WOMEN OVER THE WORLD

Southland Times, Issue 23676, 26 November 1938, Page 16

WOMEN OVER THE WORLD

Vivid Impression Of The Crisis

A vivid description of her impressions and experiences in Europe and London during the anxious times of European crisis was given to The Southland Times by Miss Estelle Field, who is at present in Invercargill. Miss Field, who is a member of a well-known Invercargill family, and who lived her before joining the Melanesian Mission as a nurse in the British Solomon Islands, has just reached New Zealand after spending five of her nine months furlough abroad. She will return to her mission station on Ugi Island in January. Miss Field, with three companions, did all her travelling in Great Britain and Europe by car, and her advice to others who want to see as much as they can in an economical way is to do the same. , , “We bought a light English car on a reselling basis and motored through England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and then took the car on to the Continent. We travelled through France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and back to France a SaihWe picnicked a good deal and travelled very light, and people have been amazed when I have told them how little it cost me.” A MILITARY GERMANY ( , “When we crossed the frontier into Germany at Zurich, we found soldiers everywhere and munition vans on the roads. In fact we could hardly sleep at night for the noise they made travelling to and fro. The men who examined our passports at the frontier were in uniform. We were scrutinized very carefully, and were examined mainly to see if we had any newspapers. If we had had any they would have been confiscated, for the German Press told nothing of the crisis and there was a great fear that the people might find out about it from papers from other countries.” Miss Field is certain that the German people know nothing of what was happening between the Powers, and even the soldiers, who were being armed, did not know the real reason why. She found the people peaceful and charming, and had the impression that they hated the very thought of war. Yet even the children were taught to be military minded, and Miss Field often saw squads of them drilling and marching along the streets with military precision. “We went to Cologne to see the British Consul and to ask him if it was safe to go further into Germany. He told us that if we did it would be at our own risk. He and his staff were still there, but they didn’t know for how long. We were undecided what to do and then made up our minds to travel along the Rhine. There we found the people eyen more peace-loving and charming, especially in the Black Forest. “We could get no information about what was happening, and the newspapers told us nothing. We daren’t go further into the country to find a British Consul so we left for France, and we were in Paris when Mr Chamberlain made his first flight to talk with Hitler. The French people thought Mr Chamberlain a wonderful man, and the papers called him 100 per cent. British. Naturally we were very proud. The French hated the thought of war even more than the Germans. “People were simply pouring off the continent into England, and we had to wait a whole day in Calais before we could get a passage across. Even then we were very lucky to get away when we did. The boats were crowded with people who. were certain there was going to be a'war. LONDON PREPARED Miss Field crossed to England on September 18 and from then on had an anxious time, specially the last week before Mr Chamberlain’s final talk with Hitler. The atmosphere in London was one of fear and anxiety. There were soldiers everywhere, and on one occasion Miss Field found it impossible to get to her bank for the huge number of men and boys signing up. Aeroplanes were flying low over London almost all the time, trenches were dug in Hyde Park and anti-air-craft guns were ready in Kensington Gardens. Everyone had a gas mask and. had been told how to use it, and all the hospitals and big, important buildings were sandbagged. People were leaving the city as fast as they could, and arrangements were hastily being made to find billets in the country for as many children as possible. It was difficult to make small gas masks and there was grave doubt as to whether they would work successfully on young children, so they were being hurried out of London for protection. Gas proof shelters were being made, and rooms and cellars were being sealed. “I am certain the people fully expected a war, and a terrible war. They felt that only a miracle could stop it. yet through all their distress there was no panic. People went about quietly and calmly making preparations yet hoping and praying for that miracle. The British character is wonderful. England and all it stands for is so precious to the English people, they dreaded the thought of its being ruined by war.” ON A MISSION FIELD Miss Field herself was so anxious that she put all thoughts of shopping and sight-seeing and even visiting friends aside. With the people in London she forgot simple pleasures, and was prepared to offer her services as a nurse should they be needed. Finally she sailed for New Zealand on September 30, the morning after it was known that a settlement had been reached between the Powers and peace was assured. Miss Field returns to the Solomon Islands at the beginning of next year, when she goes to Ugi Island, where a new mission post has been formed. “We have started it mainly to help the people of San Christoval Island. It is a big island, and there is a lot of sickness. The population is quickly dying out because the women have to work'so hard. Many of them, because there are no medicines and doctors to help them, lose their babies, often before they are bom. Our hospital accommodates 40 patients, and we are trying to run it on £l5O a year. That includes drugs, food and general expenses. There is no doctor, and our only means of communication is the mission yacht, The Southern Cross, which calls every six weeks. We live in a leaf house, and we badly want a wooden one, not because of the inconvenience, but because of pests. Malarial mosquitoes, snakes, crabs and rats come in and we can’t keep them out. Before I left I was getting a lot of fever, and we feel that unless we get a wooden house we simply won’t be able to stand it. “The people are very fine. They are deeply interested in New Zealand, and look to New Zealand for help. I am glad to be going back to them.”