A TRIBUTE TO NURSES.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1917, Page 8

A TRIBUTE TO NURSES.

/BY LORD FRENCH. . ' i . London, Dec. l>i Lord French, at tin! opening of tlio fii-j'.erial .\ur-is' Club (up institution intended Hilly trained mim.- as well as for those n; training,:all the aduous ami zealous toilt-ia throughout ill's terrible war none deserve our ' heartfelt sympathy and gratitude mort !' an that la.'rl of devoted ladies who liiivt given up their lives to the cart of 'lie wounded. In all my cxperiiMiw 01 warfare in Egypt, South Africa, an I Kiirope, the mi'.itaiy nursing sister and 1 her glorious self-sacriiicing work bus ever impressed my mind its the best i(i in of high-souled Christian courage ar.d devotion to duty. ]n those eari'y days in Kgypt when the Soudan was a seething mass of fanatic Dervishes, :o tali into whose hands meant death and tcrtnre even to a man, these noble women used to tic-company our forces under the burning suns up to the very border line of imminent danger, and were only prevented by the most peremptory orders from running tcrrijic risks of death and capture. In ,South Africa, and during the present war in France, no one can measure the valm of their devoted work. "Since I left France and took up Ihe chief command at Home, 1 have visited almost all the hospitals in London, and many others in al : parts of the United Kmgd oiu. Conducted as these hospitals I are, with no ell'oii spared to ensure bright and cheerful surroundings, and with every endeavor made to secure ihe utmost possible measures to comfort f.r' the wounded and maimed soldiers, tl'.ov must, yet always be within them an atmosphere of depression and sadness inseparable from thfc contemplation of strong vigorous frames maimed and injured for jfe, and young lives permanently blighted by the loss of sight or limbs. Dangerous operations are constantly going on, and in spite of tl.e gallant eil'orts, so pathetic to watch, to conceal it, pain and suffering is plainly visible on many of those still whit,! faces along the row of j;ots. One cannot help, after an hour or two spent in these hospitals, leaving them with a deep sense of sorrow and sadness. V.:t it is in these sad surroundings and in this depressing atmosphere that, week in and week out for more than lonr; jears, these noble-minded women have spent nearly every moment of their lives. Surely no efiort caiTbe too great foi us to make them what peace, rest, and recreation is. f ossible for lives so spent."