The Red Cross. FOR THE WOUNDED, SICK AND CONVALESCENT, AND PRISONERS OF WAR.

The sign of the Red Cross has been an emblem of relief and comfort to thousands and thousands of soldiers during the last three years—and the women of Queensland have contributed their full share to that emblem. In the busy thoroughfares of the city, in the quietness of the home, and in the outlying districts of mining, agriculture and station holds they have worked incessantly since the outbreak of war. The Red Cross Society was the first institution established for the benefit of soldiers in Queensland. It started from a well-represented meeting in the Brisbane Town Hall in August, 1914, and has increased to such an extent that there is scarcely a town in Queensland in which there is not a branch of the Society, while in Brisbane alone there are 34 branches of Red Cross activity.

No man, woman or child can plead ignorance of Red Cross Work. It is voluntary help given to alleviate the pain and sickness of the soldiers, and the women of Queensland have spared no effort to supply goods to the hospitals and convalescent homes both at home and abroad.

The military hospitals in and around Brisbane, the transports leaving for war zones, and the Australian divisions of the Red Cross in Egypt, England, France and other parts of Europe are supplemented with necessities from the Queensland division of the Red Cross. To the head-quarters in Adelaide Street there is a steady flow of consignments arriving from the suburban and country branches. These are unpacked in the receiving and distributing room on the basement and stored ready for the demands of the military authorities. When a requisition for a hospital or transport is received the articles are again packed and distributed: groceries, bandages, socks, shirts, pyjamas, magazines and the hundred and one articles required for the sick or wounded being arranged and consigned according to the requirements. One thousand 1lb. tins of dripping are sent monthly for the prisoners of war in Germany, in addition to tins of fruit, meat extracts, honey, rolled oats, tea, cheese and other groceries, £5,400 a month being spent by the Australian Red Cross Society for the prisoners of war alone.

Then there are requirements of the men in the hospitals overseas. Altogether over 400,000 articles and hundreds of cases and bales of sundries have been sent overseas since the war broke out, 1258 consignments having been sent since last December in addition to 160 bags of sugar. The donations in money which have been collected and gathered through the strenuous efforts of the women amount to over £129,864. All this work is voluntary. This fact cannot be stressed too much, for therein lies the spirit of service which pervades the work of women for the soldier. Many of the Red Cross members have given up their lives to the society since the outbreak of the war, and in no way have their efforts diminished. The only absentees are those who are ill from overwork; but so strong is the desire to return, that often while yet in the stage of convalescence they will return to their posts.

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The headquarters are a wonderful demonstration of the latent ability within women. Many of the workers lived in a small home circle previous to the war. But now they are capable business women. The organisation is well thought out and capably administered. There is no overlapping. Each section has its own particular convener and work. And when it is considered that there are 202 branches, in addition to sub-branches, within the Queensland division, and that the work of those branches includes the buying of material, the cutting out and making of garments and articles, and packing and despatching to headquarters; that there are sub-committees to supply delicacies to the local military hospitals, entertainment committees to provide amusement for returned men, handicraft and work sections to teach them a means of earning money, and an information bureau for relatives of men abroad, some idea of the tremendous work of the society will be realised. The hon. general secretary has her finger on the pulse of each of these activities, and a Red Cross Magazine is issued monthly to give all current information to the workers and public in general.

It is a wonderful achievement for women who, previous to the cry of war, had lived the every-day domestic life of the average woman. And they are as enthusiastic to-day as when they put their first stitch in a Red Cross garment or took up pen to arrange the financial affairs of a branch. Their difficulty is not the lack of gifts or work—these roll in daily—the chief outcry is the small amount of space obtainable to send the goods overseas to the men who are wounded and ill. The tonnage given to the Red Cross Society is worked on a percentage of the enlistments. And there is not nearly sufficient tonnage.

James Heaslop & Sons Ltd., HEASLOP’S CENTRE.

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James Heaslop & Sons Ltd., Drapers, Clothiers, Furnishers, Etc., HEASLOP’S CENTRE, “The Drapers of the People,” STANLEY STREET, SOUTH BRISBANE.