THE WOUNDED AND INVALID AT HOME

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2753, 24 April 1916, Page 4

THE WOUNDED AND INVALID AT HOME

Mr. I. W. Raymond, who is chairman of the Hospitality and Hospital Visiting Committees of the New Zealand, War Association,! in a letter, mentions that he is'in receipt of numerous letters from parents in the Dominion, asking him to take a kindly interest in their boy should he arrive there. Ho adds"Needless to say, I make a special effort in such cases, but everyone connected with the association is so anxious to minister to th'e comforts of the 'boys' that parent"; need feel no anxieties but that; their sons will bo well cared for. As a parent myself, with a son at the front, I can fully enter into the anxieties of those who have coi'responded with me. I am bound to state that the members of my Visiting Committee are 'wondrous good.' Within a few hours of the arrival of any. wounded these big-heartod visitors are at the bedside of the patient. Any; thing that' they are in need of is at once supplied. To these brave, battered heroes the presence of one of their own countrywomen is a great comfort, and has. a wonderful soothing effect. I have seen several patients, who were considered beyond human aid, pulled through by the unremitting attention, . encouragement, and sympathy of the 'Expeditionary; Mother,' as many <5f these visitors are affectionately called. The women of the ■ United Kingdom at the start of. the war "and ov'er sinco have been miles ahead of the. menfolk for actual performance. Our own countrywomen have been quite' their oqual. Unobtrusivoly, without any desire for limelight, but anxious to alleviate suffering and to cheer the sufferer, they have done a marvellous work. To allay any misgivings on the part of parents, let me say that with one or two exceptions the hospi-, tals are modernised throughout, the staff is invariably beyond hostile criticism, so capable'and so human do they discharge their duties. If a case terminates. fatally, the parent- can seek consolation in the lcnowledgo that the 'big' men in the profession have dono their all, and have failed. lam hopeful this assuranco will allay doubts and anxieties. If at any time any parent desires mo to get into touch with their son, and they write mo to 13 Victoria Street, I shall feel .it a privilege to d<what I possibly can.