THE LADY OF THE LAMP.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1917, Page 7

THE LADY OF THE LAMP.

A MEMORY OF THE CRIMEA. An American doctor, who has been working with the Belgian Red Cross for the past tsvo years, was recently interviewed l>y on English correspondent, and stated that the British Army Medical Service in the present war is one of tile greatest achievements of the age; in no other country, not even' in (ierniany, is there sue'li a wonderful medical organisation, lie quoted cases where soldiers had been wounded in the frontline trenches at, noon,, and by ten o'clock on the same evening these soldiers were comfortably installed in up-to-date hospitals in their own country, What a different picture this makes to the scenes of horror and .suffering that were experienced during the Crimean War! In this campaign many more soldiers died from want of care and proper food and clothing than were killed by the enemy. But w'hen conditions were at tljpir worst Florence Nightingale, whose name will l"> remembered so long as there is a British Empire, arrived with her small band of heroic women and turned chaos into order. Compare our brilliantly-lighted and scientifically-equipped base hospitals with the miserable hovels in which Florence Nightingale worked through that bitter Crimean winter, carrying her kerosene lamp, which was the only light available, and we can understand why "The Lady of the Lamp" has become a household phrase in the homes, not only of the British Empire, but of the whole world.

Electric light, which is used in all permtuient hospitals, Ss, of* course, only available under favorable conditions, but the New Zealand military authorities iiave recently tested a new lantern for emergency use, and have found it satisfactory in every way. This lantern, which'ia known as "The Wizard," is made on the same principle as the wellknown "Wizard Lighting Systems"; it is self-contained, and en" be carried about the same as an ordinary lantern. The report'states: "The lamp (lantern) gives a steady white light suflieient to illuminate one marquee sufficiently for the ordinary purposes of reading and writing. In the open the light covers sin area of approximately 50 paces radius, showing up objects at that distance. At ten paces the light is just clear enough to enable pencil writing to be read." . . . ''The lamp has been

tested in the normal vertical position, has been knocked over, and entirely inverted. Lying on its side the lamp continues to burn. When inverted the light is extinguished." . . . "The complete lamp is not affected/ by high wind, and without its 'glass' the mantle is not affected by moderate wind, and continues to give n steady light." . . . •'The foregoing report is based upon results of' actual tests. In comparison with 'kerosene (hurricane) lamps, the initial cost is high, but the expense entailed in making good waste and breakage would he vastly reduced, and the general question of lighting be brought to a much finer margin between cost and results. The 'Wizard' Lamp is, in my opinion, a lamp of great, utility and

long service." Hundreds of farmers in New Zealand are using ''Wizard" lanterns for attending to stock at night, and doing all sorts of outside work after dark. -In the breeding season these lanterns' are especially valuable, and the agents, Messrs Early Bros., 53 Cuba street, Wellington, receive numerous letters of appreciation from the users of both "Wizard" Lanterns and "Wizard Lighting Systems." A postcard is all .that is required to get further particulars.—Glß,