Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-25
BY M'LISS

iou nave learned fiNe different ways Of
resuscitating the drowning hero, I'm your
frst-aid course. and as many different
methods of smoothing his manly brow dur
ing the convalcscence
You may wear your uniform like an angel
ana nave acquired the bedside manner Of
chief surgeon, but II you're going in for
volunteer nursing, if you want to help your
wounded and dying countrymen-should
there he any-you'll have to take few les
sons In the scientific making of beds.
you'll have to learn how to trot up and
down long ward for twelve hours on end
doing every conceivable kind of Menial lob
never losing your equilibrium and poise
though hundred men or more scream out
ioud In the agony of their suffering. You'll
nave TO learn that. in consideration of your
lack OF training, the only valuable service
you can render is crudely and revoltingly
realistic; not beautifully romantic as YOU
may nave been pleased to imagine
Miss Elizabeth Frazer a charming Amer
lcan girl who has the distinction of being
popular magazine writer and who has
Just returned from France within the last
month. came to Philadelphia this week to
tell us, out of the wealth of her experiences
abroad IN the American Ambulance Hospi-
tai, that much that We who would help in
emergencies, are learning Is simon-pure
waste ana that what is really needed Is
the substitution by the Red Cross of n
practical home nursing course for the first
ala instruction that is now given.
PRACTICAL WORK
In her pure white costume with its num-
like coif which managed to fall into grace
ful folds despite its Numbered stiffness,
MISS Frazer, as she sat in the drawing room
of her hostess. Mrs. Churchill Williams,
looked like the typical angel Of mercy. who
must be the queen Of every wounded SOL
dier's dreams. But when she recounted her
experiences as volunteer nurse one forgot
all about the sup" sed romance and could
think only of the sordid, drab reality of
war as it is seen through the eyes of the
hospital attendant.
I'm the first place" Miss Frazer told me-
'the position of volunteer nurse is merely
that of underlng to the trained nurse. The
volunteer does what might he called the
dirty jobs She works and works and
works and goes to bed at night weeping
with the ache in her feet and the pain in
her heart at the sights she has seen.
abroad the volunteers are called 'auxl-
iares.' They are not paid for their services.
Their board and lodging is not paid for.
Their uniforms and laundry are not paid
for. Consequently, the hundreds of women
who wanted to help and who. their char
acter references having been o. KID, rushed
into the 'auXiliaire' service, had to be
women of some means and were therefore
women not used to a great deal Of physical
work. Only those gifted with the most
rugged health survived the experience
Il remember my early days in the AM
bulance Hospital frightful nightmares" she
puckered her brow at the remembrance.
III was theh that l learned to distinguish
ti,e ulllereht qualitles or anguish At first
an soie resIstereu iVo per cent OF agony
nv nv me uue iS'er toulio tnere were degrees
e not WAS VA ,1 oeu query OF .he man VINO
hoya ' haar m 90 hatt,roa Pan, ou. WHOSE nerves
th,t ha is no ,on,or ~ s"osh anu s'r"ii'
VI ''''''
DEGREES OF AGONY
"There was the scream of the man so
unnerved by the horrors of war that he
howls at the approach of the doctor. And
there is the cry of the pucky soul. strong
to endure. but whose agony has passed the
limit of human endurance.
These sights come hard for the novice
10 Dear MISS FRAZER continued, but soon
she becomes so preoccupied with her mani
ioiu au'ies 'Hat they no longer unnerve
her; -
nu' l ,nousnt una. tne nrst-aid course
"hISn nau Deen eaIeiui 10 take peiore
IeaVils New loIk nau equipped me tuily
tof 'ne S,"ple uu'ies was GOING 10 assume