TRIBUTE TO RED CROSS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2694, 14 February 1916, Page 2

TRIBUTE TO RED CROSS

IN THE EGYPTIAN HOSPITALS. A Now Zealand nurso—one who was trained in the Christchurch Hospital— writing to a lriend from Alexandria under date of December 10, says:— ■'I am in the sick sisters' quarters with typhoid. Three Now Zealand nurses were admitted the same day, all from dilforent hospitals. We all looked at tlie start as though we were going to be bad cases, bub our temperatures soon subsided, and we are gettuig 011 famously. I hear we are to be invalided home about tlie 27th. All .typhoids aro sent to England, Australia, or New Zealand, which ever place thoyjiappen to belong. They tell us here that typhoid does not do well in Egypt. Some of the, English sisters try so hard to remain, but even if they have friends to go to. they are not allowed to stay. The names of chose to be invalided home, so far as I know, arc: —Sister Sinclair, of New Plymouth, who vas for a time on the dangerously ill list; Miss Cameron, of Christchurch, St. Helens Maternity Hospital; Miss Campbell, of ICaritaue, Dunedin; Sister Hooker, of Napier, and Sister Nicol, of Christchurch. There are others, but 1 do not know their names. Misses Cameron, Hooker, and Nicol were in tho Marquette, and have been in hospital ever since, with lung trouble, and other complications. Captain Green, who is the New Zealanders' friend here—both sisters and soldiers—come to see us yesterday, and ho was telling us he was going to Anzao to-day with the soldiers' Christmas goods, and hoped to be back before we loft. He whs telling us how they do all the loading with black labour with one of our boys to . superintend. But while they wore loading the boat from a lighter ho discovered the blacks had small boats tied to the lighter, and were throwing the cases in when 110 one was looking, bo they had to put two more men 011 to watch operations. It will give you some idea how hard it is to deliver everybody's parcels safe and sound when they have to contend with that sort of thing, and I expect it is only ono of many instances, y Colonel Khodes called here to see us some days ago, also Captain Burridge, of Invercargill. fjo we are not forgotten b.v our own countrymen. "The Bed Cross has started a Bed Cross kitchen in connection with General, and I expect with most military hospitals. It is really one of tho best things we have had. We send our order down for whatever we want in the way of jellies, rice, sago, and many other delicacies too numerous to mention. They are served up in little dishes : large enough for one person, and beautifully cooked. If anyone has anything to give away they cannot do better than give it to the Bed Cross; they do so much for everybody without asking \ where they come from or what nationality they belong to. No. 19 (The Deaconess's) was once a German liosnital, and when we came hero to Alexandria was run by German nurses. I don't know whether they loft or were asked > to leave, but I remember seeing in tho . 'Egyptian Mail' where they were thanlc- . e:l for their services, which is slightly ' dilforent treatment to what was meted j out to the British nurses. However, enough said. No. 19 is really a beauti- | ful hospital, has a lift and many other ■ conveniences which other military hosJ pitals here in Egypt have not got. ; "I must say typhoid is no nicer in 5 this country than it is in New Zealand. , Having tried it in both I can speak t from .experience. With we three New \ Zealanders it hasrun a sharper and quicker course, probably due ix> inoculation, although they said our inoculation was'too mild. 1 "There are hundreds of Sisters in . Egypt. The tea rooms in Cherif Pasha . Street are always full of khaki and uni--3 forms. Tlie Sisters have been coming 1 out so fast and furious that really there 1 is nothing for many of them to do. Tlie 5 hospitals have very few wounded, inostPly medical and frost bite. It is very cold in Salonika and Serbia, cold at _ night and bright and warm, in tho daytime. We have also had two days' heavy rain, the first we have had since arrival in Egypt. Since I started this letter another New Zealander has beon Admitted.' . Sister Cook, of Auckland. She has been in France, and came hero with a number of the 7 Sisters, and has only .been in Egypt about a month." By the Rualiino Mrs. Holleston received a varied assortment of Toilet Specialities, including exclusive Pace Powders. Prices, from 2s. Gd. to 10b. M. per box. Solide, "La Heine," 4s. 6d, Imperial Hair Stain, 4s. Gd. Absolutely reliable and easily'appiied. And a large consignment of the best quality Hair for Switches, Transformations,' and all designs of hair work. Every fhade can be perfectly matched. Private rooms. 256 Laaibton Quay.—Advt. (Continued on next page.)

