The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29
Former Nghtngaes Spirit Lives in This Pucky English Woman

across the road to the hospital as we had
previously arranged.
There the night staff were already at
work carrying the helpless patients on
stretchers and helping the others from the
concert hall down the steep steps to the
dark little underground caves which al
ready had been prepared by Miss Mac
Naughten, our chief orderly, for the pur-
pose our hospital happened to be In the
direct line of fire of the ammunition depot,
which was, of course. a mark for the en-
emy's guns. Shells consequently dropped
around us on all sides. When stretchers
were not available, those frail women car
ried men downstairs on their backs. 1t
was not an easy task, moving In haste
some of the severely wounded patients to
the comparative safety of the cellars
There we made them as comfortable as
possible on the mattresses and camp beds
and could then only hope that they might
not, with ourselves. be burnt alive If the
himsy building caught fire and blocked up
our narrow exit
II had now become a case Of save him
self who can" Mrs. stobart and her
party had no mind to be Communicated
to nurse German soldiers back to health
to fight against their own kith and kin.
They resolved. accordingly, once they had
sent off their remaining patients 900 al
ready had left on FOOT, to get out of Ant
werp Is best they could, though how they
then had no idea. Meanwhile. there
was no wheeled vehicle left in the town.
the directress herself set off on foot to
try to find the officials of the Red Cross
and see what arrangements could be made
for taking the wounded charges away.
"Shells we're dropping here, there and
everywhere as | trudged from one office
to another says she. but although one
felt that there was plenty of danger for
other people. there never curiousy
enough, seemed to be any for oneself"
The Red Cross folk. II appeared. could
not help. They had no transport left.
Just when things looked blacklist, how
ever, there suddenly appeared motor
IoiTy driven by an English soldier who
had lost his CONVOY, and this was prompt
ly comp1andeered bv Mrs Stobarts trans
port orderly. Miss BENJAMIN. who. ignor-
ing the shells that We're dropping all
around her. hailed the Tommy as he
was passing. In this lVry six of the
worst cases We're taken to hospital
which had good cellars They could take
no more" said Mrs. Stobart, land so.
after placing two cases in charge of the
sisters Mt the. convent. who refused to
leave their cellars, we packed the remain
der 06) on the last procurahle lorry found
at the wharf. and sent them in charge of
one of our doctors, a sister and two nurses
and an interprefer to ge tout of the town
toward the Dutch frontier"
This party which. after various ad
ventures eventually reached hos
rital at Ostend. was to send back. be-
fore they left the town. means OF trans
rort for the rest OF the staff-number-
frg some 20--but this never turned up.
The last adventure of Mrs Stohart Gnd
her assistants was to be the most ex-
citing of all. Still under shell fire they
had packed up all the portable equip
msnt. and now. all the afternoon, they
waited for the sight of the convey
a,ice which was to have been sent by
the lorry party. But o'clock. o'clock,
O'clock came and no sign or the
transport. 1.-The city" said Mrs. Sto-