Evening star., 1918-06-09
Ambulances, Hospital Boats
and Other Boons From One
Woman's Idea-Work of Q
London Nurse Story of a
Miracle of Organization
Special Correspondence of The Star.

LONDON, May 80, 1913.
RoBABLY nearly every woman
ltO under whose eyes these lines
I will come possesses, in her
work basket or elsewhere, an
old silver thimble which constant use
has worn so thin and indented SO
freely that it is no longer of much
practical service as a thimble. Most
likely she has more than once been
on the point of throwing it away.
but If you, madam. who begin this
article. happen to own such thimble,
please do not drop it in the dustbin
as of no value, or at least, before you
do, have the goodness to read what
follows.
In the courtyard Of Devonshire
House, in Piccadilly, London. the
town mansion of the present gov
ernor general of Canada which Is
now one of the departments Of the
British Red Cross. there has recently
dental surgery" on wheels-inotor
wheels-which is soon going to the
front. That travelling dental surgery.
which cost $4,000 and will bring relief
to thousands of soldiers, came out Of an
old silver thimble. So did nine motor
dIu1uldHCcS IOF luc oEillSh dIHyp lho
NAVY, the Royal Flying Corps and
for use during air raids on London.
So did five motor hospital boats for
service in Mesopotamia- So did
huge motor disinfector, costing $3.50.
huge motor disinfector. costing $3.50,
From that original silver thimble
and others and from a mass of other
trinkets, most of which had long
been regarded as just so much trash.
there has also been realized $4,000
to assist disabled soldiers and sailors;
$4,000 to help blinded ones: similar
sum for a navy employment agency
for disabled tars; $11. .250 for the Star
and Garter Fund" for totally dis
abled men, and $1,110 for other patri-
otic ends. In all, that original silver
thimble and its metallic comrades in
arms have produced, to date. the i'm
pressive sum of $165.000 The story
of the Silver Thimble Fund" as it is
called. sounds like a fairy tale, but it
is cold fact. as you will see.r
The woman who started it, nearly
three years ago. is Miss H. E. Hope
Clark, London nurse. She lives in
Wimbledon. one of the suburbs of
this metropolis. Miss Hope-Clark had
an old silver thimble. full of holes.
and, one day, was on the point of
throwing 1t away. That was in June,
that the silver of which the thimble
was composed probably was worth
something. simultaneously came the
brain-wave that undoubtedly there
were many other women in the
British Isles with useless, unwanted
old silver thimbles and that undoubt-
edly most of them would be willing
to donate those thimbles to be turned
into money to help their country in
her biggest fight. That was how the
Silver Thimble Fund" came into
being.
In order to get people to send you
thimbles or anything else you must be
associated with somebody Of unquestion-
able responsibility. In England some
body with a title is best. Miss Hope
woman to head the Silver Thimble
FUND" and also to organize 1t. This
woman is Lady Maud Wilbraham, a
daughter Of the second Earl of Lathom
having served in the war as a captain
Of (yeomanry. Is now extra A D. c. to
the Governor Of Bombay.
Although she Is an aristocrat, Lady
Maud Wilbraham is as level-headed and
efficient as any American business
woman. 1t is not an exaggeration to
describe the Silver Thimble Fund"
which is carried on by herself, Miss
Aope-Clarke ana one other woman, as a
miracle Of organization, and of that
organization Lady Maud rs the genius
But this is not the only war work she
is doins-not by a jneful. She is the
head. in the London district, of the St.
Johns ambulance, which. on air raid
nights, picks up the victims of the
bombs dropped by the kultured Huns
And in this capacity she is far from
being mere flgurehead.
When the authorities get word that
German airmen have crossed the coast
and are on their way toward London
Lady Maud and her assistants-some
Of whom are school teachers, some
clerks and some society women-are
summoned by telephone to an ambu-
lance station Somewhere in the metro
politan area" AS coon as a bomb Is
dropped anywhere in the district they
cover. Lady Maud and the others are
told where 1t has fallen and they get
OF at once as fast as a motor ambu-
lance can carry them to succor those
who have been injured. These fends
Of the sky, when they attack London.
usually come in relays. and the rescuers
who set out for district which has
been hit by the bombs OF the first relay
run the risk of being killed by the
bombs of later ones. but they don't de-