SCOTTISH WOMEN'S HOSPITALS AND SERVIA

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 50, 27 February 1918, Page 9

SCOTTISH WOMEN'S HOSPITALS AND SERVIA

AN INTERESTING LECTURE. A crowded audience greeted Dr. Agnes Bennett last evening at the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall, on the occasion of her lecture in aid of tho funds of the Scottish Women's Hospitals. She was heartily received, and her lecture was listened to with deep interest. Dr. Newman, who introduced the lecturer, remarked that she was n credit to New Zealand and her profession. Dr. Bennett knew her job, and carried it out splendidly. The medical women now ,'in the field ' were th« pioneers in war work, and Dr. Bennett and others associated with her had en- j (lured untold hardships and discomforts in a heroic manner. Dr. Bennett, in beginning. her lecture, paid a tribute to Mrs. Abbott, who, sbo said, had done wonders in raising money for the S.W.H. She and Mrs Abbott, were in different departments. Mrs. Abbott raised the money and she assisted in the' spending of it. Dr., Bennett referred to the many-sided work which had been done, and mentioned that in this way they had come across so many oi the Allies—French, Russians, Italians, Serbs, Annaihites from Cochin China, and enemies also, including Germans and Bulgarians. Dr. Bennett traced her connection, with the S.W.H. from London in 1915. when she joined «t the request of Dr. Elsie Inglis, to the arrival at Ostrova. Specially difficult was it to. obtain their equipment, whicli followed them ion an ordinary steamer. At Salonika the women orderlies set to work, they "borrowed" some soldiers to help, and, .in extreme heat and dust (complicated by having to watch for expert thieves) they kept agoing for 24 hours, and succeeded in unloading their goods. The same trouble occurred in the train travelling, and it was marvellous how they surmounted all the difficulties. [Lantern ■pictures served to stibw the, country in which these splendid people worked so successfully.] "Our homes" were in one instance tents, with oil stoves making inadequate -warmth, and. later huts built of petrol tins, with the floor a couple of feet below ground in order to save.- wall height. , These were built by the women orderlies, 1 and showed great ingenuity in construction. The fighting was most severe, and the wounds terrible, while the train accommodation was very primitive. Dr. Bennett mentioned that in all the S.W.H. had thirteen ambulances, including the one provided from Wellington, but great difficulties were "in the way of the work, because of the bad, steep roads. Referring to the Serbs as a nation, the doctor said that, quite a wrong impression prevailed about them. They were not a savage, cut-thrqat race at all. They were an intelligent and intensely religions people. She also spoke in praise of the women soldiers, who do not form a separate regiment, but fight alongside the men, still retaining womanly characteristics in on admirable manner. Dr. Bennett referred to the immense amount of trouble and risk caused by air raids. At one time they had as many as 21 aeroplanes over them, and one of the most cruel sights she ever saw was the effects of the gas bombs dropped in Monastir ~by Bulgarians, which caused terrible suffering among women and children. Dr. Bennett referred to the X-ray work, and the great number of operations which were done, and mentioned that they could very seldom take sick cases, as the wounded took all their time and accommodation. At the conclusion of the lecture. Dr. Valintine; proposed a vote of thanks to Dr. Bennett. Hon. J.- G. W. Aitken seconded this, and appealed for a better response to the fund which was being raised here in aid of tho- splendid work of the S.W.H. in .Serbia. He said that £750 had been raised in Wellington and smaller sums in other places, but from £7000 to £8000 per month was required to keep the work going. The vote of thanks was passed with hearty applause.