Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1861-06-04

allow you to call down upon your heads and
ours-our children and the world.
Yours truly, B. N. SMITH.
Give us Light and Air.
Our parlors have become simply furniture
warerooms, not ''show rooms" even, for light il
essential to good show Of any sort; they are
mere palaces for the storage of carpets, pictures
and chairs that have cost money, and have nc
doubt money value, but whose Office is sine
cure, as far as making a comfortable home is
concerned. On calling to see a friend, we are
shown into an utterly dark and airless room
After long time she appears, or something ap.
pears, of which we can dimly discover the out
line. If she is very amiable, she remarks, by
way of conversation, "this room is rather dark
and raises one of the various coverings of the
windows about an inch. Thereupon comes in q
light streak of sickly hue, that make the previ
GUS darkness more visible. You have the pleas.
ure of hearing her voice, without the slightest
notion of her color expression or looks generally
After you escape into the cheerful brightness Of
out of doors, she steps back into the room, drops
the shade closely again. and trips up q darkened
stairway into another dark room, there to sew,
read or write, all the time straining her eyes to
the utmost, in her efforts to see in the dark.
Her eyes "trouble her very much" "-she "has
constant pain ia her eyes and head"-she has
been 70 this ocnlist and to that, and has paid
large sums of money, and is 'snothing better"
They all tell her one thing-she must ssrest her
eyes"-"she uses them too much" and so on.-
No part of this is true, az she has never used
her eyes in any good sense, though she has al
ways abused them. About every third person
of her acquaintance is affected in the same way,
and ''Oh, dear, what can the matter be2" Her
grandmother-all their grandmOthers in "point
of fact''-at eighty-two could sew the incest
and most exact seam, and read the finest print
in the evening, with the aid of the usual glasses
She lived all her long life in rooms whose shut
ters were never closed save at night and curtains
of any kind there were none. The sun in their
day did not harm the rich Turkey carpets that
covered the floor, or the portraits by Copley''
hung upon the wall. Her aunt, at seventy -one,
can make as elegant button hole as eyes ever
saw, can embroider muslin and cambria in
beautiful style, and in fine, plain sewing has few
equals. Her mother, at sixty could see to mark
her own name in foil, eighteen letters, with her
own hair, on the finest linen cambric handker-
chief, and at seventy can do almost anything
that can be done with q needle, in the most
workmanlike manner. These three ladies spent
thirty years OF their lives in full view of Boston
harbor, and the use of spyglass was one OF
their almost daily recreations. These are not
exceptional cases. Any one can recall similar
facts among the circle of their friends between
the ages of sixty and eighty years. But our
modern lady is troubled with her eyes," she
has, in fact, no soundness in her. From the
bundle of ailments produced by broken law
Boston Transcript.
Military Surgery.
A practical surgeon communicates the follow
ing sensible hints to army surgeons, soldiers and
sewing circles:
clint is almost good for nothing to stop bleed
ing from sabre or gunshot wound. 1t sticks to
the wound and has to be pulled out almost thread
by thread. Sponge pressed into wound with
some little force is one of the best means to stop
bleeding. Two small sponges furnished to each
soldier would be better than bushel of lint
Manufactured lint is used to spread ointment
upon in dressing stumps after amputation, wounds
of great extent, &c., but cotton flannel is as good,
if not better, and q great deal cheaper. A rag
wet in cold water is the best dressing for gunshot
or sabre wounds. Roller bandages are of scarce
ly any use for the priuate soldier. Hear what
G. J. Guthrie, surgeon to the Duke of Welling-
ton, says of them:
A roller as surgical application, ia useless, if
not injurious At the first and second battles in
Portugal, every wound had roller applied over
it, which soon became stiff, bloody and dirty
They did no good, were cut off with scissors,
and thus rendered useless. When really wanted,
at q later period, they were not forthcoming.
A large ''bundle" handkerchief for each SOL
der is better than any roller. 1t should be large
enough to tie around the largest thigh and leave
plenty of slack. This can be used as a tourni-
quet when wound bleeds fast. Roll up stone
(or some bullets) in the middle of the handker-
chief; tie the handkerchief loosely around the
limb above the wound, so that the stone will lie
upon the artery, which is on the inside of limb,
except at the knee, where it is behind in the ham,
stick the bayonet, sword or ramrod through the
slack of the handkerchief, and twist up till the
blood stops. Hold it so till seen by the surgeon.
slackening little from time to time if the limb
is numb. Rollers provided for hospital use should
be made of strong, coarse cotton, full six yards
long, without seam, and never more than two
and quarter inches wide. A wide bandage has
to be torn in two, and part wasted. "Soft lin
en-" is popular superstition. Again, sticking
plaster is more useful than handages. Common
plaster spread in rolls of FIVE yards is good
enough for ordinary purposes. Every regiment
should have large supply. But machine spread
plaster is not good enough to hold up great am
putation flaps; it gives way if the least wet.
Besides the ambulances for carrying the wound
ed, there should be provided, to 60 with each
company, saoking long CROUCH for man six feet
high to lie comfortably upon, with three rings
on each side, and poles to run through. There
should be iron cross pieces, to keep the sackine
almost tense, made to clip over the ends of the
poles. In this way two men can comfortably
carry wounded comrade to the rear, with his
coat rolled up under his head. To sum mp: Two
sponges and q large handkerchief are all the
dressings soldier needs in his pocket. Do ask
captains not to make the men carry their guns
SO straight when they are tired. The French
soldiers, on their march, are allowed to carry
them any way they like"
HAVE You ENEMIEs ?-Go straight on and
don't mind them. II they get in your way,
walk round them regardless Of their spite. A
man who has no enemies, is seldom good for
is made of that kind of material
which is so easily worked that every one has
hand in it. A sterling character is one who
thinks for himself, and speaks what he thinks;
he is always sure to have enemies. They are as
necessary to him as fresh air; they keep him
alive and active. A celebrated character who
was surrounded by enemies used to remark.
"they are sparks which if you do not blow. will
go out themselves" Let this be YOUR feeling
while endeavoring to live down the scandal of
those who are bitter against you. If you stop
to dispute, you do but as they desire, and open
the way for more abuse. Let the poor fellows
talk; there will be reaction if you perform
but your dutp, and hundreds who were once
from you will flock to you and ac-
knowedge their error.
Tho