The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-12


great benefit to me. OF cour l had a
great deal Of leisure time on my hands, and
l employed il in reading and ais IN the So
ciety Of those about me. 1t does not take
long to got acquainted with 1neS ueighbOrs
in place like that, and IN the course OF a
week | had all the gossip of the ward at
my tongues end. l knew tn name at each
patient and the nature Of his mishap, knew
that this man was liable to lose his leg and
that another had but few da, 5 to live 1t
Is only by taking an interest in ones fellow
sufferers that hospital life can Oe made en-
durable. / would have perlshed t loneli
ness in private room, and was told by
the superintendent that no one who had
ever been In a ward could be induced to
take private room. "X GU see, he said to
me, you get well all the quicSe- when
you've got something TO tEink of besides
your own trouble. If you are ma room b.
yourself you get to brooJiug over your
misfortune and The progress OF recovery Is
greatly retarded
There were not many members of the
-Four Hundred in our ward; III fact, they
were chiefly mechanics or labOrers of some
sort; but they were al good natured aud
kindly, and, as a general tang, oo-e their
sutferngs without complaint. l Judged
from my own observation that the Italians
made the most fuss and the negroes the
least There were plenty ot Irlshmen there,
of course, and | remember them as the III st
sociable and cheerful of patients Oae of
these, who was the life of the party, had
been, they told me, at deaths door three
weeks before and SJlll carried in mis- bTe st
| bullet which had been lOIged there by his
| brother in tie course OF al argument on
| religious matters. One man, Wuom / re-
member very well, occupied th5 bed direct
| ly opposite mine ald spent most of his time
| reading the Bible, copy of which is placed
m f,alAl Ac had hAa a
| hanson cab-drver, ticket speculator and
a policeman, a I'd had followed other call
| lngs not conducive to advanced religious
| thought, | supposed that he read the Bible
because he had nothing else to read, SO |
called for him one day and offered him some
novels that had been sent me.
Much obliged to you,n he replied, "but
I've got hold of better book han that
| I've often heard of the Bible before, but
never read it till now, and tell you that
| some of these stories are blamed interest
ing"
Another patient of religious turn of
mind constituted himself tae cloir master Of
tue ward, and used t. appear every Sun
day morning with a little stack OF hymn
b oks whicn he dealt out TO the patients.
Then he would give out the number Of a
hymn and lead the singing IN a clear, tenor
voice, the rest Of us Joining IN with more
fervor than harmony. | was given to un-
ders and that we sang louder uhau any other
ward in the hospital.
here was a young German not more
than 20 years of age, who interested me a
good deal, though l never spoke to him. He
was suffering fro assesses on the side,
brought on by overwork at a sewing ma
chine. He was very pale and weak and
failed visiblv from day to day. ] used 10
lie In bed and wolder now much longer he
would live, for he was worn to a mere
shadow and was so feeble that he could eat
nothing but soup, which he took through a
glass tube. One Sunday morning, "hile
the surgeons were making their rOlnd, |
heard this young fellow, whose bed was
near mine, breathing very heavily, and on
looking al him saw that a change was com
| ing over his face. One of the nurses stepped
over to him and then summoned the house
surgeon. In another moment a screen had
been placed about his bel, and
| low voices of the doctor aud
nurse who stood beside him, and
the heavy breathing which had become BY
this time more like a hoarse rattle tha p any
thing else i he whole ward was as still as
death. Suddenly the breathing ceased aud
a moment later | saw the nurse take down
the card which hung over his bed Then
we knew that he was dead. Almost i'm ne
| dIately the bod II was placed on strctc er
and carried away by a orderly. Then the
bed was remade, all traces of the dead boy re-
moved. and before night another wounded
man was brought in and laid there
1t was surprise to me TO find SO many
educated and refined women acting as
nurses. | asked the night nurse, the same one
| who bent over me on the night Of my ar
rival, how she came to adopt such a callin Z
"Because like it" she replied. Il would
much rather do this than teach school or
run a typewriter. Besides, | can make
more money in this way than in any other
aud the work is very fasci iating. l get in
teres ed in every case in the ward, and al
| though the hours are very long, from six TO
six, L am so busy tnat time flies very rapid
| ly. After | have completed the course in
! the training school, | shall be able to earn
| from $25 to $50 week NTH my board by
| going out as a traine1 nurse to take care of
| patients in private families
There Is another advantage which nurses
| enjoy, but which my informant did not men
tion. That is, their calling gives them ex-
| ceptlonal opportunities for making an i'm
pression on wealthy and susceptible pa
| tients, and also on the ehandsome a d agree
| able young doctors on the house staff.
| l have known several cases in which
pretty and well-bred nurses contracted ad-
vantageous matches with men whom they
had nursed through Illness. At SUCH time,
as | know by experience, soft voice and a
! gentle hand will accomplish wonders with
a susceptible patient. j. L. FORD.