The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-08
TWO INTERESTING LETTERS
RECEIYED BY MRS. SARAH T. KIN
 NEY OF THE D. 4. R.

Surgeon and Major G. III. TOrney and
 Nurse Esther V. HUsson Thank the ID.
 A. R. for Tkeir work-NIrs, John Ad-
 dison Porter on Board Hospital ship
 Relief Emergency Chest Sent to Bat-
 tery A, First Connecticut Artillery.
 When word was sent out from Wash ington that battery A, First Connecti- cut Volunteers, was to be part of the troops ordered to Porto Rico, the Daughters of the American Revolution under the direction of the state regent, Mrs, Sarah T. Kinney, prepared for them an emergency chest from which a field hospital could be set up in a short time. This chest was forwarded to the battery by Mrs. Kinney last week. The contents of the chest are as follows: Saltine crackers, tea, sugar, a few cans each of extract of beef, clam bullion, chicken soup, and con- densed milk, two rubber blankets, one rubber bath tub, six sheets, six pillow cases, twelve towels, castillo soap, al- cohol lamp, alcohol and ether small sponges, 200 rolled bandages, abundant cotton, medicated gauge, one ice cap, three hospital shirts, three pajamas, package cheesecloth handkerchiefs, S8 flannel abdominal bands, adhesive and court plaster, three empty bed-t ticks, three pillow-ticks (for grass, leaves or whatever can be found in the field for fillingl two mosquito nettings, one bag containing needles, pins, thread and buttons and three knives and forks, six spoons and four pairs of slippers
 Mrs. Kinney has received two inter- esting letters, one from the surgeon, Major G. H. Torney, in charge of the hospital ship Relief, and another from Miss Esther V. Hasson, who was a nurse on board the same ship. Miss Hasson writes very interesting letter; telling of the work of the nurses in caring for the wounded men which the ship brought from Siboney to New York. Extracts from the letters are as follows:
 New London, July 30, 1898.
 My dear Mrs. Kinney: I am going to ask you to share this letter with other friends, as I am just at present almost overwhelmed with my correspondence. I have scarcely written a letter since leaving New York July g. Even my mother has had to be content with post al cards, and very few of those. We re- ceived no mail while at Siboney and were much too tired to write during our off duty hours, which were few and far between. Your letter reached me while in quarantine off Staten Island, and was the first news of any kind I had received since leaving New York. I meant to have answered it at once, but we began landing patients very soon after and when the last of them had been safely put ashore at the Brooklyn dock, we nurses were in a state of col lapse, and decided to do nothing until we had taken a good long rest. Thurs day afternoon Major Torney gave us all leave of absence until Monday af- ternoon and I at once packed my bag and came home.
 I suppose you are anxious to have an account of our trip. It was most de- cidedly successful in every way. We cared for about two hundred and nine- ty men and brought a hundred and twenty-five north with Us. The trip down was pleasant but uneventful Mrs. John Addison Porter was with us as a passenger, and we found her most pleasant. She left us at Siboney to join Miss Barton, and we did not see her again after that She was so pleas ed to find that there was a, New Ha- ven nurse on board, as she has had a number of nurses from our hospital, and is herself a niece of our secretary Miss Betts. We also carried down with us number of surgeons for the field hospitals also the great Dr. Senn of Chicago, one of the greatest surgeons in the country. He returned with us as we'll and performed several operations in our operating room on board. He seemed much pleased with the ship and especially with the fact that there were women trained nurses on board. When we reached Siboney the water was so rough that it was impossible to bring any patients on board until morning, and even then it was nervous work. The next day we managed to bring over a good many, and then for three or four days they came so thick and fast that we hardly had time to eat and sleep.
 The men of the army hospital corps worked nobly They not only had to work in the wards and in the transpor- tation of patients, but they were kept busy landing stores for the shore hos pitals. Such lot of things we sent! Ice, carbonated water. oranges, lem ons, surgical supplies, blankets, and last of all, several boat loads of-cof- fins.
 We six nurses were in charge of the chief surgical ward of seventy-two beds. At one time all but two beds were in use, but on the. way north we had about flfty-two patients of the 125 on board We had two orderlies to help us by day, and one at night. Of the six nurses one was always in the operating room, one looking after the special diet, and another doing night duty. So we really never had more than three in the ward at any one time. We were kept more than busy, but were repaid by the gratitude of our patients. They were kept clean and comfortable, well fed their wounds properly dressed and all of our spare moments were spent in making them lemonade, etc. Most of them wanted
 o