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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24368-8.txt b/24368-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..19ecb11 --- /dev/null +++ b/24368-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2569 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'My Beloved Poilus', by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'My Beloved Poilus' + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: January 20, 2008 [EBook #24368] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'MY BELOVED POILUS' *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + "MY BELOVED POILUS" + +THESE HOME LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN GIRL, DAUGHTER OF A RETIRED GENERAL +OF THE U. S. ARMY, GIVING HER TRAINED SERVICES, CARING FOR THE WOUNDED +IN FRANCE AT AN ARMY AMBULANCE AND SUCCORING DISTRESS WHEREVER SHE MEETS +IT, ARE PUBLISHED BY HER FRIENDS WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE. SIMPLY AND +SOLELY TO RAISE MONEY TO AID HER IN HER WORK WHICH BEGAN ON THE 4th DAY +OF AUGUST, 1914. + +EVERY DOLLAR RECEIVED FROM THE SALE OF THE BOOK, LESS BARE COST OF +PRINTING AND EXPRESS CHARGES, GOES TO THE FUND. + + St. John, N. B. + BARNES & CO., Limited, PUBLISHERS. + 1917 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The Assistance of all Booksellers and Stationers is Solicited in +Pushing this Work. Price One Dollar. Single Copies by Mail Postage Paid. +Address "Poilus," Box 163, St. John, N. B. Hospital Contributions will +be received and acknowledged by A. C. Skelton, Manager Bank of British +North America, St. John, N. B. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + Copyright. + + Canada, March 2, 1917. + United States, March, 1917. + + First Edition, March 15, 1917. + Second Edition, April 15, 1917. + + Engravings by + F. C. Wesley Co., St. John, N. B. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + PREFACE. + +When Florence Nightingale began her great work in the hospital wards at +Scutari in 1854, she little realised how far-reaching would be the +effect of her noble self-sacrificing efforts. Could she to-day visit the +war-stricken countries of Europe she would be astonished at the great +developments of the work of caring for the wounded soldiers which she +inaugurated so long ago. Her fine example is being emulated to-day by +hundreds of thousands of brave women who are devoting themselves to the +wounded, the sick and the dying in countless hospital wards. + +All too little is known of what these devoted nurses have done and are +doing. Some day the whole story will be given to the world; and the +hearts of all will be thrilled by stirring deeds of love and bravery. In +the meantime it is pleasing and comforting to catch fleeting glimpses of +a portion of the work as depicted in this sheaf of letters, now issued +under the title of "My Beloved Poilus," written from the Front by a +brave American nurse. + +Two outstanding features give special merit to these letters. They were +not written for publication, but for an intimate circle of relatives and +friends. And because of this they are not artificial, but are free and +graceful, with homely touches here and there which add so much to their +value. Amidst the incessant roar of mighty guns; surrounded by the +wounded and the dying; shivering at times with cold, and wearied almost +to the point of exhaustion, these letters were hurriedly penned. No time +had she for finely-turned phrases. Neither were they necessary. The +simple statements appeal more to the heart than most eloquent words. + +These letters will bring great comfort to many who have loved ones at +the Front. They will tell them something of the careful sympathetic +treatment the wounded receive. The glimpses given here and there, of +the efforts made by surgeons and nurses alike to administer relief, and +as far as possible to assuage the suffering of the wounded, should prove +most comforting. What efforts are made to cheer the patients, and to +brighten their lot, and what personal interest is taken in their +welfare, are incidentally revealed in these letters. For instance, "The +men had a wonderful Christmas Day (1916). They were like a happy lot of +children. We decorated the ward with flags, holly and mistletoe, and +paper flowers that the men made, and a tree in each ward." + +How these letters bring home to us the terrible tragedy that is going on +far across the ocean. And yet mingled with the feeling of sadness is the +spirit of inspiration which comes from the thought of those brave men +who are offering themselves to maintain the right, and the devoted women +who are ministering to their needs. Our heads bow with reverence, and +our hearts thrill with pride, when we think of them. But we must do +more than think and feel; we must do our part in supporting them and +upholding their hands. They have given their all. They can do no more, +and dare we do less? + + H. A. CODY, + Rector St. James Church. + + Author of "Rod of the Lone Patrol," + "Frontiersman," + "If any Man Sin," + Etc., Etc. + +St. John, N. B., +February 19th, 1917. