The times., 1898-04-24

TouSh- oVer-crowded hospitals and from
the wretehed accommodations of Z
| camp.
| An Army nurse must be something
| above the average woman in health anC
| nerves and courage She must know
| how TO meet emergencies, to submit tG
| military discipline to bear cruel hard.
| ships with perfect fOrtitude to be. in
short, a genuine ministering angel with
a stout arm and quick wits.
Recognizing the pressing necessity for
| just such a feminine element in the
Army, and for women who by special
| training would be fit to cope with the
eXiSencies of military campaigns, the
English government some fifteen years
| ago established a school in which to edu-
cate only those nurses required by the
army.
Netley Hospital. founded by the queen
soon after Florence Nightingales mag
| nificent work in the Crimea, was chosen
| as the school for these women. To Net
ley are sent the soldiers invalided home
from any part of the world where Eng
lish troops are fighting, and in caring
for these patients the women are
taught the treatment or wounds and
such special ailments as soldiers. by rea-
son of their mode of living and exposure
are most subject to. AT Netley. because
of the difficult labors for which they
with scrupulous care. They are required
to work in the hospital, first as proba-
TONERS and then as registered nurses.
from hve to six years, and the govern
ment gives no diplomas until the sever
est examinations have been passed.
once graduated from NetIey school a
woman becomes part of the British
army, subject to the commands of her
government and pledged to bow to the
nIIIf I'll;
my nurses are held. At any day or any
hour. on moments warning she must
be ready to embark for any part of the
world where her services are needed.
To the sandy shores of the Nile the
1ungles OF South Africa, or to the from
tiers of India
Like soldier she wears a uniform
ana traVeis with the least possible lug
gage. In the hospital a print gown a
white apron and a muslin cap. from
which in the rear falls a short white
veil, forms the costume and over this
for outdoor wear. a long dark cloak and
small black bonnet transform her into n
very sober business-like individual. Her
voyages to distant lands are USUALLY
made in hospital ships. and. contrary TO
the notion of the average woman she
plays no part on the field of battle.
Her business is to serve in the hospitals
near the scene of combat to which the
wounded are sent, or to enter a eamp
where disease is wasting the soldiers
pitch tent hospital and take the patients
under active treatment and care. She IS
in no sense a doctor but a nurse. never
surgeon but surgeons assistant. and
the women who in Egypt and India nurs-
ed Lord Roberts and Lord yVolseIey's g
sick and wounded men wore Just such
caps and aprons, cuffs and gowns as in
the hospital at home
AT Netley teaching and practical ex-
perience trains them to care for cholera
and plaugue-stricken men, Jungle fever
and what not else that in the shape of
physical affiiction may visit the soldier
When the Government issues a call for
SICK men TO be sent home, Netley nurses
go out on the vessels and bring the suf-
ferers to England For this reason they
are obliged to be capital sailors and in
the camps often are forced 10 prepare all
the food for their patients Though
rarely ever obliged to minister to men on
the battlefields, still they are equipped
by rigid drill, for ambulance service un-
der fire, for succOring the wounded where
they fail and administering relief in all
emergencies.
Netley nurse knows a hospital ship
from stem to stern and its requisite fit
tings, and her salary is paid by the gov
ernment. As she is one of the regular
medical staff she is. with her associates
placed in ranking order among the
nurses, and decorated for any proofs of
special courage and capability. Her life
is not an easy one, but full of industry
interest and honor. Some of these nurses
wear as many as five medals, given by
the government, through the hands OF
the general under whom they have serv-
ed. or presented by the queen herself and
in old age a pension is allowed with an
honorable discharge.
BY this means the sick of the English
army are protected in a great measure.
and tenderly cared for and the woman's s
mission in her countTy's battles is most
nobly sustained. Just why in our own
piping times Of peace no such precautions
have been taken for the nursing of our
soldiers it is hard to say. AT the present
moment the need for good nurses. trained
Army nurses, is almost looking US in the
face.
Should the occasion arise for sending
our men into Cuba, a hospital service
would be required at once. Not so much
to nurse wounded soldiers, but those who
would fall victims to climatic diseases to
yellow fever, the plague OF Cuba, and to
the other dangerous ailments that assail
men of a northern climate camping in a
tropical, moist region, where fevers are
prevalent all the year round. Women
undoubtedly would come forward on the
instant hostilities were proclaimed. but
our trained nurses would need 10 know
something of military exactions, of the
requirement for successful nursing in
camps and under tents, of ambulance
| service and the hospital ship. Their ef-
forts to gain experience in these matters
would likely cost nearly as many lives as
ignorant nursing did in the four years of
our own bloody battles
After the Crimean war when Miss
Nightingale, with her forty-one nurses
and her own splendid courage and wis
dom, did so much to prove how feminine
hands could mitigate some of the hor-
rors of war, the English nation gave her
$3.50 900 with which to pursue her great
work. 1t certainly would seem that.
profiting by this example, we might wise
ly establish at once hospital on Netley' S
plan in our own country, and thus obey
that excellent Injunction in time of peace
prepare for war.
An Ignorance Club.