SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3025, 12 March 1917, Page 2

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Red Cross Shop, The ladies of Hobson Street and I Hobson Crescent had a most success- I fnl sales day at the Wellington Red Cross Shop on Friday. The room presented tho appearance of a. largo fair. . It was filled with good thiugs of all kinds, and was thronged with people eager to buy. Mrs. Arthur Myers, Mrs. A. do B. Brandon, and Mrs. Duthio arranged the sale, which was splendidly organised, the spirit of eager work for a good cause being tho chief aim of those in charge. Tho ncodlework stall was a. fascinating one, and gathered in tho large sum of £82; tlio sweets stall was most attractivo also, and realised almost as large a sum. All the other stalls did equally well and were filled to overflowing. In all, £250 was tho result of the day's effort, and one worthy of tho great and good cause. Valuablo assistanco was given by means of gifts from Fahautanui and other districts. A donation of £2 7s. from tho ladies of the Thorn<fon Tennis Club was included in the day's takings. Those who took part and assisted at the various stalls were Mrs. A. Pearce, Mrs. Lan Duncan, Mrs. M'Eldowney, Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Larnach, Mrs. Tilloy, Mrs. Joseph, Miss Joseph, Miss Miles, and many others. Tho money taken in tho shop for tho week amounted to £258 10s. 7d. This included money made by tho Wadestown Women's National Rescrvo from the sale of homo-made cakes and Miss Cooper's flower stall on Tuesday, March 6. Next Tuesday there will bo the usual sale of flowers, and a plentiful supply of home-made cakes, which many' of tho Wellington College hoys arc donating. Sfoxt Friday is' the country day— I Waikonae, Paraparaumu, and Paekakariki. This is a day much looked forward to by those who buy to aid the funds for our sick and wounded soldiers. Sergeant Flora Sandes. One of tho London papers that arrived by the last mail contained an account by an English correspondent at Salonika of a visit he paid to a military hospital, to see Sergeant Flora Sandes, who is the one woman combatant in the Serbian army, statos a writer in the Christclmrch "News." Sergeant SandeSj who is a '&Mer •of a very well-known Australian journalist, once widely popular as "Oriel" in tho "Argus," went all through the offensive against tho Bulgaro-German forces that began in September, and was wounded in tlie final assault that led to the capture of Monastir. The whole of her right side, from her shoulder to her knee, was badly torn by a bursting bomb, but at the time of-the correspondent's visit she was making good progress. A few days previously she had been decorated by an aide-de-camp of tho Princo Regent of Serbia with tho Cross of Kara George in recognition of her rare and conspicuous bravery on tho field of battle.

This is the little woman who has written "An Englishwoman Sergeant in tho Serbian Army." As the secretarygeneral of tho Serbian Ministry "f Foreign Affairs says in bis introduce tion to the book, Miss Sandes only took to a riflo when there was no more nursing to be done, as owing to the army retreating, the wounded could not he picked up and had to be left behind. "Before that she had worked in Serbia for eighteen months as a voluntary nurse, practically without interruption, 'having left tho country but twice, and that on a short visit to London to colleot funds and bring back R'ith her dressings and other hospital supplies tliat wore badly wanted. During tho typhus epidemic she volunteered to go to Valjevo, which was the colore of the disease, and where eight Serbian doctors and many nurses had already succumbed. The same fate very nearly overtook her, but, fortunately, sho recovered and resumed immediately her self-imposed duty:|' In this book Sergeant Sandes describes some of her experiences with the Serbians, including the dreadful retreat through the Albanian mountains to Durazsso, whence they were taken to Corfu and reequipped. She writes in a pleasant colloquial strain, and appears to regard her surroundings and adventures, both rather extraordinary for a young Englishwoman, with calm nonchalance. As a story of unconscious courage of a high order tho book is cxtromely interesting. Miss Sandes thinks very highly of the Serbian fighting man and the Serbian army in turn regard her with feelings of mingled admiration and pride;

Miss Chalmers returned to Wellington last week from a visit to Fcilding. In the course of tho annual report of tho Girls' lied Cross Brigade, Masterton, submitted at the meeting held on Friday evening, it was stated that the brigade had raised during the year a total of £1732, of which £1579 had been forwarded to Wellington.