ROYAL SYMPATHY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 86, 10 April 1924, Page 14

ROYAL SYMPATHY

CRIPPLES AND WOUNDED

CHRISTMAS PARTIES

THE GRACIOUS DUCHESS.

CPROSI OBR OWN CORRESfONDENT.I LONDON, 20th .December. On the same day that the Royal Riding -School at Buckingham Palace was given over to. festivities for' 800 of ..the men still suffering from the effects o£, the war, • the Guildhall re-echoed with the joyous laughter of 1200 of the poorest children *in London —all of them cripples.' The Duke and Duchess of York went from one function to the other, and the Duchess was one of the fairy godmothers at, both.' The Not Forgotten Association arranged the party in the'one case and. the Little Cripples' Hamper Fund (with.which the 'name of the 'Sounder, the late Sir W. Treloar, will always be' associated) in the other. The Buckingham Palace Party was held for the fourth year in succession ; the .Guildhall party lor the thirtieth; At the city function, the tables stretched from end to end of the hall, and to these the children were marshalled by- a band of helpers, recruited by the National Sunday League. Roast beef, -plum pudding, oranges, and hot milk was the faro provided, and ample justice was done to it. After the tables., were cleared, the children composed themselves with such patience as., they could, muster for the arrival of the Royal visitors. But' before the Duke and Duchess of York could satisfy the children's eager, curiosity they had another duty to perform. .At the entrance to Guildhall .Yard had been drawn up vans containing hampers for dispatch to 4000 little cripples in various parts of Lon.: don, and the Duchess was asked to speed them oil their way by handing the way-bills to the drivers of the vehicles. Gathered in the porchway were the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, with the_ sheriffs, the Mayors of the Metropolitan Boroughs, and Lord Burnha'm, Miss Treloar, Lieutenant-Colonel E. F. Lawson and Mrs. Lawson, and the Rev. W. P. Beasley, representing the trustees of the fund. As each van drew up with its burden of hampers, each containing a plum-pud-ding, a pot of jam, a tin of biscuits, a box of sweets, and' ilb of tea, the Duchess of York passed to the drivers a printed slip, and. after Miss Treloar had briefly expressed thanks on behalf of the trustees of the fund, rejoined her husband, and ■ followed in' the ; procession, which made _ji- tour of the banqueting : hall. Then it-was that the childish delight knew no bounds, and the climax in vocal effort was reached when it was made; known<that i as a souvenir of the occasion ,the' Duke and Duchess had pro-/ vided a fancy box of biscuits for each' child attending at the Guildhall, and for all children receiving hampers. Lord Burnham said that in the first, year 200 hampers were distributed by Sir William Treloar and' the numbers had grown till the maximum of 6000 had" been reached. This year only-4000 were necessary, for the gratifying reason that the little cripples had become fewer. Contributinß .to. . the entertainment which followed the dinner were the band of the City of London Police, Mr. John Warren (ventriloquist), Mr. Ben Lawes (comedian), Miss-Nance- Haines; -and Mr. Fred Gibson' (entertainers),' 'and Datas, the memory man. ■„ PARTY FOR, THE WOUNDED. As the Prince of Wales could not be present at, the Not Forgotten Associa-' tion reunion, he asked'his brother and the Duchess to deputise for him. Princess Mary contributed six huge Christmas cakes, and the King, hearing that many-of the men from a distance would perforce arrive early, gave, direct instructions that the gardens of the Palace should be opened to them—a privilege wholly unusual when the Court is in residence.., An effective feature inside, the riding school was a Christinas tree,; arranged, as on previous occasions, by Lady Clodagh Anson, and ablaze with, coloured electric lights set amid, glittering chains- and fanciful devices, liogetlier ■ with sparkling, silver fringr Huge trophies ,of . evergreens were arranged at intervals along the walls as backgrounds to innumerable air'- balloons in clusters, which suggested gigantic, bunches of grapes of' the strangest colourings.. . The tables were a mosaic of -colour with their thousands of crackers, alternating with liberal supplies of apples, oranges, and tomatoes, in addition to the cakes and more substantial fare. The men were drawn from the lfospitals of Dueane road, Orp--ington, Ewell, Sidcup, Richmond, Edmonton, Romford,. Hendon, Rochamp--ton, and the special institutions, as St.Dunstan's, St. David's, Lonsdale House, St. Anthony, and' Garth House. When Mr. F. Ivimey's band, all wearing Georgian costumes, struck up the "National Anthem," every man, even the sorely crippled, struggled to his feet,'and the" paper caps were doffed, to be followed by, a hearty outburst of cheers. CAKES AND SOUVENIRS. Ranged before the Christmas tree were Princess Mary's cakes, and to this point the-Duke and Duchess were escor.ted. It was with some difficulty that the Duchess thrust the knife into the richly-de-j corated icing of the- centre cake, but the Duke quickly had a whole cake cut in equal-sized wedges. Then Mr. Hansell asked that each table should send its representative to receive its share of the' cake. •As each man had entered he had • received his Christmas gift, and some foity of these contained a '."winning number," entitling him to a further souvenir. The holders of .these were asked to come forward to receive them from the' hands of the Duchess. Two of the men proved to behelpless cot cases, who were wheeled to the front.. When one name was galled there was no answer until the Duchess asked : 'Where is he?" . Then a quiet voice was heard from a group of stretchercarriages. "He's here,-1 ma'am!" "Wait a minute; I'm coming!" she said, and, leaving the platform, made her. way to where a young pensioner named William1 Grogan was lying in a wicker carriage. Here you are," she said, handing the delighted man a brier pipe. "Where do you. come from?" "Richmond, ma'am!" "Oh, really!" the Duchess exclaimed. "I must come to see you when I" return to White Lodge. '"A lid I shall come and see you, too, she added, turning to Sergeant Palmer, a badly injured pensioner, also from JJichruond, who for the first, time since his convalescence had goneout so far and earlier had presented to the Duchess, on behalf of all his,, comrades, a great sheaf of pink roses, violets, holly, and mistletoe. One of M«e roses she gave to a pensioner named O Leary.During their stay the Duke and Duchess went to every table, up and down the school. About ' thirty nurses, now more or less - incapacitated through - their ■ war services were there These included:-' Sister Murphy (Australia), who was in the bcottjsli Women's Hospital at Calais, upon which bombs were repeatedly directed, and was also engaged in transport duties. Sister Hill won distinction in the South African war, and again same to the help of the Red Cross dur-J

ing the late war. Some of the party are now in the Edith Cayell Home of Rest for Nurses at Norwood, and others came from homes at Weybridgo anil Hanwell. ' Miss Marta Cunningham presented to the Duke and Duchess all the artists — vocalists, instrumentalists, and dancers —who have loyally helped her all tho year in giving entertainments, at the hospitals. Amid the pulling of crackers and the waving of air balloons their Royal Highnesses left, expressing great pleasure at the evident enjoyment of the men. After they had gone there was the pleasing little ceremony of thepresentation to iliss Cunningham of a gold fountain pen, subscribed for by the men whose days she has cheered, and then followed a wholly hilarious "go-as-you-please" concert.