RED CROSS WORK AT HOME

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3129, 6 July 1917, Page 3

RED CROSS WORK AT HOME

VISIT TO HEADQUARTERS • The reception which was given yesterday afternoon by-,the committee el the Red Cross. Depot, in Mercer Street, as a weicome home to Mrs. \V. I>\ Massey and Lady Ward was particularly interesting, as ooth ladies gave a Resume oi wJiat they had seen of Red' Cross work in tireat .Britain. . The reception was held in the large chamber of the Town Hall, antl was auenued by Her J&cellency tne Countess of Liverpool,. Red Cross workers at the depot, as : well.as those who take work..to their own homes, and representatives of the different sub-centres throughout the' Wellington district wiio have come to Wellington to attend today's conference. . The president u\lrs. J. P. Luke) and Mrs. W. Nathan'and Miss Coates (vice-presidents.) received, and the number of guests' who'were present -showed how keenly "Wellington women have made Red Cross work their special care. The decorations of camellias, palms, ■ and foliage plants, which were arranged upon the stage, were veryeffective, and gave a pretty touch of colour to the room, as also did the scarlet camellias which were arranged on the buffet underneath the gallery.

.Mrs. Luke made a brief and cordialspeech of welcome to tho returned trav-i ellers, and said how glad they were to see them safely back from their hazardous voyage. Her Excellency Lady Liverpool also added her welcome. After {hanking' the previous spsahers for their welcome, Mrs. Massey proceeded to tell her hearers something of what she had seen in Great Britain rejj.ud.iiig Red Cross work. When she arrived there she was very anxious to see what was being done, so that whatever information was 'received might /be utilised for I'ie benefit of workers in this country. With Mrs. A. Pearce, she visited the hea'lquttrter's of the Red Cross 'n Pall Mall, and-was presented to Hie executive and shown, the kind of work they were engaged upon. As a result she was able to secure the latest patterns that were being used, ..and-..', these Mrs. Pearce brought back with her to New Zealand. Since then', .Mrs.. .Massey assured tha gathering, there had been nothing new issued. VeTy much appreciation was oxpressed of what New Zealand workers were doing, also the greatest admiration for tho New Zealand rugs, flannel, and blankets, which people-at Home thought beautiful, as well as the way in which

garments and articles of hospital equipment has been made.

Another centre of Red Cross activities which .Mrs. Massey visited was the Royal .Academy, now given over to this work. Large though'it is, it is not too large for what is being done there, and Mrs. Massey told her audience tllat one room would be given over fo the making of plain bandages, another to rolling them, another for making shirts, and yet another for pyjamas, and so on. Each room or department had an overseer or superintendent, and a tremendous amount of work was dealt with. Queen Mary'j; Needlework Guild is situated at Buckingham Palace, part of the palace being placed at the disposal of the workers. As a matter of fact, the guild is really a distributing agent, goods being received from all over the Umpire, and dispatched wherever they are most needed. Sometimes the workers have wondered where their next supplies of articles will come froni, and just as they would appear to have reached the last of their supplies of socks or shirts or some other special kind of articles in would come cases from India or Canada, or soma other far-off part of the Empire. One morning when -Mrs. Massey was visiting the guild's headquarters she saw a huge stock of socks, so great a quantity that anyone might have thought the supply would have lasted for some time. Before the ' day was over the socks were gone, so .many were the calls made upon them. Mrs. .Massey was also present at the annual Red Cross meeting held at the Automobile Club. The Duke of Connaught presided, and from the business dealt with, the funds that passed through the officials', hands, the quantities of goods received and dispatched, some realisation of,the enormous work which was covered by the Eed Cross could be gathered.

An interesting visit was paid to the North of Ireland, and Mrs. Massey described something of what she saw of the activities there. One of tho things which interested her greatly was the way in winch sphagnum moss was prepared for hospital use—dried, teased, and packed. She also told how it was that the peculiarly valuable qualities of this moss, so largely used in -the hospitals for the wounded soldiers, were first discovered by one of King Edward's physicians, although they had been known to tho Irish peasantry for countless generations. The moss grew very plentifully in the bogs_. of. Ireland., Wherever Mrs. Massey-went in Ireland Bed Gross work was being carried out with great energy and keenness.

- India and Canada were both doing splendid work, and, speaking more in detail of what Canada.was doing, Mrs. Massey said that every day the Canadian authorities sent their ambulances to tho

hospitals to take the soldiers for an outing, whether they were Now Zealand, Australian, Canadian, or British soldiers. They had organised several hospitals, (one being solely lor French soldiers), arid in every way they were helping as much as possible. It had to be remembered also that Canada was not a wealthy country like America, but a young one with' its way still to make.

A visit to the Belgian Relief Depot in London was described, and the Mewses' Homo in Devonshire, which Lady Williams had given as a rest home for New Zealand nurses. It was a very generous gift, Mrs. Massey said, and she spoke of it as being.very charming and restful.

Lady Ward, in returning thanks for tho welcome which had been given her, described how bravely the people in Britain were facing the war and all the losses it had entailed. The soldiers also were very cheerful, although the severe cold had tried some of them very much indeed. To the few who had been inclined to grumble, General Birdwood had said, "Would you not rather be nearly frozen than eaten alive by vermin in a'hot'country?" And probably after all they preferred the first. A visit to Christie's, the famous auction place in London, was sjolcen of, ,a«tl Lady Ward told her audience of flie wonderful treasures that were sent there to be Bold for the Eed Cross. A visit to St. John's Chapel was described, also the famous Gate - , , , 11 Afternoon tea was handed round by the committee of the depot and their helpers, and afterwards a brief musical programme was given, to which Miss Dall and Mr. Pope contributed songs, Miss Segrief and Miss Teresa M'Enroe duets, and Mrs. S. Harcourt a recitation. ■