The Opelousas courier., 1898-02-05
MINISTERING ANGEL.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE Cancer OF
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE Cancer OF
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.
h Heroine of the Crimea and Her Life
WOrk-DevOting Herselfto the Ameliora
tion of the SuferIngs Of Sick and Wound.
ed Soldiers-Her Majestic Appearance.
Apropos of the serious illness of
Florence Nightingale, the heroine of
the Crimea, writes M. L. Rayne in
the Chicago Times-Herald, it is sell
dom recorded of a great public char
acter to have so completely fulfilled
the mission to which she was devoted
and lived up to its demands through
out a lifetime as exclusively and COM
pletely as in the case of this idol of
the British soldier. Although genera
tions have passed sinJh 1854, when she
went at the age of "a to the British army
in Crimea as superintendent Of a corps
of women volunteer nur tes, her work
and influence there has never been
forgotten, and her name, handed uv, ~
from father to son, represents all that
is helpful and lovable in woman.
Miss Nightingale, out of the pity
and sympathy of her heart and a noble
philanthropic organization, established
a hospital at Scutari for sick and
wounded soldiers. She began with a
force Of 100 volunteer nurses, ninety
of the number being women. The
hospital was ready for occupancy on
November 5, and on the 7th 900
wounded soldiers were received, those
who participated in the battle Of Ink
erman, and within a month the num-
Der increased to 5000. So admirable
was the executive ability of this grand
woman that she made her hospital a
model for good nursing and perfec-
ton of arrangement, while she moved
among the sick and dying soldiers like
a ministering angel, which indeed she
proved to be.
One wounded private soldier said of
her, 'We watched for her coming as
a child watches for it's mother. When
we were too weak to speak to her as
she passed through the wards we
! nOAlO 4So AC4 OAhuOW "ucIc ~ 4tA1
on u pillows and feel comforted."
Such an example of devotion to the
cause of suffering had many followers.
The young English girl renowned the
drawing-room and its Injuries for the
hospital and Its privations, and there
was no lack of young women nurses,
for the impetus of a real nobility car
ried with it an earnest of success.
That nursing is the honorable profess
sion it is today is owing to Florence
Nightingale, who did not believe, as
the majority of sick people and even
physicians of that day pretended to,
that ''any old woman" would do for a
nurse. Sairey Camp and her tribe
disappeared before the trained forces
| of the Nightingale and her band of
assistants, never to return, and super
stition made way for science.
When the nurse-in-chief of the
British forces returned to England
she received the joyous welcome sof q
c%onqueror. A gold medal of fare
workmanship and studded with ci,stly
diamonds was presented to her by the
Queen as Q symbol of her majesty's
gratitude to her distinguished subject.
Among branches Of palm in green and
gold enamel-green s%ignifying ettxnal
friendship-and embossed by a hand
of black, are the words inscribed in
letters of gold:
BLESSED Are the Merciful."
Florence Nightingale received her
Christian name from the town in
which she was born-Florence, Italy.
Her name is not. Nightingale, but
Shore, her father being a Nottingham
banker, who inherited the estate of
Peter Nightingale on condition that
he assume the name. Florence, q
tall, handsome girl, was highly edu-
Gated, both in the solid studies of the
Zine and in the accomplishments, but,
strange as it may seem, her favorite
study was the care of the sick. She
6rst took a course Of training in Pas
| ;or Fliedner's School of Deaconesses
at K~aiserworth. This was in 1849.
In order to gain practical experience
she took care of a sanitarium for in
valid governesses in London, making
such special innovations in its man
sgement as to call forth favorable com
nents from the physicians, who
yielded slowly to conviction that here
was a woman who understood the ne
,essity of sanitsry reforms. It must
have been a qualification to those who
admitted her ability to hear from her
a few years later as superintendent of
the hospital system on the Bosporus.
Miss Nightingale never recovered
from the sever attack of hospital
lever which closed her public labors
and resulted in years of suffering,
which she has borne with the greatest
patience and with heroic fortitude.
Her home in London furnished her
with every comfort, and she has di-
vided her time between it and the
home of her sister, Lady Verney, in
Buckinghamshire, where she was al
ways a welcome and beloved guest.
She surrounds herself with books when
she is able to read, which has been
until very recently. Her personal
appearance is most agreeable, she be-
ing majestic in height, with fine gray
hair and a cheerful smile, which is
winsome and attractive.
While an earnest advocate of sun
light and fresh air, Miss Nightingale
dared to draw upon herself the dis
pleasure of the doctors by declining
the general opinion that night air is
ininrious q faIlanv of tho moot ohoprd