The British Interned in SwitzerlandPicot, Henry Philip
History
The British Interned in Switzerland
Picot, Henry Philip
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Swiss
It was at the bazaar of this series held in Berne that the Scottish
dancers carried off the palm of attraction. The long hall set aside for
the buffet had a stage at one end, and long before the afternoon
performance was to take place every tea-table was occupied. This in
itself meant 200 spectators, but by the time the dancing began, every
available inch of room was crammed, tremendous cheering greeting the
Scotsmen. The same thing occurred in the evening, when my wife, who was
in charge of the buffet arrangements, and had fortunately had the doors
closed until eight o'clock so as to allow holders of reserved tables to
reach their seats, was warned that some 400 people were massed outside.
On the doors being opened, the effect was like that of a river breaking
a dam and flooding the entire hall. The success of our Scotsmen was
phenomenal, and their services, always attended with the same results,
were never dispensed with at any bazaar later on.
Another scheme put in motion for the disposal of Allied Interned work
was that afterwards called the "Suisse-Amérique." This consisted in
disposing of some of the work in America, and received its practical
application through Mme. Grouitch, wife of the Serbian Minister to
Switzerland, and American by birth. Mme. Grouitch had just returned from
the United States, and suggested organizing a Pavilion of Allied
Interned "Ps. of W." work at the great war bazaars taking place yearly
in some of the large towns in the States, such as New York, Washington,
St. Louis, Chicago, and Philadelphia. A Committee was at once formed
called the "Suisse-Amérique," under the ægis of Mme. Schulthess, wife of
the President of the Swiss Confederation, as President. Mrs. Stovall,
wife of the American Minister to Switzerland, and Mme. de Sprecher, wife
of the Swiss Chief of Staff. Some 300,000 and more articles were
despatched to the States, Mme. Grouitch graciously volunteering to
return thither to act as delegate of the Committee. If, fortunately for
the Allied cause, America shortly after entered the war, it was not so
fortunate for the scheme in hand, as only one of these bazaars—that in
New York—was held during the winter of 1917, when, no doubt rightly, the
scheme, now that America had entered the struggle, was stopped by the
U.S. Government. At this one bazaar about $600,000 were taken in entry
fees alone, so that it was a blow to hear of the cancelling of the
others. Owing, however, to the splendid energy and spirit of Mme.
Grouitch, who at once took other measures for the disposal of the
consignments, no loss occurred to the venture. To meet the initial
outlay required by the despatch of the Interned work to America, my wife
was asked to organize another "Thé-Tombola" at Berne, and was much
touched by the support and sympathy shown by the Allies and Neutrals,
more especially by Russians who had been hard hit by the revolution in
their country. This "Thé-Tombola" made a clear profit of frs. 8,000.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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