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + INTRODUCTION + +The writer of these letters, a graduate of McGill College, and the +Presbyterian Hospital, New York, left New York in the Spring of 1914 +with a patient, for the Continent, finally locating at +Divonne-Les-Bains, France, near the Swiss border, where they were on +August 1st, when war broke out. She immediately began giving her +assistance in "Red Cross" work, continuing same until the latter part of +November, when she returned with her patient to New York--made a hurried +visit to her home in St. John and after Christmas returned to again take +up the work which these letters describe. + +[Illustration: Ambulance Volant, France.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + "MY BELOVED POILUS" + + + Divonne-les-bains, France, + August 2, 1914. + + +DEAR MOTHER: + +The awful war we have all been dreading is upon us--_France is +Mobilizing_. At five o'clock yesterday morning the tocsin sounded from +the Mairie (village hall) and men, women, and children all flocked to +hear the proclamation which the Mayor of the village read. It called +upon all of military age--between twenty years and fifty years--to march +at once, and inside of twenty-four hours five hundred men had gone, they +knew not where. The bravery of these villagers--men and women--is +remarkable, and not to be forgotten. No murmuring, no +complaining,--just, "Ma Patrie," tying up the little bundle--so +little--and going; none left but old men, women and children. + +We have started teaching the women and girls to make bandages, sponges, +etc., for the hospital which will be needed here. + + + Divonne-Les-Bains, France. + August 23, 1914. + +Your letter came yesterday--twenty days on the way--but I was fortunate +to get it at all; so many of these poor people, whose nearest and +dearest have gone to fight for their country, have had no word from them +since they marched away, and they do not know where they are. + +From this little village 500 men left the first day of mobilization; +there is not a family who has not some one gone, and from some both +fathers and sons have gone, as the age limit is from twenty to fifty +years. + +I am filled with admiration and respect for these people. The courage +of both the men and women is remarkable. There is no hesitation, and no +grumbling, and everyone tries to do whatever he or she can to help the +cause. + +I do not know if I told you, in my last letter, of the poor lady who +walked all night through the dark and storm to see her son who was +leaving the next morning. All the horses and motors had been taken by +the Government for the army, so she started at eleven o'clock at night, +all by her self, and got here about five in the morning--her son left at +seven, so she had two hours with him. While there are such mothers in +France she cannot fall. There are many such stories I might tell you, +but I have not the time. + +The "Red Cross" has started a branch hospital here, and I have been +helping them to get it in order. It is just about ready now, and we may +get soldiers any day. + +I have classes every morning and find many of the women very quick to +learn the rudiments of nursing. Every one in the place is making +supplies and our sitting room is a sort of depot where they come for +work. + +If my patient is as well in October as she is now I am going to stay and +give my services to the "Red Cross." If I have to go home with her I +will come back--I would be a coward and deserter if I did not do all I +could for these poor brave people. + + + October 25, 1914. + +Another Sunday--but this is cold and rainy--the days slip by so quickly +I cannot keep track of them. We have only two soldiers left at the +hospital--they tell us every day that others are coming. The country all +about is perfectly beautiful with the autumn coloring. We do not see +any of the horrors of the war here. If it were not for the tales that +come to us from outside, and for the poor broken men who come back, we +would not know it was going on. There are very enthusiastic accounts of +the Canadians in all the English papers. + + + PARIS, about February 15, 1915. + +Back safely in Paris after taking my patient to New York and a short +visit home, which now seems like a dream. + +I have been spending a lot of time at the American Ambulance this week, +but have not gone out to stay as yet, as I still have to see some other +small hospitals and had to go to the Clearing House to make arrangements +for sending supplies, which I brought from home and New York, to +different places. + +I have seen quite a number of operations, and as X-ray pictures are +taken of all the cases there is no time wasted in hunting for a bullet; +they get the bullet out in about two minutes. They are using Dr. Criles' +anæsthetic--nitrous oxide gas