WOMEN'S COLUMN

Maoriland Worker, Volume 6, Issue 243, 13 October 1915, Page 8

WOMEN'S COLUMN

-_—„ _► —- — Butterfly Nurses LADY WARWICK SPEAKS.OUT. It is rapidly' becoming apparent that the voluntary nursing service of Great Britain is breaking down. Tho official statement is that it is to bo "re-organ-ised." Tho only volunteer women in tbe New. Zealand hospitals, so far, aro thoso supplied by the New Zealand Volunteer Sisterhood, and tho agelimit for membership in that society was 30 to 50, with preference given to women between 35 and 40 years of age. These women have received nothing but praiso for their work, and it is certainly to bo hoped that the grave dangers pointed out by the Countess of Warwick will be avoided-in the future, as they havo been in the present, so far as Zsew Zealand is concerned. Young, excitable gills, no matter how eager for service they may be, are humanly unsuitable for the work of military nursing. In tho London "Chroniclo" of Juno L'B 'last, Lady Warwick speaks of tho "very large company of young women to whom the war is little more than a new sensation." and who in theso dreadful times have still continued their dances and dinner parties. "Unfortunately," tho Countess continues, "the people I havo in mind must SAMPLE EVERY SENSATION. that tho seasons provide. They havo invaded tbo sanctuary of the hospital

nurse. Scores have found their way to the great Loudon hospitals in town to! faco what they are pleased to regard os training; I have known some who have danced till 3 a.m. and havo presented themselves at the hospital at 8 o'clock 1] Everybody knows that tho training of a real hospital nurso is a very serious matter, that it makes lull demand upon physical and mental capacity, and that a long period is required to bring the seed of efficiency to flower or fruit. The social butteitlies have made no such sacrifices; they havo acquired a trifling and superficial knowledge of a nurse's work, and have then set their social influence to work in order to reach some one of the base hospitals where they may sample fresh experience. If they were really useful there it would bo unkind to offer a protest, but the general opinion is that they do more harm than gcod. They subvert discipline, they aro a law to themselves, they are too highly placed or protected to bo called to order promptly, they havo neither tho inclination nor the capacity for sustained usefulness. THEY WANT LIMELIOHT. Ono hears repeatedly that this girl or that has gone to the front, and one imagines devotion, self-sacrifice, selfrestraint and a dozen kindred virtues. Unfortunately, it is chiefly iv the realm of imagination that these virtues exist. For tho rest the interlopers want limelight, and plenty of it, their pictures flood the illustrated papers, and to read what is written of them the. experienced person might imagine that they are bearing the heat and burden of the day, the solitude and anxiety of the night, whilo in very truth they do no more than search for fresh sensation in an area that should be sacred. "SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE." If there are any who are prepared to think I have overstated' the case er have traduced the young, women who are at present "somewhere iv France," let them find out from their particular heroine how much time sho gave to training, how sbo received her appointment, and how much real hard work she does day by day. That a few have striven hard and nobly 1 would be the last to deny, but these are not enough either to leaven or purify the mass or to elevate the action of a class that might be better employed. Let us remember, too, that suffering is always with us, and that, even when war is ovor, there will be far too much in all the great centres of our own country. Are these butterfly nurses prepared to remember in the future the profession they havo invaded to-day? AVill they respond to tlio calls that are made to help, not young, attractive and valiant men,' but men, women and children in every phase of helplessness ahd hopelessness? Ido not think so. There is neither notoriety nor limelight in the sober, .erious life of the hospital nurse and sister. Abovo all, there is a hard aud necessary discipline that calls for much more courage to render it tolerable. Physical courage is seldom lacking, either in men or women who are wrtl-bred ,and it may bo freely granted that a certain measure is demanded of the butterfly nurses; but there is no redemption in this. To savour the full sense of life without courage ia impossible. One might as readily make au omelette without breaking eggs. In this case it is courage misdirected, energy misspent. WOMAN'S WARTIME SERVICE. I feel very strongly about this scandal —so strongly that I have not hesitated to write what is bound to offend somo of my own friends; but there are times when it is impossible to be silent if one would live on tolerable terms with oneself. 1 feel that in theso days woman is called upon to make supreme sacrifices, that what sho is giving even now is less than will be required of her later on, that her war record and her record when peace is about to return will be scanned closely and critically by generations of really free women yet unborn. To know of a blot upon woman's war-time service record and to make no attempt to erase it is impossible. The record pf the real nursing ■sisterhood is brilliant in the extreme. Why should it bo obscured for the sake of a few highly-placed and foolish young women who seek with the minimum of labour to make the maximum effect? It is unjust, ungenerous, and altogether unworthy of the representatives of families that in many cases have earned their ample honours legimately enough.

Great Britain owes more than it can ever repay to the nursing sisterhood; and it is intolerable that while their silent heroism passes with so little recognition, any girl of good family who assumes a uniform she has not won tho right to wear should pose as the representative of a sisterhood she is not worthy to associate with, of whose tradition she is ignorant, of whose high discipline and complete restraint she is intolerant."

It is hoped that this page will be filled, nofc by tho Editor but by the Country Workers themselves. You are invited to send in short paragraphs, letters and general news of interest to Country Workers. Letters should not exceed 200 or 300 words, as space is limited. It is particularly requested that Women and Children will also Send in letters on subjects that inter-, est them. A column will be started for practical Household Recipes, to be sent iv by housekeeping women.