Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1864-03-11
NIrs. Wittenmyer's Report.

Mrs. Wittenmyer's Report.
As we said day or two ago, we have re-
ceived the "Annual Report Of Mrs. Annie
Nittenmyer. State Sanitary Agent, to VIM.
N. Stone, Governor ef Iowa, and the Tenth
General Assembly" It is q we'll written
document. Whether viewed with regard to
the clearness Of its style, its condemnation. its
arguments, its suggestions, its elevated tone,
its devoted spirit Of patriotism, it Is paper
which would be creditable to any man or any
woman. We have plenty Of men in Congress,
not to mention few in our own Legislature,
who could not write so good paper, were it
to save their souls. 1t ia . document which
does honor to Mrs Wittenmyer's head, and
four fold honor to her heart.
Speaking Of our own Legislature reminds
us, by the by, Of Mr.. Russell, of Washington
speaking Of it in this connexion, that is to
say. What we particularly admire about that
gentleman is bis human beauty. What we
particularly don't admire about him, rs
sombody said about nobody, is-'evsrything
else" We ought, perhaps, to have = saving
clause in favor Of his modesty, and another
in favor ofhis gentesl breeding. At any rate,
Don Quixote himself never charged upon .
flock of sheep or wind mill with half so
much gusto as Mr.. Russell takes his tits
against Mrs. Wittenmyer. The cream Of the
joke, however, is that whereas the good Don
was little cracked, the representative from
Washington is simply i'll bred. He seems to
have no more idea of courtesy than pig.
His attack upon Mrs. Wittenmyer the other
day was the best specimen Of unmixed
boorishness We have ever happened to come
across 1t would have been regarded as
simply disgraceful on the part Of any one but
Russell; in him. it seemed quite natural.
The report before US ought to put per-
feet quietus upon the opposition to Mrs. Wit
tenmyer-opposition, by the way, which or
iginated in heartless political scheme, and
has ever since been carried on by its orisina-
tors with the heartlessness characterised of
political schemers. By which we do cot
mean to say that all who oppose Mrs. W. are
political schemers. We refer only to the
heart-diseased, MISUNDERSTANDING an.
ti-Wittenmyer set.
Mrs. Wittenmyer has labored zealously
and efficiently for Iowa soldiers during a peri
cd of nearly three years. She has braved
the dangers Of the field, endured the hard
ships of camp life, been conversant with the
terrors ofhospitals. She has carried luxuries
and medicines to the wounded and sick
wherever they were to befound. During the
past year she has done business amounting
to over $115, 900, has received and distributed
in the army or to the proper depots nearly
5000 packages, has inaugurated certain val
liable reforms in the care and dieting of our
sick and wounded. For all of her services,
from their commencement more than thirty
months ago up to this hour, she has not re-
ceived from the State quite sixteen hundred
dollars. We do not believe there ever was so
much business done for the State for double
the money. As Chase says Of old Ben. But.
Ter, that he is the cheapest general in the
SERVICE" so we say of Mrs. Wittenmyer, she
is the cheapest sanitary agent in the service !;
and if there be better one we should like
to know who it is,
We shall take occasion to recur to this Re-
port again. Meantime, we trust it will be
read by all our people.