The Butler weekly times., 1918-01-31

exquisite cleanliness everywhere
Moreover, have found cheerfalness
| Food is good and plentiful. have
examined storerooms and kitchens
and watched the die,s being served
| under the uire ction of woman diet
clan.
| Il do not like the orderly system
II ere should be more trained nurses
At present the wards where there are
| ~ selloNs cases are mana red. by a
wardniaster, an enlisted man. And
with the best intentions in the worl T.
he is not always efficient. The la k
Of nurses is a serious one, and could
be remcdied probably by an appeal to
nurses to volunteer. But here again
is the serious question: of the i'll at
home. the same'which faces the me "
cal profession and on civilian hospi-
ta.s.
"One hospital know well. 1t is
typical OF other cantonment hospitals,
it is under the same army medical de-
partment direction as the others, and
it is only right to assume that condi-
tions there are representatives. The
same rules govern all these hospitals.
| The same sums are spent on them.
The same system is followed. The
food is the same, the supplies, the
medical staff, the nurses. And | have
never seen better war hospital than
the one at Camp Sherman. will go
further and say that in its operating
rooms, its X-ray department, its eye
and ear department. its nose and
! ttrUa1 department, its dental depart:
ment, in short, in its facilities for car
ing for every emergency and every
weakness. it will bear comparison
with any civilian hospital.
And what is true of the base hos
pital at Camp Sherman is true OF 'the
others have watched the develop
ment OF the war hospital system from
the beginning, when saw it first Oil
paper in the office of the surgeon
general tip to two weeks ago.
watched because it was vital mat
ter to me. had husband and d
son in the service. | am like the 9TH
cr women of this country. would be
content with nothing less than the
best. And | feel that we are on the
way to the best.
1T has not come yet, although al
ne present moment | would willing
" entrust any member of my family
II such emergency, to any one of our
base hospitals. We need more sup
plies, we need more nurses and en-
larged quarters for them.-- Sixty or
even eighty nurses, divided into shifts
of eight hours each, is totally 1ns,lt-
ficient for thousand men. We even
need more physicians and surgeons
Although the staffs are very large, the
medical department in each medical
hospital is working to its maximum
"nut what we need, as a nation, ls
something more than this. We need
knowledge and reinsurance. There is
no need in this country for discon-
tented resignation. would suggest
that a committee of representative
and unprejudiced citizens from the
nearest city visit each OF these base
hospitals and thoroughly inspect
them. And that they publish in their
local papers the exact results OF their
investigations. Let therV go alone,
10 talk with the patients, the nurses.
the doctors, the ward masters. And
let them tell exactly what they find.
The women of the country must
know the facts. They have the right
to know them. 1t is not fair to let
them believe, as many OF them now
do, that the great and humane Amer
lean people is not caring for the men
who are to fight to save them. We
are preparing against the inevitable
losses of war. 1t is not fair to let
any of us believe that there is useless
death, that we are wasting lives We
would die to save.
''And it is not true.
Faithfully yours,
MARY Roberts Rinehart.'