Evening star., 1917-11-04
WOMAN GIVES VIEW !.
Of WARSH|P PS|CKBAY
Tells Mothers ''AII Is WeIl'
With the Sick Boys Under
Navy's Care. :
SHOULD BE MORE VESSELS
by Mrs. ErLA s1ccLARY.

BY MRS. EULA NcCLARY.
Sick bay is the place our sons are
sent when they are Ill. on board bat
tleship. 1t is far forward on the ship
and on the first deck down 1t has
plenty of fresh air. sunshine ana has
the advantage OF being far from the
galley and other vital parts of the ship.
was going to say it is far from the
noise, but there isn't any place ON .
ship where there is not noise. Always
the tread of the man on watch can De
heard as he PAGES back and forth car
rying a gun over his SHOULDER. and the
hours strike and the bugles sound.
went into sick bay on five different
ships. In every case found them sani-
tary and very modern in equipment.
The men Ill there seemed well enough
cared for. Ne one ever gets the loving
care in a hospital he gets at home.
The beds are white enamel. with
sprinss and mattresses When not in
use they are turned up against the side
of the wall. They are in two tiers. sort
of like sleeper on the tram lhsre
is contagious ward and tuily
equipped operating room, besides DIS
pensary and laboratory.
Since the health of the men means
the efficiency of the ship. careful med
lcal WatCh is kept over dli tilt itI't
The services of the doctor are always
availab BILE, and dentist. too. In case
of eye or ear troubles there is spe-
cialist on the hospital ship close by.
If a patient becomes severely Ill or is
suffering with any disease SO that he
will be confined to his bed for a long
time he is sent to the hospital ship.
That ship is also used for operations
except in rare cases
Not Easy to Transfer Patients.
Getting patient from one ship to
the hospital ship is not the easiest thing
Imagined If he is able to walk or sit
up the matter is simple enough. If ne
is suffering pain. or is very weak. 1t
means he must be moved by stretcher.
The stretcher is made of heavy wire
and is divided in. such way that the
legs are separated Strong bands OF
heavy canvas fasten the patient in. The
stretcher is carried down the gangway
or let over the side of the ship by
crane attached to four heavy cables. be-
ing so placed that the patient is held
horizontally.
got in one of the stretchers and
made the trip. The sea was choppy and
1t took careful manipulating to swing
the stretcher clear from the motor
launch. which rose and fell with the
waves. But the ride up by crane was
even, not jerky, and ] was carried from
the motor launch to the deck comforta-
bly, and safely. Arriving on deck (the
railing mad beeN reTn0VeQ) 1OuT NuShy
hospital apprentices held the stretcher
while the crane was unlocked.
The hospital ship is a modern. com:
plete floating base hospital A distin-
guished surgeon and gentleman is IN
command. There are four doctors on
his stan and one eye, ear and throat
specialist. / have TO thank the latter
for my new eyes. for he fitted me in
glasses while I was the guest of the
fleet I am thus the only woman in
captivity wearing fleet glasses"
There were the same various wards
in a floating base hospital as are found
in all modern hospitals. All the con-
tagtous diseases are kept on the deck
of the L.. S. S. Solace-the coEsoling
name Of the hospital Ship.
Many Sick Men in Navy.
why have You so many epidemic
diseases" / asked.
Because he shook his head, lin the
last six months the Navy has doubled
itself There has not been time to keep
the boys in the detention camps until
1t was certain they were well. During
April. May and June there were 1911
admissions to the Solace-one-third the
total since we went into commission in
1907
In strange contrast to the gray feet
the Solace is painted white and marked
by green band around her side. This
is in accordance with international
agreement of The Hague. At night she
She does all possible to announce her
presence day and night, as does the
ambulance ship the Surf. which must
be no more confused with a hospital
ship than an ambulance on land is com
pared to hospital.
The ambulance ship which is white
with red band. carries the patients
from the hospital ship to the nearest
base hospital when the hospital ship
gets overcrowded. 1t was once some
ones million-dollar pleasure yacht.
The hospital ship is converted mer-
chant ship.
The solace differs greatly from the
hghting ships. as its mission Is differ
ent from theirs. The fighting side Of
the hospital side developed to COM
pare favorably with any modern hos
convalescent men lfe about on the
decks or rest in long deck chairs and
rapidly recover. At night movies are
shown. and the convalescent men sit
there wrapped up in blankets. while
she sh,,. band, ss.oi which is loaned by other
or some other favortte for an hour or
more. Uncle Sam does not give the
sick men their own music.
Afs well. mothers of sick sons
Your boys are getting as good treat
ment as they can have away from
your loving hands. The doctors are
not only kind, but experienced men,
and the commanding officer is sym
pathetic, interested and competent
surgeon. The ship is BIT overcrowd-
ed. but these are war times and our
unpreparedness must be taken into
consideration.
Mothers Should Arouse Congress,
What we mothers ought to do Is 70
seinulate Congress to give to the
United States Navy enough hospital
ana ambulance ships to meet the needs
adequately. Tho Solace and the surf
are the only ships of the kind we have.
we need four or five more hospital
ships and an ambulance ship for each
OF them.
Since war has been declared the
medical star Of the feet has been
greatly augmented. no. because the
men are Ill now, but in readiness for
our feet
DURING a naval enRagemenf how