and oxygen--it has no bad effects +whatever. The patients come out of it at once as soon as the mask is +taken off, and there is no nausea or illness at all; and most of them go +off laughing, for they cannot believe that it is all over,--they feel so +well; but oh, mother, it is awful to see the sad things that have +happened. In some cases there are only pieces of men left. One young +chap, twenty-one years old, has lost both legs. At first he did not want +to live, but now he is beginning to take an interest in things and is +being fitted for wooden legs. + +The dental department has done wonderful work. They build up the frame +work of the face and jaws and then the surgeons finish the work by +making new noses and lips and eyelids. I thought I had seen a good many +wonderful things, but I did not believe it possible to make any thing +human out of some of the pieces of faces that were left, and in some of +the cases they even get rid of the scars. Photos are taken when they +first come in, and then in the various stages of recovery. One of the +worst cases I saw the last day I was out. He has to have one more +operation to fill in a small hole in one side of his nose and then he +will be all right. + +Last Sunday one of the men in Miss B----'s ward was given the medal for +distinguished service. He had saved his officer's life--went right out +before the guns and carried him in on his back. He was struck himself +just before he got to his own lines and one leg almost torn off. When +they brought him to the American Ambulance, all the doctors, except Dr. +B----, said his leg would have to come off at once--he refused to do it +and saved the leg for the man. It will be stiff, of course, as the knee +joint is gone entirely; but will be better than a wooden leg, and the +poor man is so pleased. + +[Illustration: The Dog who Saved His Master's Life.] + +I must tell you about the wonderful dog that is at the American +Ambulance; perhaps you have read about him in some of the papers. His +master came from Algeria, and of course did not expect to take his dog +with him, but when the ship left the wharf the dog jumped into the sea +and swam after it, so they put off a boat and hauled him on board, and +he has been with his master all through the war. He was in the trenches +with him, and one day a German shell burst in the trench and killed all +of his companions and buried this man in the mud and dirt as well as +injuring him terribly. Strange to say the dog was not hurt at all, and +the first thing the man remembered was the dog digging the mud off his +face. As soon as he realized his master was alive he ran off for help, +and when they were brought into the Ambulance together there were not +many dry eyes about. After he was sure his master was being taken care +of he consented to go and be fed, and now he is having the time of his +life. He is the most important person in the place. He has a beautiful +new collar and medal, lives in the diet kitchen, and is taken out to +walk by the nurses, and best of all is allowed to see his master every +day. I will send a photo of him to you. His master has lost one leg, the +other is terribly crushed, and one hand also, but Doctor B---- thinks he +can save them. + +I think I shall go back to Divonne-Les-Bains--they are urging me so +strongly and there seems to be more need there. + + + February 19, 1915. + +Back again in Divonne-Les-Bains. It seems as if I had never been away--I +have fallen into the old work so easily. I left Paris Sunday night about +eight o'clock and arrived here at two the next day, and had a warm +welcome from everybody. One poor man died of tetanus before I got back. +I have nine on my floor. I have thirteen patients, nine in bed all the +time, and the others up part of the day. One of the women of the village +helps me in the morning, two others help with the cleaning up and +serving meals; everything has to be carried up three flights of stairs, +so you can imagine the work. + +I have a very comfortable room at the hotel, go to the Ambulance at +seven in the morning and generally get back at nine or half past. I do +not know how long I shall be here--until this lot get well or more come. + +One of the patients is a chef, and was acting as cook for the regiment +when a shell landed in his soup pot; he was not wounded, but his heart +was knocked out of place by the shock and his back was twisted when he +fell. + + + February 28, 1915. + +The poor man who was so very ill died on the morning of the twenty-third +after three weeks of intense suffering--I stayed that night with him. +The others are all out of danger with the exception of two who cannot +get well--one is paralyzed and the other has tuberculosis. + +I went to the village for the first time yesterday and was quite touched +by the welcome I received at every little shop and house. The people +seemed genuinely glad to have me back. They cannot seem to get over the +fact that I have crossed the ocean twice and