" PRO UTILITATE HOMINUM." The Appeal of the Red Cross.

Free Lance, Volume VIII, Issue 383, 2 November 1907, Page 6

" PRO UTILITATE HOMINUM." The Appeal of the Red Cross.

TO-MORROW (Saturday) is to be dedicated m Wellington and subuibs to the magnificent and humane woik of the St John Ambulance Association It reflects giedt credit on the people of the Empire City that one and all from the man of absorbing business concerns to the newspaper 1 tinner on the street, look upon this day as one sacred to sweet chanty. No one will murmur at the appeals of the hospital nurses to-morrow as they will meet the pasengers by steamer, tram, or car The largess will, m every instance, be given with the best of good-will and a hope, almost unconscious at times, perhaps of resultant good. "Ambulance Saturday is one of our institutions now, and it is of such matter-of-course observance that one is apt to overlook the Association which promoted the movement. Amongst the very estimable objects of the St John Ambulance Association axe those of rendering first aid m sickness or accident , instruction in the elementary principles of nursing and care of the sick , the manufacture and distribution of ambulance materials, and the setting up of ambulance depots at factories, mines, and other centres of industry and traffic, etc. It is an institution which touches human nature on all sides It is as likely to be summoned, to the aid of the rich man on the morrow as it was called to help the poor man of yesterday. The officers of the Wellington branch, which was established, over twenty-one years ago by Sn* W F. D. Jervois, are desirous of so equipping their local depots as to enable theni to moie adequately meet the continuous demands upon them. They have done truly noble service, but greater facilitie s are required by them, particular^ for the care of the sick This is the chief work of the Wellington Association at present, and the records of the Nursing Guild Division are worthy of all praise. • • • During recent years there have been numberless instances where pupils of the Association have rendered invaluable assistance at the time of need, and the ministrations of the local district nurses amongst the sick poor are too well known to require notice In order to increase this army of skilled- nurses the call on any com of the realm, from the lurking threepenny-bit to the impressive sovereign, is to be instituted on the morrow, and the tribute of silver or gold that will be given by the public will be virtually a transference of the money on the part of the donor from one pocket to another, for the resulting benefit to himself is immediate and lasting That the people of the Dominion are proverbially dutiful to Charity's call has recently been exemplified by the successes of the V.M.C A. campaign, and later by the Salvation Army "self-denial" record In these splendidly organised campaigns Wellington has played a conspicuotis part, and already the collectors for the Ambulance Saturday have enrolled at the call of the officials, over two hundred having handed in their names bv Wednes-

day evening. This spirit is praise^ worthy, and bespeaks a willingness to asisst in Saturday's collection, which, in itself, is an augury of success. It is to be hoped that this year's effort will eclipse all previous records of the St. John -Ambul&nce Association