ten or more years, they paid a whole year's salary. But there are cases among us where the victim was not an employee of the Western Electric Company, and therefore his family has received no compensation for the funeral expenses. The committee listed such cases yesterday, and made recommendations to the Red Cross to increase the amount of their award by from $100 to $200 to reimburse them for these funeral expenses. Cases of this kind are quite numerous.

These donations, will, of course, never make good the losses suffered, but on the other hand it is certain that they will be of considerable help. It will be help given mostly by Chicago people, who felt and still feel, the deepest sympathy for all who suffered by the catastrophe. The Bohemian public will be pleased by the knowledge that the families of the Bohemian victims of the disaster have been treated very fairly by the committee, under the able and honest leadership of Mr. O'Connor, and with the co-operation of our Mr. Cermak. Due to Mr. Cermak's recommendation, the aggregate compensation due to Bohemians was raised by $10,050. If yesterday's recommendations are accepted the 7compensation will be again increased some $2,000. They will be given consideration in today's plenary meeting of the Red Cross committee, after which the final meeting of the Bohemian committee will be held. The payment of the contributions will follow immediately after all final decisions are made, so that the money will be in the hands of the families as soon as possible.