come back to them. To them +the ocean is a thing of terror, especially since the war broke out. +Doctor R---- has a great many sick people in the country about here to +take care of in addition to the soldiers. In one house they had nothing +to eat but potatoes, but he is a good deal like our dear old doctor, and +feeds and clothes and takes care of them himself. + + + March 5, 1915. + +I can scarcely believe that it is nearly three weeks since I left Paris. +I have been so busy, that the days fly by. Some of the men are leaving +to-morrow, and most of the others are getting along very well. + +Mr. E---- is indeed kind. He has just sent an order to the village +people, who make beautiful lace and embroidery, for $500.00 worth of +work. They are so happy about it, for it means food for many of them. +One poor woman, who has lost her husband in the war and has a child to +take care of, can earn only eighteen francs a month, that is $3.60, and +that is all she has to live on. + + + March 7, 1915. + +One of the American doctors from the American Ambulance came to see me +yesterday. He was very much interested in what he saw and is coming back +in ten days. We have had one or two beautiful days, the pussy-willows +are beginning to come out, and primroses everywhere. + +Dr. S---- said that the man who owned the wonderful dog that is at the +American Ambulance is really getting well, and they managed to save one +leg and the crushed hand. + +In Dr. B----'s service he did not do a single amputation during the +months of January and February,--a very wonderful record. + +Dr. S---- seems to think there is no hope of my poor paralyzed man +getting better, he may live for twenty years but can never walk. I am +giving him English lessons every day. He is very quick at learning; it +helps pass the time. Poor man, he has already been in bed six months. + + + March 21, 1915. + +This has been the most lovely Spring day. The violets are blooming in +the fields, they are smaller than ours but very fragrant; the yellow +primroses are beautiful and grow everywhere. There is still lots of snow +on the mountains but none in the valley. If it were not for the soldiers +who are here we could scarcely believe that terrible fighting is going +on so near us. + +A lot of our men went off last week, some of them scarcely able to +hobble, poor things, but all the hospitals are being cleared out to make +room for the freshly wounded. We are expecting a new lot every day, and +have prepared ten extra beds. + +I will have some letters this week to send to the "Red Cross" and "The +De Monts" Chapter, I. O. D. E., thanking them for the things they sent +back by me; they have been so much appreciated, done so much good and +relieved so much distress. I gave some to Mademoiselle de C---- who sent +them to a small hospital in Normandy near their chateau, some to the +hospital here, and some to a small hospital not far from here where they +are very poor; the doctor who is in charge there nearly wept when he +knew the things were for him. + + + March 26, 1915. + +Another beautiful day and the air is soft and balmy as a day in June. +The woods and fields are full of spring flowers, there are big soft gray +pussies on all the willow trees and the other trees are beginning to +show a faint tinge of green. It is certainly a lovely place. + +You probably felt much relieved that I was not in Paris at the time of +the last air raid when the bombs were dropped. One fell so near the +Ambulance at Neuilly that one of the doctors was knocked out of bed by +the shock. + +I had my paralyzed man out on the balcony to-day, it is the first time +in six months that he has been out. + +One of the men here, who has lost the use of both hands, told me to-day +that he had six brothers in the army; two have been killed, two wounded +and two are still at the front. He was a coachman in a private family, +has lost a thumb of one hand and on the other has only the thumb and one +finger left. Fortunately his employer is a good man and will take care +of him; but think of the poor man,--horses are his chief joy, and he +will never be able to drive again. + +[Illustration: The hopelessly paralyzed man who afterwards walked two +miles on crutches.] + + + April 2, 1915. + +Easter Sunday and still raining. We had a splendid service from Mr. +R---- and a Communion service after. The service is more like the +Presbyterian than any other. We have four new soldiers but the large +convoy has not yet arrived. There has been awful fighting in Alsace +lately, so the wounded must come soon. + +To-day we had a specially good dinner for the men. Madam B---- gave them +cigars and Easter eggs, and after dinner they sang some of their songs, +then gave us three cheers. They are a fine lot of men and so grateful +for everything we do for them. + +The story of the dog has gone through the whole country, but it is nice +to know that it is really true, and to have seen the dog. + +Dr. B---- was able to save the other