The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-12-15

By William Thomas McElroy
On August 18th one Of the noblest
women OF modern times, FLORENCE
Nightingale, died at her home In
London, England. Miss Nightingale
Is the only woman who ever received
the Order Of Merit. and during the
last four or five decades OF her life
she has In many other ways been
signally honored by her grateful and
admiring countrymen. She had been
an invalid for some time, rarely be-
ing able to leave her room, and be-
ing constantly under the care of a
physician. Her death. however. was
somewhat unexpected.
Her Early Life.
Florence Nightingale was born in
Florence, Italy. on May IL, 1920.
Her father having taken up only
temporary residence in Italy. shortly
after her birth the family returned
to England to one of the several
residences her father owned there.
Being the daughter Of wealthy par
ents, Florence had every advantage
that wealth and culture could give.
From the very beginning her life
was beautiful and helpful. Her first
experiences as nurse were with her
dolls, whose broken limbs and bruis-
ed heads she bandaged together and
cared for with all the tenderness and
gentleness of her nature.
AS she grew older she became in
terested in caring for wounded or
sick pets and other animals. Her
first patient was a dog named Cap.
The dog belonged to one of her ia
theirs shepherds, and one day she
learned that Cap had been injured
by some boys and that the shepherd
was preparing to kill his beloved
dog in order to save him from suf-
fering. In spite of the fact that she
was still little girl and very timid,
she at once drove to the shepherds
home, and, with the aid Of the cler-
gyman of the parish, she nursed the
wounds of the injured animal, and
soon he was well again.
Her love for pets and her skill in
curing them soon became well
known, and in a short time she had
become the nurse Of all the wound
ed animals Of the neighborhood. Her
interest in this work, however, did
not prevent her from spending her
usual time at her studies, and by the
time she had reached the age of sew
enteen she was we'll versed in liter
ature, science, mathematics, music,
and painting, and she could read and
converse in French, German, and
Italian.
Her Preparation for Her Life's
Work.
Although she had been presented
at the court and had become a fat
tered and sought-after member OF
London society, Miss Nightingale had
her heart set on something higher
and she determined to follow her
natural bent and learn to be nurse
About the age of twenty she met
Elizabeth Frye, famous yet as the
friend of prisoners and convicts, and
the hours she spent in the company
Of this noble woman had a great in
f1uence over her all through her life
| 1t was not long before Miss Night
ingale visited the Continent, and
while there she entered the Deacon
ess Hospital at Kaiserswerth on the
Rhine. She had had some prelimi.
nary training in the hospitals OF
Dublin, Edinburgh, and London; but
| she spent some time here, and later
she went to Paris, where she studied
under the sisters Of st. Vincent de
Paul, at that time regarded as the
best nursing hospital in the world.
After returning to her native
country, she was appointed Super
intendent Of the Home for Sick Gov
ernesses in London. This position
she held until the great crisis OF hel
life came, and she was called to the
work which she did so nobly an6
which made her name known and
loved throughout the civilized world
In tho Crimean War.
! In 1854 the Crimean War began
The Crimea is peninsula South o.
Russia, and has belonged to Russis
ever since 1888. but for three cen
turtles before that date it had been {
dependency Of the Turkish Empire
The war was undertaken by the al
lied forces Of the French and English
in support Of the integrity of tn.
Turkish power. This war is largel,
celebrated for three things: tn,
charge Of the Light Brigade, tn,
siege Of Sebastopol. and Florenc,
Nightingale.
The war had been raging for sew
!, eral months before Miss Nightingal,
went to the Crimea, and the battle
Of Balaklava and Inkerman had al
! ready been fought. But things ha.
not been conducted properly. Their,
were not half enough surgeons an,
nhySicians IN naro for fho CsoI~ -.