State: New South Wales, Australia
Issued on: Departure
Date of presentation: 16/01/1900
Number issued: 1
Gold medal, suitably inscribed, to:
THE NURSES ENTERTAINED.
SEND-OFF TO THE NURSES.
Last night fully 400 persons assembled at the Elite Hall, Queen Victoria Markets, at the invitation of Mr and Mrs Quong Tart, to bid farewell to the nurses of the Army Medical Nursing Reserve, who have been accepted for service in South Africa. The ladies in question were all present, and their scarlet uniform capes lent a bright gleam of colour to the assemblage. The Mayor of Sydney, Sir Matthew Harris, presided, and with him was Lady Harris. Among the other guests present were the Archbishop of Sydney, the Ven. Archdeacon Langley, the Revs. Dr Moulton, J. E. Carruthers, and J. Fox, Colonel Bell, Mr Perry (Minister for Public Instruction), Mr O'Sullivan (Minister for Works), Messrs J.J. Cohen, Hawthorne, Hogue, Jessep, and A. Chapman, Ms.L.A., Rabbi Davis, Rabbi Landau, Mrs and Miss Lyne, Dr Manning, Dr Armstrong, Dr Goode, Mr W.M. Fehon (Railway Commissioner), Mr Bridges (Chief Inspector of Schools), Mr W.M. McIntyre (Deputy Chief Inspector of Schools), Mr W.F. Bundock, and others.
The toasts of "The Queen" and "The Governor" were duly honoured, and the Rev. Dr Moulton then proposed "The Ministry and Parliament", eulogising both for the attitude they had taken in regard to the dispatch of troops to aid the mother country in her struggle in South Africa.
Mr E.W. O'Sullivan, who was received with cheers, remarked that the Ministry, with the assistance of Parliament, had only done its duty in the matter of the dispatch of the contingent. He was afraid that at present we only saw the beginning of a great struggle, which had only had its commencement in South Africa, and it, therefore, behoved the citizens of the Empire to close up their ranks, prepared to face the world. (Cheers). It was more than creditable that New South Wales, with a population of only 1,350,000, had sent more soldiers to the seat of war than all the other colonies put together, and even more than the great Dominion of Canada, with her 7,000,000 of people. (Applause). Some persons maintained that we had no right to join in the war with the Boers; but it must be remembered that South Africa was practically the first line of Australasian defence, and that, should Britain lose the Cape, India would quickly follow, and these colonies would be practically at the mercy of any power which thought fit to attack them. The ladies present, who were going to the war to perform the estimable work of tending the wounded, were every whit as loyal and noble as the soldiers, and would prove to Australians what Florence Nightingale had to Great Britain, and what another lady had to America during the great Civil War. (Loud Applause).
Rabbi Davis proposed "Our Guests: Miss Gould and Her Staff". He eulogised the ladies for their noble spirit in volunteering for the front, and maintained that the war was a just one, while the dispatch of the colonial contingents was an object lesson to the world. He trusted that at no distant date all those present would be again invited by Mr and Mrs Quong Tart to assemble in that hall to welcome the nurses back again. (Cheers).
Dr Goode briefly responded on behalf of the nurses.
The Archbishop proposed, "Our Brothers and Sisters at the War and on the Way Thither", and Mr Hawthorne, M.L.A., responded. Mr Fehon proposed the toast of "Our Host and Hostess", and in the course of his reply, Mr Quong Tart paid a tribute to Miss Gould, whom, he was proud to say, he had known for many years. Mr J.J. Cohen, M.L.A., gave "The Ladies", and Mr A. Chapman and Colonel Bell replied.
Colonel Bell remarked, in the course of his observations, that he hoped the time was coming when people would be too grand and too intellectual to fight for anything. (Laughter and applause). But he supposed there must be war till the time came when all men recognised that there were such things as human rights, such a thing as liberty, and that there was no place in this world of ours for non-progression. His country was neutral in this matter, but as an individual, an Anglo-Saxon, and a lover of liberty, he sympathised with a movement which he considered to be making for progression. (Applause). The time had come when it was necessary to war for the sake of peace. They believed in peace so thoroughly that they were going to have it, even if they had to fight for it. Sometimes this was the best road to peace, and the more horrible war was today the greater was the promise of peace for the future. (Applause).
A vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding, and the singing of "Auld Lang Syne", terminated the proceedings.
Mr Quong Tart has presented the departing nurses with a case of choice tea, and last night Mesdames Moor and Lancaster, on behalf of the residents of Darlinghurst, presented Miss Marion MARTIN, of Clarmont House, who is proceeding to South Africa as one of the nurses, with an address and a gold medal suitably inscribed.
Apologies for non-attendance at last night's gathering were received from, among others, Sir Frederick and Lady Darley, Mr Lyne, and Cardinal Moran.