The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-07-30

How THE DAY GOES IN HoeprrAL.-The
buslnese Of the day begins at I've O'Clock.
At that hour the nurses busy themselves
In cleansing the spittoons, washing the faces
wards, and making everything tidy.-
Meanwhile the dressers are st work.
cleansing and bADdaging the wounds.
causing intense pain BY the necessary
problngs, preesures, plasterings, etc, and
q great deal OF comfort by their generally
cheerful reports, to the patients, OF the i'm
provements perceptible. II they. do not
for II would be very cruel to reveal every
ultimate recovery. By ! O'Clock everv-
thing 10 ready for BREAKFAST. which il Of
three classes: regular, which 10 for the
mass Of the patients, we'll enough to eat
heartily: special, which Is for those whose
Wounds Or health require more delicate
cers)who pay their dollar day for s1bsist-
ence.. Each class Of food is substantial and
excellent, well cooked and neatly served.
The stomach would be very delicate which
would revolt At any Of it. After breakfast
there ~ more sweeping, mopping, bed
changing, ETC., and tive or three times q
week general scrubbing. Atregnlar in
ton Of milk.punch, beef-tea, stimulauts of
various kinds, medicines, ETC., according
to the directions for the day, placed at the
head Of the bed Of each patient. Dinner at|
twelve, supper at six, and the retirement
Iof the day nurses and the extinction Of
lights AZ nine. Then comes the night
watchers aad silence. For hours together,
sometimes, there is the stiffness Of death
when you can hear the tread Of mouse:
and yet, amid this stiffness there is . vast
deal Of pain, quietly and overwhelmingly
borne BY the noble fellows who have sui.
fered in battle. God bless them for their
heroism In the field, and for their eqaal]
heroism on their weary couchesl A grste-
them. Throughout. the night, at fifed
hours, there II the distributions Of medi-
cines and stimulants, the wetting ofthe
bandages, and such other attentions asare |
required for the patients. And 30 wear
away the long. weary hours Of the night.
Although there IL much suffering, ara 90 !
little to make one merry, in these depds Of |
MANNED men, there is nevertheless s.me-l
times something amusing happening It
10 an era for instance when some 8. the |
When this occurs, spontaneous congntu. |
lati0ns from the recumbent crowd follow |
him whenever he makes his appearance. |
with an occasional ssgo it, We cripple ps |
double quick ~ "don't kick mef' DC. |
Ac., causing universal hilarity, and hing |
smile TO the lips OF the worst cases. The |
happy convalescent takes all this in rood |
part, and sometimes replies, "It viii be |
your turn next, my boy" 'be patient, Cap,
wnen you get your cork leg on it vii be |
all right, this is jolly, but Slow two
legs are better than three and Q half on 3 /
retreat" &c., dc, forgetting His loss ID the
joy Of the moment. And then, when some |
one is well enough to ask for q furloush to |
90 homel It is a theme Of conversation
throughout the ward, and the happy fsllow !
hobbies from one cot to another to commu-
nicate the good news. There are great /
many sources of happiness in this world, T
after all.-L Letter. from Washsa9tos. BY Geo. |
DGses0n. IS -1a