Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1907-06-06

of war, but who serve as head nurses
in large army hospitals in time of
peace.
About the beginning of the last CEN
tury the idea of systematic training
in the principles and practice of car
ing for the sick had it's origin in Ger:
many, where one of the earlier stu.
dents of the art was Florence Night.
ingale. Like untold thousands of
women before her, she went forth
to the great batJle with death in the
hospitals, taking with her to the
Crimea 3S women, of whom IS were
sisters of catholic or protestant or
ders. Other nurses joined her later.
This war gave great stimulus to
the idea of training nurses, and it
ultimately led to the introduction into
the British army of regular corps of
women nurses. These sisters" as
they are called, are of course grad
yates of hospital training schools and
their work consists essentially in the
supervision of the nursing in large
hOopAtoio tlC utIdIlo dlt CdI-
ried out by men enlisted for the pur.
pose. In some respects the English
system is well organized, as the rules
are explicit regarding increase of pay
with length of service, with provision
for retirement and pensions. The most
important post in this service is that
of woman superintendent of Netley
hospital, there being no woman at the
head of all the nurses. There exists
also an Independent Indian nursing
service of secular sisters"
At the outbreak of the South
African war the number of English
sisters was fixed at 70, of whom 63
and 16 at Gibraltar, Malta and Egypt.
In addition to this small number pro-
vlded for peace times there was a
corps of reserve sisters, although ap-
polntments to it were unfortunately
not under the control of the war Of
flee. AS the nursing sisters of the
reserves nuL bered only SO, hasty ap-
pointments were made, and some
women who were entirely without
knowledge of a nurses duties sue
ceeded in obtaining appointments.
OF course the trained nurses who
were sent to the Transvaal worked
nobly and well, though the investiga-
tion of army hospitals has shown a
most distressing insuf1icfency in raeir
number.
The United states is looked to as
country whose system of women
nurses may, in many respecta, be
used as an example.
Our nurse corps is a matter g: quite
recent growth. There were, of course,
a large number of women employed
during the civil war, most of them ap-
pointed by Miss Dorothea Lynde Dix,
who was then superintendent of
women nurses, but their services. as
well as the work of the helpers who
held no regular positions, came to
an end at the close of the war. A
vast amount of good was done by
these women individually, but there
was no lasting effect on the army
itself.
In our country, with it's prevailing
independence, army assistance may
be rendered by any one who chooses
to offer il and no organizations are
recognized as those through which
alone such assistance will be re.
ceived. 1t is true that there was be,
fore and during the Spanish war a
committee acting under the name OF
the American National Red Cross"
which was allied with the interna.
tional committee but it had no ex.
elusive recognition from our govern
ment, nor had it any organization as
a general society.