WOUNDED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 191, 2 May 1918, Page 7

WOUNDED SOLDIERS

FREE CABLE INQUIRIES CONCESSION TO CEASE In the earlv days of the war the East, ern Extension Company and the Pacific Cable Board very generously offered to transmit threo freo cable inquiries and their replies on behnK of .next-of-kin of all sick and wounded soldiers, and the benefits derived from this privilege were very great, becauso this was practically the only system then in force to obtain detailed information outside private c&bles. As the number of soldiers dispatched from Australasia increased the volume of these messages necessarily grew larger, both from Australia and 2\ r ew Zealand, in addHion to the ordinary" cable work. The result was that as these W.S.M. messages could not bo transmitted whilst oidinary cable busihad to bo tiarisacted, there'was much delay after a big offensive between the time that the anxious relatives made their inquiry and received their replies. During last month, owing to the acute congestion of telegraphic business and damage to the cables, the board and the company were reluctantly obliged to advise that W.S.M. inquiries could only be sent by cablegram us far as Montreal »nd from ■ thero dispatched by post to England, replies being transmitted in a similar maimer. l r ov over twelve months the Defence Department has had a system in force which, in addition to the official report of tho casualty, full- information as to tho nature and classification of his disability, is telegraphed several days before the official military notification is received. Reports of all wounded or in. Taiided soldiers are graded: (a) dangerpus; (b) serious; (c) wounded (slight wounds for which further reports generally unnecessary). Jn tho case of (a) and (b) :i cable report as to progress is for. warded from England every fortnight, Khoiiid any change take place in the condition of a patient under eithor of theso categories, tho information is immediately telegraphed to show that a patient has been Ink™ off the "dangerous" or "serious" list, or vice versa; similarly, •.•hen he is dischnrged from hospital the information is also supplied by cable. With this information available the Base Keccrds Office in Wellington is in a position under this arrangement to notify next-of-kin at any timo of tho condition of any soldier who ho 3 been reported sick or wounded. Palticulnrs of all cabled information are immediately telegraphed to next-oi-kin, but being anxious for any possible later . information many relatives have continued to dispatch their three W.S.M. inquiries. Tho tesult of this has'been that iißKougli-tho vtbh authorities have been put to the trouble and expense of transmitting many thousands" of messages, the information received in over 00 per coitt. of the cases "was only that which had nl ready been transmitted to the inquirer frop- information iu Base Records. In order to try and ease the work ot l.'iic Eastern Extension Company and Pacific Cable Board; and, if possible, to obtain concessions from them which would be of more value to the public, tho New Zealand Government has decided that instead 'if ,W.S.M. inquiries being forwarded b. LcotTon they will be transmitted by the j Postal authorities to Base Records, who I will dispatch the latest information! available, and if any regular report is j overdue, a special cable of inquiry will j 1m sent urgently to London for tho de-1 sired information. It is anticipated that under this system next-oi-kin will receive an even be'-ter servico than in the ■past, whilst the congested state of the cable system will be. considerably relieved, in that mftny thousands of unnecessary inquiries and their replies will not be transmitted.