SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2515, 16 July 1915, Page 2

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Welcoming the Wounded Soldiers. Magnificent was tho welcome which it ollington gave to the returned wounded soldiers of Now Zealand yesterday, and those who know the City best say flier have never seen anything like it before for enthusiasm. It was a welcome that touched tho two extremes, and behind the cheers and the clapping and the shouting was something that in many cases did more than border upon tears. At- the back of everything was the thought of what these mon had gone through, and the remembrance of many, many men for whom thero would never bo any welcome home. It was that that made the tears flow down the cheeks of many of the women who watched tho arrival of tho soldiere yesteiday. A hundred policemen, or even soldiere with fixed bayonets, -would have found it difficult to keep back the eager rush of the thousands of people who were unable to gain admittance into the hall, and again and again they simply swept the polico guard before them, and personally- conducted their own welcome before the soldiers gained the shelter of the Town Hall. As for tho cheoring, there was never anything like it, ajid when tho men who wero disabled had to be helped down from the motors the people simply lost themselves in their enthusiasm, and became frenzied in their cheering, men and women alike. It was very tine the welcome that was given to these men who have helped to give New Zealand such a splendid name for valour and endurance, but the stress of emotion was too much for some of the women in the crowd, who had to be carried away in a fainting condition by friendly hands to recover in quiet. The civic welcome which was given to the returned soldiers by the Mayor and tho Council, at which their Excellencies the Governor and the Countess of Liverpool, the Prime Minister, and Mrs. Massey, Miss Massey, Sir Sobert and Lady Stout-, Oabinot Ministers, Sir Joseph Ward, and members of Parliament were present, was brief and cordial, once the soldiers arrived. The hall itself had been hung with flags wheveror it was possible to hang them, and the floor space, carpeted and dotted everywhere with small tables decorated with narcissi and set for tea, was reserved for the men and their relatives. The galleries were full, every seat being taken, and so eager had some of the women been in making sure of being present at tho welcome that they had arrived there at about half-past nine in tho morning and had sat thero patiently knitting ever since. •

It seemed a long time to tho waiting people, though Mr. Bernard Page was playing the organ, bel'oro the first of the rotur'ned soldiers entere'd the hall, and then they came in twos and threes and fours, as the different motore arrived, with a constant sound of clapping of hands as-an accompaniment. It had been with many sad anticipations and tragical forebodings that people liad looked forward to-their arrival, but happily imagination had drawn a sadder picture than the reality, the disablement that was apparent being less than had been lookeel for. What tlio meeting meant to the relatives—the fathers and mothers—could not be put into words.

. The..arrival of. the...,sis Australian nurses was the signal of a storm of clapping and'cheering, all the soldiers rising to their feet and most of the onlookers and waving hats and anything else that could bo waved. It was. a fine tribute to their work that was paid, and splendidly they have deserved it.

Speeches provided the accompaniment to afternoon tea, at which the soldiers were entertained by the Mayor and councillors, the Mayoress being assisted by members of the Citizens' Military Hospital Guild, and also some members of the Countess of Liverpool Committee, and in between tlie little groups of soldiers and their friends strolled other friends or some of tlie Cabinet Ministers and members of Parliament; as well as other public people, all anxious to talk to the returned Now Zealandors. After yesterday one cannot think that those who took part in the welcome are in any way likely to forget the. debt they owe to those whom tney received so enthusiastically yesterday. Housing were the cheers that were given for the nurses st the end of the afternoon, called for at the instance of one of tho soldiers, and also for the Australian soldiers, brothers in arras of our own men, and to whom tho latter arcjseen that every acknowledgment should be made of their splendid bravery. It was a long time before

peoplo could bring themselves to leave tho hall, and ;:s for the relatives of tlie men, it seemed as tnough they could not Jet tlieir soldiers be for a. moment out of tlieir eiglifc. In addition to those already mentioned as being present at the welcomc were the Hon. Charles Johnston, Speaker of tho Upper House, Sirs. Johnston, Mrs. Levin, and Mrs. Held' man. A Talk With the Nurses.

Tho -welcome that was given to the Australian nurses on their entry into the Town Hall yesterday afternoon by the returned soldiers and by the whole of the onlookers and friends was ono of the most inspiring features of the occasion, and thoroughly they have deserved everything tliat-has been said in their praise. Talking to tlieni ono was able to gather some idea of the heavy work that fell upon their shoulders in Cairo during the dreadful days when the Wounded were arriving in hundreds day by day. One night it was a thousand"!' Their company, eight in number, is in charge' of Sister Heath, who has beeu in Egypt ever since the time when the first Australian transports were sent over. Some of the other nurses went later by a month or two, and they liavf been there'ever since. Working in the hospitals in such a trying climate as Egypt for eight or nine months, it may be imagined that a holiday would be a very necessary thing, and so these nurses wero sent on the Willochra as a holiday rest to look after the New Zealand wounded soldiers.

