Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-15
BRAVERY OF WOMEN
IN WAR PRAISED
Fullerton L. Waldo Describes
Heroism of Nurses in ,Ty-
phus-Stricken Servia

The bravery and self-sacrince of wom-
en-, especially those from this country, in
pestilence-stricken Servia has won the
commendation Of all those who have had
the opportunity of observing them, ac-
cording TO Fullerton L. Waldo. Mr.
Waldo, who is a member of the editorial
staff of the PUBLIC LEDGER, has just re-
turned from tour of the Allies and
neutral territory in Europe, with an ex-
tended stay in Servia and the other Bal
kan States.
when Madame Slavko Grouitch came
to Philadelphia in January last" said
Mr. Waldo, "she virtually put Servia on
the map. as far as our local interest in
the plight of that country is concerned.
She vividly told us the horrors, but she
sketched constructive scheme for the
rehabilitation of the country.
Madame Grouitch Is an American
woman. She was Miss Mabel Dunlop, OF
Virginia. While she was here she collect
ed funds for garden tools and seeds, har-
Vesting machinery and a babies hospital
to be located probably at Nish. In this
| city Mrs. William A. Platt, Mrs. John
| Markoe. Miss Nina Lea, Miss Jean Burt
| and others were of the utmost possible
assistance to her and they have con-
tinued to further her project with cnthu-
siasm and sympathy"
| The labor of nursing the wounded has
| fallen largely on American women, since
| the trained-nurse profession is in its In
| fancy in Servia and practically non-eXist-
| ent in Bulgaria, says Mr.. Waldo, who
| adds that the great American hospital in
| Belgrade, in charge of Doctor Ryan, of
Scranton, has lately employed none but
| American women as nurses. THE Queen
of Bulgaria has brought to Sofia Miss
| Hay, lately head of the Cook County
| Hospital, at Chicago, and Miss Torrance,
| of Towanda, N. Y, to direct the training
school for nurses which she is forming
! in the Alexander Hospital, with pupils
| from the American school at Samokov,
which has just had it's diploma officially
sanctioned for the first time by the Bull
| garian Government.
There is in Servia a very fine nstitu-
tion among the women OF the country
known as the Servian Sisterhood. 1t num-
bers about 1000 members, and is at pres
ent directed by Miss Grouitch, sister-in-
law of our recent American visitor Those
women receive and satisfy appeals from
their compatriots in Bosnia, Albania
Croatia, as we'll as in their own lands
and distribute supplies contributed from
all possible sources"
The real heroism of Lady Ralph Paget
who contracted typhus while in charge oi
her splendid hospital at Uskub, which Is
being converted into a complete and per
manent institution with accommodations
for many hundreds, is also the subject
of appreciative comment from Mr. Waldo
He characterizes the work of Lady Page'
and Mrs. Percy Dearmer, who died oi
typhoid contracted while nursing In
field hospital, as beyond praise" "Mor'
dreadful wounds than those inflicted BY
shrapnel and shell fragments in th'
present war have not been dealt with II
the annals of surgery, and the after
effects of typhus." says Mr.. Waldo, "ar'
hardly less fearful to contemplate. Ye
these women destitute of practically
every shred of comfort, have stuck t.
the hard, prosaic labor amid the cot'
| as the ragged soldiers OF King Peter haV'
stuck to the guns"
Mr. Waldo concluded with few word
about the favorite drink food and recrea
ton of Austria's foe, the soggy, yellow
brown bread upon which the people exist
"One difficulty about the diet-kitchen an'
the tender feminine solicitude is the fac
that the Servian soldier has usually ha'
very little to eat In his life except
soggy, yellow-brown bread of a sort tina
| makes dog-biscuit a comparative delicacy
When the nurses come round with thei
iellies and custards and eggnogs, the ar
tilleryman from KraguJevatz or the cor
poraI from Wales does not know what L
do with these unheard of things, an'
pleads for his heavyweight bread again
If he does not get 1t, he thinks he !
having nothing to eat. 1t Is easy FOR IN
nurses, however, to make the patient con
form TO the rules. for II he is refractor'
the colonel of his regiment gets after hin
in summary fashion"