leg of the dog's master, and after +another operation he thinks he will have the use of his hand. + + + April 10, 1915. + +We had a severe snow storm to-day and yesterday also, and in between the +snow storms it poured rain; all the lovely, spring weather has +disappeared. + +Wednesday night they announced the arrival of a train of wounded, for +the next morning at half-past five, but did not tell us how many to +expect. We all went to the Ambulance at half-past five and got +everything ready for dressing and beds prepared for thirty. At seven +thirteen arrived,--all convalescents, and no dressings at all to do. The +last time forty came, and all in a dreadful state of infection, so we +never know what to expect. + +I am not sorry I came back to Divonne for I feel that I have been able +to help more here than in Paris; there they have many to help and here +very few. + +I am sending you a photo of three of my patients--Chasseurs d' Alpine or +"Blue Devils" as the Germans call them--they are the ones who have done +such wonderful work in Alsace. + +[Illustration: Three Chasseurs d'Alpine called by the Germans "Blue +Devils."] + + + April 19, 1915. + +I have had quite a busy week, for my men have been coming and going. The +paralyzed man has been sent to Bourg, the two Chasseurs d' Alpine have +gone and I have six new ones--this lot is ill, not wounded. There are +three officers among them,--one is a cousin of Madam B----, the French +lady who helped establish this Ambulance. Her husband came on Thursday; +he has eight days leave. He is very interesting, for he has been all up +through the north of France. He is adjutant to one of the generals and +travels from eighty to one hundred miles a day in a motor, carrying +despatches. There is a French aviator here, but he has not got his +machine, so I am afraid there is no hope for me. + + + April 25, 1915. + +They took down all the stoves in the Ambulance last week, and the day +after it snowed; we had to put some of the men to bed to keep them +warm. We have been very busy all week, new patients coming every day +till now we have forty. Most of them are not wounded. Poor fellows, they +are utterly done out; some have pneumonia, others rheumatism, one +paralyzed and all sorts of other things. This is a wonderful place for +them to come to and most of them get well very quickly. They are talking +of increasing the number of beds in the hospital and of making it a +regular military one. In that case they will send a military doctor here +and the whole thing will be re-organized. They want me to promise to +take charge of it, but I do not think it would be a wise thing, there is +so much red tape and so many things about the military organization I do +not understand, that I am afraid I would get into hot water at once. + +I am sending you a circular of Mademoiselle de Cauomonts' lace school. +They do lovely work and need all the help and orders that they can get. +They will be glad to execute orders by mail for anyone writing them to +Divonne-Les-Bains, France. + + + May 2, 1915. + +I have never seen anything as lovely as the country is now, it is like +one great garden; how I wish you could be here. I have had a busy day, +as one of my patients had to be operated on. Doctor R---- took a piece +of shrapnel out of his arm, and two others have been pretty ill; four +leave to-morrow, so the general clearing up will begin again. + +My poor old lady who had a stroke of paralysis died yesterday. I have +been helping take care of her. The only son is at the front. So many old +people are dying this year; when they get ill they don't seem to have +any power of resistance; poor things, they have endured so much they +cannot stand any more. + +There is a poor little woman here who comes from Dinant, that was +destroyed by the Germans in the early part of the war. She has lost all +trace of her father and mother; her husband and brother have both been +killed and their property utterly destroyed. Mr. B----, the pastor of +the Protestant Church, has not been able to find his mother, who +disappeared last August. Every day we hear of something new. + +The papers are full of accounts of the gallant fighting of the +Canadians, but the losses have been very heavy. + + + May 9, 1915. + +It is just a year to-day since I sailed from New York, starting on our +trip with Mrs. E----. Little did we think of the horrors that have +happened since. + +Seven more men went off last night, so we have only twenty left. I have +ten on my floor, but only four in bed; the others are able to be out all +day. Charrel, one of my patients who just left, was one of six +brothers, all of whom went off the first days of the war; three have +been killed, the other three wounded. + +I am going to Lyons on Thursday for a few days to visit some of the +hospitals. + +The French papers are full of the heroism of the Canadian troops; they +have done wonderful work at Ypres, but at what a terrible cost. + +I feel so proud every time I