Those first days of the great rush of wounded from the Dardanelles are looked back upon as a nightmare of horror, to be blotted out of memory aa completely as possible. The Heliopolis Hotel was turned into a hospital, with other places near at hand, so that altogether three thousand men could bo accommodated at once. In one of the hospitals—one that would hold fifteen hundred patients —there were sixteen nurses and sixteen orderlies to attend to the wounded, and it' was no uncommon thing for a sister to be in charge of sixty-two beds. Till these times it had beon considered that a military hospital should only be equipped for about six hundred patients —a wide difference, between three thousand—but in this war tho magnitude of everything has stunned the imagination. With the wounded arriviug iu their hundreds, and more than hundreds, nurses, doctors, and orderlies extended themselves to the utmost, and as a result Captain Ramsay Smith, the Officer Commanding, simply made the impossible possible.

Beds, so one of the nurses said, were one of the difficulties, the 1 the natives came to the rescue with their basket-plaiting, and the frame' of wood being made, the centre was filled in witli the weaving of rushes, which roughly answered the. purpose. When Sir Frederick Treves visited the hospital he was greatly surprised and greatly pleased with what had been aone. It was in this, the Heliopolis Hospital, that twelve of the New Zealand nurses were stationed, and at the time that the Australian nurses left Cairo there were not enough nurses or doctors. Sinco then the later contingents of New Zealand nurses would liave arrived, so the situation would bo somewhat iclieved.

Septic hands, were one of the troubles that the nurses and doctors were Hablo to suffer from, owing to the Egyptian climate. One cf the Australian nurses had died 1 a little while ago through a poisoned arm, but of enteric fever in' the hospitals there was remarkably little.

_ A remarkable instance of the fore-, sight of Lord Kitchener was evidenced in. the fact that he had had all the tram lines leading to the hospitals made for train traffic also, and what that may mean in such times as tliese anyone can easily -understand. These hospital trains are very completely fitted-up for the transport of ihe wounded, and have their operating theatre and "every other appliance for surgical work.

Talking to these bright-faced nurses,, with their soft voices and their ; quiot. capable ways, and to seo the way they "mother" their patients was enough.tt give a realisation of what they stood for, and it was not surprising that, over and over again, they wore told by soma of the mothers and the fathers 'of the men yesterday that they, could never thank them enough, never repay what had been done for their sons. Tho lamp of Florence Nightingale had been splendidly upheld by these Antipodean nurses who also liad been, helping to make history. . (Continued on next page.)

FelltfSng Notes, , The Cafo Chantant held in the Drill •Hall was a great success, and the patriotic) committee is to be complimented on-.the way it was managed. The streets in town were hung With the various ' ilags of the Allies, and' the hall entirely transformed with v flags and bunting. Instead of using flowers on the supper tables, tiny flags took their place, and everything was bright and picturesque. Among,those attending were: Mesdames 'Willis, Haggett, Perry, .Gorton, FitzHerbert, Binns, Bloxall, Walker, Fitzgerald, Murphy, Myers, EcvingtonJones, Roberts, Horrocks , Hi tellings, ■ Broad, Stewart, Elliott, Wheeler, Miller, Ralliday, Hawk, Eoss, ; Waymouth, , Ileiru, Carr, Mason, Goodbehere, Richmond, Guy; Guthrie, and many others. Mrs. Bloxall has gone to Wellington. Mrs. Binns has returned from tljp south. . ' Mrs. Hitchings is in Wellington. : Mrs. Miller has returned from Auckland. , Red Cross Tea. . The Red Gross tea chain was continued by Mrs. A. V. Udv, of Hukauui. tea-table was prettily-, decorated with violets, and from it refreshments , ,were'serveu: The guests, many in num- • her, were vigorously knitting, and soiks 'had grown considerably since the last ; gathering. The , honorary secretary, Mrs. P. A. D. Mickle, has forwarded the sum of £2 ■ 2s. 6d.,. the proceeds from four teas, to the N.Z. Wounded Soldiers' Fund. Mrs. Neil Small, will be the hostess on Wednesday of next ■week.- ■ ■ Mrs.'Pember Reeves. Mrs. Pember Reeves, addressing the annual conference of the Association of Teachers of Domestic Subjects, said that women's domestic work was ill a state of complete chaos.: It was, with- ■ out exception, the most, important ■work the nation had to do, and it was , done somehow. There were two classes of domestic workers—the small class of paid, and the immense class of unpaid workers. One woman was not sufficient to rear four, five, or six children without aid. An army of ; trained women was necessary if all children were to be properly looked after. The marriage took place- at St. Matitheiv's Churcli, Auckland, on Tuesday, *of Mr. Joshua Sanctuary Williams, only son of the Rights Hon. Sir Joshua Strange Williams, P. 0., to Miss Ivy Osborne, daughter of Mr. A. J. Osborne, of Tryphena, Great Barrier, lhe , teremony was conducted-by the Rev. Jasper Calder. . . ■ . On April 8, at St. Cyprian's, North Adelaide, Mr.'Roy J. a. Johnston, of Adelaide, son of Mr. Alexander Johnston, of Christchurch, New Zealand, was married to Miss Margaret Hogarth, . youngest daughter of the late Mr. William iiogarthj and niece of Miss Hogarth, Medindie (S;A.). t Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Wilson have taken t..house in Khandallah for the winter.