Among the ameliorative
institutions of this country none has a finer record than these
schools, where ever since 1897 the work of converting helplessness
into helpfulness has been going bravely on. Entering as complete
dependents, the inmates leave fully equipped to earn their living
unassisted, the boys chiefly as carpenters, and the girls as
needlewomen. In some cases the cures effected have been remarkable. In
the late War seven-and-twenty Guild boys fought in the ranks, four of
whom were killed and are now proudly commemorated on the wall of the
School church.
This contribution of fighting men, together with a certain activity in
munition-making, is not, however, Chailey's only share in the War, for
the Government are using its experience for the education of cripples
of a larger growth. The boys have, in short, surrendered their
comfortable old quarters--now transferred to a War Hospital, named,
after the Heritage's chief patron, the Princess Louise Special
Military Surgical Hospital--to companies of maimed soldiers, who are
sent to Chailey to learn how much of usefulness and fun can still
remain when limbs are missing; and, by a charming inspiration, their
teachers in this great lesson are the boys themselves.
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