THE SALVATION ARMY'S WAR WORK

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2919, 3 November 1916, Page 3

THE SALVATION ARMY'S WAR WORK

AN INTERESTING REVIEW [CONTBIBTJTED.I Immediately after tlie outbreak of war, General Booth decided upon a vigorous and consistent lino of action for tlio Army in tho conflict. As the familiar adjective implies, the organisation exists not for the destruction of men, but for their, salvation, and all the efforts put forth by tlio Salvation Army since the day when hostilities commenced have been to mitigate tho horrors, woes, and sufferings of the strife. Ono of the noblest sections of the Salvation Army work is that of its ambulance service. At a time when ambulanco cars were worth more than , their weight in gold', tho Amy's first pioneer motor ambulance unit, consisting of fivo cars and a motor lorry, were built and equipped. These, with those who were crossing to Franco with them wore dedicated by tho General and Mrs. Booth to tho service of the sick and wounded, and ever since those cars have been kept 'busy running from hard by the fighting lino to tha base. Later other units were sent, tho second of which was inspected at Marlborough House by Queen Alexandra, who named tho oars the "Queen Alexandra Unit," and it is worthy of mention that Commissioner Richards, of Canada, recently provided an ambulanco unit of five cars for use with tho Russian forces. These cars were received by tho Red Cross Society in tho Guildhall, where a letter of thanks from the Russian Ambassador was read, and upon this occasion tho General handed a cheque for 10,000 dollars to,the Red Cross Society to dofray the cost of fivo more ambulance oars, which are now atWork in Franco, piloted by Salvation Army drivers-. In Egypt a Salvation Army Motor Ambulance Unit, tho gift of Australia, has been doing good service. The motor ambulance servico is but a single phase of the Army's many-sided war work, which includes widespread operations ill tho military camps in England, where at no fewer than eighty centres the Army has huts and rest rooms where" the needs of the soldiers are catered for. Tho record 1 of tho Naval and Military League, wliich for so many years has-been under the pilotago of Lieut.-Coloiiel Murray, is one of which the Army has every reason to bo proud. . General and Mrs. Booth, who havo themselves visited and addressed contingents of Britisli forces, are deeply concerned for the well-being of those who, at the call of duty, are giving their lives for tlieir country, and have initiated -schemes -for the amelioration of, the lot of the war sufferers, including not only the sick and wounded from the front, but thoir dopendants,. and the crowds of refugeos that streamed into England in the early days, of;tho struggle. Valuable testimonies concerning tho. Salvation Army and- its work amongst the men of: the Navy _ and Army ;hayo been received from admirals, generals, statesmen, and governors, including cordial mossagos from Admiral Sir John Jellicbo, Commander-in-Chief of the Battle Moot, and Lord Kitchener, in which tribute is paid to the good service rendered by tho Salvation Army in tho; interest of His Majesty's forces. Not only throughout Great Britain lias tlio Army establishedinstitutes at _ tho various military centres, but in tho colonies' and elsewhere rest rooms have been erected.

In Egypt and in otlir parts, with tile Australian, New Zealand, and othei forces, good work has been, and is still being, . rendered by Lieut-Colon ol M'Ehlizie, Major Orames, and Adjutant Greene, chaplains with the forces,, who stand for a number of others representing the colonies who hold military rank by virtue of their various chaplaincies. Then there is the special rojief work in Serbia, made possible by the generosity, of New Zealand friends, and the General's scheme for the well-beinj? of the. widows and children of fallen heroes of tho dual services, the line work of tho rest rooms near the various'Londoir termini, the dispatch of parcels to soldiers in tins trenches or the men of tho battleships, and the vory extensivo relief 'work in all parts of Germany arid in Petrograd.