AMONG THE SERBIANS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3073, 8 May 1917, Page 2

AMONG THE SERBIANS

LETTER FROM DR., AGNES BENNETT. The following letter has been received by tho secretary of tho Pioneer Club from Dr. Agnes Bennett, in Macedonia:— "The unsought help of the club is indeed a pleasure to me. I received your first £14, but it was car-marked for Glaxo, and, as that was unprocurable hero it could aiot bo spent. At tho timo it camo I did not know whero it came. from. It camo through tho High Commissioner, 6o I wrote him and told my difficulty, and have not yet had a reply. Howovor, as I now know it comes from you, I think I shall take tho law into my owji hands and spend it on jam or cliocolato for tho staffboth Serb orderlies and ourselves. The Serbs have had no sugar for a fortnight, and so many of them begin to look so wretched, and as soon as they get dott'n an health their malaria (for they all havo it) asserts itself, and with them off duty jfc comes very hard on ourselves and our patients. Wo only havo a few able-bodied y.oung 'bolmchars' (orderlies), the rest are convalescents, or old men over fighting age. They aro most pathetic and lovable—m tho same kind of. way as children are .lovable. They get so devoted to us, having had so littlo of tho treatment wo givo them, that it is really pitiful when we have to part with them. They aro naturally so kindly that they make good ward attendants. "We can got Red Cross comforts for the patients, but wo aro not allowed to givo them to tho bolinchars. On the wholo, our rations aro not bad, but of course, no butter, and lately only jam, about twice a week. We havo syrup now and also marmalade, but the first docs pall terribly after a time, especially' on bread that is at times ten days old. Fortunately we havo good wood hres at present, so most times wo get the bread toasted. Our great difficulty is that of transport. The roads admit of one carrying bo litle at' a timo. We stick in the mud constantly, and aro now always ready to leap out or push tho car on. When I see these magnificent amounts, I feel you ought to givo a special gift, an ambulanco (Ford) costing about £160, which is £172 in London, or, better still, a Selder Deny, costing about £350, would be an inestimable boon to us, and I should liko it to. havo 'Now Zealand gift' painted on it, or something like that. If you did do that, the money should go to Scottish Women's Hospital, 2 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh. Their telegraphic address is 'Thistle.' I suggest this, as I feel I should so much liko the New Zealand connection materially established. If writing, please specially mention that ambulance car is to bo brought up to the French Red Cross standard. ' It costs somo £10 more, but is well worth it. Any more money should be put into spares. Our ambulances number fifteen, all drivon by girls, and they do really splendid work; but they aro fast going to pieces, and vio can't help it. We aro carrying between 50 and 90 a day now—mostly sick, not wounded. Wo are a surgical hospital, and only take wounded. Some day I hope to

bs able to tell you of some of our work here, and 1 will get my brother ™ smcl you somo copies of my films. Ihis work is just doing what I have always so much wished to do—proving that women can organise and run such institutions from top to toe. I have unbounded admiration for the committee in Edinburgh. Tho equipment or such a hospital, from petrol-engine for electric light and radiography, right down to safety-pins for bandages, is really a triumph, and I receive a tremoiidous lot of congratulation from visitors for our whole installation. Quite a number of C.O's from . the W.O. hospitals have come to see our fittings and work, and have been quite astonished when I have said women did the whole thing. I will ask the Edinburgh Committee to send you all literature on tho subject. Some day I hope to bo able to tell you in person. I should love Now Zealand to be represented in its by something special. Our position is beautiful. Snow-mountains all around—a lako on one side. The • roads are so" bad that fourteen of lis went out with picks, shovels,, and barrows the other day to mako it passable for our cars. So much impressed was the French Military Commandant when he heard tell of it that lie came and inspected the road himself, and at once ordered a 'corvee' for the repair of the road, and now wo hope to get into decent communication with the outside'' world again. , "Will you givq my kindest regards to my old acquaintances in the club, and tell them I am greatly touched by their consideration for mo and my work."