East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-01-17
EAST OREGONIAN SPECIAL
NEWS OF UMATHLA co.

for Uncle Sans wounded.> The letter
was dated at Nevers. France. De-
cember 5. 1t follows:
Nevers, France. Dec. 8, 1918.
Dearest Home Folks.
Just think, Christmas is less than
three weeks off and by the time this
reaches you it will b. past and gone
The time has been slipping by so fast
that i can hardly realize hat We have
been in France over three months.
The work is much lighter now and
will continue to grow lighter as they
are now starting for home. I could
not tell you before. but our base unit
No. so was taking care of from 240O
to $3.50 patients all the time until aft
er the armistice. Now they are try
ing to reduce to 900 patients. We
are in one of the big hospital centers
designed to are for about 10000 pa.
tients. That would mean that there
would be, twenty-five base hospitals.
But there are only ten. So in all the
center cased for about $4,000 men.
That is a lot of sick men isn't 1t. But
lots of them only had very minor in
juries.
The hotels, Chaleaux and different
buildings, like that. are already be-
ing erected. and the centers like ours
are getting their patients. So these
centers will also be kept up as long
as there is a o.. S. army in France.
There are nurses still arriving in
France who left the States after Nov.
II. So they will probably replace the
nurses who have been here for some
time. I was so glad that I was here
for some of the scrap. at least. 1
wouldn't like to have been arriving
now after everything is over but the
cleaning up.
have been so worried about the
Spanish influenza. I look ~anxiouSly
for every letter telling you each and
all are we'll. From reports it must be
worse in the States than here. l have
been very fortunate not to have It and
think I will not now. The very fact
of peace ought to make everybody
well. No one knows what unit so is
likely to dS-and of course there are
all sorts OF rumors sround as 10 what
we are to do. Here are some Of them.
We are to be sent to Belgium; we are
to be sent to Germany; we are to be
sent home DIS transport nurses soon;
we are to be kept here for a year or
more. If so go home in March.
there is a likelihood of being held in
one of the army hospitals in America
for reconstruction work. I am going
To try to stay in France for a few
months. We are supposed to have
seven LAYS leave after our months
foreign seTUiee. If I don't get that
leave I won't see but little of France:
would regret 1t all my life.
However. we nurses have not a the
to say whether we wanted TO
stay or go home and We may not be
given any choice. All the patients are
anxious to know when they are going
to start for home. 1t IS pitiful for
some Of the boys will have to go to
the reconstruction hospitals after they
the Us However. that num-
Der is comparatively small. Won't Il
be glorious for ali the boys when they
home. They will have ,somel
wild, tales to tell their Families and
I have heard afhousand diff
versions Of going over sthetop"
and life ia the front line Trenches.
There are bloody battles every day in
wards. around the stoves. Come
1f the boys go over the top every day
in memorY. There isn't the slightest
resemblance between the average Ann
,rican soldiers and the shrinking little
1iolet. 1 say average" for some OF
hem never open their mouths about
What they have done. One of my pa
who was in the ward for two
had the ID. S. c. all the time
never spoke Of it. I happened to
earn about 1t by a notice in the pa
Ser, and I asked how about 1t and he
old me about It. He had been driv-
ng an ambulance and had been struck
" a sprapnel and had kept on driv-
ng until he tainted from loss OF
food.
Must close now. Love to all and a
berry Christmas and a Happy New
Tear to all the HeTberts.