British Nurses for Abyssinia : Royal Bride’s Home: Fashion Whims

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 150, 20 March 1936, Page 5

British Nurses for Abyssinia : Royal Bride’s Home: Fashion Whims

(By

Fenella.)

London, February 6. Five British women arc now on the eve of the most gallant struggle ot their lives.' Within a few weeks they will be iu Abyssinia—right in the war zone—nursing the sick and wounded. They expect to be working day and night—often at the peril of their lives. The task before them is stupendous, for there are at present m> trained nurses in the entire war zone. I state this fact on the authority of Gertrude, Lady Decies, who is organising the expedition and who will lead it to the front.. For several weeks, the women have been learning to ride and shoot under Lady Peeies’s training. Now all this preliminary work is over and they are ready for anything. They are resolved to go, although warned of the dangers that lie before them. "In answer to these warnings,” Lady Decies told me, "1 show a letter I have received from Lady Barton, the ( wife of the British Minister at Addis Ababa. She is sticking to her post. In conjunction with the Empress of Ethiopia, she is organising the Ethiopian lied Cross with which we shall serve. If I give my life out there 1 shall be glad if it helps to alleviate suffering. All Over 35. “In addition, the nurses who win make up my first unit, I have 3u nurses—fully trained in every respecton a reserve list. Each can shoot. Each can suffer short, rations. Each can sleep under the stars —and none of us is under 35. The only, thing we need now is money. Subscriptions are coming in, and to every person who sends a donation, however small, I am planning to send a souvenir.” Lady Decies is to be the first to go to Abyssinia. She is to fly out to make final arrangements with Lady Barton. Directly these are complete, the nurses and a veterinary surgeon will go out from England to join her. They are taking a vet., so that the horses and camels shall not suffer needless agony if they are hurt. He is taking a humane killer and special surgical supplies with him. Zip-fastener Uniform. The nurses will each take a gas mask, and they will wear a khaki uniform designed by Lady Decies to meet Abyssinian conditions. It consists of a blouse and skirt, riding coat and breeches. Zip-fasteners are used so that the skirt can be worn over the breeches with ease and then whipped off in an instant when preparing to ride.

Lady Deeies’s terrible experiences in the Great War and during the Russian Revolution have taught her the value of an essentially practical uniform. In those days, she was a “Florence Nightingale” to thousands of wounded men, women, and even children. In 1914, she was the only trained nurse in the Evacuation Hospital at Dunkirk, in which there were 4850 patients. The entire hospital staff was only 11—and so Lady Decies, or “Sister Molly,” a.j she was then known, worked day and night. From there she went to the I'Oi’t Louis Hospital in France. She was there during the second Battle of Ypres. In 1016 she was wounded by a shell and forced to return home an invalid.

By the end of the year she had succeeded in getting seconded to the Scottish Women’s Unit which was working iu Russia under the direction of Ladj Cowdray. Though still unwell, she worked for 11 months under shell fire, as the hospital encampment was between the Bulgarian aud Russian armies. After this ordeal, Lady Decies went to St. Petersburg. There she nursed the sick and wounded throughout the Russian Revolution, and suffered considerable hardship. Her courage earned its reward. She was given 12 medals for her war work,' among them the coveted French Victoria Cross for women. Now, 18 years later, she returns to her great work. Queen Views Son’s New Home Great Britain’s newest Royal bride—the Duchess of Gloucester, who was married last November —has now moved into her new home. It is the Royal Pavilion, a single-story, but delightfully roomy house, at Aidershot. Queen Mary has been her first visitor. She motored down from London this week-end accompanied by Princess Royal, her daughter, Kiug Haakon of Norway and the Earl of Harewood, Princess Royal’s husband. They stayed only two hours, but after having luncheon in the Pavilion’s historic diningroom, the Duchess of Gloucester showed Queen Mary all over the house. Al-

though only a single-story building, the Pavilion has 15 bedrooms and numerous reception rooms. The servants quarters and kitchen are iu a separate brick building. The view from its windows is famous, for the Pavilion stands rm the top of a pine-and-heather-clad hill. It was built for Queen Victoria ami was first occupied by her in the summer of 1857. It lias always been a great favourite with the Royal Family The Duke of Gloucester already knows it well. He used its stable and garages when he was stationed in the nearby barracks as au officer in the 10th Hussars. Now he is to live there so that he can fulfil his new appointment at the Staff College, Camberley, nine miles away. Although some of the furniture iu the Pavilion has been handed down from Queen Victoria’s

