THE CARE OF OUR SICK AND WOUNDED

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2665, 10 January 1916, Page 4

THE CARE OF OUR SICK AND WOUNDED

The New Zealand official war correspondent's detailed account of the visit of Colonel Rhodes to the hospitals and convalescent homes where our sick .and wounded troops arc being treated in Egypt will be read with interest and satisfaction. Colonel Rhodes, who was specially appointed by the New Zealand Government to visit Egypt and inquire into the conditions there as regards mails, records, and hospital accommodation, appears to have found the sick and_ wounded well cared for and well satisfied with their treatment. The men who have returned here invalided arc equally appreciative of the attention shown them by doctors and nurses,- and of the accommodation provided. In view of the very heavy percentage of casualties and tho increasing volume of sickness due to the confined space over which the troops were operating at Anzac, aheavy task has been imposed upon tho medical and nursing staffs, and from all accounts it has been admirably performed. With the retirement from the polluted and specially dangerous area at Anzac and Suvla it may be hoped that tho strain on the hospitals and their staffs will bo materially lessened, and the lot of the men themselves improved. So far as the mail arrangements arc concerned there has been improvement where ktters are concerned, but it is quite evident that the deliver;' of parcels forwarded to troopers is wholly unsatisfactory. The official correspondent states that in many cases failure to deliver parcels was due to the careless manner in which they had been wrapped and addressed. This may bo true to a certain extent, but it is quite evident, from the scores of complaints which have reached us and from the experiences of returned troopers, that this does not explain the real cause of the weakness in this department. It may bo that the difficulties at tho other end have prevented the distribution of parcels amongst the men at Gallipoli, but the menan Egypt and . in the hospitals also liavc been disappointed in the same way. Cases havo been brought under oiir notice where dozens of parcels of cigarettes and tobacco in tins sent to individual troopers have never reached their destination, and some of the men have written, home to their friends telling them it is useless to ssnd gifts as they do not receive thorn. Possibly time and experience arc improving- matters iu this re,spcct, but if the Government, through Colonel Rhodes, can do anything to ensure a reasonable prospect of parcels reaching the hands they are intended for it will mean a great deal not only to 'ths men themselves, but to their friends and relatives, here, to whom the dispatch of these little gifts is a source of so much pleasure.