From the News

Dated:

WORK OF RED CROSS NURSES WITH WOUNDED AT THE FRONT.

THE TRYING EXPERIENCES OF A CANADIAN NURSE.

Work of these Brave Women and the Heroic Acts they have Performed will some day be Written in Letters of Gold in the Imperishable Deeds of British History.

While the man in khaki is bearing the brunt of the battle in the firing line the Red Cross nurse is performing as important and in many cases, as dangerous, a work not very far away from where the shells are bursting and the big guns send forth their messengers of death. They know neither danger nor fatigue but quietly and courageously go about their mission of mercy. Upon their armlet they bear the Red Cross sign but this has not prevented the Germans on many occasions from firing upon them in order that they may be prevented from succoring and binding up the wounded and the fallen.

These are brave women and when the smoke of battle has died away and peace has once again been restored upon the continent of Europe the work that they have performed and the brave acts they have done will be written in letters of gold in the imperishable of British history. That the work of the Red Cross nurses does not merely comprise looking after and tending the wounded will be shown by the following intensely interesting account of the work of Nurse Amy Neale, whose letter to her brother, Lieut. J. B. Neale, of the 10th Royal Grenadiers of Toronto, was recently published in the Toronto Sunday World.

In the course of her letter Miss Neale says:

A short time ago a very long train stopped at our siding about 10 pm. It contained two complete hospitals from India, one for the natives, and one for the British Indian wounded. Just imagine how cold they were. They had left India in the hot weather and had come straight to Boulogne and Marseilles. We gave them hot tea, etc., as we always have boiling water ready and in the morning I got the sisters into the dispensary to have a good warming. Poor things, they were grateful as they had spent the night in the train and of course when the engine was taken off the carriages were not heated. One of these Indian hospitals is now housed at a beautiful hotel facing the sea with the tents round it.

I was on duty here at the station where we heard the sad news of Lord Roberts' death; one says 'sad' and yet in a way it seemed the right thing and what he would no doubt have liked. One of the railway officials said, 'We weep also with you, my sister.' He had tears in his eyes when he spoke.

Miss Neale then goes on to speak of the ambulance trains which are capable of taking three or four hundred cases and are equipped splendidly. The bunks are arranged something like a Pullman and there is a dispensary and a kitchen on board, as well as quarters for nursing and surgical staffs.

The duties of the Red Cross nurse are varied as will be seen from the following example described in Miss Neale's story. Early one morning some Frenchmen were waiting on the platform for their train for the front. They were not soldiers but were going to dig trenches. It was bitterly cold and they were invited to partake of a hot drink. They were all lined up and were given hot cocoa and bread and butter. The commanding officer wanted to pay but when told that there was no charge he insisted on giving a donation to the Red Cross work. "Never, never will forget the Red Cross," he said.

Nurse Neale has graphically described the various duties that fall to the lot of a Red Cross nurse at the battle front and near the base where the wounded men are restored, to health and in many cases, almost brought back to life, so terrible are the conditions under which they are fighting at the present time. It will be readily realized that this work can only be carried on successfully if the people of Canada give it their hearty support both in material and actual cash.

It will be necessary to prepare for many more months of war and as long as this dreadful campaign lasts so will comforts be needed for the troops and money needed to purchase necessities for use in the hospitals and near the trenches where the wounded men are given first aid. So much can be done in the way of knitting circles, entertainments, contests of various kinds and those who unselfishly give up some of the more frivolous enjoyments of life and take up the more serious ones as befits the present period in our national history will be rendering a service to their country and their countrymen as valued as those who are actually engaged in the force of arms.

Besides cash contributions the Red Cross Society is in need most especially of socks, sizes 11 and 11 1/2, grey flannel shirts, the patterns of which will be supplied on application to the society, and knitted knee caps, patterns of which will also be sent to those making application.