Evening star., 1943-12-21

lucllt lb VIC Sdlllp.
They mobbed the gates" she de-
clared. There were too many Fill
pinos for the japanese guard, so
there was nothing they could do to
stop them.
Pushed Food Through Bars.
"It was so crowded" she continued,
that in order for Filipinos to locate
their master on the other side of
the high wall they held up placards
with their names written on them.
They stuffed everything from loaf
of bread to can of beans through
the bars to us.
THAT was B. S." she said with a
laugh, before swali.' The japanese
were afraid we were influencing the
Filipinos too much, so they put up
swai around the fence. but the
Filipinos could still throw things
over the fence. They then built
double fence, one several yards be-
hind the other"
When they were told they were to
be taken to a camp they were only
given half an hour to get ready,
Miss Davis said, and were only al
lowed one suitcase and told to take
enough food for three days. They
had to carry everything.
There was no hospital at the
camp, an old university building, the
grounds of which were formerly used
as a city dump, she said, and after
two days I'VE decided we had to have
a first-aid station if nothing else"
Every time we set up station
they would take the room away from
us, saying they needed the space,
the nurse said. Finally, we estab-
lished our hospital in an old elec-
trical engineering building"
Emergency Unit Set Up.
Although by this time the Red
Cross had practically ceased func-
tioning," they were able to get an
hospital unit into the
camp. The guards wouldn't let
them in at first" she said, but
finally, little by little, they managed
to get the equipment into us. A Red |
Cross woman was permitted at large |
to shop, but things were hard to |
get and almost always she bought
everything except what I asked for"
There were just civilian nurses and
aides in the hospital until March, she
said, when II Navy nurses were
brought in, one of whom, 1t. Laura
Cobb, became chief nurse when Miss
Davis and Miss Ethel Robinson, "co-
Chiefs" became ILL., In July and
August 66 Army nurses were brought
in from Bataan and other Philippine
provinces.
The main cause of sickness at the
camp, she explained, was food poi
soning THE food was scarce. They
didn't serve us any and we had to
hoard our own, doing it out. AS
a result foods were left open over
night and in the terrible heat they
spoiled"
Colds were prevalent, she added,
and there were two epidemics of
jaundice Tuberculosis was becom-
ing quite a problem, recurring from
poor living conditions and nutrition"
FL Months in Camp.
In the 81 months Miss Davis was
in the camp there were only two
deaths. However, she said, "the
Japs- didn't want a death record in
the camp, so when any one was dying
they took them out to another hos
pital"
On the whole, she concluded, "the
Japs left us alone, fairly alone. Some
would wander around consumed with
curiosity"
Miss Davis, "a former nurse at,
ISternburg Hospital in Manila, re-
turned on the Grispholm with her
mother, Mrs. Marjorie Anderson
Davis, Jamestown, N. Y. Her father,
A. c. Davis, manufacturers repre-
sentative in the Far East, and an
older sister are still interned at the
camp. OF the approximately 1000
prisoners at the camp, Miss Davis
said that only about 80 have been
returned to the States.
Miss Davis, who applied in May,
1941, for the Army Nurse Corps, is
now awaiting determination of her
status. The papers were sent to her
in November, 1941, but she never
received them. The corps is trying
to establish her rating with the
group since December, 1941. Other
wise her service with the corps will
not officially have begun until she
| takes the oath.
There is no such thing as blood
| less victory. Yours. t0o. Is needed