Mrs. Richardson, an English lady, worked in the hospitals in Tokyo and Hiroshima for about one year and half, arriving in Japan in April, 1904, and leaving Yokohama for England on the 15th of July, 1905. During this time she worked entirely at her own expense.
She made visits to the military hospitals in Nagoya, Osaka, Kokura, Kumamoto, Matsuyama, Kure and Sasebo and also to those in Dalny and Port Arthur. In April of this year, she was placed on board hospital ships carrying the sick and wounded from the front to Japan. Her sympathy and kindness had been shown, not only by her actually nursing the war-victims but also by her giving them such things as might interest and comfort them and by more than once making subscriptions towards the Relief Funds of the Society.
Upon her departure from Japan, the Empress received her at the palace. Prince Kan-in, Honorary President of the Red Cross Society of Japan, and Princess Kan-in, Honorary President of the Ladies’ Volunteer Nursing Association, gave her a farewell dinner at their residence.
As the fall of Port Arthur had been expected by all the people, we had sent previously 3,000 suits of patients’ dresses, together with a proper number of blankets and kept them at the nearest possible place to the fort so that we could be ready to provide the Russian wounded with such things when needed. These things, as we thought, have been of a great use. When Baron Ozawa took the opportunity of paying a visit to General Walaschof, the President of the Russian Red Cross Hospital at Port Arthur, the latter not merely expressed his high appreciation of what had been done by our Society (offering an honorable medal to Baron Ozawa and also one to Count Matsugata, the President), but also asked him if the Red Cross Society of Japan would take over the hospital from the Russian Red Cross Society. Baron Ozawa, however, refused the offer only accepting the medal conferred upon him.
At the close of this account, we take great pleasure in adding that donations, in various shapes from every part of the world and from rich and poor, annual subscriptions and the number of members have ever been increasing. The members of the Society numbering in all 1,035,000, include Japanese and foreigners in China, Korea, Hawaii, and in other foreign countries. Nevertheless, the expenditure we have had to defray for the Relief work increases to an amount those outside can hardly imagine. We have been trying to the utmost of our power to perform our duty of caring for the helpless patients of both belligerents ever since the war broke out, only remembering the principles of Humanity and Brotherhood and we will do so more and more hereafter under the guidance of Providence and through the assistance of friends.
NOTES FROM BRANCH SOCIETIES
The Connecticut Branch is organizing a subdivision in New Haven and expects to complete the organization in a few days with a membership of 150 or more. A large subdivision is also being formed at Norwich. The Bristol subdivision, which is the only one of its kind in the country, being composed entirely of boys, has sent a generous contribution to the Japanese famine fund. The “Hartford Courant” has been most energetic and successful in its collections for the famine fund and the National Treasurer has received a number of contributions from that paper.