HELPING THE WAR-WORN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2825, 17 July 1916, Page 3

HELPING THE WAR-WORN

WOMEN IN ENGLAND. ' An interesting story of what British women are doing to help the war-worn is told by Dr. Hilda Northcroft, a daughter of Mr. H. W. Northcroft, formerly Resident Commissioner of the Cook Group, states the Auckland ."Star."' Dr. Northcroft is practising at Loughton, England, and she recently paid a short holiday visit to London. In describing what she saw to an Auckland relative she wrote:— "Really it is amazing the way women are working; Until the big Zeppelin raid in London in October, the Women's Volunteer Reserve, or W.V.R. as they are called, were rather jeered at. Peoplo said it was only an excuse to get into khaki, and that they, would bo no use in an emergency, but that night it was tho W.V.R. that (lid the work and had the wounded picked up and on the ffiy to the hospital by the time the men's ambulance corps arrived on the "pot. since when they have been accepted without further comment. I went over the War Supply Depot at 2, Cavendish Square, while I was up. It is truly wonderful. They have a huge House lent by Lord , and every room from attic to basement is used for the preparation of some commodity for the caro xr.nd comfort of the wounded, and not the least wonderful part of it all is that it is run on entirely voluntary lines; all the workers are voluntary, and the funds are by private subscription amongst them and the visitors. Perhaps I .had better describe the different rooms, aud you will gain a better- idea of_ the work. Well, right up in the attic is a cutting-out room, where they cut out the various garments required tor the sewing-room, shirts, pyjamas, dressing-gowns, bedjaclcets, etc., next is the splint-padding room, where the wooden splints are padded and covered and fitted with marshproof (sort of waterproof stuff), covers laced on so that the splints themselves can be kept clean; then moss aud pine dressingrooms, where muslin bags of various shapes aud sizes aro filled with theso special materials for dressing wounds; then a very largo room, where ordinary •surgical dressings are. made, wool, anil gauze swabs, sponges, and so on, and another equally large where they were ,busy making baudajes of every conceivable shape and size; next the sewingroom, where the garments were made, nnd_ then another rather fascinating roorii, where they use"' up all the old linen sent in. Old sheets, table-clothes, curtains, cretonne,, nothing is despised, provided it is clean, and the things they evolved were little short of miraculous: tray cloths, cushion covcrs, and bags for the wounded man's' small personal belongings'. were only a few of the more obvious. It seemed to me that .'they ■find some use for every inch of material, uud the ni'ticles turned out, both from this aud from .the i sewing-room, wcr« most beautifully made, their shirts and dressing-gowns would have done credit to a first-class clothiers.

■"Then the shoe room was .another fascinating place, where they made all sorts of bed and invalid slippers, special, boot's for frostbite, and trenokfoot, and eo on. They nse all sorts of odds am; ends—carpet, plush, tweed, travelliugcu<*s, travellers samples oT cloths, etc.— nothing seems to come amiss; and the slippers had the most delightfully professional air. l't was hard to realise that the makers were for the most part the 'idle rich,' who before the war did practically nothing useful, and probably didn't even do their own personal sew. ing or mending. Tlie ground floor is taken up with a restaurant, where the workers' can get lunch and tea, and t lis secretary's office, and so on. Helow in the basement are the sterilising rooms, packing-rooms, and immense storerooms, where all the materials are stored anil also the finished goods. The day I was there they were sgnding several' huge cases and also some to one of the Fiench Red Cross hospitals near .Paris. Th® objcct is to supply any hospital that treats any of our wonnd.cd, so that none of them may go short. The stables, etc., of the. mansion had been converted into • carpenters' shops, and hero a lot of men are busy making splints, crutches, cte., that were being padded upstairs. It looked rather odd to'seo intelligent faces- and clean linen collars above the workmen's overalls—the average British workman is nono too fond of washing—but as these aro mostly barristers, and men of that sort, they .keep up their ancient habits of cleanliness. If they aro as good at their own jobs as they are at their carpentering, (hey should do well, for the things were beautifully made and nicely finished, very different from the rough we get from the ordinary surgical supply'shops in peace times. They are are ail working with their hearts, and I suppose that, makes all the difference in their work, for they have devised in all sorts of improvements. If you are, half as interested in this recital as I "was in seeing it you'll long tn be at work at something of the samo sort. They are going to open one at Ftanley next week, for this district, and I think we art, going to open a branch in Loughton sooii.