Notes From Comfort Ship Log

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22468, 11 July 1936, Page 8 (Supplement)

Notes From Comfort Ship Log

What a wet and wintry spell July let loose upon us last week! It was only 1 by constantly reminding myself of the glorious weather we had in May and June that I could refrain from adding one more voice to the general moan when the hail rattled down and the bitter winds and rainstorms swept the streets and tore the last shivering leaves from the trees. It is in such weather that the thoughts of those who are able to keep snug and warm turn to others less blessed with the comforts, if not with the luxuries 0 f life and how often we confuse the two, and consider ourselves hardly done by if we are denied those little extras that it really does not hurt to do without! But food and fire and a warm bed at night these are surely the essentials in any civilised community, yet how many frail old people and sick people are unable to procure them I I said to nurse last week, "Tell me of some more of the cases you are visiting just now," and she mentioned three or four to whom the Comfort Ship had carried good cheer. One was an elderly lady who had been an invalid for ten years. Six years ago she had to undergo a severe operation, from the effects of which she had never completely recovered. Almost always in pain, confined to bed most of the time, very poor indeed —what a life, most of us well might aayl Doesn't it repay you for any sacrifice you may have made in order to help load our good Ship when you hear of even one such case as this? Another home at which nurse called last week was that of an old man 84 years old, who suffers from bronchitis every winter, lives in one room on his old-age pension, and has practically no friends nor visitors save nurse, who visits him twice a week. . Just one more case—that of an elderly woman who has but a short time to live. Nurse makes regular calls, sponges this poor frail sufferer and takes her the medicine that makes her pain a little more bearable. .... These are actual cases, and they are but a few from the long list of patients that keep four nurses constantly at work. Think of them, dear members of the Brigade, in these closing weeks of our campaign. Our fund now totals well over £4o—could we make it up to £6O, and thus bring it once more to a successful finish? Only three weeks more to the end of the month, and another two months of cold, wintry weather yet to face! LET US TRY! Love and cordial thanks to you all from THE CAPTAIN