"BLOOD AND FIRE!"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3190, 14 September 1917, Page 7

"BLOOD AND FIRE!"

WAR WORK OF THE SALVATION ARMY BY FIELD AND TOWN INTERVIEW WITH COMMISSIONER HODDER. Though the Salvation Army is an Army 'of Peace, it is militant iia far 39 thoso abounding -works of aid. and charity which havo made the lot of our soldiers at the front bearable nro concerned. The Wast of war did not fall on dead ears in the Army Headquarters at Home—it was a spur to action, which, was immediately responded to in half a hundred ways, action which developed co-equally with the war,. One of the features of the greatest of all wars nae been, and will be, the vast and allimportant work which has been .lone bohi..d the lines, in the hospitals, the convalescent camps, and the streets of the cities by tho organisations whose principles and professions naturally tend towards such work. The Salvation Army was one of the first to wako up to the need—the Army etepped smartly into action, and there are fen- who return from the lines of death who. havo not a h 'ood word to eay for the Army officers and the kindnesses received at their hands. It was with, euoh thoughts runainjr in hie head that a Dominion reporter interviewed Commissioner H. C' ilodder, head of the Army cf Peaqo in I\ow Zeuland. "Oh, yes, we've been out to do all we can to win ihe war," said the Commis6ionor, "and we consider that we have a claim to he considered war-winners when we are straining every nerve in the field arid in the town to help tha brave fellows who are fighting for the freedom of the world. Such has bc-en our work that it has Rained the approval of tho military and civil authorities at Home, and in . many cases they have left certain phases of the good work to our org-inisation-whicn is the highest form of commendation, isn't itP "One of the first things we <Ud was to provide institutes ;n every 'raining camp in England, at a time when die men were poaring in from' all parts ;;i the Empire into hastily-formed camps, m which no provision had been nnde ior anything save sleeping *nd eating quarters. We came in as a hnmaniSLifr element, and set up big halls, vvovided concerts, games, books, stationery. a . lld arranged endl-jss entertainments, whicii T am sure must have been welcome to the boys who were going through such, a tough and unexpected ordeal. These places .were crowded nightly, and even our religious seTvice.9 were patronised Hy great crowds of soldiers, few if them too proud in spirit to come ulong and get n glimpse of the' ever-gleaming light of hope. Strong on Hutments. "Then we havo our hitments -a sort of combination of institute and refreshment room, where the tidier boy can loosen his belt, have u tuck-io, and be rationally entertained at one and the same time. These hutmunts are m ingland and Trance, extending from t;.o training camps right up to within fiau of the front lino treuches, and are tremendously approbated by the men at the front. Enormous quantities (t pi'Jvisious are purchased fo:- those hutments. Hero is a sample of a days work in a hutment:-The boys camo in • inhumed batches, going into or coming from the trenches. ,Vo supplied over 3000 eggs, about the name number ot kippers, besides heaps of bread and other provisions. Five hundred eggs werei boiled in a bath at one time!' These hutments go a long way .towards supporting tnemBEhes, yet the prices for everything are most reasonable. The managers are trained men of experience in social woTk, and only receive a few shillings a week and their food, so no one will say they ar6 not doing their bit. Hundreds o letters from the front testify to the.good work that is being doi!a. -

