The Washington herald., 1911-04-21
A REMARKABLE WOMAN
MANAGES A HOSPITAL


women. and their names may be written
in gold in the history Of charity. One
Of them is doing her work quietly to-
day, as she has done many years.
and though her name Is not famous, nor
advertised as a heroine in the public
press, she is not least among that sis
terhood of mercy which includes such
women as Florence Nightingale and
Elizabeth Fry. One Of the worthiest
living English women is Miss Luckes.
the matron Of the London Hospital.
She Is the mother general Of an army
OF nurses who are fighting continuously
in the great battlefield OF disease. She is
responsible for their welfare. their eff
cheney. and their discipline. Upon her
influence largely depends their moral
tone, their zeal and enthusiasm and
qualities which are put to the severest
test in the stern training school of the
nursing profession. At the present mo-
ment there are $50 nurses under her
authority at the hospital. AS the years
have passed. new recruits have continu-
ally come into the ranks, SO that many
thousands Of women have received their
training under her. Apart from the
nurses. the matron is head over all the
scrubbers, wardmaids. housemaids, and
laundrymaids in a building which covers
eight acres Of ground, and she is re-
sponsible for the entire domestic economy
OF an establishment IN comparison with
which the greatest palace In Europe Is a
dolls house.
Miss Luckes, as the mistress Of the
household. has to see TO the comfort OF
many thousands OF guests. They arrive
all day long and every day. on crutches
or stretchers, and in ambulances. They
arrived mangled and manned. tortured
with pain. From operating tables they
are carried to the beds in wards already
crowded with fellow-sufferers. The ma
irons guests need a lot of looking after.
Each one OF them must have personal
attendance. The thousand and one re-
quirements of a sick bedroom are multi
FLIED by all the beds in the great hos
pital, and 1t is the matron who has to
provide them all. She has to feed all
her visitors. to supply them with con-
stant change OF bedding and linen. To
the least detail Of their needs she Is
finally responsible. and any lack OF eff
cheney on her part any forgetfulness,
any carelessness, would result not only
In discomfort, but sometimes in death.
Fortunately, Miss Luckes is never care
less and never forgetful She remem-
bers everything. for she has the genius
of a great organizer and a mastery over
detail. Like all great organizers, she Is
never in a furry. Go into the room
which she uses as an office. You will
find smiling lady in silk dress. with
cap on her silver hair. who seems to
have nothing to do. She Is Just writing
letter. There is no litter of papers on
her desk. All is as neat as a new pin.
She is charmed to see you, to answer
your questions, TO hope you are very
we'll. You find in her a delightful re-
semblance to Queen Victoria. Then
gradually you find out that behind those
smiling. gentle eyes is a great brain, and
detail and the most trivial fact is mar
velous, and that she has an illuminating
common sense which shines into every
corner and cupboard Of an immense Or
Ganization.
No living woman has done more for the
betterment of the conditions under which
nurses work. the shortening of their
hours and the lengthening of their holi-
arrangements. and the ennoblement of
their profession than this motherly wo-
man. No body of women in English life
deserves higher praise. Theirs is a hard
life. They must be possessed Of virtues
of mind and heart to stand the daily
strain OF II. Self-sacrifice, love, and
charity are the watchwords which must
inspire them. From the beginning Of
their training to the last routine OF the
" ards they are put to the highest tests
of womanhood.
The matron sees personally every can
didate who wishes to enter the hospital
as probationer and the quiet, searching
eyes Of Miss Luckes are quick to read
the frivolity, the sentimentality, the SEN
sationalism which lead many young wo-
men of to-day to seek admittance into
a profession of which they have but
vague ideas. Quickly also, she sees the
grit" that turks behind a mild face, the
and serious purpose of a
girl of quiet manners. But 1t is at
1redegar House, after the first selection,
that the vocation of the candidates is
put to the surer test. Here they receive
seven weeks preliminary training in sick
room cookery, bandaging, ambulance
work, and elementary hygiene. Then
they are drafted into the hospital itself
there may be but little doubt that a can
didate will be worthy of the London
for in that month, If there be
any weak strain in the heart Of a girl,
It will be found out and reported to the
and II she have any frivolity. 1t
will be stripped from her by the reality
Of life's most terrible facts, and IL she
came for sentimental reasons, she will
find that sentimentality has no place in
a house of tragedy-only hard work and
are admitted to the wards.
Those who pass the months trial sign
a four years agreement to serve the
hospital. For the first two years they
are probationers under training If suit
able they receive. their certificates and
commence the last two years as fully
trained nurses. Every nurse receives a
salary from the day she takes I'D her
hospital duties; $50 for the first year, 500
for the second, s125 for the third, and $50
for the fourth, with chances of promo
ton to have charge of a ward, or for
service on the probate staff, with addi-
tional reward.
But no such salaries would attract
to the nursing career unless they
had higher vocation. No salaries would
pay for the qualities Of mind and heart
which are demanded from the nurses
Unless they loved the work for its own
sake they would be the most miserable
Of women. Yet strange as 1t may seem
to those who shudder at the horrors Of
disease, these delicate refined women,
many OF them ladies of good social rank,
find their life full of happiness Their
tptn &c