Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-07-15
DAILY SHORT STORY
Points on Hospitals.
IOriginai.1

box in the station on which Is a
notice, i"Drop your papers for patients
in the Hospitals" / passed this box
often without paying any attention to
1T, but one day l was obliged to go to
a hospital myself to undergo an opera
ton, and after being discharged the
first time L passed the box l put i'll
my paper. l had written OH the mar
gin:
Good morning, patient. I trust you are
feeling much improved this morning and
that the time will soon come when you
Will be discharged. as 1 was a few days
| ago. God keep you.
gave my own name and address,
but did not think it likely would ever
hear from the message since 1t was adj
dressed to no one in particular. Still
there is sufficient romance in every
girl, etc.
did receive n reply, and my first act
was to glance at the signature. 1 con-
TESS l was disappointed when 1 saw
a mans name. The note read:
You have no idea what a pleasure your
CHEEKY note gave. On opening the paper
my eye fell at once on your note on the
first page. l am sure that a man with as
much kindliness you have displayed
in this matter must be a good fellow to
know. and l would like to know you.
FREDERICK HUDSON.
l studied this letter carefully to find
some trace of n woman in 1t. but there
was none. No woman would have
used the expression, "a good fellow TO
know" besides there were no feminine
peculiarities about it, No. my suspicion
that woman had written it and put
a mans name to ii was not borne out
by any sign. l wrote a simple reply
that when Mr.. Hudson left the hospi-
tai L would like to see him at my office,
as 1 had resolved to take an interest
in hospitals and would be pleased to
| talk over with him the best method
of procedure.
To this l received a reply that the
writer had very little hope of being dis
charged, having been in hospital five
years. He said, however, that this
| long continued residence would enable
him to give me many points connected
with these homes for the sick, and
some time when he felt like receiving
visitor he would let me know and
could use my own pleasure in calling
1 replied that 1 would be happy to
call and thought no more about the
matter for some months, when 1 re-
ceived another note from Mr.. Hudson,
as follows:
| am recovering from a case of diph-
| liberia caught from patient at this hos
| pital AS soon as l am perfectly restored
| 1 will keep my promise 10 send for you
/ and give you the points with reference
| to the management OF hospitals.
l replied to this note that there must
certainly be room for improvement in
the institution where he was since a
patient had been exposed to n con-
tagiOus disease. l felt a good deal of
sympathy FOR him in this additional
misfortune which l expressed as well
as 1 knew how, though l fancied the
effort was rather lame. However in
this case l must have succeeded pretty
well, for my note brought the follow
ing reply:
! You must be a brick Not one man in
| a hundred would take the trouble to ex-
press sympathy for a stranger as you
have done. / am feeling all right now.
| though little shaxy on my pins. Come
round here tomorrow evening at O'Clock
and I'll put you in a way to do good
work In the hospital line.
| If 1 had any lingering doubt that my
correspondent was a man this note
his points on hospitals, but concluded
to keep my appointment, dropping in
to see him on my way to an engage
ment half an hour later. / was ush-
cred into n private parlor at the far
end of which sat trained nurse about
twenty-five years of age. She looked
like convalescent, but her cheeks took
on a very rosy hue the moment / en-
tered. Indeed she was blushing like
schoolgirl. Holding a paper before
her eyes, she began to read.
My experience In hospitals both as stu
dent and graduate has called to my no
| tice-
zone moment" Interrupted. "Are
you Frederick Hudson?'
Yes; but l usually spell my first
name with an "a 1t is Fredericka.
The "a must have been left Off"
| how Jne mlSchleI ulu you contrlVe
to write those manlike letters?'
81 didn't l got a man to write
| them"
"And make up all there was In
them?'
"Their contents are true
"The diphtheria 2"
II volunteered for that service"
81 have been disappointed"
81 have done very wrong in deceiving
you"
''Not n bit. My disappointment was
in receiving Il reply from man instead
of very lovely girl
She made another effort TO go on with
her paper on hospitals. l did not inter
fere with her, but gradually her voice
weakened, and she finally stopped and