The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-20

! owing to these great difficulties the
nursing in the field during the last war,
| which was done almost exclusively by
male nurses, leaves much TO be desired
Many of the men lacked entirely the
| necessary qualifications for such an i'm
| portant position. The haste with which
the war was planned precluded the pos
sibility of making a careful selection.
| Indeed, the tact to make patients COM
| Portable under the most adverse cir
cumstances is rarely found in men, and
men were the rule in all the hospitals.
1t takes months of hard work TO make
a soldier; 1t takes a much longer time
10 make good nurse. The members OF
the hospital corps of the regular army are
selected with great care and are required
to undergo a thorough and systematic
course of instruction; hence they had an
advantage over their comrades of the vol
unteer forces and acquitted themselves
more satisfactorily. But every medical Of
| ficer is conscious of the fact that even
among them many displayed shortcomings
which were too conspicuous to
be easily overlooked. The aver
age male nurse in private as
well as in military life, works for
money and not for the dignity and good
standing of his profession or the well
fare of his fellowmen. And yet he ex-
| celled In the heavier work of the hos
! pital corps, that of transporting the sick
| and wounded. Indeed, in this work the
hospital force made a really notable
record. No fighting army in the world
ever enjoyed better ambulance facili-
ties. No army ever was supplied more
literally and with better lItters and am
balances than were in use during the re-
cent war by our troops at home and
! abroad, and no better or more efficient
men could be found anywhere than those
who were placed in charge of the transfer
of our sick and wounded. The manner in
which our sick were conveyed from am
bulance to hospital and from hospital to
ambulance commanded the attention and
| ELECTED the highest praise from our for
egn visitors.
Splendid Record of Hospital Corps
Men.
After my return from Porto Rico on
my way from New York to Montauk
was Joined by Lieutenant Commander
| Tomatsuri of the japanese naval med
ical service and two staff surgeons of the
| German army who, upon arrival at the
camp, watched with the greatest inter-
est this part of the work of the hospital
corps. One Of the German surgeons
| freely admitted that our hospital corps
men were far more efficient in this part
| of their work than those of the German
army, and, what commended their work
| to him the most was the gentleness with
which the patients were handled. He was
| astonished that a hundred or more pa
| tents could be transferred without hear
ing a rough or angry word, which, he
assured me, was rather the exception than
i the rule in the German army. Hospital
/ construction, as witnessed by these dis
| tinguished foreign observers of our war
| during the early history of Camp Wikoff,
was another source of surprise and admit
ration to them. 1t was difficult for them
| to comprehend that in less than three
| weeks excellent tent hospital accommoda-
lions were furnished for nearly 1900 pa
tients. l doubt If any of the old coun-
tries, always in a state of armed neu-
trality, could repeat what was accom-
| plished by our medical department in this
direction.
Such object lessons as those of Camp
Wikoff are best calculated to impress for
eigners with the magnitude and resources
of our country and the patriotism of our
people. A new phase in nursing was mi
tiated during the last war by the use of
hospital ships. The medical department
of the army and navy recognized at the
proper time the necessity of employing
ships adapted for the transportation Of
disabled soldiers from the seat of war
back to their own country, where they
| could receive better care and nursing and
| escape a prolonged stay In a malarial
semi-tropical country. The hospital ships
| Relief, Solace and Missouri were the means
| of saving hundreds of lives, which, with
| out such means of transportation, would
| have perished in Cuba and Porto Rico.
| The horrors enacted on some of the trans
ports are more than balanced by the COM
| forts and even luxuries the sick and
wounded enjoyed on these floating hospi-
! tails. 1t was on these vessels that the ma
| tons patients were largely in the care
| of competent female nurses. Ask any of
| the sick soldiers who returned on any of
these ships, and you will find him ready
| TO praise and bless the female nurse under
| whose care he was placed on his return
from the seat of war. He viii always re-
member with gratitude her gentleness and
| devotion.
Women the Best Nurses.
During the four trips made on the hos
pital ship Relief 70 and from Cuba and
Porto Rico, I had ample opportunity TO
| compare the work of the male and female
nurses and have no hesitation an speak
ing in decided terms In favor Of the latter.
Nursing Is womans special sphere. 1t Is
her natural calling. She was born a nurse
| She is endowed with all the qualifications
mentally and physically to take care Of
the sick. Her sweet smile and gentle touch
are often or more benefit to the patient
| than the medicines she administers The
dainty dishes she is capable Of preparing
| as a rule accomplish more in the success
| ful treatment of disease than drugs. Her