LA,\D AND WATER 
January 2, 191 5 
THROUGH THE EYES OF A 
WOMAN 
(^Continued from h^ige 190) 
part in it. To mv mind Lady Wimborne's appeal asks for 
instant support. I have heard of life in one of our big bases 
and know liow the officers give up all their spare time to 
visiting the men, getting up concerts, playing games, and 
alleviating the tedium of the lives of the soldiers. " Send me 
out some songs with a good chorus," was a subaltern's urgent 
demand by post, and then followed the outline of several 
programmes of concerts which were being hastily improvised. 
It is the same storv always— a giving out of sympathy and 
a sense of companionship that is bound to leave a deep 
impression upon us all. Meantime, the Auxiliary Committee 
of the Y.M.C.A. is asking for our help as speedily as we can 
give it, and the office has established itself at 23 Bruton 
Street, London, W. 
Untrained Nurses 
There has been a considerable conflict of opinion as to 
the question of the training of nurses sent out to nurse the 
wounded in France. In some quarters we hear that numbers 
of amateurs have jumped into caps and aprons and have 
assumed positions for which they are utterly unfitted, and 
one well-known association of trained nurses has offered to 
furnish information as to which hospitals contain unskilled 
women. On the other hand. Lord Knutsford, who is well 
qualified to speak, declares that not one single nurse has been 
sent out by the War Office who has not been thoroughly 
recommended by the matron of her training school. The 
Red Cross and the St. John Ambulance declare that they 
have sent no unqualified women. The whole difficulty has 
arisen because we have allowed the enthusiastic amateur to 
start hospitals on her own account. Amateurs and their 
friends rushed off at the commencement of the war, when 
no doubt it would have been wiser had they waited for the 
guidance of those who have special knowledge of these 
matters. But perhaps red tape is a httle to blame. It is 
very tr3dng to wait upon authority when we feel we can get 
under way quicker without it. The great thing is to know 
that the amateur or private hospital can no longer be 
established for French, English, or Belgian soldiers unless 
recognised by the Anglo-French Committee, and that is a 
guarantee that everything will be in order. 
It seems very pitiful that a controversy as to the nursing 
of the wounded should arise when we are so near to the 
centenary of the " Lady with the Lamp." She strove so 
well for the whole cause of sick nursing, for the spiritual side 
of it as v/ell as for the general efficiency, and sometimes it 
seems as though we want some of the sense of devotion and 
vocation that were insisted upon so clearly in the early days 
of trained nursing. At the same time, though we would 
discountenance entirely any bungling efforts that could 
cause suffering to our men, and while we uphold entirely 
the system that demands that the matron and sisters of any 
and every hospital, voluntary or otherwise, shall be trained 
women, it seems foolish to condemn wholesale the voluntary 
efforts of elementary nurses. 
What is a probationer in a general hospital but an 
untrained person ? She is not employed to do the delicate 
and nerve-racking work of highly complicated surgical 
nursing, but by a gradual process she is trained to greater 
achievements. She learns obedience and resourcefulness, 
and learns them from her superior officer. If there are any 
hospitals anywhere where insubordination on the part of 
the amateur is interfering with the necessary work of nursing 
let us have the matter set right without delay. The amateur 
who is working for her own glorification is a nuisance, and her 
presence is not required, but do not let us condemn her 
wholesale, for we know of many hospitals where her intelli- 
gence and sympathy have done the best service to the country 
that it could desire. Erica. 
ng 
" Macaulay's History of England " is being published in six 
volumes by Macmillan & Co. — price los. 6d. per part — of which 
volume five is now to hand. It is edited by Mr. Charles Harding 
Firth, M.A. (Regius Professor of Modern History in the llnivcr.^itv 
of Oxford), and deals with the period from the accession of Tames II 
to Wilham III. ■* 
O.xo Limited, under their coupon scheme, are now offeri 
three remarkably appropriate war photogravures. Pride of place 
divided between " The I,anding of the Britisli Expeditionary Force 
in France, August, igi^," which portrays the landing scene in Boulogne 
to the life, and " The Sure Shield of Britain and of Her Empire/' a 
magnificent naval canvas by Norman \Vilkinson. The third qravur'r 
which has a piquant interest for all of us just now, is by Julius M 
Price, and is entitled " Good News Iroui Across the Seas." These 
gravmes arc available for a remarkably small value of Oxo coupons 
so that Oxo users find themselves entitled to one in a comparativclv 
■^hort time. 
THE 
EXPERIENCE 
OF CENTURIES 
has taught our Kiissian 
Allieshowtoprotect them- 
selves from cold, and ihe 
HOOD-SCARF 
depicted here (called by 
them the "Bashlik") is 
one of their devices. 
We have the design and 
supply facsimiles in fleecy 
wool malarial 
at 12/6 each. 
PRACTICAL 
SLEEPING 
BAG 
in " M.irshproof," lined 
fur, thoroughly water- 
proof and wind - proof. 
Weighing only 6| lbs, 
£5 15s. 6d. 
MARSHALL G 
SNELGROVE 
Special Department for Cam- 
paigning Accessories. Diiect 
F.iitrance corner of Oxford 
btrect and Marvl bone Lane, 
LONDON. 
ORRIS 
28a SACKVILLE ST., W. 
MORRIS recognises that the present situa- 
tion necessitates the inclusion of clothes 
in the general economy, and begs to 
inform his clientele and the public that the 
reduced price for a Lounge Suit or Overcoat is 
3^ Guineas 
For similar Garments the usual price is £5 5 
Officers' Complete Outfit in 24 hours if necessary 
TESTIMONIAL.— ■' I feel that I must thank you and your 
excelleiu titter, too. for the great pains you took atid llie excellei.t 
results you achieved in fitting me out in 36 hours. You are 
perfectly at liberty to use this testimonial if you wish.— Yours 
faithfully and gratefully. G. E. WEIGALL. Major R.G.A." 
Infantry Trousers - £1 10 
British Warmer • 3 IS 
Khaki Service Tunic £3 3 
Bedford Cord Riding 
Breeches - ■ 2 2 
THE "CORSTAY" FIGURE BELT (Reg.) price 
isinvaluabletoevery officer Lioingtothe front. and ^ ^% / 
asure preventiveagainstcoid.danipand exposure ' *^/ " 
Telephones: Nos. 784, 728 Regent. Telegrams : "Greatcoit. London 
British 
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192 
