The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-12-21
THE IRRESISTIBLE NURSE
1t is She Marries Her Patients
and Their Doctors.

why 1t is She Marries Her Patients
and Their Doctors.
Baltimore SUM-
coyeral hospitals in the West have
hon den,,ded of nurses by epidemlcs
~ uatrimony, and serious suffering
would he the result were 1t not toT
the fact hat their patients nave also
disappeared. The nurses. IN Iac1,
led the said patients, OF
whom were opulent bachelors. Mar
RED men seldom go to hospitals. be-
ca,,sa life there is too luxurious and
EXPENSIVE for them. The typical pa
.iant indeed. is the rich and cOddleG
Eachelcr. though it is apparent that
his pre-eminence in this respect can
not last forever, for he almost inVaI1a-
l~1v energies as MARI led Ger at teast
- +. , epoacedo man, and so the ranks
Of his evalted caste are constantly de-
pleted-
What is the fascination OF the
nurse? Why do strong men, who nave
resisted for years the Suhterranean ap-
breaches OF desperate old maids and
ameles grass widows, SO
quickly and abjectly to her charms!
WIN does she cary so easily the ap-
parentiy impregnahle defenses OF the
~7ionvsian bachelor? The obvious an
swer. of course, Is that h enjoys the
anita Of attacking her victim at
a time when his intelligence has been
undermined by illness, drugg1ng and
captivity, but obvious are not
always satisfying ones. The nurse. TO
point out only one objection, is almost
as deadly to doctors as h IS TO pa
tents, and doctors, as every one
knows, are seldom sick and never l =
their heads, even in the face or appall-
ing carnage. The man whose nerves
are so steady that he can perform 20
or 30 MAJOR operations a day Is GER
tainly a man who wOuld be able TO
look even a blonde nurse in the eye
without quailing; and yet a nurse COM
monty captures him in h end.
As an alternative answer we p
the theory that nurses are irresistible
because they are living embodiments
OF all those feminine virtues which
every man would like to see in women
but which he seldom sees In point OF
fact. We refer especially to that mag
nifcent gentleness which delights In
relieving suffering. h ideal woman
OF every man is a woman whose first
and only thought Is for his comfort
a woman whose sole ambition it is to
keep his plate full OF delicious v1ctuals,
his waistcoats supplied with ample
buttons. his home nniet ana clean. his
mind free from small worries.
The real women that he actually
knows seldom meets this specifica-
ton. Their influence upon him, in
deed. is disturbing rather than sooth-
ingL hey demand that he assume
toward them IN artificial and uncom
0rtable pniiteneSs, that he accompany
them to tireSone operas and stupid
parties, that he refrain from smoking
in their presence. that he take an in
terest in their tedious and incessan
argument regarding hats, servant
girls, pastors; Ibsen, measles, Chopin
and cosmetics. They make his life
sad. In their presence he suffers.
Not SO the nurse. Once she dons her
uniform she begins to approach the
masculine ideal. The mutilated or
bilious bachelor, lying upon q bed Of
pain, comes to associate with her
benign charities and alleviations. It is
her business to smooth his matted
hair, to pat his cold brow, to hold his
palsied hand, to receive with gentle
tolerance his loud protests and OBJ
~jurgatioEs. He doesn't have to jump
up when h enters the room; she
does all the jumping herself. He
doesn't have to listen to her troubles;
she is intent upon banishing all
thoughts of rouble from his mind.
She brings him food. ard doesn't de-
mand that he eat it sitting in an UNI
comfortable chair and in a tight dress
suit. She sings him to sleep, and
doesn't demand thai he rise in the
middle Of a cold night and go down
the cellar to wrestle with the furnace.
No wonder she appears to him as an
allur1ng and ~increditable angel. almost
TOO good to be true. No wonder her
f~yperdermic needle is upid's I'M
manning dart.