The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-04-01

We had not a single straw mattress, ne
basins, no nurses, in fact, there wa:
nothing! When, however. nurses were
obtained they were always men, whose
services were secured by fear of pun
ishment, and who did not dis(ain tt
practise extortion on the sick and tt
rob the dying as well as the dead
"ln Spain" says General Foy, "tht
wounded were often abandoned fol
want of means Of transports; conqueror>
or conquered. We have lost foul
times more men through the disorder
inscparable from our system of war
than hy the fire and sword Of the
enemy
1t was much the same at Waterloo
and sat every period, and amongst nj
nations from Cyrus down to Napoleon
Ill" Miss Nightingale says, that
from the 9Th of May to the 18th o
July, 1888, nincty-siN per cent. of the
deaths from sickness in the English
Army in the Crimca. might certainly
have been prevented, and it is well
known that the hospitals and barracks
reforms introduced 10y this most excel
lent lady reduced the losses by one-half
The care of the wounded on the field
must always most largely devolve upon
men. The care Of the sick and wounded
in hospital should be chiefly the work
of women. The presence of the latter
has a soothing, salutary, and great
moral influence over men. besides
which, under proper training, women
always prove the better nurses. As
has been we'll remarked:
"MurderOuS rriinementS of war
should have ccrrelativc retnemcnts oi
mercy. or as Achard says: 1T is in
cumbcnt upon us to raise the science
which consoles and heals to 4 level with
the science that destroys" The need
of this was the origin of the Geneva
Convention. and of the numerous vol
untccr societies for the mitigation of
human suffering in war which have
since arisen throughout Europe. The
value of those auxiliary anls is not to
be questioned, especially when the vol
untccr> can he relied upon. We feel
however, that it would not bc wise for
the State in future to depend solely
upon these, but that it would he better
to organize during peace sufficient
body of women. trained and prepared
for any sudden outbreak of war. These
should he rated to the Army and Navy
in tie same way rs men, having their
regular pay and allowances, ofiicered,
and subject to promotions and pen
siOns, and to all those advantages
which promote efficiency in men. \
noble field for women's usefulness
would be here opened out, and exp, RI
encc has shown that in this particular
women are superior 10 men.
What would have been the state ofthe
British Army in the Crimea but for
Florence Nig ghtingalc, or what that of
the Northern and Confederate Armies
in the American Civil War ii women
had not run and organized their own
relief corps, and provided for the sick
and wounded when the efforts of the
governments had failed! In
the battle of Antietam. where more
than ten thousand Fcdcrals were
the supplies of the medical
authorities were not tenth of what
was needed. In the battle of Freder-
l3C young men with the as
sistancc OF ladies found $40 900
wounded men in every conceivable
phase of agony" DR.. Stille tells us
how they worked night and day, many
of both sexes dying from over-exer-
ton. The sanitary commission sue
cored twenty-five thousand wounded at
Getty ysburg alone. The train of carri-
ages for the wounded after the battle
of the Wilderness stretched for ten
miles, along which feeding stations
were established for the sufferers.
There should he no stint of numbers
in the formation OF Il corps Of nurses.
seeing how many are needed in war.
and what abundance OF splendid mater
ial can be drawn upon. Their services
can he utilized during peace in many
ways, and during war they could also
act rs almoners. 1t would he very de
sirahle that they should serve on relief
ships in the navy, and with the militia
an volunteers on special occasions and
whenever required. In the American
Civil War. two vessels. transformed
into Heating hospitals, were placed un-
der the direction of American ladies'
who fulfilled the duty of nurses with
DEVOTION, Drawing danger
Tor the sake OF the mrE who were con-
tided To their care. and amongst whom
were several hundreds pros,ratcd hv
typhuS.
The mere presence OF sympathetic
and modest women amongst large
bodies of men has the most salutarv
effect upon the moral conduct of the
latter, and must always exercise an en-
and purifying influence
Time has produced great commanders