The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1918-05-09
MAJOR c. E. HUNT
WRITES LETTER

Mrs. Hunt sends the Times Record
some extracts from letter received
from Major c. E. Hunt which we be-
lieve will interest our readers:
9& April IA, 1918.
This is Sunday afternoon and the
only time I have had this week to
write. can truthfully say that l
have not been buster since l came to
France than have been this week.
l moved over here to the hospital the
first of the week and am nicely settled
now. Suppose you would like de-
scr;ption Of the hospital.
It is situated on the edge of town
near the railroad station. 1t is sur
rounded by a high stone wall with
two gates. Have good many trees
around the grounds including pear,
apple, etc., and they are just begin
ming to bloom now. The French hos
pital is right across from it and the
town church with it's tower and
chimes is side of it. We see the nuns,
priests, nurses, ETC., all the time.
They run the garden which is within
our wall.
Our buildings are one story, knock
down, army type of rough boards,
heated and electric lighted and piped
with running water. It was French
army hospital until the Americans
came and has had two different COM
panies running it before we took it..
The last company was a field hospital
and was here about two months before
going to the front and are now in the
thick of the battle. .,.''..
It is well equipped and organized
hospital just like base hospital but
not quite so elaborate. The capacity
is 300 beds. My experience in the
Minneapolis city hospital is helping
me lot now for the organization and
system of running it is what counts.
Of course there is a lot of paperwork,
reports, ETC., to do, oceans of it.
have eight men doing nothing else and
all the ward men and ward surgeons
do some. 1 am looking after the ad-
ministration and overseeing the
whole and it is no small job.
We have thirteen wards, surgical,
medical, contagious, etc. A ward
master list class private or sergeant)
is in charge of each and has several
nurses under him. Each ward has
linen closets, medicine cabinets, etc.
Beds are all iron, white enameled.
Have a nice operating-room, all white,
land a lovely, very well equipped lab
oratory with facilities for doing all
kinds of meteorological work. Have
shower baths, steam sterilizers. large
bedding and clothing sterilizers, etc.
We sterilize all the patients clothing
when they come in and all the bedding
that has been used. The Red Cross
supplies us from Paris with all the
dressings, etc. The very dressings
you people have been making NAV
possibly have reached US here at this
hospital. We have large store-room
packed to the ceiling with equipment.
supplies, etc. We have field ranges
and also large permanent ranges in
the kitchen. Also telephones, office
safe for valuable filing cases and Of
flee fixtures, desks, etc. We have two
motor ambulances of our own and are
IN touch with very large base hos.
pital a few miles away, run by' the
Johns Hopkins unit, where we evac-
uate patients. They send up ambu-
lances whenever we want them. We
also have four horses and wagons.
= We have barber-shop and our
barber shaves and cuts hair for the
patients also. A Red Cross nurse is
now teaching the nurses their work
| Inc Y. M. G. A. puts on moving-pic.
ture show right in the hospital twice
a week. .E w..
| We get some of our cases righ-
from around here and MANY from i;
distance. Some from the front ant
some from the camps. have som,
North Dakota men and one officer i,
here now but with minor ailments. \
Our men have a good heated an,
fioored and electric lighted barracks
and dining room. The officers hav,
nice barracks with good iron beds
photograph, wash rooms. ETC.. an,
nice dining room with long pine
board table and real table cloth an,
? an orderly to wait on the table. TIL
mess is usually fine, even better thai
we have had previously. We have
large hospital fund over $1,000 nov
and growing rapidly so you see W
} will not starve yet awhile. We ar
! allowed 6Oc a day for every patient +
/ the hospital. Our mess sergeant i
, on the job every minute and vo,
know how efficient he is and hav
, appointed two more cooks and w
have twelve men in the kitchen an
they are busy all the time. Just fin
ished a lovely Sunday dinner. Ha,
sweet potatoes, roast pork. Gran
berry sauce, etc., shrimp salad AM
, cream pie with cocoanut on top. No
so bad for the army? =
The boys are surely making goo
and take to their work fine. The,
are more than satisfied and are al
| working hard We have night shift
, of course as we'll as day and nigh
watchmen. did not have enoug
, men in my own hospital company 4
: run the hospital so am using part O
the ambulance company brought u,
here. The rest of the ambulanc
company is policing the town am
looking after the sanitation. RI
, ambulance boys like the hospital wor
, so we'll they want to transfer. w
. have six typewriters going all tn
time and need more. One officer an
twelve men do nothing but look afte
the sanitation and policing.
:. Perhaps can tell you some NOR
Of our work in my next letter.
!. Editor Hubbard and family hav,
moved into the fiat over the Knudso,
i. io1uo1rxy afnro m. Main so%rooA