After the signing of the Armistice the work of repatriating prisoners went steadily on, and each steamer brought men who had spent many weary months in the prison camps, and they all testified to the value of the work done by this Society and declared that it was solely due to this that they were enabled to return to their homes. This department of Red Cross work has been most ably conducted by Mrs. Charles Archibald, nobly assisted by Miss Ritchie and Mrs. Longley.
The beginning of this year was marked by the terrible Halifax explosion, by which 1,635 persons lost their lives and 10,000 people were rendered homeless. Much generous help was received by the stricken city. Everyone knows the splendid aid sent by the American Red Cross, and the people and Government of the United States in despatching to Halifax train loads and boat loads of supplies, together with surgeons and nurses. Their neighborly kindness will never be forgotten.
But the help rendered by our own Canadian Red Cross is perhaps not so widely known. The Chairman of the Executive in Toronto wired to the shipping agent in St. John to render every assistance possible in money and goods. The agent, Mr. Milburne, immediately requisitioned a special train, and brought with him all the Red Cross goods he had ready for shipment Overseas, making two car loads in all. This train was the first assistance from outside the Province to reach Halifax. Hearing that some of the injured had been conveyed to Truro, Mr. Milburne put off cases of hospital necessaries for their use at that station. A medical supply committee of the Canadian Red Cross Society was immediately formed with the sanction of the Halifax Relief Committee, Mr. Milburne being appointed Chairman, and Mrs. Sexton, Vice-Chairman, with a Staff of forty-four voluntary workers. Twice daily all the emergency hospitals were visited and their wants noted and supplied the same day. The number of these hospitals, dressing stations, etc., amounted to sixty-two.
At the same time, gifts of clothing, food and money poured in from Red Cross Branches all over Canada. Ottawa Branch shipped in one day eight carloads of clothing. The Nova Scotia Branch, under its President, Mrs. Dennis, co-operated heartily, practically every Branch and Auxiliary in the Province sending substantial and generous aid.
Special mention must be made of the work of the President of the Windsor Red Cross, Mrs. P. M. Fielding, who organized a special train which arrived the evening of December 6th, bringing doctors and nurses from Kentville, Windsor, Truro and neighboring towns. The Windsor Red Cross alone spent $422.74 on Red Cross supplies and provisions for this trip, Hantsport and other Branches also providing hampers of food, so that the doctors and nurses had their meals en route and arrived in Halifax ready to go to work without an instant’s delay, thereby saving many lives. Mrs. Fielding remained in the city, established and equipped three dormitories, which accommodated in all seventy-five nurses. What this meant to the stricken city will never be computed, and the Red Cross feels that all who helped can never be sufficiently thanked.
It was not until the end of March that the Red Cross was able to resume its work for returned invalided soldiers. By that time the hospital on Pier 2, wrecked by the explosion, had been repaired. The hospital ships once more made their trips, and the Red Cross storeroom on the pier was re-stocked. Large requisitions were filled each month; sometimes only a few hours’ notice was given to get the supplies on board—sometimes only a few minutes’ notice in the case of a hospital train. On one trip the ship docked in the morning, landed her men and went out again with her new supplies in the afternoon. At another time 1,400 shipwrecked men from S.S. City of Vienna were visited and supplied with filled kit bags, containing toilet necessaries, pipes and tobacco. Directly after, the Committee were called upon to minister to 300 influenza contact cases. This necessitated the workers going into quarantine for two days, very busy days, too, the telegrams alone requiring upwards of 300 telephone calls. The Y.M.C.A. and the Knights of Columbus Musical Club were always at hand to cheer up men who were detained by the Medical Board, arranging for their benefit concerts, entertainments, motor drives and teas at private houses.
One thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight cases of goods were sent Overseas, and the distribution of supplies on this side grew very greatly during the year owing to the increasing number of returned men and the opening of new convalescent homes.
The financial statement for the year ended October 31, 1918, shows receipts of $36,848.65. Expenditures amounted to $41,804.01, including the following items:
| Purchase of materials, City and Provincial Hospitals | $12,172 04 |
| Kentville Sanitarium | 1,014 42 |
| Soldiers’ Reception Committee | 9,000 00 |
| Cigarettes | 2,456 51 |
| Soldiers’ Comforts | 2,260 23 |
| Libraries | 319 79 |
| Nurses | 378 10 |
| Furnishings | 2,201 36 |
| Clayton Hospital | 175 00 |
| Rental and Expenses at Headquarters, 314 Barrington St. | 3,858 89 |
| Office Expenses | 1,789 85 |
| X-Ray Machines, Kentville | 2,396 43 |
| Hospital Ships | 823 63 |
No salaries whatever were paid to officers of the Red Cross Society. The only persons connected with the work who received anything for their services were the shipper at Red Cross warehouse at Pier 2, who was responsible for the receiving and sending forward of our boxes, and the Office Secretary who took charge of the correspondence, kept the books, etc. She was assisted by a large corps of voluntary workers.