The Portland daily press., 1901-02-23

II her training were confined wholly 20
hospital sarvioe.
4 IN distriot nursing nurses do things In
caring for the sick which would never
be done By nurses trained ~ nosiasas i,ss
alone, no mattsr how muon there might
burn within them the desire to do that
Ths number Of applicants that stream
into . school when the community rises
20 tne occasion una starts it, n very
large, and she cartatn transformation OF
that raw material when brought face TO
tace with the work, IL the same thing
you win see In the regular army when
men, having been thoroughly .auRht and
drilled, and then brought face 60 faoe
with danger ana hardship, nnd their
manhood, which never would have been
otherwise discovered. Now IN any oom-
munity that desires such a dispansation,
and it IL n new dispensation, tt Is onIy'
necessary TO band together, men and
women, msmbers OF the medical profess
sion ana the Iafty, and start sucn a
school. Il then goes OF itself; the de-
man1s upon it carry it along. The de-
mand upon the MalthAm Schoo / cannot
now be Supplied. We started with six
nurses, now there are bewteen sixty aud
seventy, and twenty more come In the
frat OF April, and the number Of calls
deolined which we simply could not NH,
In the month Of January, was one hum
dred. It costs n thousand collars a month
TO carry on our school, but the earnings
OF this student nurses eaoh month amount
to as much: so the school is self-sup.
porting. And yes IL does the charity
work well, 80 that there rs not n woman
delivered In Wnltham without nurse,
there is no case of chronic invalidism,
there is no dying man thsre unattended.
A man comes up 20 the training school
and Aaks for q nurse; we ask MIN II he
has engaged one mo. can you pay
hru uE IA
working, hut some nurse hears the CON
versation, and although tired, Just hav-
ing come In from o case, asks as favor
that she be allowed to go
It IL In waltham somewhat as it is ct
Kaisenwortn, only there one can see a
still more complete development.
For there, besides the model hospital,
and the insane asylum and oreche, there
Is an old folks home where the nurses
who take care OF those old people seem to
pe perfectly angelic, and where the ex-
tremes OF physical need are abundantiy
cared for and In all these services the
nurses have their education.
In Paris there is a beautiful sisterhood,
the Soeurs Auugstine, who go and stay
only with dying patients. They have ao-
quirsd wonderful skill In comfortlng the
dying, and they know great deal more
about it than we know in this country,
although we are trying 60 follow them.
soul has left, preparing It most exquisite
ly for burial. Our WAltham nurses are
taught to do the same thing, and never
allow the body 60 be taken care OF by the
ghouls who do It for pay for we consider
such aervice a eaored privilege and an
inheritance which we should not let go.
There Ia not a baby born In WalthAm
that Is not welcomed by the nurses skii-
fully and lovingly. Nor should there
ever be anywhere. In welcoming life,
and in making sure that dying man,
no matter what life he has lived, has
every comfort that the world can Dossibly
give HMM making the whole oommun-
ity better point Of entrance and a better
point OF departure, sis not that alone
sufficiently worthy object to warrant
starting training schools for nursesY
1 have wearied y ou, and / still want
fiiteen years ago, received Inspiration
and enthusiasm from that noble spirited
woman, Mrs. Aida Laese, who was then
struggling to start O training school At
the Maine General Hospital; and those of
you who love the memory OF dear old
DIR. HILL and those OF you who know
what q blessing he oontlded to my keep
Ing, can partially realize the pleasure i
have in taking part in any forward
movement In this community, and es-
peoially In a movement which feel 30
sure would have his heeSty appreciation.
For wise as he was, and good as he was,
his ohiefsst excellence to my thinking,
was in his splendid power in comforting
the sick, in assauging SORROW, In carry
ing out on earth what his Master had
taught that we all should do for each
other.