The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-04

peasants themselves relied upon her
skill to cure their cuts and bruises.
Her father was a scholarly man. and
his extensive library contained many
works on medicine. This kind of litera-
ture absorbed all of the attention of
the young lady at this time, and the
vicar of the place, who, ir. his youth,
had studied physics, was called upon
almost daily to draw upon his medical
knowledge
When she was Is Miss Night
ingale was taken to London by her
parents for the customary presenta-
ton at court. There she met Elizabeth
Fry. the reformer, who had done so
much for lettering the condition of
English prisons, and her talks with
this intelligent woman led her to take
great interest in the hospitals and
charitable institutions of the city.
The following year she was taken to
the continent to make the regular .our,
but instead of devoting her time to the
doings of society, she took advantage
of her visits to the different cities
to examine the various hospital sys
TENS and compare them with the En-
glish institutions.
This interested her so much that she
spent nearly all of the next nine years
of her life visiting the continental cit
les and studying their nursing sister
hoods. In 1851 she enrolled herself as
voluntary nurse in the Training
Home at Kaiserworth, Germany. Later
she studied in a Paris hospital, and
then her health broke down, necessi-
tating a return to Lea Hurst.
HER FIRST CHARGE.
On recovering her strength she be-
came interested in London institution
for sick and aged governesses, which
of proper management. She placed her
self at the head of it and devoted all
of her time to reorganizing its troubled
affairs. She trained force OF nurses,
than anything else, attended to the pre-
scriDtions and the finances, and in a
short time succeeded in putting new life
into it. The fact that it exists today
and is conducted on the same lines laid
out by Miss Nightingale is sufficient tes-
timony as to her capable management
1t was while resting from these labors
that the Crimean war broke out, and
reports soon reached England of the
men who were literally dying by regi-
ments for lack of proper medical atten-
ton. Popular indignation rose to fever
heat over what was recognized as GRIM
inal careleSSnesS on the part of the gov
eminent in not preparing for the emer-
gency, and at this stage of affairs the
war department determined to ignore all
precedent and solicit the aid of women
as nurses on the battlefield
Prior to this the fame of Miss Nightin-
gale had spread and it was decided that
she was the one woman who could sue
cessfully carry out such plan. A let
ter was dispatched to her and at the
same time Miss Nightingale wrote to the
war department officials offering her
services. The letters crossed each other
in the mails and as a result the matter
was speedily arranged. Miss Nightingale
promised to leave for the Levant in eight
days.
OFF TO CRIMEA.
Miss Nightingale had everything in
readiness for the departure at the ap-
pointed time-October q, 1854. With her
went 3S nurses, and on November 5 the
party reached Constantinople and imme-
diately took up their quarters at the
great barrack hospital at Scutari. The
work OF Miss Nightingale there is known
almost TO everyone. Sanitary arrange
mentS there were none The suffering
soldiers were at the mercy of hideous
vernin. the rats attacking the limbs of