The sun., 1898-09-12
WOMANS WORK INA CAMP.
HRR sERTTCEs HAVE BEEN OF GREAT
V/EUE At MONTAUE.


Assistance oAppreciated-+WOmen in Camp
wikof Have Worked Hard Under Dis
couraEinE Difaculties-Some Examples.
CANT wmoFf. MoNTAUK PoINT. L. l.. Sept
l1.-women have played an important part In
the organization OF this camp. Now that every
thing is running smoothly It Is apparent how
essential part Of the machinery they form.
Take all the women away from this camp and
the result would be suffering and want. par
ticularly IN the hospitals which arc in great
degree dependent upon them. At lrst-and
this is an uudenlable fact-they were often
a hindrance to work which In order to be
swiftly done-the main deslderatum-must
be roughly done In the makeup OF the
camp as originally planned there was no
place for them; but they soon found
opportunities for usefulness. and wherever
need was most pressin there the women came
forward. The Red Cross Society. m ost OF whose
members hero are women; the Women's Re-
lief Association and kindred organizations.
and some few individual workers. who strive
with patience. tact, and ever-growing under
standing OF the real necessities Of the situa-
ion, have rendered themselves 30 invaluable
Init even Surgeon General SternberR. who is
admittedly unfriendly to outside assistance In
his department, particularly by women.
frankly and openly acknowledged their
value and praised their work here. This
has been no dainty. luxurious. easy method
OF doing good to others without inter-
ferlng with ones own pleasures. 1t must be
remem bered Some few young persons who
have como down here from time to time be-
cause II would be such fun to take care OF the
poor soldiers" have usually gone homo on the
evening train suffering from severe headache.
Fun is no part OF It. Work and work and more
work is the order Of yesterday. to-day. and all
the rest OF the days until there are no moro
sick to be cared for And all this work must be
done under conditions which are not OF the
best. as far as comfort goes. At first the few
women who were here lived in extreme and
very trying simplicity Nobody had any time
in the general confusion to look after them. and
n they succeeded in acquiring one square
meal a day and cot to sleep on
BY night they were expected to sing
the Doxology with heartfelt emphasis. AS the
value OF their help became apparent better ac-
commodations were provided for them, also
more opportunities OF work. though unfortu-
nately the day was not engthened to more than
tWenty-four hours in order that they might
have time to get all the work in. To attempt
an enumeration Of the things they were called
upon to do and did and Of the things which
they were not called upon to do but did just
the same. would be limitless task. Any hour
OF day or night their services were likely to be
required.
For their work begins by God knows when
And their work is never through.
Some Of them have grown pale and thin
under the strain. but still they stick to it. Few
have preserved throughout tho deep-rooted
feminine instinct that dress Is an adornment
rather than necessity. They haven't the time
for careful adornment Half Of them haven't
the clothes. There was hard-worked young
woman in the express office yesterday explain
ing to the hard-worked agent that there must
be trunk there for her which she had sent
for three days previous.
This is the only dress I've got" she said.
II wore it when came down. and haven't
had time even to write for more until this
week. and I'm getting 80 tired Of this one" she
concluded. piteousiy.
She is one of half q dozen who came down
here at the beginning to stay q day or two in
case they might be of aid. and who found so
many opportunities for helpfulness that they
haven't been able to get away since.
Starting with the proposition that all the
women now doing relief work here came with
an honest intention to do good. it is neverthe-
less true that there Is a wrong way and a right
way to do good, just as in everything else. and
q small minority Of the workers have ham,
pered the efforts Of all by adopting the wrong
way. They came down here with an idea
which may be stated as follows:
I'VE have sacrificed ourselves and our inter-
We want done must be done"
On this basis they gave orders to command
ing Generals They demanded this. that, and
the other thing from every body in sight; they
insisted that their business should precede all
else. and II all their plans were not carried out
they filled the air with lamentations and COM
plants. AS said above. these women form n
small minority, but being the most claimant
they attracted the most attention at first. and
dn1 fha arol ttyroa alvy
on this account the more tactful and patient
helpers met neglect, evasiveness. and some
times positive rudeness from those to whom
they appealed for transportation for their sup
plies and for other facilities. Fortunately this
did not last long. and the clamor OF the women
who wanted to run everything to suit them
selves died from neglect. while those who
Just went ahead and did what they could. ac-
cepting uncomplainingly whatever came. soon
found helping hands everywhere. Another
type. Of which there arc fortunately very few
in camp. is the woman who considers her
efforts thrown away unless she gains personal
notoriety thereby With these the newspaper
mon come into frequent contact. although
strange to say. the papers do not print their
names as often as might be desired by
them. notable specimen is q certain
citizeness Of Greater New York who
arrived with great blare OF trumpets. after
securing In advance very comfortable head
quarters. and announced that she was about to
do a great deal Of good on her own hook.
Everybody was willing and glad to believe 1t.
for there was ample room for doing good on
anybody's hook. But this particular contriver
of benefits spent her time mainly in picking
flaws in other persons methods Of work and
complaining that proper facilities for her own
methods were not forthcoming One day.
while out scouting. she caught reporter. took
him to her headquarters. and for half an hour
lectured him severely on the shortcomings OF
the public press in that 1t had not ehroncled
the fact that two days previous she had pre-
sented seven bottles OF matted milk to Ward
I'D OF the hospital, together with other specH-
cations. The reporter who was cut of from
the door. tried to explain that even the most
important news sometimes escaped in a camp