The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-05-09
Some Famous War Nurses.


to volunteer as nurses in the war. On
the first day of May in the same year a
company of nurses left New York for ser
vice wherever they were needed There
/ was no organization, no system Each
one was left TO her own judgment and
good sense to do the best she could
History records the faithful and efficient
service rendered; few names give writ
ten and spoken testimony for the many:
Mother Bickerdyke" as her soldier boys
loved TO call her, went through the war
in Georgia
Waiting through days of fever
Watching through nights of pain
II the soldiers did not kissNher shadow
| as II fell on their pillows in passing. as the
men Of the Crimea did when Florence
Nightingale was their nurse, IL was be-
cause they all held her in their hearts.
1t was said of Nurse Bickerdyke that
| none but herself can be her parallel "
Once when soldier complained to Cen
eral Sherman of some punishment he
asked the man who had caused 1t, and on
being told exclaimed: "Oh, you-she out
ranks met
She started the first dairy attached to
the army by begging 200 cows from farm
ers in central Illinois, and stocked a hen
farm with 1000 hens-also begged. AS a
forager she was a whole commissary de-
partment.
| Miss Dorothea Dix of Worcester, Mass,
was the first woman to be appointed by
the government. In 1861. superintendent OF
nurses, and the first to bring order out
of disorder. Washington was a great
camp. and all was confusion when she
was made executive head of hospital
| work. She had offered her services in the
name of philanthropy. and never drew a
salary or received government pay But
! the manner in which she nursed some
soldiers wounded in a Baltimore riot called
the attention of Secretary Cameron. then
at the head of the war department, to her
ability. All the nurses paid by the gov
eminent were selected by Miss Dix, who
made good health and good morals the
basis for preferment That time has
changed the order of things may be in
ferred from the difference between the
nurse of that day and the prospective
nurse of this. Then woman must be ma
ture in years. PLAIN IN her personal APP
pearance and homely in dress, absolutely
without adornment. This was the stand
ard Miss Dix established, and the only
nurses who wore uniforms were the Sis
tiers of Charity. Mother Bickerdyke was
long remembered by the soldiers for her
calico gowns, which were continually
catching fire from the sparks in the air.
so that it became one of the orders of
the day to put Mother Bickerdye out"
These same gowns were torn into shreds
while still in wear to stanch some sudden
wound or bind a broken arm.
No doubt a new uniform, unlike any
now in use. will be designed if nurses are
again needed. The fact that nursing is
now a science will also be demonstrated,
and all confusion and delay will be avoid
ed by organization.
az wanted 10 go to our last war as a
nurse, but 1 was too young" said pat
riotic Chicago matron, land l suppose If
there is a war now will be too DID,"
The question of a nurse being too young
will not be likely to interfere, and the
young woman of today. with her athletic
training and her superior psychological
knowledge and attachments, will prove her
ability TO cope with her brother surgeon
in the care OF hospital subjects.
It is possible that the new nurses-when
they are needed-will all belong to the
order of the Red Cross and wear the
picturesque Uniform that is seen upon the
stage of our theaters in times of peace
the Kate Malcolm of Maxine Elliott. for
example. forming a fascinating and at
tractive setting for scenes of war.
Apropos of the Red Cross organization,
it is worth nothing that the Maine disaster
was the thirteenth national calamity to
claim its services. There is list which
includes the forest fires of Michigan on
two occasions. the Mississippi floods. Ohio
floods. Mississippi cyclone. again in 1884
the foods. the Virginia epidemic, Texas
drought, Mount Vernon (In) cyclone, the
Johnston disaster, Charleston earthquake.
Russian famine, etc. Fifty governments
are now enrolled under the banner of the
Red Cross.
When Louisa NJ. Alcott. the writer of
famous books was 80 years old she de-
cided TO go into the war, then raging, as
nurse. Her experience seemed to touch
a vein of humor in her nature. and her
book, Hospital Sketches was criticised
for a spirit If levity. Since the war and
in the present generation this is offset
by another complaint. that the sketches
are too sad. and book dealers complain
that in making up sets of her books these
are left out being too painful reading for
children. She certainly has given both
sides of the situation the pathetic and
the ridiculous, as when she says on leav-
ing the army life after battle of her own
with typhoid, ten dollars and a wig"
that if she could not lay her head on the
altar OF her country she left her hair. She
was not dominated by the dark side of life
in the hospital. 1t has been said that
sentiment and religion were the preavil-
ing influences in the hospital. but Miss
Alcott introduced new element, a spirit
of fun and entertainment. While she
oficiated as hospital scribe for the wound
ed soldiers she did not hesitate to compare
some of the letters to those of Ensign
Spooney as described by Thackeray when
the ensign wrote to his mother before the
battle of Waterloo. full Of affection,
pluck and bad spelling
Perhaps in another war the dark side
may be omitted altogether by historians.
and only the clean, curative details be
made public. We can imagine the rest
In d sad history Of cries. groans and final
letters home, what a relief to narrowed /
feelings TO read of the man who was |
brought into hospital with his regiment !
all down with the measles, He insisted on !
WTltlng ldreWelA ltttei - MS viz az Z
was in no danger of dyins-in which HIS !
first and last message was:
Eliza. be sure to see that the children I
catch the measles before they arae grown /
up. This my dying request
N L. RAYSE.
This is the story Of the battle: Dewey's I
feet began TO circle TWO and a hai miles 4
from Spanish Feet. circled six times. each +
time nearer. Last circle one mile from 4
Spaniards. No Spanish feet left.