RED CROSS SOCIETY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10272, 6 May 1919, Page 2

RED CROSS SOCIETY

A PPR IvCIATIO.N, OF iaXOKLIiEINT WORK. It may not bo 'generally known that, u(K>n every troopeiup leaving mujiiaiio witii returning soicUora tile isew £ealancl tu-aiicn ox tile Untiau. .Red Cross isooietr and Order ot St. J oiui pmcea u quantity, of . articles ior prn.es m ‘lie various comyotiuous. widen are. held penoaictilfy. 'lido brancli also supplies a quantity ot cemiorts tor tlie sioa men, ana. a cheque to Mae O.U. tor too M £io, according to the number ot men aboard each heat, tor the purpose ot buying truib or anything else thought, necessary for ike men's bouetit an either panama, Canal -or Ooiombo. according to tiie route taken. < The following letter from liieutonantColonel, E. Jfl. Porritt, 0.0. the hospital shto iVlahend, addressee! to Colonel Moorhouse. oiheer in charge of headquarters of the- society, one of many received from time to time, shows the appreciation felt by the men for the consideration shown them by the society :-r“Oii leaving England on March luth. Oolonel R. Heaton Rhodes, president of the Red Cross in England, very kindly put on board 108 prizes to. to competed for by -the patients on the voyage to the Co minion, and also presented nip with a cheque for £SO to bo spent on fruit, or anything else that was thought necessary for the benefit of the men undpr my charge during the voyage. I cannot speak too highly of the kindness we received from him during our stay in England and of our approciatwn for all the trouble taken by him and those associated with him. The prizes were of the greatest assistance to me in keeping the patients constantly interested during what would have otherwise been long and tedious days for, unfit men. “Before departure from New Zea-geon-General R. S. F. Henderson, into Director of Medical Services, sent the following letter to the Governor-Gen-eral, president of the New Zealand branch of the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John: “Before departure rom New Zealand it is my sincere desire that there should be conveyed to the New Zealand branch of the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John my personal appreciation of their neverfailing and often voluntary asistanco in regard to all matters connected with the well-being of our sick and wounded soldiers' undergoing hospital treatment in New Zealand, on hospital ships and transports, and even In tho for distant parte of the Empire. In times of stress and anxiety during the war it has been a great .consolation to me to realise that there was a union of loyal patriots to whom an appeal for practical, urgent assistance never went unheeded. It has also been a great pleasure to . have been associated with a society whoso work has been carried out so unostentatiously and marked by such a magnanimous spirit. The ultimate effect of this work and the individual eolf-sacritioo It must have entailed'cannot bo truly estimated, but what wo do know is that it has been very fa%roaching and uplifting, and that tho sacrifices have not been made in vain. Furthermore, on leaving the Dominion it is a comfort for me to know that this valuable organisation will still carry on this work, governed by wise and generous councils. Therefore, I would be honoured, sir, if you, as president of this society, would kindly convey by indebtedness and gratitude to them for their splendid, practical co-operation with the New Zealand .Medical Service in so many spheres of activity during my period of duty In Now Zealand-”