The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-28 00:00:00

CANADA.


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easter principle) ; ten bomb•vessels, to be armed with from
two to three mortars of the most powerful description ;
and twenty gun-boats, drawing about four feet of water,
the latter being specially intended for service in the River
Nova.

WAR SPECULATION ON THE BOURSE.
WHILE all France is on the tenter-hooks awaiting the arri-
val of the courier (not a Tatar) who is to bring the tidings
of the fall of Sebastopol, the 300 or 400 persons who be-
tween one and three o'clock gather in the vestibule of the
Bourse receive with equal eagerness every report, every
story, whether favourable or unfavourable, and are equally
prepared to make money by a victory or realise a fortune
by a defeat. Bourse speculators form a race apart. Other
men glory in the triumphs of the allies, or mourn over UN
defeats of the Russians, according as they are swayed by
political feeling; but for the bonnier there are neither allies
nor Russians, there is only a rise or a fall, and the only
question which interests him is that of anticipating a suc-
cessful or an unfortunate issue in order to derive advantage
from either. A story is told of one nervous speculator,
whose existence since what may be called the first taking of
Sebastopol has been one of uninterrupted torture. He had
speculated on a fall, and puzzled, in common with the
public at large, by the extraordinary ani oftentimes unin-
telligible accounts brought by the telegraph, made a bold
effort to arrive at the truth amid the doubt and darkness
which encompassed it. With that object he went to con-
sult one of those clairvoyanles who, for the small fee of a
franc per consultation, will disclose all that passes at the
moment they speak, from the North Pole to the Antartio,
or from Hindostan to the back woods of America. The
stockjobber timidly put his questions to the sleeping
sorceress—" What are the allied armies doing at this mo-
ment" (the 20th inst.). " They are encamped near Sebas-
topol." " What have they done ?" " They have burnt the
Russian fleet—not a vessel saved ; they have bombarded
Sebastopol, which has surrendered; killed hundreds, and
beaten the Russians in all directions." " Are the allies
in Sebastopol ?" " No." " Why not ?" " Because Fort
Constantine and Fort St. Nicholas are still standing, and
their fire prevents them from occupying the city, which is
in ruins." " Has Prince Mensehikoff come up to the
&Meer " Yes, but be has been again beaten, and his army
cut to pieces. I see, I see him followed by a few horse-
men flying towards Perekop !" " Then the Russians are
beaten, and the Crimea is lost" " Yes!" "No hope of
their rallying?" " None whatever." " Then I am lost
(the French expression employed is more emphatic), and
I shall be executed' next settling day !" was the wild
exclamation of the boursier, as he snatched up his hat and
rushed ftom the apartment. Since then he has been the
most miserable man in Paris; as he firmly believes in the
truth of the clairvoyanle. If the prediction be verified the
credit of clairvoyance is established for the future.
NURSES FOR THE WOUNDED,
__

The Secretary at War has written the following
letter to a gentleman residing in one of the midland
counties, who had transmitted to the War-office
various offers from ladies who were willing to
proceed to the East as nurses and attendants on the
wounded:—
_ _

War-office, Oct. 21,1854.
Dear Sir,-1 beg to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter, stating that you have received several communications
from ladies offering their services to go out in the capacity
of nurses, or for the purpose of offering spiritual in inistra-
tion, in the British General Hospital at. Scutari, and asking
what course to take regarding them.
The Government have felt that it would be impossible
to throw open a military hospital—or, indeed, any hospital
—to the indiscriminate nursing of any persons whose
benevolence or wish for employment might induce them
to offer themselves, without evidence of their experience
or fitness to perform the arduous duties they undertake.
The duties of a hospital nurse, if they are to be properly
performed, require great skill as well as strength
and courage, especially where the cases are surgical cases,
and the majority of them are from gunshot wounds.
Persons who have no experience or skill in such matters
would be of no use whatever; anti in moments of great
pressure, such as must of necessity at intervals occur in a
military hospital, any person who is not of use is an impe-
diment.
Many ladies whose generous enthusiasm prompts them
to offer their services as nurses are little aware of the hard-
ships they would have to encounter and the horrors they
would have to witness, which would try the firmest nerves.
Were all accepted who offer, I fear we should have not only
many inefficient nurses, but many hysterical patients,
themselves requiring treatment, instead of assisting others.
Nor, even if capable in other respects, would they always
be ready to yield that implicit obedience to orders so
necessary to the subordination of a military hospital.
In self-defence, the surgeons before long might find
themselves compelled to exclude all the female nurses,
good and bad, with a view to rid themselves of the trouble-
some and inefficient.
The Government have come to the conclusion that the
best mode of obviating these dangers and inconveniences
would be to appoint some one person, on whose energy, ex-
perience, and discretion they can rely, who should be the
one authority to select, to superintend and direct, in the
British general hospitals in Turkey, a staff of female nurses,
herself acting under the immediate orders of the medical
authorities.
Miss Nightingale, who has, I believe, greater practical
experience of hospital administration and treatment than
any other lady in this country, has, with a self-devotion
for which I have no words to express my gratitude, under-
taken this noble but arduous work.
She will act in the strictest subordination to the chief