Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-27

! 'urc, winch was taken regularly
twice day, was very high. I was feel-
ing very i'll and not taking much inter-
est in life.
The next morning when the doctor
removed the dressing he discovered that
I had gas poisoning In the wound lie
called In the surgeon, and they held n
, consultation and decided TO amputate
my arm. J wasn't keen on this, and
told them so. They said I would prob
ably die II didn't have the operation.
was so dlsgusted at being a prisoner
OF war that didn't care what happened
10 me. They held long conversation
ana nnally decided to wait a day or so
10 see how the wound progressed. Thank
goodness. they did. II had not been
IN such good health when was wounded
I would probably have cashed in.
That day man came In with a sign
board for the head OF my bed fel,
IKE convict when I saw my number
aa29: Under the word "Krankheit" was
| Ierbrechung compl links Cnterarms,
| Naschinegewehrasc complicated
iracture OF left forearm. shot from
machine gum. suppose this was put
there to remind me that / did not have
1 hydrophobia or any other disease. At
the bottom was challied n large II, and
a list OF tho articles included in Diet III.
lhere were two kinds OF diet. and the
ohi5 dilerencc between them, SO far rs
couIo make out. was the number.
GOOD BOOTS DISAPPEAR
Natkins emptied all the valuables
from the pockets OF my uniform and
carefully removed the badges. He did
/ the same for Wells and carried our
clothes Off to bc washed. Every pris-
oner on entering the hospital had his
clothes taken from him and sent 20 the
laundry. Hospital clothes were issued
when he was ablo TO get up, and OH
leaving for camp his clothes, which were
tied In bundle and kept In racks in the
basement, were again given TO him.
he very seldom got his original uniform
complete. as the bochcs had a grea,
liking for good boots, md often helped
themselves. The Russians suffered par
tcuiarly In this respect.
nave seen Russians In rags lined
! up IN the courtyard waiting to be taken
| away TO camp. Some Of them we're with
/ out socks and had nothing on their feet
but the hospital slippers. They were
often without tunic TO say nothing Of
| Il great coat.
THINKING OF HOME
My first three weeks in the hospital
/ passed by uneventfully. Most of the
! tine l was very sick and didn't talk,
much interest in what was going on
around INC. l lay thinking of homo and
wondering when l would get my first
! letters.
! There were three nuns in the hosp,ta,
VINO We're the only women on the stan
| win the exception of those working In
the kitchen. Two of them assisted in
| the operating room and tho other did all
the N-ray work. One named SChWester
| tsister) Edelberta was very nice TO us
She made point OF visiting cur room
I almost every day. Two or three times
| she brought flowers from the chapel
which she placed in water on the lock-
erS beside our beds. She often spoke
, Of her brothers. one Of them was
/ in German Regiment of Guards and
/ had been at the front since the begin.
\ ming Of the war: the other had lost par,
of his hand and was at hCme. She
went regularly to the chapel three times
a day and prayed for the safety of her
brother at the front and for the end OF
the war.
On the occasion of these visits the
t conversation was weird and wonderful,
to hear. our German was becomins
undoubtedly more fluent. but cur vo.
cabulary was very limited. Schweetei
.. .. E-utlDtIld Was very TtllklOuS una Oll
not believe any one could tell lie. Gray
used 10 hold conversations with her or
all sorts of subjects. but usua ~ re-
! ligion. His German was terrible, but tha
! didn't bother him in the slightest. II,
went right ahead making the most glar
/ ing mistakes IN grammar and inserting
I English words where he did not know
the German. \ great deal OF gesticula
ton and pantomimo helped her TO un'
, dcrstand.
One day lie told her that he was 6
Buddhist or SOME such thing and thai
part Of their religious rites involved tn,
burning OF bones. lie invited her 10 L,
present one day at this ceremony.
She went away very much impressed
IT was a big day when I was allowed
up. put my feet on the floor and ther
knew nothing more until / found my
self back in bed. Watkins and Hallan
had been standing nearby and caught
me as ! tainted. Later on in the day
| sat up for ten minutes, but had such
Il high temperature at night that i wa:
not allowed up again for three or foui
days, when I was given q complete SCI
of hospital clothes.
As soon as l was strong enough
made n tour Of inspection OF my new
home. Tho hospital contained abou
five hundred beds, mostly occupied 10y
Russians. There were about fifty Eng
lish patients and the same number 0,
French The wards were all full and tn,
corridors on every landing, were clut
tered up with beds to accommodate tn,
overflow.
Tho building was OF four stories ant
constructed in the shape of the lette
a." There was a small paved court
yard in the center. inclosed on two sides
by the hospital. and on the other two BY
high brick walls in the rear of private
houses. In this courtyard, and agains
one Of the walls. was a small stont
building used as mortuary. 1t nearly
always contained the bodies of one oi
two patients awaiting burial. Almos
every day we would see stretcher Gov
cred with a white sheet carried across e
the mortuary.
A BIT OF GRAFT
In one corner of the yard was n pls
pen and chicken run. This was the pr!
vate property of the inspector OF tn,
hospital, who used his Government posi-
ton to great advantage. The stencil
arising from the pig pen made this cor
ner of the courtyard almost uninhablt
able. We had no other place to take ex
ercise. and between the pigs and th'
Russians We preferred to stay inside.
In the basement was room used 70
the storing of clean hospital clothini
and bed linen. on obtaining a writer
III E4Ns--.-.1--rZErzy3
MrpESH "a NyrH