University of Virginia Library

LETTER IV.

Dear Mother,—I hope to be able to write a few
lines to you to-night. I opened the box yesterday,—it
was lovely; my orderlies opened it for me; to pay them
I gave each a pair of brilliant slippers. They sailed
down the ward, and in about a minute I heard patter,
patter, and my door was surrounded by applicants to
know if I had any slippers to spare? Very soon the

slippers had gone. I want you to tell the ladies that
they must make their shoes smaller; the men have small
feet. If the ladies are inclined to make any more, I
shall be very thankful for them. I told you of my
friend, Miss Spaulding; our doctors fraternize as we do,
so in the afternoon in comes her Doctor. I show him
my bandages, he ejaculates, "Splendid!" I share them
with him, giving him a large box; also some cologne.
Please thank Mrs. Reed for the cologne and bay-water.
All the other articles were lovely in my eyes, even the
corkscrew. I kissed your dear markings on my sheets.
I am so glad you marked them. You speak of pasting
up cracks?—that would involve lining the whole
building. It is composed of one layer of planking, not
perfectly joined anywhere, and the ventilators in the
roof so imperfect that we were deluged and snowed on;
the water literally ran in the wards. Last week, I think
on Friday night, I was obliged to get up in the night,
put on my wrapper and call my night-watch to help
move my bed round because I was being rained on,—I
being really sick with an influenza at the time; and in
the morning I had to jump up because it was raining
where I had moved to, and I so ill I could hardly get
up at all. You have no conception what I have been
putting up with here; but my health has been quite,
indeed, very good till this cold came. I am getting
well fast, and we move in a day or two into a nicely
finished ward, or I would not have told you of the state
of things; Clytie (her dog) would not have gone to bed
in such a place. I trust our new place will be watertight;
if it is not, I shall set up a tub, like the philosopher
of old. If I had known what I was to meet, I
should not have felt equal to the encounter. I am
glad I have done it, for I know now what I can live
through. Some of the ladies expressed it: "Any one who
has been at Fort Schuyler Hospital can bear anything."
Now, as far as weather is concerned, I think we shall
do well.

The responsibility of my ward is very heavy; my
surgeon is a very good surgeon and physician, who has
temporarily left his practice, like many others, in order
to see and attend to cases which only occur in time
of war, and are very interesting to the faculty. This
ensures to the soldiers the advantage of as good attendance,
in many instances, as they would have in
the city. The surgeon of this ward is a strict disciplinarian,
and very pleasant also; so we get along nicely.
He has expressed (to others) his satisfaction with me
very decidedly. I hope I shall be able to go on doing
my work. I have a great deal of control over my
men; they are a very good set, on the whole. I am
sitting on the foot of one of the beds near the stove,
quietly writing. I wonder whether I have been led
to my future vocation for this life—that of a Sister of
Charity; if it is so, I hope I shall be of comfort to somebody
and many bodies. There are a great many trying
and a great many pleasant things about it; there is
one good thing, it gives one plenty to do. I owe letters
to many friends. Please thank them all very heartily
for me and give them much love, and say I would have

written in answer if I had time; letters are very precious
here.

I think my new ward will be very pleasant as far as
warmth is concerned. It will be neater-looking than
this. I am very thankful for the candles yon sent me,
without them I should not know what to do. Candles
are one of the things they economize upon here, and
we do not have half enough. I am obliged to dress by
candle-light, as the ward is not ready for the Doctor
unless I am to the fore; my night-watch has orders to
call me at a quarter before six. It would be very
pleasant to see the sun rise over the water, if I had
time to look out. But I must hurry and dress, for I
have to start a good many wheels. I give medicines
three times a day; the first time is before breakfast, and
that is early. My medicine glasses are invaluable,—in
use several times a day; as for my bandage-roller, I do
not know what I should do without it. I am some
times obliged to alter the bandages sent, and also to
make a number of the different widths called for by
different cases. I wish, if the ladies are not tired of
the subject, they would make me some more of the
widths I wrote for in my letter a week or so since.
There is one thing we are in great want of,—that is,
old linen or cotton,—old underclothes for instance,—I
can tear off all the parts that are good for anything.

Saturday evening, I will try now and finish my
letter. On Thursday, the ladies of Westchester gave a
Thanksgiving dinner to all the patients,—six hundred
and fifty men in all. There is a large building nearly

finished, for the use of the officers of the Hospital; the
partitions were not yet up on the ground floor and they
could therefore use it as a, great dining-room. My new
ward is Ward 3, Section C. We moved yesterday. Oh
dear! was I not tired when I went to bed, all in order,
floors washed, beds made, patients attended to. The
ward is neat and water-tight; rather an odd recommendation
in a house, but a necessary one here. This
coming week we expect one thousand wounded; I shall
then have sixty men in my ward, its full complement.
I hope I shall be able to keep on doing my duty. I
had no idea one had to give up and go through so
much to become a Sister of Charity; I have great respect
for all who do it rightly.