WELCOMING WAR WORKERS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 37, 7 November 1919, Page 4

WELCOMING WAR WORKERS

MISS CLAIM ROGERS. ' Yesterday evening a welcome social to Miss Clara Rogers, a returned warworker, organised by ber committee, was held in the Y.M.C.A. Assembly Hall. Tim Y.M.C.A., under whose aegis Mips Rogers worked to n very great extent, co-operated in the welcome, and there . was a good' attendance of friends and ! well-wishers, including returned soldiers. Miss Sylvia Wilson and Miss Button, who both did much work for the soldiers overseas, wero also present; Miss Dora Murch, who was closely associated with Miss Rogers, was unfortunately not. able to bo present, having lind to leavo for i Hawern. Mr. I!. A. Wright, M.P., presided. In tho course of his speech of welcome cthu chairman spoke of the debt of gratitude which the people of this country owed,to those women who had done such splendid work for our men. Miss. Sogers, ho told the audience., had left with tha main body of the New Zealand teer Sisterhood for Egypt in 1915, and she had arrived there in November'of tliat year. She thero commenced work dnli csttibli*lirnl in 'h" Gnrdens for the soldiers. Nothing could havo been.more, useful, more beneficial, or supplied ft greater nceil than' this, and Miss Rogers might rest assnred that her work would not bo forgotten bv tho relatives of thoso men Later slio went io Kmr!a-"' benefit of New Zealand soldiers, this timo at Codford (noted for its wind), again under the aegis of . the Y.M.C.A. After having been thero for some tlmo sh» transferred to Walton-on-Thames, this timo making the wounded soldiers her special care—arranging for picnics, recreation generally and .Hitertainmcuts, aa well as for comforts . .Two years ..later with Miss Murch she left for Paris, where the Y.M.C.A. had : taken over large hotels, including the Hotel Ostendo and others, for tho purpose of providing acpoiunifldatioii- for tho l&Tgo iiuiiibsr of men who were on. lcjye and wero sightseeing, the armistice..by that time having been declared; Here she , and Miss Murch found much to do, and. not tlio least interesting part of their work was that of acting as guides to sight-seeing bodies of New Zealand soldiers. . . Following Mr.. .Wright's speech came an exhibition of cinema pictures showiirr vrhcrc Miss Rogers, find Miss Murch had worked—Codfo'-d, Bosccnbe, Bournemouth, Walton-on-Thames, eto. Another speaker was Mr. Hughes, of tho Y.M.C.A. National Council, who f ! ;i| !h" V.i|.C.A did not krinw what they would have 'done without the help of thoso splendid women who had worked in the different camps for the benefit 1 of the soldiers. Without'their lieln the Y.M.C.A. would have found it. impossible to ■ continue their activities. They had supplied that touch of home which' the women could give, and it hnd meant everything. To Miss Rogers, Miss Murch,'"Mrs.. Mac Hugh, Mi® Ballantyne," Miss Wilson, and Miss Button he could not pay a high enough tribute. It was only when tho Y.M.C.A. work .in Paris closed down that Miss Rogers left. People in New' Zealand could not realise tho value of her worlc, especially in Paris, and that of Miss Mnrch, but at any rato tho soldiers could On behalf of the association lie wished to thank Miss Rogers and all thoso other Indies who had worked bo splendidly with the association for the soldiers overseas. Mr. Ilopkirk, whose sons bad been nt the war and had had personal experience and kiiowledgo of tho work of Miss. Rogers, , paid a'feeling tribute to her work ' . In reply to tho speeches of welcome that had' been made Miss Rogers , said that two factors had been overlooked by the previous speakers. When tho Volunteer Sisters left New Zealand they did not. know what work lay. before them. When they landed in Egypt they still did not know, but fortunately for them Mr. Hay, of tho'Y,M,C.A., cAmo upon tho pceno and' proposed that they should take up work in tlio Eskebioh Gardens, which they wero glad to do. They might havo got other work to .do certainly, but again they might not. At any rate it was due to the' Y.M.C.A,. that they were able to do what they had done for the men. And that factor was tlio 6up]K>rt that was given them financially and .olherwiso by the people in New Zealand Slio had to thank tbo employees of Kirkcaldio and Stains, ha they in tlio first place had financed her, as LfilOO had to be raised for each Volunteer Sister beforo she could get away. The work for thj soldiers she regarded as a, privilege. From the time they had landed in Egypt until they arrived homo again, save for a short interval when they went into the desert in Egypt, they had worked through (ho Y.M.C.A. Shci wished to thank everyone who had in nny way furthered- her work for tho men During t*>o "veiling Mrs. Missen sang, the Misses Mizmcki and Wicks' and Mr. Weber contributed an instrumental trio, and the Y.M.C.A:.' Orchestra played selections. Mrs. Hislop acted as hostess, and snppsr brought to a conclusion an interesting evening.