Refugees on the Bank of the North River Waiting for the Boats of the Relief Committee.
AN INSPIRATION
BEING THE STORY OF ST. MATTHEW’S RED CROSS HOSPITAL.
By Nellie Olmsted Lincoln.
St. Matthews Red Cross Guild Hospital.
A beautiful thought of a wise and generous woman, like a fruitful seed, has blossomed and borne fruit in an ideal, modern hospital, just completed and given to the people of San Mateo.
Thursday, February 11, 1909, was a red letter day in the annals of this lovely little California town, for on that day was formally opened St. Matthew’s Red Cross Hospital, built and equipped by Mrs. Whitelaw Reid in memory of her mother.
It was a happy combination of circumstances that made it possible for four officers of the Red Cross to be present at the opening: Mrs. Whitelaw Reid, Hon. Benjamin Ide Wheeler, President of the California Branch; Mrs. John Merrill, Vice-President, and Mrs. Thurlow McMullin, Secretary. Addresses were made by the Rt. Rev. William T. Nichols, Bishop of California; the Rev. N. B. W. Gallwey, rector of St. Matthew’s; President Benjamin Ide Wheeler, of the University of California, and Mr. Paul Pinckney, thanking the donor in the name of the people of San Mateo.