y COUNTESS OF LIVERPOOL FUND S d WORK FOR THE SOLDIERS e J - THE FIRST YEAR-S RECORD S t " An interesting account of the work e done during the .year in which it has been in existence (February 1, 1915, > to February 1, 1916), is furnished in 0 the report of the Mayoress's Countess , of Liverpool Fund. It runs as follows: a "I 1 or the first six months of its existence this committee operated ou the E> Countess of Liverpool main fund. This 3 proving inconvenient, Her Excellency considerately transferred £900 from 1 that iund to a fund called 'The Mayor- . ess's Countess of Liverpool Fund, Wel--1 lington Branch. 1 The year has been a strenuous one, and it is not possible y to give more than a brief resume of the a work done. In April this committee 5 posted and addressed individually a 2 parcel to every man of tho Wellington 3 ' Military Area at the front, numbering 3 3500, each one containing 2 ;;airs of t, socks, .1 cake soap, 1 pencil, and 1 handkerchief. These wore sent to the t troops in Egypt by the transport carrys ing the Fourth lieinforcements. Then, ' in response to Her Excellency the j Countess of Liverpool's appeal in June, 2 t'lio committee further provided 7480 pairs of socks for the Wellington men. _ Last July it also sent 2000 pairs of socks to the various camps, hearing tho f men needed them. Owing to the bad . weather and change of camps, the comf mittee could not possibly have given so f many socks if it had not had the most generous assistance from the women of } the Wellington Military District. They , liavo alivayo been most loyal to this . fund, and have answered every appeal. r During tho year the committee has. received 8811 pairs of socks and 7146 bal- , ac.'uvas, besides underclothing, shirts, j and many other articles too numerous j to In May a public school . children's gift scheme was initiated. The } children were asked to subscribe 2d., . and lill in a label which was affixed to r a pocket book and pencil. These -were . sent to the soldiers of the Wellington I Military .District serving at the front, j a public school sweet fund was also inaugurated, the labels being pasted round 7 the tins. Both schemes were wonderj fully successful, 203 schools subscribing. 1 Five thousand pocket books were sent, 1 and six tons of sweets. A few labels s over were put' in the parcels of socks, ! so no subscriber was unrepresented. Rsmemboi'ing the Sailors. "Sailors, too, have not been forgotten. A harmonium, a gramaphone and records wero sent to B.M.S. Philomel, H.M.S. Pyramns had a harmonium and gramaphone and records, and both ships had a large supply of Glaxo,- tinned butter, cigarettes, and tobacco sent to them in time for Christmas. In response to Her Excellency's appeal in August for leather coats for our soldiers on active. service, many effers of help from country districts were received. Consequently, early in October, . 4700 coats, conveniently packed in bales, were sent to Egypt. Later 300 more wero forwarded. This completed the Wellington quota of 5000, but jnaddition the committee gave 800 to tho ■ Bth Reinforcements before the.y left in November. On every transport which has left sinc'o July, cases addressed to tho Officer Commanding New Zealand Troops, Base, Alexandria, have been ' .placed, containing parcels of socks, balaclavas, . handkerchiefs, soap, etc. The : committee also provided cake, equal to Jib. per man, and literature and games of all kinds for tho men on board each transport. Canterbury also joined . in this scheme. Christmas Clfts. Tho committee sent to Alexandria 73 cases of Christmas-gifts. Of these 21 contained specially addressed parcels, sent by soldiers' friends through the committee. The committee's cases contained tobacco, pipes, cigarettes, sweets, 1 condensed milk, chocolate, dried fruit. ' and other delicacies. On the transports carrying the Maori troops six cases of socks wero sent, 2 cases of Christmas gifts, and 