day, the Duchess of Gloucester has been able to give her artistic talents full scope. She has had many of the rooms redecorated and an army of workmen have been carrying out structural alterations to modernise the building. Central heating has been installed among other improvements. All these improvements, I understand, the Duchess pointed out to Queen Mary, who gave her’ unqualified approval. This, indeed, was high praise, for the Queen’s judgment on household matters is widely respected. Thin Nurses Not Wanted. A woman nerve specialist and a hospital matron have started the diehards arguing this week. They are Dr. Doris M. Odium, a specialist an nervous disseases, and Miss D. M. Smith, matron of Middlesex Hospital, London. Dr. Odium has upset those people who hate the sight of lipstick. Speaking at a Bournemouth girls’ school, she said: “Although I must admit I have never been terribly keen on lipstick myself, still, if it gives some people satisfaction to use it I do not regard it as a sign of moral depravity. “Up to thirty years of age the world does not go fast enough for us. When we are between thirty and forty we are just about able to keep up with it. When we are over forty-five we must be very careful to keep up with the world if we can, or it will run away from us. I think that the New Youth movement is a very fine thing, but admittedly it has its disadvantages. A good many people feel perhaps that a iit tie less lipstick might be compatible with satisfactory developments, but I am not going to be one of the old ones if I can help it.” Miss D. M. Smith, in contrast, has pleased those who hate the present craze for slim figures. Girls who intend taking up hospital nursing as a career, she said whild lecturing in London, should not go in for slimming. Some medical officers, she pointed out, would not accept girls for hospital nursing unless they weighed Bst. and were about sft. lin. in height. Very slight, small girls did not stand up well to nursing conditions, and found difficulty in lifting heavy patieute.

Among the essential qualities required iu a nurse were perseverance, love of one’s fellow-creatures, good temper, gentleness, sympathy, and especially courage. A good sense of humour was useful sometimes, aud good manners were of first importance. Hospital etiquette did not mean much more than good manners. “A good many people will tell you,” Miss Smith said, “that nurses are underfed, underpaid and overworked. That is no longer true; it has always been grossly exaggerated.” All-Wool Weddings. The cold and uncertain weather we are now “enjoying” iu London has led 10 the introduction of capes on bridal dresses and little velvet coats for bridesmaids. In America, a .similar fashion has been started to protect brides from

pneumonia. It has been introduced at Salt Lake City, Utah. Brides all over the world will be warmer as a result, it is claimed. The fashion is to use all-wool material for bridal dresses instead of silk or satin as at present. It was introduced to the American public at a fashion show held during the annual convention of the National Wool Growers’ Association. Bridesmaids are not left out iu the cold either. For them, too, dainty costumes have been created of a sheer wool cloth called mousseline de laine. The woollen wedding dresses are said to be fashioned after the costumes of the wives of English noblemen during the Middle Ages. Hand-luiitted Evening Gowns. Evening dresses are also to be much warmer. Velvet, thick tapestry-like silks—and even wool—are being used. Hand-knitted or crocheted dresses, for example, are to be the height of fashion for the coming season. They are very expensive, as days of skilled work are needed for each gown. Only the most, exclusive models are therefore really hand made. The rest are machine knitted. Anny Blatt, the Paris designer, is one of the chief exponents of this new fashion. She is also displaying tweeds and checked woollens woven so cleverly that they appear to be hand knitted. Bloomers for the Beach. Bloomers —just like those which Mrs. Amelia Bloomer tried to introduce iu the middle of the 19th century—are to be worn ou the beach this summer. This is the surprise of the Paris opening, which I dashed over by ai> to see early this week. Wide, gailycoloured sashes and little cape-like jackets will be worn with them. Fezlike straw hats and straw sandals to match will complete the ensemble. As a result the beaches of 1936 will look decidedly Eastern. Chinese coolie coats and Japanese straw hats will heighen this impression. The coolie coats I saw in. Paris

are gorgeous. Richly-dyed silks and fantastically-painted linens were the most popular materials. They each had bathing costumes to match the background colour of the coat. One particularly delightful coat was in scarlet patterned with gold, green, white and a faint touch or so of black. A scarlet bathing costume with gold and white shoulder straps and scarlet-heel-ed beach slippers went with it. Next week I am to go over to Paris again to see the day-dress showings—and hear the latest skirt news, which I learn is to be quite sensational. Tigher than ever—and no splits—is the forecast I have heard whispered here. Heels Up. Higher heels and more pointed toes for evening, square-toed shoes for walking, satin slippers with leather bows, shaded stockings—these are the latesr from the shoe and leg field. The stockings are most intriguing. They are intended for evening. Some pairs are in gun-metal and gold. The gold merges into gun-metal ami then the colour goes back to gold. The effect is as if mysterious shadows were playing round the wearer’s legs.