FAR EAST RELIEF

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 204, 26 May 1938, Page 13

FAR EAST RELIEF

Dr. Grey Reports On Work

In China

TWO MORE DOCTORS TO BE SENT

The joint council of the Order of St. John and the New Zealand Bed Cross Society has received a letter from Dr. Robert B. Grey, the first medical man to be sent to the Chinese war front by the bodies mentioned. His report, dated April 28, came by airmail from Loyang, in the Honan province.

•'I have almost more work than I can handle,” Dr. Grey writes. Ihirty wounded arrived on Tuesday, and another fourteen on Wednesday, as w ell as ten during last week-end. All the surgical work is carried out in mission hospitals subsidised by the International Red Cross Committee, Hankow. It has been rather wonderful the manner in which the different denominations have worked together during the present trying time —Catholics and Protestants in perfect harmony. I have just completed 58 operations, and, if th.e work continues to be as heavy as it has been this last week, I should reach 100 by the time this report is received by you. It is very uphill work, as all cases are of sonie days’ duration and very septic. It is rather pathetic the way some of these unfortunate people beg to be operated upon because of the suffering experienced before reaching here. My patients come from the country north of the Yellow River and they have a long, rough journey before arriving at Loyang. All food supplies sent up by the refugee committee are being forwarded to the north bank of the Yellow' River. Supplies of food are scanty in these districts.

“A war orphans’ camp is being established in the Catholic mission at Loyang, and we expect it to contain about 500 children from the ages of one year to thirteen or fourteen. There w’il] be a considerable amount of medical and public health w’ork attached to the camp, and I will do that. About 2000 children are expected to be in camp at various cities along the main railway route. This scheme is of special interest to Madame Chiang KaiShek. who inaugurated it and helped to raise the necessary funds.”

Two Additional Doctors.

A cablegram was received recently from Dr. Grey, asking for the services of two further doctors, and the medical committee, comprising Sir James Elliott, Dr. Alexander Gillies and Dr. T. Duncan Stout, acting on behalf of the joint council, have selected Drs. Golan 11. Maaka and Thomas A. Watson for appointment under the Far East Relief Committee. Dr. Maaka holds the degree of M.8.Ch.8., and since 1933 has been resident medical officer at the Napier Public Hospital, and owing to the quality of his professional attainments is capable of acting in any executive capacity necessary. Dr. Watson holds the degree of M.8.Ch.8., and is also a house surgeon at present attached to the Napier Public Hospital. Arrangements have been made for these doctors to leave Wellington by the Awatea on June 24, and they will arrive at Hong-Kong on July 23, and there is every likelihood of their joining Drs. 11. B. Grey and 11. Tremewan in the Honan Province, Central China. With the appointment of Drs. Maaka and Watson, the Far East Relief Committee will now have four qualified medical men working on their behalf in China.

Great Amount of Suffering.

The following letter has been received by the Far East Relief Fund Committee, from Dr. James Maxwell, general secretary of the International Red Cross Committee, Hankow:— “We were very greatly encouraged by the’ receipt of your cable advising that you were sending £2OOO to us for disbursement, as the demands for Red Cross work are constantly increasing and the income is not as elastic as we Should have desired. You have probably realised from letters from your representatives here in China, Dr. R. E. Grey and Dr. H. Tremewau, how urgent the situation is, and how very great, the need for further help both for the wounded and for refugees. The amount of suffering is simply appalling and even more within the occupied zone than it is in the actual fighting line. Letters, which we receive with some frequency but. which it is quite impossible to publish, describe conditions which are too appalling for words, and we do need all the help which we can get. Almost every day, we get fresh demands for our services, and it is liecoming less and less possible to meet these to the full, and we are more than grateful for such gifts as that promised in your cable.”

Cheque from Dunedin.

Mr. C. Meachen, national secretary of the joint council, has received a letter from the mayor of Dunedin enclosing a cheque for £351/15/8, being the net balance of the moneys collected for the Far East Relief Fund. This brings the total for the appeal to the sum of £8530/8/3 for New Zealand.