"I HAVE PROMOTED YOU."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16543, 17 November 1915, Page 3

"I HAVE PROMOTED YOU."

THE KING'S SURPRISE FOR AN. AUSTRALIAN. The Toronto correspondent of the Daily Express writes: — Dr A. K. Haywood, of the Toronto General Hospital, who has just returned from the front, where he was decorated with tho Military Cross, for his services to the Canadian wounded lit Ypres, tells an interesting story of the King's visit to a military hospital last month, and his delightful surprise for one of the patients. The scene of the incident was a hospital 30 miles from London. The patients, included an Australian, who had lived with a bullet in his brain, although his injury had deprived him of the power of speech and paralysed one side of his body. When three of his officere were shot down, the Australian climbed out of his trench and carried two of them to safety. Ho was making a third trip, when he was shot in the head. The man was taken to England, and surgeons performed a daring, skilful, and intricate operation. The ; bullet was remcVed from hi* brain, and he recovered his speech. The " Show Patient." What followed is thus described by the representative of the Toronto Evening Telegram, who met Dr Haywood on his arrival at Quebec: — " A bearded man, whose face seemed strangely familiar, passed through the wards. Surgeons who ' cared for nobody ' attended him with marked deference. They pointed with pride to their "show patient,' the man who carried a bullet in his brain for weeks, and lived to tell the tale. " The distinguished stranger bent over the cot. ' I wish you a speedy recovery, lieutenant,' he said. " ' I'm—not—a lieutenant —I'm—a private,' said the hero. " ' You were,' said the stranger, ' but I have promoted you.' " That evening, when the new lieutenant was stronger, they told him the truth. " ' That was the King who promoted you. Ho came in on an hour's notice, with a command that the routine of the hospital should not bo varied in the slightest.'