| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, regarding Uncle's plans for her to continue massage, which have come to nothing; he called on Baroness Sonnino, who is in charge of the Samaritana, but she is still at her villa near Florence; Uncle then wrote to her; she replied saying that massage was not needed but Amelia would be welcome as a nurse; she is to devote herself to music instead, as well as making dressings at home; Ernesta is an enthusiastic helper; the nephew of one of the employees at Old England should have received massage, for his foot is useless; it is a waste of men and resources; Miss Stewart has returned to the Croce Hospital after the summer to find that Miss Barrett 'an empty society woman who deservedly failed in the nursing exam' was in charge of her old ward and did not want her there; she has ended up in a surgical ward but does not want to stay as 'she likes to be where she can hand things to the doctor'; Aunt and Amelia enjoy the story; story of Mr. Fisher, a missionary to seamen who has been working at Genoa and is on his way to Malta; description of him and conclusion that his wife must have been desperate to marry him; he is now sent to help Sim in Malta, now that Mr. Dunbar has arrived to replace Mr. Laing [in Genoa]; visit of Fisher, along with David Henderson, Mr. Macdonald, an Aberdeen student with an adopted English accent, Mr. Davies and Mr. Rideout, Y.M.C.A. representatives to the Austrian prisoners in Sardinia; she likes the last two; Mr. Fisher, however, is unprepossessing and 'a frequenter of Keswick conventions'; he has done good work amongst seamen but should not have left Scotland; he is constantly getting lost and having to have things arranged for him; he has had endless trouble with his papers and taken up a lot of Uncle's time; he is uneducated and when told something does not take it in; the Continental Committee should send men out properly prepared; he has now written a letter home of 35 sheets. |