Ambulances East and West. "But our activities don't cease, at feedin" tho men. Wβ go in for umbulance work. There are no fewer than 3Miiotor ambulances, the gift of the Sa yation Army in different countries, operating at the front, all driven by S'.A. drive™, with S.A. nurses-in attendance. Up till June last the ti.A. ambulances had carried no fewer than 150,000 wounded men. In Belgium and France the Army has a visitation organisation for service in the liJspitals, where works of abiding mercy are performed daily, aonriJi by tho women workers. When the war first started. General Booth sent Brigadier Mary Murray to Belgium to travel in the trams and tend tho sick and wounded. Miss Murray is a daughter of the late Brigadier-General Sir John Murray, of the British Arny, and has been a S.A. officer for a quarter of a century. She went all through the South. African War, and'received the war medal, and now she 13 working away as cheerfully as ever performing prodigies •of that kind of work, which lias its reward in the heartfelt thanks of all whom she helps to cheer and succour. "Then we have our rest houses right throughout the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium, a sort of haven for tired souls and bodies, which are very much appreciated b"y the soldiers when on leave The S.A. hostels all over England are well known. Some of the finest institutions havo been handed ever to us to be used as hostels for soldi-rs. One of those was the Metropolo in London, which was turned over to\us with its staff. "It may bo news to many when 1 say that the famous hostoj in Russell Square, London, which is under the patronage of the War Contingent Association, is Tim in the , interest of the New Zealand soldiers by Salvation Army officers especially selected by General llriimwell Booth. The same, is tho case with tho comfortable hostels at Mualou Koad, Uel"lavo Eoad, Southampton Row, and tho Slrand.. That will show the confidence and appreciation of tho ability, of tho Salvation Army officers. for this class of work; when it is entrusted to them by such people as Lord Plmiket, Mr. I' , . Waldegrave, ami Sir ,'1 nomas ■•Mackenzie. . f "Another ijil,c#«li"s if s»d phase, pi our work is meeting flie .prisoners in Switzerland, when exchanges havo b«m Bi-raiigcd. These poor fellows, often broken and maimed, are met Uy tho | Swiss branch of Iho Army, and piveii comfort* and meals of n substantial order, such us they .have not been accustomed lo in captivityThe Army in America. f.H the very outset of l'io wac, "A morion, now an Ally, appeared lo bo undecided in hor altitude, but ) was not no with our American comrades in. lie ; Salvalion \rmy. Commander Eva Looth i foresaw the terrible toll of suffering, and set-to work with a will to make antiseptic bandages and other such ar- I tides, until piles of lliom, amounting to hundreds of thousands,, were sent . to Franco, Italy, and Russia, and v ,rm,ed | a veritable boon to the Army Medical , Corns af the time of tho Hattle of the Marne and in later engage- | ments. Now that America is in the wni the Salvation Army there will be in the fray from the training camp .o where floats the Stars and Stripes at tho front.

In Russia and Serbia. "The Army Jβ established atPetroerad, but operations in that distressful country hove been greatly restricted, and were 'just being eased when the Kevolntion caino about. We have a record of excellent work done in Finland, whero our work (subsidised by the Government. Wo sent officers to distribute relief in Serbia ae soon as misfortuno overtook tlia-t , country, and Colonel Govaars spent the ( , money contributed in a wise and helptul , , way and free of any deduction for «- ; , penscß. The people, of Uieborne sent | IeWM, which ho used to great advantage, , making it worth several thousands by creating employment which was remunerative, and winning golden opinions from the civil and military authorities for his practical vnothods of applying relief. ; "Padre" Green and Captain "Mac." : "It is hardly necessary to menr.ion the good work we were able to do in ligypt

and Gallipoli. Nearly every Main Body man came in contact either with. 'I'-idre' Green or Captain. 'Mac, , whose memory will ever be associated with the ill-fated expedition of 1915. Both raeii have strong, outreaehing personalities, and, armoured in faith, they slogged away night and day in • that inferno of- tin and degradation, Cairo, until they made their presence felt, and saved many hundreds of gallant lads fresh from good, pure homes from shameful deaths. Tho names of our chaplains—the two named.above are M.C. men—are: Chaplains Green, Walls, Bladin,' Garner, and Winton. Even Unto Mesopotamia, "We are even helping in a very practical manner on the distant Mesopotamian front. Our chief missionary field is.lndia, and the majority of the troops engaged up the Tigris aro from that part of the Empire. The Salvation Army stands very high with the influential native rulers of India, because our soldiers are observers of discipline—the Salvation Army methods demand it— and the Indian authorities felt that Salvation Army natives would be reliable so Commissioner Booth-Tucker (an ex-Judge of India) was appointed to ascertain how best we could .help. Ihe Commissioner organised a force of 2000 native Salvationists, ■ and placed them under Salvation Army officers, who were given Ml military rank, and they hayo gone away as transport helpers to the troops in Mesopotamia., "Wo have also taken in the munition workers of 'the crowded industrial centres, and do a great deal of valuable work among the men of the Navy all the great ports of the Empire. This aoes not cover all our work by a long way, but the survey will prove that wo are trying to do our part in this great struggle."