JAPANESE RED CROSS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2462, 15 May 1915, Page 10

JAPANESE RED CROSS

The Red Cross has made its way round the world, presenting the par excellence of our civilisation, the semblance, at any rate, of peace in the midst of war, writes a correspondent in "The Queen." _ It commands the allegiance of the West and of tho East, 6<? that this war, unparalleled in destruo tion, is unparalleled also in 'interna* tional benevolence.

We see the' latter with special vivid* ness at Netley, now a. sort of Asiatic outpost, Here ajo not only wounded Sikhs, whose fighting code is not dis« similar from the Bushido of Samurai, but Japan has at work a well-equipped Red Cross contingent, under.the guidance of its own doctor and surgeon. More interesting to women, however, are the score and upward of nurses, ranking officially as privates, under Mist i'amamoto as officer in chief, whose Japanese training, by the way, has been' supplemented by much experience in American hospitals—at Seattle, St, Louis, aud New York.

To adapt a metaphor known in Kioto, these nurses have spanned the glob! by the Floating Bridge of Heaven, their passport the motto "Inter Arma Card* tas."

But what of the movement that has 6ent them forth, as seen at work by the ivriter in Japan, Korea, and ManchuriaP In peace, no less than in war, the Red Cross Society of Japan is perhaps the best organised of any, as certainly 'it is the most far-reaching and powerful effort of philanthropy within that country. Its normal membership is one and a half millions; its accumulated capital £1,500,000— an enormous sum in a country poor, yet perhaps the most heavily taxed in the world. On a war footing it has 300 nurses, each with a training behind her ot inree years, gained in Red Cross hospitals, none other being recognised. Most have "graduated"— from the Central Rod Cross Hospital, the model establishment iii a suburb be* yond the aristocratic quarter of Tolrio, built on land and with money provided from the resources of the Imperial Fanw ily. Here are .300 beds, ranged In six classos, for patients paying from lis. a day down to the last class paying nothing, and they aro so well tended that the nurses and student nurses number! about three and a fraction to two beds.

A proportion of the officially trained nurses como from one or other of the fifteen branch lted Cross hospitals iu the provinces of Japan, in Korea, Manchuria, or even Formosa. That in Port Arthur, a Russian biiilding, ia much as it was left after the siege by, Stoessel. That recently erected in Seoul, fcho capital of Korea, is quite magnificently placed on one of the woodeX heights girdling tho city, and is in evory respect ail honour to tho Japanese in possession. The headquarters of the Red Crosa at Shiba Park, Tokio, are permanently located in a fine building larger than Devonshire House, and worthy of offering one day useful suggestion for the permanent housing of our own/Red Cross amalgamated with or working under the 9(ime roof as St. John Ambulance. At the back of these headquar. tors are extensive storehouses for every, sort of Red Cross equipment and com-* forts, oven to sewing machines, and including a. museum of models of base and field hospital necessities, uniforms, etc., from/tho chief Red Cross countries of the world.

Thus prepared, personnel and equip. Willie aro dispatched liko nil arrow fronj a how at the call of national calamity, for Japan, to an extent hardly parallel, ed olsewhere, is at any moment the vio» bim of earthquake, volcanic typhoon, flood; or nro. So uiuoli for dry bones. Thoy lire through the spirit breathed upon them by the close and intimate patronage of the now deified late Emperor and Em* press and of tho present Imperial fam« l|y; at headquarters, indeed, is a fine sot of apartments for Emperor aiid Em. I pfess when they honour a meeting D 35 Rttondanco. Without this patronage tho Red Uross in Japan would bo a mere exotic. With it—for the Emperor is held _in honour akin to that felt in tho West toward King, Christ, and Pope—the movement evokes a fervour of patriot, ism and religion (almost identical in Japan) and an exaltation of feeling that carries tho nurso through any danger, hardship, or discomfort. In tho hours dovoted to ethics and etiquette the nurses arc taught the necessity of loyalty, charity, self-cons trol, stability, tolerance (especially toJ wards pa fronts), gentleness, modesty, Harmony, exactness, presence of mind, truth, gonerosity, punctuality, a respect* ful demeanour, deportment. Each nurse, ill short, must bo a compendium of the virtues, and it is incumbent upon lecturers, medical liien, and superin. tcndentiii to see that grace and virtue grow in the heart of the student nurso.