The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-01-17
MORE NEWS FROM
FIGHTING FRONT
ANOTHER LETTER FROM WAL.
TER REEVES ABOUT LIFE AND
WORK IN HOSPITAL
OTHER LETTERS FROM TRAINING CAMPS
Boys All Seem Pleased With The Wav
They Are Treated And The Food
Furnished Them

We are in receipt of some more let
ters from Walter Reeves. through the
courtesy of his parents. Mr.. and Mrs.
H.. II. Reeves, of Santa Ana, Calf.
Writing from base hospital No. 81
on Nov. 20th. he says:
The change to u line, gives me a
little different line of work to do.
our re~-inforcements having arrived |
am breaking in some new me- for
ward masters, and | am sort of straw
hoSs of nine wards with four new
men to break in. | now have quite
a little time TO help the doctor and
medical students who do the dressing.
! did IN heavy dressing by myself
yesterday-shoved the gauze three or
four inches into the poor mans leg
and had the satisfaction of hearing
the patient say that the dressing was
a lot easier today than usual, al
though he did not know who dressed
him"
~ diSo NIittS tl1dt HcW Wl1tcT DAT
racks have been finished, and that life
Is more comfortable than it had been.
He tells of a new chaplain, Capt. Tay-
Tor, who has made a hit with the en-.
listed men because of his ability to
mix. Then on December 4th. he start.
ed a letter for home which is as fol-
lows:
Il announced in my last letter that
there was a rumor abroad that the
enlisted men Of base hospital No. 81
were to have a Thanksgiving feed at
the expense of the u. S. government.
We did have. Indeed we did have a
regular meal. Listen to what we had:
Turkey (white meat), dressing, sweet
potatoes, cranberry sauce, raisin and
chocolate pie, apples, bread and but
ter and jam and coffee. The turkey
arrived too late to have dinner on
Thanksgiving so we had to wait until
the day after before we could be
thankful but it was something about
which we could raise our voices in
thanks and praise, wasn't it? The
dinner was served in our new bar
racks covered with linen () table
cloths and decorated with mistletoe.
This was a rare treat, the linen
mean and 1t seemed almost too good
to be true at first.
"All the barracks are now complete
and w move In tomorrow. There are
four new huts which will provide
sleeping quarters for the future per.
sonnet Of the enlisted men. Each hut
is provided with two stoves and, while
they are not apt to over heat the place
they will keep Jack Frost on the out.
side. 1t has been hard to find a place
about camp where one could sit down
in comfort. The huts should remedy
that difficulty and should permit us to
write letters or read in something ap-
preaching comfort. Watch out now
many letters | hope my friends will
forgive my seeming neglect and
thoughtlessness. 1t really is neither
and ! am sure they would understand
if they were over here.
Work is about as usual, a little
heavier on myself just now for | am
breaking in some new men in addition
am continually helping more with
dressings, putting on splints or doing
other work that the doctor or medical
students have been doing heretofore
| am getting more confidence in my
self and apparently the doctor is get
ting more in me.
Roy once asked me to tell more In
detail about the work here. ! cannot
give much detailed information but
perhaps | can say more than | have in
former letters about the condition OF
the wounded when they arrive, their
treatment and rate of recovery. They
usually reach us after a stay at the
c. c. s., in which case they have been
bathed, dressed, wounds well tended
to and in general are in good condi-
ton.
after a big battle, on the other
hand the c. C. s. has no time to do
more than dress or operate on the
wound itself! Under these circum.
stances which are rare we receive
patients who have been on the same
stretcher 3 to Z days without a bath,
and In the same clothes which they
were when wounded, often mighty
bloody at that. A bath and q clean