see the dressing gowns the DeMonts Chapter +sent me--they are the nicest we have. + + + May 18, 1915. + +I left here Thursday at noon with Madam B---- who went to Paris. Before +I left I telegraphed to Madam M----, the wife of the soldier who was +here such a long time, asking her to get me a room, but when I arrived I +found the whole family at the station to meet me and they insisted on my +going home to stay with them. They are very simple people, but so kind +and hospitable. I think it is quite an event having a stranger stay with +them. We ate in the kitchen, and the whole family seemed to sleep in a +cupboard opening off of it. + +I saw a lot of hospitals and was rather favorably impressed with them. +At the Hotel Dieu, they had received seven hundred patients within +twenty-four hours. I think the saddest part was the eye ward, there were +so many who would never see again and some of them so young. There were +some with both legs gone and others both feet, and many with one arm or +leg missing. + +The boats on the river that were fitted up as hospitals were very +interesting, but I fancy would be very hot in the summer and the +mosquitoes would be terrible. + +Saturday I spent the day with Mademoiselle R----, who had been staying +at the Hotel at Divonne for a time. The R----'s are a wealthy family +who have lived in Lyons for generations. Mademoiselle was able to take +me to a good many of the hospitals, as they have done a good deal for +them. We visited them in the morning, which was much more interesting, +as we saw the work going on. At two of the hospitals wounded were +arriving when we left there, so we saw the whole thing. I also saw the +dressing being done in one of the large military hospitals. In the +afternoon we went to a "Red Cross" hospital, where she worked in the +lingerie; there are fifty beds and the patients are taken care of by the +sisters. They seemed to be very cheerful and well looked after. + +Sunday morning I got up at 3.30 and took a train at 4.30 for Romans +where Mrs. C---- is working in a military hospital. At eight I arrived +at Tourons and had to walk from there to a small village called Tain, +where I got a tramway to Romans. I arrived at eleven, had my lunch on +the sidewalk before a cafe,--a most excellent meal for fifty cents. I +found Mrs. C---- at the convent, where she is staying; fortunately she +had the afternoon off. She has charge of the dressings and all of the +infected operations. At the hospital where she is they have forty +wounded Germans; they seem very contented and glad to be there. Mrs. +C---- says it is dreadful to do their dressings, for they have no +self-control at all; they have a certain dogged courage that makes them +fight as they do, in the face of certain death, but when they are +wounded they cannot stand the pain. The French, on the contrary, seldom +say a word; they will let one do anything, and if the pain is very bad +they moan occasionally or say a swear word, but I have never seen one +who lost control of himself and screamed. + +I had dinner with Mrs. C---- at the convent, and at 7.15 took the train +for Valence where I changed and waited two hours for the train to Lyons, +but there was so much going on at the station that the time did not seem +long,--troops coming and going all the time and a hospital train with +three hundred wounded arrived. + +Monday morning I left for Divonne and arrived back very tired but well +satisfied with my trip. + +I found two new patients, one with a leg as big as an elephant and the +other out of his head. I have twelve now on my floor. + +Just think! lily of the valley grows wild here, and you can get a bushel +in a morning; the whole place is sweet with the perfume. + + + May 29, 1915. + +We got twelve more patients Wednesday,--six left. I still have fifteen; +this lot were all ill. One man is quite a character. The doctor put him +on milk diet the first day--but he did not approve, so he went to the +village and bought a loaf of bread and some ham. + +Between the florist of the village and the wife of one of the soldiers I +am kept well supplied with roses. I wish I could share my riches with +you. + +I am anxiously waiting to hear of the safe arrival of the Twenty-fourth; +as we have heard nothing, they must be all right. It is hard to have +them go but I cannot understand the attitude of those who will not go or +who object to their men and boys going. You are just beginning to feel +now what they have been suffering here since August last. + +Madam L'H---- was called back to Verdun to-day; she was supposed to have +three weeks' holidays, but has only been away ten days. She is not fit +to go back but there is no help for it. + +There was great excitement here when Italy finally declared war. It is +awful to think of the brutes throwing bombs on Venice. I do hope they +will not do any harm there. + +I must say good-night, for I am tired. I am up at half-past five every +morning and seldom get off duty before nine