The Elbert County tribune., 1917-06-08

|
tice work and proceeded to Philadel-
phia to spend two nights under can
vas with the Presbyterian equipment
The personnel and the physical proper
\ ties dovetailed in manner eminently
satisfactory to the army officers in
charge; this in spite of minor changes
in specifications forced by such awk-
ward facts as the pole In the center of
the garage. tent, which made 1t i'm
practicable for ambulances. or the ne
cessity of building hut for the steril-
izing plant to protect II from drafts.
| When the Presbyterian unit received
It's war orders last month trustees OBJ
| 1ections no longer counted. The doc
tors We're all officers in the United
States Medical Reserve corps and sub
| iect to duty. The nurses were regis
tered with the Red Cross, TO be called
when needed. The unit stayed only
/ to recruit to full strength. matter of
some detail, since its civilian require
ments are varied.
Signs for Third Time.
you've everything here but band"
said one applicant, looking over the
/ list of places still open to him. "Well, .
he went on, 81 guess I'll sign up for
the third time. I've been with the saw
bones in the Philippines and again on
the Mexican border; here are my pa
pers to prove 1t. l might as well go
with 'em once more. It's fine for the
health, boys; better come in" he called
/ to some students who seemed to hesi-
tnte about enlistlng.
! Barring accidents, men who enlist
with unit will never know the fore
/ front of battle. Base hospitals are
| planted miles behind the armies, gen.
orally in some deserted hotel or empty
| opera house. They receive only chronic
cases and those of slow recovery. and
are fed by the field hospitals, which
in turn are fed from the dressing or
first-aid stations. The former require
n high degree of physical fitness in
/ their workers, but at base men who
couldn't do trench or ambulance duty
may serve their turn as hospital order
| lies. It's all a question of grit and
/ endurance. Physical examinations are
/ simple, directed to heart and lungs,
and so per cent of the applicants SEet
through.
In the rush to enroll with the Pres
byterian unit were men of all callings
and every age.
We've had everything here from
picture hangers to plumbers" said DIR.
Sydney Burnap. who enrolled the force.
I'VE needed mechanics, pharmacists
electricians. carpenters and cooks, and
we got them ALL"
When the hospital units were
planned two years ago provision was
made for 30 volunteer nurses aids, TO
serve without pay. but with subsis-
tence and transportation furnished by
the government
Doctors Wives Go.
All over the country women qualified
| for this duty by taking Red Cross
| training in Home Care of the Sick
In the Presbyterian unit some of the
| doctors wives planned to accompany
their husbands as nurses aids. Mrs.
George Il. Brewer, wife of the units
director, was one who had worked
hardest to fit herself to go along. Re
] corders, indexers, stenographers and
| typists nearly mobbed the units Offices
after the mobilization orders appeared,
/ seeking a chance to serve in the first
force to go to France.
With all of these ii was another case
of Mr.. Britling looking for war work
and looking in vain. Orders had come
! from Washington that no nurses aids
were TO be taken. If necessary enlist
I cd hn
places. Instead of 20 female clerical
workers, as originally planned, the
number was cut to four. who must be
women with training in medical
nomenclature.
These woman clerical workers are
an anomaly unclassified in army regl-
| lations. They are branch of service
sure to develop with the need, and
/ those who go over now are pioneers
in much the same way as were the
women Clara Barton organized into
Red Cross nurses In the days of the
| Civil war. Keeping the records of 500
/ patients is Il job in Itself When the
800 change every few weeks the Job
! grows with the card indexes. to say
1 nothing of their diagnoses and his
tories. There are acquisitions TO be
made out, letters to be answered and
anxious relatives 10 be communicated
with. AS the units follow each other
/ throughout the year more women will
/ probably be taken to release the doc
/ tors from routine clerical work. just
as women will finally go as nurses
aids in order 10 release men for the
front.
Would Scrub Floors.
But with the first installments the
war Office is from Missouri" and must
be shown. So that at the Presbyterian
units enrolment offices bitter disap-