RED CROSS MOVEMENT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19886, 13 March 1939, Page 7

RED CROSS MOVEMENT

. -«- WORLD WIDE SCOPE VISIT OF N.Z. PRESIDENT APPEAL FOR SUPPORT A gathering of 100 residents interested in the Red Cross movement heard an address given by Mrs. T. H. Lowry, 0.8. E., D. St. John, of Hawke's Bay, Dominion president of the New Zealand Red Cross Society, in the Abercorn Hall last evening. Mr. J. H. Hall, Deputy-Mayor, presided and in introducing the speaker called attention to the fact that the Red Cross aimed not only at first-aid work and the relief of distress, but was interested also in the promotion of good health and the prevention of disease. Its work in those directions was of great benefit to the nation. Stressing the international character of the Red Cross movement, Mrs. Lowry told of her experiences as New Zealand representative at the sixteenth international conference in London last year. Sixty-one countries were represented at the conference and the delegates were the guests of the British Government. Message from the Queen Amongst those who addressed the conference were Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Gloucester, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Hon. Norman H. Davis, who was appointed chairman of the League of Red Cross Societies. Mrs. Lowry quoted passages from the speeches given by the speakers at the conference, including the following message from the Queen: — "As president of the British Red Cross Society I wish to assure the delegates to the conference of my keen interest 'in their work and to convey to them my best wishes for the success of their labours. During the 130 years since an international Red Cross conference was last held in London, the movement has made great progress, due to the persevering efforts of the international committee of Geneva, the effective work of the League of Red Cross Societies, and, above all, to the devoted service of many millions of Red Cross members in 62 countries. "I earnestly hope that the conference will contribute to th« further strengthening of the power for good which our movement represents, and bring nearer the day when the Red Cross will be universally regarded as an effective guarantee that human sufferings, where they cannot be prevented shall nowhere continue to go unrelieved." Mrs. Lowry told also of the work of the New Zealand Red Cross Society, mentioning the effort made to relieve distress in China during the present conflict. Four doctors were sent to China and £17,000 donated in New Zealand was handled ! through the Red Cross. (Endeavours were being made by the society to obtain permission to admit a number of Jewish refugee children to New Zealand. The speaker concluded by appealing-for the support of the public for the movement. Miss King's Address An address was given also by Miss King, of the Napier centre of the Red Cross Society, who told of some of the Red Cross activities in other lands. She stated that during the disastrous floods in the United States in •1937 the Red Cross was given charge of the relief work and had 3GOO nurses in the field in 12 States. In the first appeal for funds the organisation asked for 2,000,000 dollars and the final response was 25,000,000 dollars. Besides relieving distress, the Red Cross had been able to rehabiliItate 97,000 families. Miss King spoke of the development of the movement in Japan, which had one of the best equipped Red Cross organisations in the world, and in Victoria, Australia, where the Junior Red Cross provided for the after-care of infantile paralysis cases. Speaking of the Red Cross activities in Hawke's Bay. Miss King stated that first-aid posts had been established on highways throughout the district, while another feature of the work was the Junior Red Cross organisation, which had received considerable assistance from the Education Department. Miss King urged young people to give their help to the movement by joining the Gisborne centre. A vote of thanks was accorded the speakers for their interesting address, on the motion of Miss A. L. Rees, who referred to the Red Cross effort in Gisborne in 1915-18, when Poverty Bay raised £17,000 for the movement. The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chair.