[To TIM EDITOR or Tat " SPDCTITOR."1
Sre,—I am sure that all who have any knowledge of the V.A.D.'s must be grateful to you for taking up the question of their treat- ment. I have been mewing until recently in France, and Matrons and Sisters there have said to me, in reply to questions about the
"We don't know what we should do without them." I was a patient in a Casualty Clearing Station, and asked the Sister whether girls of the V.A.D. would not be of use to her. She replied: "I wish we cohld have them, but the authorities will not allow them to come up." The " authority " she named was neither military nor V.A.D. In France many of these girls are employed in real nursing, and take keen interest in it. Others do nothing but 'housemaid work. In England I find a V.A.D. girl, with over two years' experience in France, put to cleaning paint, seeing that the castors of the beds all point in the RUDA direction, washing plates, Lw. An untrained girl clerk earns 35s. a week without diffioulty. A well-educated girl in the V.A.D. with two or three years' experience in war hospitals may receive ,220 per annum. Can we wonder that they are declining to renew their engagements, and are seeking to enter other Ser- vices where their powers and teal are better appreciated?-1 aim
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