1 case for t'he machine-gun section. In November eight more cases were dispatched, also 16 cases containing amongst other things, 539 parcels for lonely soldiers. The committeo helped to serve the Christmas-- dinner to the troops at Trentham, and gave £10 towards the fund, also £32 which they had in hand for this purpose. In : December and January several mora cases of socks were sent. In October the Wellington Meat Export Company generously offered to supoly 30001bs. of plum puddings, to be sent to the front. This offer was gratefully accepted, and tho committee and friends went out to

the Moat Export works at Ngahcuranga and imido the puddings there with the assistance of the company's employees. During the year the Caledonian Soap Works, Kaiwarra, lias generously donated several hundredweight of soaj), for which the ' committee is very grateful. Christmas gifts were sent to the Wellington district men serving in Samoa. They received individually addressed parcels, each containtaiuing 2 khaki cotton shirts, 2 pairs thin socks, and packets of cigarettes; also lib. of chocolate, which was provided by the Countess of Liverpool Fund, Hastings. Tho Wellington district officers received tho same gift aa the men, except that they had silk shirts instead of cotton. "In conjunction with the Red Cross Military Hospital Guild, cases of Christ, mas gifts were placed on board the Marama for officers, crow, and nurses, for which it has received many grateful let. tcrs, especially from the crew. In December tho committee undertook to supply all the housewives and hold-alls that will bo required by the Government for six months, from January to June. This means the committee must provide 3000 of each monthly. Auckland has undertaken its share, which is 7uo per month. Tile January contract has been fulfilled and we understand the quality of tho work has given great satisfaction- In future the Otajro Women's Club, per Mrs. Lin<3o Fergusoil, has promised to send us 375 of each per month. Tho Belgian Relief Fund. "Since May last, when this work was taken oyer by this committee, 50 cases of clothing have been sent to England, containing over 9200 garments, valued .it £700. "Tho committee wishes to place on record its gratitude to all those people in town and country who, during tho year, have assisted them so liberally, not only by their subscriptions, but also by their oxcellent work. It quite realises that without the regular and generous support of the public the work it has undertaken could not have been carried out" Balance Shset. The receipts ill connection with th& balance sheet of the Countess of Liverpool Fund, are as follow:—Executive Fund, £900; donations, £1662 os. id.; proceeds sales of wool, £601 17s. 3d.; proceeds sales of skingj .-£9-13 14s. Bd.; Christmas Dinner Fund, £32 Is. 9d.; total, £4144 14s. 9d. Payments—Purchase of material, £3101 Bs. 3d.; cako for troopship, £98 145.; gifts for nurses, £20 3s, ; Citizens' Dinnor Fund, £42 Is. 9d.; Christmas gifts, £219 lis. 6d.; amounts to bo refunded, £3 10s. id.; petties, postages, etc., £63 18s. 4d.; stationery, packing material, cartage, etc., £97 6s. Id.; total payments, £3634 13s. 7d. Cash in hand, £510 Is. 2d. (Signed) JACOBINA LUKE, President. HARRIETTS S. CRAWFORD, I Hon. Secretary. _ "Anzac" evenings for returned soldiers have recently been instituted in Christchurch, and tho one. which was given in tho Art .Gallery on Thursday evening, by Dr. Ethel Sands, was most successful. About forty soldiers were present,_ in addition to many other guests, including the Mayor and Mayoress, and a very pleasant evening was spent. Tho idea is to make things as bright as possible for the returned men, and keep in constant touch with them. This was really the first of the "Anzac" evenings. Mrs. Rankinc, of Suva, and her sister, Mrs- Montgomery, passed through Wellington on Thursday on their way through to Oamaru from Auckland.