The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1907-06-01

continue to follow the troops in time
of war, but who serve as head nurses
in large army hospitals in time OF
peace.
About the beginning of the last CEN
fury 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 battle with death In the
hospitals, taking with her to the
Crimea SO women, of whom IS were
sisters of catholic or protestant or
ders. Other nurses joined her later.
This war gave a great stimulus to
the idea of training nurses, and 1t
ultimately led to the introduction into
the British army Of a regular corps OF
women nurses. These sisters" rs
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
hospitals where the details are car
ried out by men enlisted for the pur-
pose. In some \ >spects the English
system is we'll 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 cf Netley
hospital, there heiEg no woman at h
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
were employed in the British isles
and 16 at Gibraltar, Malta and Egypt.
In addition to this small number pro-
vided for peace times there was q
corps of reserve sisters; although ap-
pOintments to it were unfortunately
not under the control of the war Of
fee. AS the nursing sisters of the
reserves numbered 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
we're sent to the Transvaal worked
nobly and well, though the investiga-
ton of army hospitals has shown a
most distressing insufficiency in their
number.
The United States is looked to as a
whose system of women
nurses may, in many respects, be
used as an example.
Our nurse corps is a matter of 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 its prevailing
independence, army assistance may
BIO rendered by any one who chooses
to offer it 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 Gross"
which was allied with the interna-
tional committee, but It had no ex-
elusive recognition from our govern
ment, nor had 1T any organization -
a general society.