FOR THE WOUNDED

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2988, 27 January 1917, Page 3

FOR THE WOUNDED

WAR CONTINGENT ASSOCIATION'S WORK (From a Correspondent.) London, December 18. Perhaps there are 12,000 New Zealand troops in England 10-day, including the ; sick in hospitals and the tit men and Reinforcements in camp. So it can be imagined the War Contingent Association, which is the official welfare organisation for the unlit, has its hands lull arranging for the Christmas entertainment of thenf all. A committee of the association was set up for' the purpose, and it had no difficulty in one or two cases in devolving the bulk of the work on to the local, committees, which are more or less permanent bodies. •In some of tho camps there are most capable committees, whose talent runs even to the length of pantomime; and where this is so the association merely pays over the per capita appropriation-for Christmas festivity. Codford, Brockonhurst, and Walton all come under this head, accounting for periiaps 3500 men. Horncburch, the Convalescent Hospital near London, it in a different category. Until recently there were many staff changes here, and there does,not seem to have been a particularly successful organisation of local talent, so the association has lately paid a great deal of attention to this important camp. It is here that the committee of which Lady Hardwicke is chairman is devoting most of.its attention.' And here, as elsewhere, a whole day's entertainment was provided, winding up with a pantomime in, the evening. The New Zealand soldiers displa'y an ..extraordinary amount of talent, and have astonished British audiences again and again by providing ■ the whole of the programme and fitting up the hall and scenery with their own hands. Miss Rosmary Rees, the well-known New Zealand actress, is in general charge of the entertainments for all the camps. Mrs. Leslio Harris and Miss Mackenzie are the other members of the committee. One More Dance. The Christmas at the Reinforcement Camp at Sling is entirely,in the bands of the military, but the War Contingent Association lias a considerable problem to deal with ia the.entertainment of the men who happen to be on leave in London. Estimates of numbers in war, time are rather tricky.. Until a late hour it was not known whether the War Office .vould permit leave or not. Then it became quite certain that a few hundred men would be in London at a loose-end, for all the hospitals devoto Christmas to entertaining their patients, and rarely receive visitors. A separate committee was accordingly set up (with Mr. Moss Davis as 'chairman) to arrange that these men'should have a Christmas as well as the others. • A monster Christmas dinner \m decided upon, with a concert in tho afternoon, breaking up just about six. But it looked too soft a thing (for the hotels and the' harpies) to throw on the. dreary streets of London for an idle evening such a swarm of homeless and unoccupied men. It was idle to ignore tho possibilities of such an arrangement, and the committee decided , , that something must be done for the evening too. t)bviously a dance was the best way to pass the evening. But what about girls? Strange to say, in these manless days one the most difficult tasks is to find a sufficiency of girls for soldier dances. There are so few of the fair sex whose time is not fully, occupied in war work. But Mrs. Empson and some others undertook to find partners, and in the week or two before Christmas • they are canvassing every "possible' New Zealand girl within ■a radius of London. The Christmas day programme has accordingly been extended to keep the men entertained for the whole evening. Words of Appreciation. Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward paid a second visit to the rooms of the War Contingent' Association, the other day at the invitation.. of the Executive, to hear a.statement on the work and to see something of the system under which it is carried out. The High Commissioner and Mr. Andrew Fisher (High Commissioner for Australia) were also present. Lord Plunket, who was in the chair, read a : brief statement , outlining the widespreading activities of the , association. Mr. Massey said he was well aware of the extent and importance of the work, of which he had heard from soldiers both here and iii France. On all sides there was nothing but praise of it. He promised that he would have printed as a white paper the statement Lord Plunket had read. Sir Joseph Ward spoke in similar terms. Hβ was satisfied the funds at the disposal of. the association were economically managed, and the cost of administration was very moderate. He was sure the Parliament of New Zealand would see that the association got what money it required. In this connection it may be stated' that the whole ol the association's visitors —numbering more than 100—are voluntary and practically the whole of the heavy.office work is also Tionorary. As for the completeness of the hospital visiting, Mr. Massey was delighted to meet, as far away as Belfast, a lady who, on behalf of the association, was looking after the few New Zealand wounded in hospital there. Red Cross Gifts. Since August the New Zealand .War Coirtingent Association has. had con.signed to it from New Zealand 584 cases of Red Cross goods; which came direct by passenger or cargo steamer, and 560 cases by Government transports. Of the former supply 529 cases have already 'been disposed of. either by being sent to various New Zealand military hospitals or unpacked and distributed_ as required ; and oiily 55 cases remain in store. The War Contingent Association has acted as receiving and distributing agent for all these goods, which have been disposed of after consultation with Miss Thurston, the Matron-in-Chief, N.Z.E.F. • The War Contingent Association is also acting as fairy godmother to the Lndv Liverpool Fund' gifts, which ha'vn lately been arriving in hundreds" of tons. These consignments are all checked and forwarded on, and letters constantly arriving from tho units at, fho front show that they am reaching their destination and are thoroughly ■appreciated.