Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-09-19

ladies' under nFe they would all think
they must ~ saving the lives Of the
women inetead Of shooting down the
enemy and giving their undivided at. \
:tention to him. s;! .,l, .~, ~, \ a s N
The brave nurses here have been I'M
der fire, however, some of them more
than once. \ At the time Of the historic
episode Of Feb. 4 and 5 bullets fellslike
hail upon the roof Of the Second Re
serve hospital, in which Miss Rist and
\ Miss Fenwick, two Of the government
nurses, ares If one of: them had hap
pened to be standing at a certain win
have been killed. That was the fate
which overlook one Of their patients,
.convalescent who was looking out.
watching the fight. .a ~ .%gs..-.
III A curio belonging to the ladies Of tho
Second Reserve hospital is slim little
Mauser ball that flashed in where one
Of them was at work and Clipped off a
bit of the window sash near her. The
messhouse of the Second Reserve nurses
was also struck by the flying bullets,
though fortunately they. too, escaped
without any damage. '..
/, 1t is in the general hospitals, where
the sick and wounded receive perma-
nent attention, that wonan's power to
be useful in war shines like a steady
star above sea of suffering. The very
atmosphere that surrounds these nurses
lis soothing and cleansing. I have noted
a tremble and huskiness in the voices
of strong men as they told of what they
had seen these gentle, strong women
accomplishing. To begin, they are spot
lessly clean, soul and body. Young
women who cannot put aside the
thought of sex are not wanted in the
trained nurses profession.
Fortunately for womankind, the ladies
sent here have been almost without ex-
ception Of the highest and most digni-
fed character morally. and they have
been refined and Intelligent ladies be-
sides. In truth, the American women
most honored in Manila today are some
of these same army nurses. The sight
of one of them, with her fair, delicate
skin, her pretty head, shining clean,
her gentle voice and snowy apron and
cuffs, is of itself enough to hearten
man up and make him think Of those
dear women at home who are thinking
Of him and praying for him always.
The soldiers would die ten times over
for some of these gentlewomen here, /
know.
Through the most terrible and ghast-
ly operations the trained nurse stands,
her nerves under perfect control, her
thought fixed steadily on her patient
and the surgeons directions. She does
not finch or pale; she does not weaken.
she does not even weary till her time
comes for going off duty, and she asks
no favors professionally because she is
a woman. 1t is agreeable to know that
these deserving women have been treat
ed socially with high consideration in
Manila. Citizens Of the best standing
show them all the graceful social at
tentions they have time to accept,
which, however are not many. The
army nurse it's on duty from Z in the
morning till the noon hour, then again
in the afternoon till 6 o'clock, often
later. After that she goes home and
rests for the beginning of another day.
Such is her life, week in and week out
with rarely an afternoon off to attend
to errands outside 1t is no child's play,
you see, and no woman except strong,
healthy one, regularly trained in the
schools, is fit for it. Let no other kind
be sent by Red Cross societies or any
body else.
OF women like these the world can
not have TOO many, in the States or
elsewhere. OF the other kind, the fool
ish, suffering, 1dgeting, so called
sympathetic woman. who goes buzzing
around like crazy bumblebee-of her
there are far too many in the States and
in Manila. Some of her kind have'pene-
trated here, even to the battlefield and
the dressing stations She has no sense
Of the fitness of things, desiring only
to show off her miscalled womanly
sympathy. Where wounded man lies
perhaps in mortal agony, with bullet
in his lungs, his eye glazing and the
death damp upon his brow, she skips
up like an animate jumping jack, shout
ing shrilly: "Can't do something for
youf Do tell me if there ISM anything
I can do for you'll"
Miss Smythe of the California Red
Cross society is lady who has done
admirable work here. OF women nurses
altogether, of all classes, there have
been ~. but two returned to the
States on account of i'll health. The
health Of most of them, however, is ex-
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