Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1919-09-12

comfort, and the chief nurse, a very
attractive woman as we'll as an eX'
cellent executive, presided at the tea
table when she could be spared from
her duties afternoons; otherwise the
housekeeper served tea. l seldom
had time to avail myself of these
amenities; but it was pleasant when
could. The nurses mess was excel
lent | had been living in prOfiteer-
ing Washington for a year, and was
several pounds underweight. We
had unlimited butter and sugar
weren't the folks at home denying
themselves for it?-and l proceeded
to remedy this deficiency in weight,
and even more than make up for it
in the first few weeks l was there, in
spite of working nine and ten hours
day and walking miles through the
mud.
had been sent down to this port
to be hospital searcher, but because
my predecessor wanted to be at an
other hospital with a friend. l was
made to supply her place at this one,
where troops from the front never
came until after the armistice, and
my duties consisted of home service
ministratiOns to "casuals' - boys
| fresh from overseas, left behind in
the hospital by their organizations,
and usually never to regain them.
They were then and always have been
the most piteous of all the IS. 0.
/ L.'s"-the majority of them penni-
| less, unpaid for months because their
papers were with their organizations.
! and those were heaven knew where
and central records Office either could
not or would not tell: letterless and
without home news because their let
tiers from home were going to those
same outfits of theirs, and their
friends did not know their present
address-and it took weeks to get
word to them and a reply, by which
time the lucky ones had been dis
charged to "convalescent camp" for
transfer to their own or more likely
different organization, and the un-
lucky ones had died.
There was plenty to do for them
and to spare, only my utmost efforts
seemed so fruitless. 1t took home
service inquiry at least month to
get through, and by that time. in
most cases. the casual had sufficient
ly recovered to be transferred to a
classification camp--to be lost to me
ever afterward. l used to lay strict
injunctions on the boys to keep in
touch with me after they left the hos
pital. but / never heard from one OF
them | remember one case of a
young Russianborn soldier who had
been forced to sail within a few hours
after receiving a telegram that his
wife was dangerously i'll of pneumo
MIA 1t had been five weeks before
and he was still in ignorance OF her
fate. Home service acted on the case
promptly. yet it was month before
the answer reached me. and the boy
was gone The wife needed care, and
the Red Cross looked after her: but
have often wondered if the poor in
articulate husband ever found it out
or whether he went to his death in
uncertainty A Red Cross man in the
camp proper handled cases of allot
ments which were not being paid. fol
both camp and hospital.
had arrived October p. just after
the crest of the flu epidemic. There
had been over 600 deaths at that hos
pital during the month of October
and it was still filled with flu, pneu
; monia and empyema cases, as well as
nearly every other contagious disease
, had ever heard of - notably
measles. humps. scarlet fever, diph
7 liberia, and meningitis. The Rec
Cross staff at the time l arrived con
, sisted OF two--the hospital represent
, alive and a home service woman wh'
| had been there some four or NV
weeks. knew all the ropes and patron
r lied me insufferably.