Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-11
BALAKLAvA, Crimea,

BALAKLAvA. Crimea,
August Ii. 1910.
Since writing yesterday of the work OF
Florence Nightingale at Balaklava during
the Crimean war the news has
Useful come OF her death at the ad-
re. vanced age of ninety years. three
months and two days. 1t is al
most a miracle that her frail constitution
has endured through so many years OF
thought and labor and the intense SYM
pathy she has always shown for suffering
humanity, and although she has been con-
fined TO her bed. a confirmed invalid. for
more than a quarter of a century, few
women have ever exercised so great an
influence for good or have accomplished
more practical results for the well being
OF their fellow-creatures.
AS everybody knows. the scene Of Miss
Nightingale's greatest usefulness and OF
her greatest distinction was here in the
Crimea during the war waged against
Russia in 1886 by the combined forces
of England. France. Sardinia and Turkey,
when she established presidents and set
a standard for military hospital service
that has since been universally recognized
by civil !ed nations.
In September. 1854. after the battle OF
Alma, the English newspapers were fill
ed with complaints and pro-
Crossed tests concerning the treat
ment OF the sick and the
AotSCAS. wounded. in the Crimea. and
Sir Robert Peel started a relief fund.
which amounted to nearly $4,000. Lord
Sidney Herbert. secretary Of war. asked
Florence Nightingale IL she would go to
Turkey with party OF nurses and carry
out the scheme Of relief proposed by the
contributors to the fund. 1t is singular
fact that his letter was crossed In the
mails by one from Miss Nightingale vol
unteering her services. not as leader
or director Of the movement, but as an
ordinary nurse.
Miss Nightingale was then little more
than thirty-four years old. She was the
youngest daughter Of William Shore
Nightingale, a descendant of a famous
old Derbyshire family of considerable
wealth: and her mother was the daugh-
ter of William Smith. a practical philan-
thropist, an associate of Wherefore in
the abolition of slavery. in prison reforms
and similar movements. and for many
years a member of the house of COM
Florence. Italy. May Il. 1890; hence her
name.
From early childhood she had been as
ISOLATED with philanthropic movements
in which her father and
Philanthropic grandfather were en-
gagged. and natural incli-
A"PuAseS' nation as we'll as a deep
sympathy with distress, led her to give
her entire time to benevolent work in
stead of seeking social enjoyment and
distinction. During her girlhood she had
been thoroughly educated, was familiar
with the classics and modern languages.
and was one Of the first women anywhere
to take up the study of medicine.
She gained pratical experience in the
hospitals OF London, Dublin and Edin-
burgh. spent three years with the Soeurs
de Charlie at Paris, in the Institute OF
Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserwerth
on the Rhine, and i'm the hospitals at
Berlin and Brussels. and in 1880. upon
her return TO England. had undertaken
the management Of a Home for Sick
Governesses in London. She was also
engaged with Sir Robert Raikes in or
ganizing Ragged schools and in seq
gregating diseased children who attended
them. In the meantime she had estab-
lshed a training school for nurses-the
first i'm England.
She thus had ten years Of preparation
fer the work she was called to perform
i'm the Crimea, and within ten days after
receiving her invitation from the secre-
tary of war was her way to constan-
tnople. with a staff of thirty-eicht train
ed nurses. including fourteen Anglican
sisters and ten Roman Catholic Sisters
OF Mercy. All Of them were volunteers
and among them were three ladies OF
noble families.
Upon their arrival AT Constantinople
Miss Nightingale and her nurses at once
took charge OF the hos
Shocking pitfalls at Scutari. the
-. suburb which occupies
OonuitionS' the opposite bank OF the
Bosphorus, and there they found 5000
diseased and wounded Englishmen lying
on the ground. without any comforts
and lacking actual necessities. They had
no proper food or medical attendance, and
the few surgeons who were trying to re-
lieve their distress were without instru-
ments or drugs or bandages. or even the
commonest medical supplies. Hundreds
died from sheer exhaustion, from lack
OF nourishment and ordinary attention,
and. as Miss Nightingale herself describ-
ed the scene, neglect, msmana cement
and disease had united 10 render the sit
uation one Of unparalleled hideousness.
Within a few days Miss Nightingale
had in operation a kitchen capable of
feeding 500 men daily. and laundry
which was ample to wash the linen that
had pever been changed until she came.
With daring that few men would have
shown. she ordered warehouses broken
open BY force and confscated supplies
that were needed by her patients. Her
courage, her zeal and her determination
brought order out Of chaos, and lev
weeks after her arrival the hospitals at
Scutari were in excellent condition.
AS is usual in such cases, Miss Nightin-
gale was the continual object of attack
from malicious. jealous and uncharitable
people But this made difference In
her work or her influence, and when she
received an autograph letter from Queen
Victoria conveying her Congratulations