The morning times., 1896-02-09
Miss Gray Is
A Soldier Nurse
20 o o o

MISS j. "A. Gray is an English woman
with an unusual record as hospital nurse
and four handsome decorations to bear wit
ness to some of her gallant achievements.
AT home, that is, III London, she occupies
the position OF experimenting nurse OF the
Coldstream Guards Hospital, but when the
English government decided to fit up the
steamer Coromandei as floating hosnital.
to cruise along the gold coast and receive
sick soldiers from the regiments fighting
downin Ashantee, Miss Gray was selected to
take full charge Of all the nursing ia acilities.
Her appointment was decided upon not only
because of her especial cleyerness as a SUI
perintending nurse, but owing TO her ex-
ceptional record on various occasions and
dangerous relief expeditions. In 1879,
when the Zulu war broke out she was, in
military form, ordered to the front and
promptly obeyed. There she stayed through
the war, and in 1882 sailed again for
Africa. this time 70 nurse the men through
the contest in Egypt. Four years in all
were spent in this last expedition to Africa,
for at the end She was sent up the Nile in
the Gordon relief boats 20 Wady Halfa, at
the second cataract.
Twelve mOn6Is of this period she lived
under common army tent, and then,
when the plague of the East, cholera, was
pronounced epidemic among the regiments,
she settled down 10 nurse her charges
through it. 1t was only to be expected that
wind of these piucky doings should reach
England, and in the course of her seven
years OF African duty Miss Gray was for
mally presented with four decorations.
These are the Zulu and Egyptian war
medals, the Egyptian Cross and the Royal
Red Cross, pretty much all the honors in the
way of pretty trinkets a skilIful, cour-
ageous hospital narse can expect to gain.
With this extraordinary record to her
credit, Miss Gray, who is q pretty spinsier
on the sunny side of forty, wasn't at all
surprised WHEN her order from the war
office arrived tolreport on board the Cor
omandel with two skillful under-nurses
There she was installed in quarters of her
own, put in absolute control OF the adrni-
rably fitted hospital ward, of the row of
patent padded berths where dclirIous pa
dents are to be placed, and In full au
thority over a competent corps OF trained
male nurses.
After all, this charge Is about the high
eSt sue udS DStii lSNuiiSu W u>ouiiiC, iOi tbN
men who have been fighting the willy
AshaDtis in the interior are more rapidly
stricken down by the seventies of the
climate and hardships they must endure
than by weapons In the hands of the rap
idly captivating African savages, and are
consequently more difficult to coax back
to health and fighting trim. But in the
army hospital ward this able nurse feels
only in her element. She regrets the gov
ernment never sent her Afterwards
at the time OF the first Boer war, and says
that in careful clever nursing women can
do as much to win victories for their
country as if they took part in actual con-
flicts and as many hazards with genuine
endurance and precious bravery can be
shown in following the flag from the nurs-
ing tents, as in shouldering rifle with the
fighting corps.