Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-08-19
A HOSPITAL ROMANCE.


In the St. James Hospital the mans
surgical wards are at the top OF the
building. That is where the accidents
are brought in. Any moment Of the day
or night a whistle through The tube may
announce that fresh case is coming up
Possibly it may prove matter OF a
sprained ankle, possibly OF injuries only
Just short OF death. Outsiders imagine
life in the surgical ward To he n cons ant
succession OF shocks to the nerves but
all who enter there leave i rVes hehiho'
or. TO speak more correctly. the nerves are
kent tense, guarded, ready tor an sur
prises and all Demands. sui, nave peAfu
Nurse W iimOl confess 10 strange seh-
katfoD though more Of excitement IMAM
OF dread, when she sees tie form ht the
foremost OF the policemen bearing the
stTetcher appear around th4 5rner 81 the
door. The question must rise unold1tn
What moor soul is this brought here Tor
its appointed measure OF ran: ana
what destiny is this days wotk 10 con
summate? Is il death, or IS It lie weight
ed with some Gripping injury is II
moral salvation or moral ruin; Inc drltt
OF life, Of p4fbaps many lives, may be
determined ttis AouT.
But one can only imagine such renec-
items occupying the mind as tue nurse
watches the new patient carried to bed
under some one else's charge. If he is 10
beunder ner own care there is no margin
LETT for them. all her power must be sum
moned to the front and absorbed in the
duty Of the moment. His hurts have been
attended TO down stairs. dressed and
bound; hut there il muCh for the nurse 10
30 which requires prompt attention aud a
steady hand. She must ~ htther and
thtber, alert, yet composed. 1t it is a
care al fracture special bed must ne pre-
pared. Ii the vital heat - lowered ny the
shock hot bottles must be at once pro,
cured. Then the patient must be made -
clean and comfortable Is his condition
permits and il he is neither insenslble nor
too i'll be must. during the process, be
cAeered and so0tbed by kindly speech.
Nurse Wilmot has told me many stories
OF patients that have come under her
care and one OF them Will set down here
AS nearly as | eau remember 1t as she told
lttOme.
AboutG:30 o'clock one winter afternoon
the welI-kuown sound came up the tube,
and Sister Janet direct that one of my
beds should receive the newcomer. it
was q young man, d strappin GLOW, OF
his face / could SEE little. for il VAS bound
up Tor injuries 10 the head and jaw, and one
OF his arms was broken. | expected to
hear that he had fallen from a scdti0ld or
policeman said they had brought him from
his own home, where they had been told
he had fallen down stairs. Tue story
could nave only one meaning, feared.
The malosity Of the cases come to us
through drink, and the policeman as he
told il made sign which was sufficiently
explanatory, If any explanation were
needed.
There was an old woman mixed up in
it, his mother, and take 1t they'd been
soaking together" said he.
The new patient took no part in these
explanations. Though he mad not uttered
a groan | could see he was in great dis
tress and he could speak only With diff
Guilty.
''lm glad, at any rate" said "that you
appear 10 nave no wife and iami yto he
punched while you're out Of work. You're
better of than a great many that come
here"
He nodded his head and looked at me,
and / saw at once that be had been M is.
iudged-he bad not been drinking. The
look was too dire and intelligent. and Sc
expressive OF manly endurance that my
sympathy went out To him at once. We
have sympathies a. lender as other wo-
men. we nurses, nope. though sometimes
we JOKE ard laugh when other women
would cry.
"You are not drinking mann? |
asked.
H. shook his head.
The doctors Will tell you tomorrow
morning that's in your favor"
HICKS, the stout cabmen in the next bed
overheard the remark.
snow. nurse, come, we amt no need &c
be told that. We amt under no dplusiOr
as TO the Noos IN this ere place, aud If We
was 'ere's Thomson at and to eXpound
'em 10 US at hany hour of the DAY hoi
night
TINS speech was intended as a challenge
10 Thomson. the pale-taceG shoemaker in
The next ned. " 10 accepted ii as such
AMI discussion followed which was
much relished by such OF the nyalids
round is could hear it.
I'm a credit 10 my principles" SAYS
Hicks. expanding his cheeks. "FilteeT
stun il pound, and roses in my cheeks
A pretty complexion yours IS for the blue
ribbng."
II wo4.'t deny you're a good weight, >
chuckied Tnom son, $50 much the heavier
for a fall wneu you've taken drop more
than enough"
Il am ashamed OF a broken leg. It's
harist' cratic complaint" retorts
Hicks, mot like your pleurisies ard such
like that comes OF Twin low"
did not hear any more OF the discus
sion, nor which had the best of 1t in tnt
end. Thomson had the sense on hi,
side. but then Hicks had the lau2h, and n
consequences vas the tavOriJe la the ware
My attention became completely takpI
uD with my patient, who mad suuk into 4
very low STATE now that he was quietly II
bed. had done all | could DO for hin
AID was occupied IN another part OF thu
ward. when saw Ss'er Janet bringing
woman up to his beds de. wa4 sorry 1,
see be had sgcn belongings, for be seemed
10 be a respectable. decent yUuug fellow
This woman was ine most disreputab.e
loOklE object you can imagine. Her bat
tered bonnet Kept slipping back of he
bead. In ~pttcO Of ner aiElEss clutches, anl
her ragged shawl was OF "a dIrtiness un
speakable. Anderson, my patient. wa
80 III that when Sister Janet moved awa'
came forward to keep an eye on things
He sat propped w with pillows on ac
count Of TIE Injury TO his jaw, and h,
could not reply TO bis mothers remarks
except by feeble signs. But this did no
seem 70 matter much. She was very vol
uble, and addressed herself to me and tC
Hicks IN the neighbOrlng bed. She sale
all in "A breath what a pity II was when
fine young man like her son, and the only
support OF his widowed mother, took t,
drink, and how she'd begged
aud PRAYED OF him to leav,
Oft, as sure she wac that no goot
would come N it, and now her words haC
come true for he had fal.en down thi