The Penn's Grove record., 1919-04-25

Washington, April 16.-There is in
Washington. today. one of the great
est institutions for the rehabilitation of
the crippled soldier in the country. I
refer to the Walter Reed Hospital,
seven miles from the White House,
where the badly wounded soldiers are
taken upon their arrival at Newport
News.
Inasmuch as many of the boys from
Southern New Jersey may be sent
there and are there now, a brief des-
eription of the place may be timely.
One of the Pittsburg. Pa,
wanted a story from me on Mrs. Henry
r. Rea. the daughter of Henry w.
Oliver, the late steel magnate of that
city. She is the Field Director of the
Military Relief Department of the Po-
tomac Division of the American Red
Cross, at that organizations Conva-
descent House there. and the only wo-
man occupying a similar position, as
far as I could learn. in the United
States. I was told that she came into
500. 900. 900 on the death of her father.
Her husband is also q millionaire and
was intimately associated with Samuel
Nanclain IN the War Industries Board.
Selecting last Saturday, I took the
long ride by trolley to the reservation
although the District Chapter of the
Motor Corps had offered their ervice
to take me out in one of the Red Cross
motor machines. 1t was an ideal day
and I arrived at the grounds at IL
o'clock. The Convalescent House is sit
ntaed a short distance from the main
entrance on a high point of ground.
II is one of the largest in the Potomac
Division. COMFORTABLY seating 500 men,
and there were more than 200 in the
general assembly or recreation room
when l entered. Not one of them had
escaped the Hun bullet or shell and
the forest of erutches and presence of
~bandaged legs, sticking out straight
from wheel chairs. made one cautiously
pick his way through this little band
of heroes in order to avoid humping
them.
Fully one hundred of these returned
overseas victims had lost an arm or a
leg, and one chap, Johnnie" Lawrence,
of Cleveland. had both legs missing at
the hips, a shell having taken them off
at Chateau Thierry. Some were read
ing, others playing pool at the -four
tables, two were at Jig saws carving
wooden toys for Easter, little groups
were playing cards while two or three
were gathered around the victrola.
But the thing that will leave the most
vivid impression upon you is the abso-
lutte absence of horse play, LOUD laugh
ter and unnecessary noise. 1t seems
as if the emotions Of the men had be-
come numbed, that the terrific din of
the thousands of cannon and shell and
the rattle of machine guns and rifles
had awakened in these mems, or 1
should say boys. hearts the love of
auietude. There were NO signs to COM
mana them to keep quiet, smoking
alone being prohibited. Even when
the bugler blew mess call" they filed
out so orderly that the room was emp
tied before I knew it. quite unlike their
response to the call for Chow in
camp.
Mrs. Rea greeted me most cordially.
The moment that 1 saw her l knew why
the patients call her the Big Boss"
their affectionate name for her. She
was just the type of American woman
that you would select for her respon-
sible position; keen, alert, commanding
without being authoritative in mien,
disposing of requests and organization
matters with a t~horoughness that
stamped her without a peer in looking
after the mental welfare of the more
than 1900 sufferers of the war, who are
now undergoing surgical and medical
treatment at the hospital.
J Being a mother herself she has and
is taking a mothers care of her de-
pendable charges. 1t was she who,
when the boys first began to arrive
from the other side. upon learning that
they were penniless, at once saw that
every one was given or rather loaned
sufficient money to tide them over until
payday. To the credit of the Ameri-
can soldier it can be said that none of
them would accept the advance with
out the understanding that it was to
be paid back. 1t was she, who again
came to their rescue, when many want
ed to go home for Christmas but lack
ed the railroad fare. And for those,
who had to remain behind, she person
ally supervised the giving of the 3,7S9
presents to every patient, quartermas-
ter and corpsmau on the reservation
on Christmas Day. in addition to hav-
ing a huge tree in the Convalescent
House and a tree in every ward.
One of her first acts was to sur
round herself with a staff and a corps
of assistants thai would be workers
like herself. She has So now helping
and among those, who We're daily ward
visitors, were such prominent women
as Mrs. Hugh c. Wallace, the wife of
the Ambassador to france; Mrs. Will
liam Blaine Beale, the daughter of
James G.. Blaine; Mrs. Frederick v.
White, the daughter-in-law of the for
mer Ambassador to France, Andrew v.
White. and numbers of the best known
girls in Washington society.
1t was through her request hat 1
was enabled to obtain an intimate view
of the huge institution, having for a
guide, Mrs. Charles Evans, of Salt Lake
City, whose husband. also with the Red
Cross, is a noted lawyer there. Our
first visit was to the wards. whose oc-
cupants had either just been operated
upon, or who were in the early stages
of convalescence. Army nurses and
Red Cross workers were quietly going
- rr;f n tni1n