The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-21

i, Most of this volunteer work Is done in connection with the military hospital Is | where the women and the men, too are proving a real help to the hard worke.l
 nurses. who have all that they can do
 looking after the physical comfort of the
 sick and wounded soldiers, and who have
 no time to entertain them. The result of
 all this effort is that the soldiers are hav-
 ing the time of their lives in hospital. 1 l visited one of the chief military hos
 pitfalls in the London district d few days ago. It Is an institution with which 1
 am quite familiar, having visited it many
 times in days of peace, and when I en-
 tered the first ward I was astonished. | It was no longer the old bare bleak hos i lital ward that I had known. Tables stood in the center piled high with flow
 CTS and plants. Gay prints and pictures | hung on the walls and the conValescents were sitting up in bed playing cards and games. At many beds sat fashionable women or elderly men reading or chat l ting to the occupants. In the orderly room of this ward were about a dozen convalescent soldiers round the fire smok- ing and yarning, and most of them were sn olxing expensive Egyptian and Turkish cigarettes. One even was smoking cigar -an unheard of luxury for a British "Tommy"
 The matron told me that one of the chief difficulties she has to deal with now Is the disposition of the piles of gifts which are received daily at the hospital. We can fit out every man who comes In with warm underclothing,' she said, ''and we have a lot to spare, and the rien simply can't smoke the cigarettes and tobacco that are brought and sent here for them. The only complaint is that much of 1t is too good Dozens of times men have told me that they really preferred 'woodbines' to the fine cigar cites that are sent for them eWood-
 pines. 1t may be remarked, parentheticai- ly. are the cheapest cigarettes sold in Britain The price is five for two cents and they are the popular smoke of the British armyD
 Beside the bed of a Canadian soldier who had met with an accident on Sails bury Plain was sitting a distinguished looking man of about 70. He was reading aloud a penny dreadful of the Dead wood Dick" type much to the enjoyment of the young Canadian who looked little more than r, and the old gentleman seemed to enjoy it as much as the sol-
 dier. He has had a distinguished career
 as an official and is now retired on d
 large pension with nothing to do. His only son Is at the front and ne told me
 that he simply could not sit at home and do nothing.
 'I was worried for a long time,'' he said, thinking what an old fellow like
 me could do in a war like this, and at
 last l hit on this. I believe that I help
 these poor fellows to get well and, at any
 rate. know l make the time pass more quickly for them. As for myself I never
 was happier in my life.'
 This old gentleman attends regularly at the hospital every day, arriving about
 10 a. m. and leaving at p. m. He has
 road 1 n.a1l xt.-
 nurses for anything that they require
 and Is ready to run errands, read, or
 cheer up dying man at a moment s
 notice. He declares, by the way, that
 he has never had a more varied course
 of reading in his life.
 Another regular attendant at this hos
 pital is woman who did much to ex-
 pose certain hospital scandals after the
 South African war. I am not allowed .o
 give her name, but she Is sister-in-law
 of a former cabinet minister and woman
 of great political influence She has taken
 the military hosiptals under her wing,
 and she has managed to work wonders in
 the way of cutting red tape. One of the
 most difficult problems in military hos
 pitals in ordinary times is the replace
 ment of supplies. for under the military regulations every article must be ac- counted for, and when it is worn out must be regularly sat on and condemned Dy DOarO or OIlicerS De1Ore It can be replaced. This applies even to sucl. trivial articles as dusters. A few days after this woman took over" the chief
 military hospital in London, of course as
 quite unofficial visitor, she happened to overhear nurse saying that there
 vas a shortage of rubber hot water bot ties and that she supposed 1t would be weeks before the war office would allow them any more. The next day the nurse
 Vas sent for by the colonel commanding the hospital and asked:
 Did you complain to Mrs. W. that there were not hot water bottles?" The nurse explained what had hap pened and the colonel replied: Well. go down to the store ana draw as many as you will want for a year. We have more now than we know what to do with"
 The soldiers are also well looked after
 in the way of professional entertainment.
 Lady Tree is a daily visitor at the hos pital I am describing, and almost every afternoon recites or reads in one of the wards. On the occasion of my last visit I met Gerald du Maurier and his wife | leaving. They had been giving a dra- niatic recital George Robey, Marie Lloyd, and other music hall stars como | nearly every week and regular evening concerts are organized every week or two for the men who are well enough to sttend them, at which all the greatest of