The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-01-19
new POSITIONS FOR WOMEN.
PLACES RECENTLY CREATED IN
CITY DEPARTMENTS

Duties of Public School Nurse
Recently Appointed by the Board of
HeaIth-A Woman Inferno at Com
verneur Hospital.
Whatever limitations have ben put
upon woman's work in the past, the
privilege of being a ministering angel
has never been denied her. The sick
room has always been her realm.
Another acknowledged province Of
women is the kitchen. Both are natu-
raj and congenial fields Of work. and it,
in these days of agitation for a full lib
erty of choice, the kitchen and the
home seem to have been in many in
stances RELOCATED to the background. it
must be regarded as temporary re-
volt from conditions which were irk-
some. And now that women find them
selves free to take up any profession
they prefer, it is surprising to see how
many are selecting the kitchen and the
sick-roorn as a field for their activity
Three woemn who have recently come
into prominence among women workers
in New York illustrate the modern ten
dency which these time-honored SER
vices are assuming.
A DIETARY EXPERT.
Miss Florence r. Corbett was fortu-
nate in knowing early in life what she
wanted to adopt as life work. She
never had an hours hesitation as to the
profession she meant to follow, and her
entire college course was founded on
her conviction that domestic science
was her special field. She took five
years course Of study in the Kansas
State Agricultural college under Mrs.
Nellie Kedzie Jones. A full college
coursee of chemistry and biology were
included, as we'll as agricultural chem
istry, analysis of soils, etc. A post
graduate course of two years, and a
shorter course at Pratt Institute,
Brooklyn, fitted her for her first
charge, which was the dietary depart
ment of the Elizabeth N. j., General
Hospital. In 1901 the post of dietician
at the Kings County hospital and
almshouse was rendered Miss Corbett,
and this position she held up to De-
cember, 1902. when she was transferred
by Commissioner Folks to the central
office of the department of charities.
Miss Corbett's office is that of general
consultant and expert adviser in all
matters pertaining to the purchase.
distribution and cooking of food in the
institutions on Blackwelrs and Ran
dalps Islands and in New York, which
are under the department.
Her duties begin in the market and
the warehouse. She gives her opinion
on all supplies before contracts are
made. The actual buying of supplies is
left to others. Any one can buy but it
takes an expert to know what to buy
and how to get the best results for the
least outlay Every institution, from
the municipal odging house to the
almshouse on BlackwelPs Island, has
its menu laid out by Miss Corbett.
Special diets are ordered by the physi-
cians as of old. Kitchens, pantries and
dining rooms are under the inspection
of the dietary expert. She looks out for
waste and extravaganza in cooking and
serving. Between eight and nine thou
sand persons are daily fed by the de-
partment, and it is little to be Won
dered at that some waste occurs.
Miss Corbett's supervision extends to
the food of employees, and it is here that
her usefulness has been most marked.
There is a more or less uniform sched-
ule which regulates the dietary of the
inmates of the various institutions, but
on standard at all to govern the kind
or amount of supplies furnished for the
use of employees. Inequalities have
been complained of, such as fresh fruit
and vegetables in one institution, and
none at all, or inadequate amounts in
other. Miss Corbett undertakes to es-
tablish a standard which shall do away
with all such inequalities. 1t will be
her endeavor to introduce more variety
for the same money.
It is her ambition to make the de-
partment model for housekeepers in
economy, efficiency and ease of admin
1stration. Miss Corbett is not a food
faddist. She has no special theory to
work out, but believes simply in good
wholesome food, cooked in the best pos
sible manner, and served neatly and
daintily.
A PUBLIC SCHOOL NURSE.
An experiment inaugurated by the
Nurses Settlement has proved of such
practical value that it has resulted in
the appointment of an assistant to the
DDeulCdl Inspector VI SCHUOlo III lIS pei
son of a trained school nurse.
The value of such an official has been
recognized in England for some time
but no serious effort to introduce the
position into the schools of this country
was made until one of the residents OF
the Nurses Settlement, who has had
experience as a public school teacher, a
trained nurse and a social student, pre-
scented data to the school board officials
showing the loss of time suffered by
children excluded from school by the
medical inspectors by reason Of slight
but infectious diseases, The medical
inspector excluded such children, but he
did not treat them. They were treated
at home or at dispensaries. Sometimes
they received no treatment at all.
The tr'uant officer has no jurisdiction
over children sent home by medical i'll
spectors, and it has been a matter OF
some difficulty to induce sonic OF them
to return to school after they have re-
covered.
The Nurses Settlement suggested the
appointment Of a school nurse who
should work with the medical inspector
treating under his orders, simple cases
and following others to the children s