Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1863-01-29
Philadelphia Hospitals : Sick and
Wounded VermOnterS-Grum
lerD-HOpe.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. %, 1863.

W0Um060
lers-HOpe.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. %, 1863.
DEAR HERALD: Having leisure, l set by
to sketch word for the Herald. From city
like this, much might be said; but, in this
talking age, it is virtue to be silent, unless
one has something worth telling. In our sol
diers in the army, as in the hospital, we all
feel a lively interest, so of them and the war l
write
have been to all the principal hospitals
here, and found some of our Vermont boys in
most of them. They are generally well cared
for. There are some Vermonters resident here
who make it their business to look after them,
and carry them little comforts most of all,
the comfort of sympathizing hearts. Several
have been removed to the government hospital
just opened out at Chestnut Hill - ten miles
from the city - much to their dissatisfaction ;,
for there they are not only so far away that
few can visit them, but they are put under the
strict discipline of the war regulations and red
tape. 1t is vast building, capable of accom-
modating $500. A corridor some II feet
wide runs round an area of two or three acres,
from which radates back, as from a common
centre, sixty-one wards, with wide open spaces
between, and the whole enclosed in high
picket prison-like fence. The whole is con-
structed of light material, trough boards, and
white-washed without and within. The wards
are plastered on the outside. Across the CEN
tire area runs row of buildings for cooking,
washing, &C., and rooms for officers. The
boys call it their prison, both for the confne-
ment and the stringent regulations. They do
not complain of their supplies, but of the lack
of the little comforts furnished by the kind la
dies of the city, who have taken lively in
terest in their wefare-perhaps as much as
anything, for the lack of the presence of the
ladies themselves for as one said to me, and
the tears came to his eyes when he said it,
" They make me think so much of my mother
and my home"
The slow regularity of government manage
ment in the matter of discharges is most rep
rehensible. For example, l met Vermonter,
one of the Sd regiment, who had all the fingers
on his right hand shot off in skirmsh two
months ago. He can never be of service in
the army. He is able and anxious to go home.
But as the surgeon said, he must wait till the
whole routine of red tape is passed through,
or, as he expressed it, "till it is ground out"
There are innumerable cases of this kind
might be saved to the government by discharg-
ing the incurable who wish to leave, and Civ
ing flrloughs to the convalescents. Perhaps
those in control would not make as much out
of such arrangement
There is another cause of complaint Many
of the little innocent niceties designed for the
suffering soldiers never reach them. A rule of
the hospital is that nothing can be given to the
soldiers except through the Ward Master. L
saw baskets Of these comforts left with the
attendants, once while waiting to get an an
swer from the chief officer as to a certain per-
son, and one of them robbed of all its con-
tents, distributing amongst them the apples,
tarts, &c. The soldiers complain that they
get comparatively nothing that is sent them.
Many of them are as hearty as ever except
their wounds.
There is a deal of grumbling in the city
about the war; and strong attempt to create
disputes, factions, and hostility to the present
administration. No stone is left unturned to
ALLEVIATE the masses. An ex-mayor said in my
hearing yesterday, 'Tnank God, Lincoln has
got his last man and his last dollar" Why is
it this discomfort is becoming so general? Be-
cause we are fast people. We think fast
and talk fast, and because everything is not
done as fast as we think we grumble the rest
of the time. Some think the whole should be
ended, the South all connected, rebels and alb
otionists all slain and the niggers hard at
work, in three weeks, one day, and seventeen
minutes-and would be if they had their sag
about it Pity SOME of these fast folks hadn't
been couusellors to Moses. Was a nation ever
redeemed in two years from an evil protected
in its midst for two centuries, and one half in
favor of it still /! Was ever patient cured of
a cancer in a day Let us be patient and
hope to the end All is looking well. Has
the government gone backwards ? Has the
North lost a foot of soil? Have they not
gained States? Many lives have been lost
that is sad, the sad result Of war; and devils
are not damned but they see their day is
coming, and begin to bite their chains
The future never looked more hopeful than
| now. But one thing is wanting to make the
triumph complete and speedy. That has been
wanting all along. Make our money-makers
and politicians feel the weight of war. They
| never have yet, but go on luxurating in their
| wealth and ambitious schemes, as if the voice
of God was not unto them. The very fact
| that they begin to wrthe and wriggle is a
| proof that the devil is about to come out of
| them. When they are in their right mind the
end will be speedily and .joyously ushered in.
w. S. b.