Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-06-08

at the chance to train its stan in prac-
tice work and proceeded to PhilRdel-
phia to spend two nights under can
vas with the Presbyterian equipment
The personnel and the physical proper
ties ~dovetailed In a 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 Inn
practicable for ambulances, or the ne
cessity of building a hut for the steril-
izing plant to protect 1t from drafts.
When the Presbyterian unit received
its war orders last month trustees OBJ
Jections no longer counted. The doc
tors were all officers IN the United
States Medical Reserve corps and sub
ject 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, a matter Of
some detail, since its civilian require
ments are varied.
Signs for Third Time.
you've everything here but a band"
said one applicant, looking over the
list of. places still open to him. "Well,"
he went on, II 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. 1 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-
tate about enlistIng.
Barring accidents, men who enlist
with a 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
frst-aid stations. The former require
a high degree Of physical fitness in
their workers, but at a 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 get
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 DR..
Sydney Burnap, who enrolled the force.
1--WE 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 80 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 e. Brewer, wife Of the units
director, was one who had worked
hardest to fit herself to go along. Re
corders, indexers, stenographers and
4 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 1t was another case
of Mr.. Brltling looking for war work
and looking in vain. Orders had come
from Washington that no nurses aids
were to be taken. If necessary enlist.
ed men would be used to I'LL theiI
places. Instead of 20 female clerical
workers, as originally planned, the
number was cut to four, who must be
women with training in medlca.
nomenclature.
These woman clerical workers are
an anomaly unclassifed I'm army regu
latlons. They are a branch of service
sure to develop with the need, anC
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 5OC
patients is a job in itself. When tn,
500 change every few weeks the jol
grows with the card indexes, to su.
nothing of their diagnoses and his
tories. There are acquisitions to b'
made out, letters to be answered anC
anxious relatives to be communicated
with. AS the units follow leach OtheI
throughout the year, more women will
probably be taken to release the doc
tors from routine clerical work, jus
as women will finally go as nurses
aids in order to release men for tn,
front.
Would Scrub Floors.
But with the first installments tn
war office is from Missouri" and mus
be shown. So that at the Presbyterian
units enrolment offices hitter dlsap
polntment spread among the rejected
No one knows what Mrs. Brewer salt
when she found thRt even the dOcto