LETTERS FROM A NURSE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2526, 29 July 1915, Page 3

LETTERS FROM A NURSE

TURKISH CHIVALRY. It seems a long time since news has , been heard of the fifty nurses who leit New Zealand some time ago for service abroad, and who have sinco arrived at their destination at Cairo, and tlio following letter, received by a,Wellington friend, from one of the sisters, will bo v oi" very much interest to-many, in this country. Sho begins (June 14): "This is'feaiat: Written 'somewhere' in the* blue .Medi- 1 terranean, which, by the way, is somo days the bluest of the blue, and other (lays is of smoky, misty, soft shades from ship to horizon, and as you may guess from the shakiness of the writing, is quivering: some. ' "We left Plymouth, Juno 4, and were escorted through the danger zone by two destroyers, s.s. Scotian, Troopship Allan Line; At Plymouth 69 of Queen Alexandra's nurses joined us—some were left at Gibraltar,- and some , at Malta, arid at present we are our original 50 New Zealand contingent, some troops,' and their officers. Wo travelled with lights out except those in the upper saloon, which are; thickly muffled; as also are the cabin portholes; We '(rot'to Malta on June 11 and left- next day, spending some time of each day ashore—though' 'we': were not to land at Gibraltar. Several 'Australian and New Zealand nurses were amongst the nurses who got off there. ' ."At Malta we saw a lot of New- Zealand boys. Wo used to read their badges and then go up and talk to them. There is no doubt tliey are a grand lot of boys, and without exception they seemed so glad to see us and . hear the latest we could tell them about. New Zealand. Five of us went out to Citta Vecchia, to tho old city (parts of it are 7000 years old), to the Barracks there; which havo been turned into a hospital for the wounded. It is seven miles from the harbour, and going out by train one gets a good idea of what Malta is like—such a quaint old-fashion-ed ■ place, something' like what one imagines Palestine would be. Funny, odd little sections bounded by stone walls, bare arid sun-baked country, herds of goats (the natives sit" down in the streets, by-t-he-by, and milk them into glasses, to prove that; they are selling the real , t'hiug), oxen yoked into ploughs, strange squat stone hovels, clotted about _here and there—one really cannot describe it. The port is clean and well kept, away from the harbour, but; along the waterfronts one meets ali. the abominations' in scents and odours ever. congregated into one vile spot. Boiled oranges, grubby toffee, ,; fried fish, tomatoes, awful cheese,, oily butter,' peanuts, flies crawling off one - thing on. to another, , and beggars, unkempt, watery-eyed, filthy, hats/ and hands extended for pence, surround it on all sides, and add to its horror. But the harbour' itself is huge and very beautiful, especially at night. ,We' saw several Dreadnoughts, submarines, etc. "At Citta Vecchia we found several New Zealand boys—there were more, but we had no time to see them all, : though tlio Matron was. very good and took us round herself, but our timo was ' so limited. The Barracks make a big airy hospital, clean scrubbed and smelling of disinfectant. , The troops seemed ,very happy there, and told us of how well they liad been cared for, but each one at all fit was longing to get •.lack into action again. "We met' several doctors and some vho told us of how we Iliad misjudged • -tho Turks in many ways. For instance; on tho, ground between the firing lines .where they go out to tend the wounded at night, many a boy- is,,found,,with "lis lyounds beautifully dressed,, set aside for his own men to find-and take ill. ,and always they had been given a drink and a biscuit or something-to eat,, and in many cases '-theso dressings remain on for a day or two till thoy can be .changed, so well are they done. The ■R..A.M.C. men get great praise for the ] work, they, have done; and our New Zealand boys are wonderfully keen on j learning all they can about their work. Our boys seem to have a huge admira- . tion for the Australians and for their daring under fire, hut speak very little j about what they 'themselves had done." l. Ono boy came smiling up t-o toll, us he was a New Zealander, 'though ho'had ijoined an Australian troop. • "We are growing so accustomed to troopship life: we seem to- know no other. Khaki uniforms are everywhere, drill, etc., goes on'for'the greater part of the morning—sentries'on guard no .longer .excite our interest, being part; •-of our daily round." ' Cairo, June 20. On Juhe'lo the nurses had arrived at 'Alexandria, and in • a later letter the iSr.ma nurse writes:— "We are settled with Major Holmes ibt Cairo, and T tell you we are glad to see him again. 'After arriving at Alexandria we came on through: to Cairo by train on June 16: Major Holmes met us at the station and next day wo

started our duty of taking over the hospital from the Australian sisters. My part is tho isolation ward under Dr. Agnes Bennett (of Wellington). You call imagino how glad I was. It is nico but lots and lots of work. Poor hoys! TJjcy makb'the tears come very close sometimes, and they; arc so brave. I am writing to one' mother presently whose son is already a. spoilt patient of mine.

"Do you know what you can do if you would like to help tliem! 1 Just some old linen'and send it to me if you can find anyone who would, like to do something for us. That would add to their comfort so much, as such things are not easy to get. Bach day I t'hank the lucky star that took me Samoa where we really did work to be proud of, though no one believes it, oven here.

"Wo.are boarding, pro torn, at Heliopclis Houso Hotel. We' diuo on a balcony outside with a band playing sweet music and a kinema to enliven ua, and are waited upon, by native servants. It is all most fascinating. We work thirteen hours a day, and half a. day the next, but of course just now aTe seldom ,olf duty up to time. Tlia desert is like a furnace, and I'm sure its sands could never grow cold. "By the way, I forgot to tell you wo ,are now a New Zealand staff, and t'his is tho New Zealand Base Hospital. Miss' Nurse is our matron, and wo havo 300 beds, with more to come."