Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-05-28
MRS. MARKS
GETS LETTER
FROM FRONT
Miss A. ]. Atrill, Former Bis
marck Woman Serving in
France as Nurse.
HOW CHRISTMAS WAS
SPENT IN HOSPITAL
Seldom a Moan Heard by Brave
Men Wounded on Line
Of Action.

Of Action.
Mrs. Bradley Marks Of Bismarck
has received the following very in
teresting letter from Miss A. J. Atr!!l,
a former Bismarck resident, who Is
now serving as q Red Cross nurse in
the war zone of France:
No. 2 Stationary Hospital, First Cana
dian Expeditionary Force, France,
April %, 1915.
Our Christmas was the best it could
be under the circumstances. There
being a lull in the actions at the line
about that time we did not have many
very seriously i'll or wounded In fact,
a large number were cases OF so-cal.'
ed "frostF5ite," not as we understand
the term in the Northwestern states
or Canada but chilblains with infect
ed feet from trench water. Many OF
the convalescent patients assisted in
making decorations. We set long ta-
bles with all kinds Of good things sent
especially for Christmas by the Red
Cross, trimmed trees and decorated
wards as best We could with greens
from the forest, pine boughs, cones,
holly and mistletoe.
Concert by Tommies.
There were two concerts, one by
the men, "Tommies," and the other
given by professionals, from London
War seemed a long way off that after
noon and evening, but at times tears
ic%o in
thinking of loved and near ones at
home. and other Christmas days.
Though the suffering of the brave men
is intense, you would never think SO
by going through a war hospital.
Their fortitude and patience is won
derful. No matter how serious and
painful the. wounds or, how extremel!
i'll, you seldom hear aamoan or groan
from any one, perhaps a smothere'.
one from a pain-stricken form, lad
Of Is or ,16 (offlcially 1S or 20) a vol
unteer having the first experience OF
war. HtE@
80 Description Of Hospital.
The following, which l read in g
newspaper, will give you a brief
knowledge of our hospital, and in
cludes an account of the work as 9th
ers see it Praise Of the arrange
ments at the Canadian hospital at lie
Touquet and of the personnel COZ
tinues to come from all sides. Mr..
Sidney Low gives the following inter-
esting account: The Canadian hos
pital is a fine example Of overseas
enterprise 1t brought everything
along with it from the Dominion, med
lcal officers, nursing staff and order
lies bedsteads, stores and surgical In.
struments. The doctors are commits
stoned officer Of the Canadian militia.
So are the nursing sisters. These
ladies wear the rank badges Of a lie''-
tenant on their shoulder straps, and
are therefore the military superiors
of the non.coms and prlvates, and en-
titled to give them orders.
Nurses Commissioned.
believe Canada is the only cour-
try which awards commissions to its
army nurses. The, system ds said to
work well and to conduce both to the
professional zeal of the female staT
and to- general discipline Certainly
nothing can exceed the pride these
Canadians of both sexes take in their
work, or the air of 'businesslike ef-
fectiveness which peryaded this col
ony from the West up here in Pic
ardy. Canada is heart and soul in
the war. and when the Canadian
wounded soldier gets into one of the
wards labeled "Ontario or Quebec"
or Manitoba" he will jbe in danger
Of being spoilt, and he will hear the
accents Of his own country. Mean
while the smiling nurses and the
keen, capable doctors are treating in
jured Britons and Scots, and occa
sionally French and Belgians,'
Tents After Cities.
The account might 11aye included a
few prisoners Of war in the last SEN
tence. You will infer from the above
that the wards are called after the
provinces of the Dominion, the tents
after the cities. The tents have about
the same accommodation as the main
building. From the beginning of our
sojourn here until very recently ! was
the sister in charge of Nova Scotia
ward, the largest in the hospital,
was there when the Prince of Wales
unexpectedly paid visit to the hos.
pital. Our senior major and medical
officer of Nova Scotia ward was COM
plimented by the Prince, an its neat.
ness and order. Of course. he was
pleased and so was !. Of the 5000
Canadian nurses who volunteered.
only 100 were chosen with the first
contingent, and of course central and
western Canadian provinces had the
privilege Of sending small minority,
the military hospitals in peace times
being located in the east The oopor-
tlnity for westerners was likewise
lessened because the nursing assocla-
tions acted as advisory boards to the
military divisions q. districts. on.y
Do 90 Nhvoo \