at night. + + + June 20, 1915. + +Yesterday we got five patients,--the four worst were consigned to me. +One poor chap was shot through the body and the spine was injured; they +do not know just what the extent of the injury is, but he is completely +paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately he is very small, so it is +not difficult to take care of him; he is the most cheerful soul, and +says he has much to be thankful for as he has never suffered at all. +When he was shot he simply had the sensation of his legs disappearing. +When he fell he said to a comrade, "Both my legs have gone," but he had +no pain at all. His comrade assured him that he had not lost his legs, +but he said he could not believe it until he got to the hospital. He has +received the Medaille Militaire for bravery, and his comrades said he +certainly deserved it. He is so glad to get here, where it is real +country and quiet. We put him on a chaise longue on the balcony to-day +and he has been out of doors all day long. + +It is after ten o'clock, but I am still at the Ambulance. We are waiting +for a train that is bringing us fifteen wounded directly from Alsace. +Poor souls, they will be glad to get here, for they have been a long +time on the way. + +No letters this week; regulations are very strict again, and they are +holding up all mail for eight or ten days. + + + June 22, 1915. + +I had to stop my letter as the men arrived. We got eighteen instead of +fifteen. Such a tired dirty lot they were; they came straight from the +battle field, and had only had one dressing done since they were +wounded. Some of them came on stretchers, others were able to walk, as +they were wounded in the arms and head. I drew two from this lot, which +brings my number up to seventeen again. One of mine has both bones +broken in his leg and the other is wounded in the left side and +shoulder. One poor chap had been a prisoner in one of the trenches for +four days and they were unable to get any food all that time; most of +them have slept ever since they arrived, they were so exhausted. + +To-day a military doctor came from Besançon to show us about some +special electrical treatment. They are going to increase the beds by +fifty to begin with, and later may make it three hundred. + +The news is not good to-day, the Russians seem to be retreating all the +time and the losses in the north are terrible. There seems to be no +doubt in the minds of many people that the war will last another year at +least; it seems too terrible. + + + June 27, 1915. + +I did not get my letter off to-day as there was so much to do. We have +had inspection all week. They have finally decided to enlarge the +hospital very much and make it a semi-military institution of four +hundred beds. We are to turn the large dining-room into a ward with +fifty beds, and the large part of the hotel will hold three hundred +more. They want me to take charge. Dr. R---- will be chief with two +assistants. There will be forty men nurses--convalescent soldiers--and I +do not know how many more women nurses. I am very glad it has been so +decided, for it is a great pity this place has not been of more use. Our +last lot of men are getting on very well now; but we have had a hard +week, for some of them were very ill. The doctor was very much afraid +one man would lose his arm, but he has managed to save it. + +I have grown to be a sort of official shotsnapper for the Ambulance and +village. It is really very interesting and my camera is very good. + +Did I send you the snaps of the Bayin baby? She is only nine months old +and runs around like a rabbit--is as pretty as a picture. I am so sleepy +I can hardly see, so good-night. + + + July 4, 1915. + +I was glad to get your letter this week; three weeks on the way is a +long time to wait. + +I have such mixed feelings when I hear that the troops have left St. +John. My heart aches for those left behind, but I am so glad to know +they are on the way, for they are needed badly and they will get a royal +welcome, for Canadians have proved their worth. When they were in +barracks and had nothing to do but drill they were not always angels, +but when there was real work to be done their equal was not to be found. +The French papers were full of the stories of their bravery. There were +some officers who said that while others were splendid fighters the +Canadians were marvelous. + +It must have been terribly hard for Mrs. ---- to let S---- go. I wish +you would ask her for his address. I will try and get in touch with him +and if he should be ill or wounded tell her I will go to him if I have +to walk to get there. Get D----'s address also, so I can look after him. +When I hear of them all being over here a wave of homesickness comes +over me and I feel that I must go and join them. + +There is much to be done on this side now, for the fighting in Alsace +has been terrible. The last lot of soldiers that came were Chasseurs d' +Alpine, and out of one thousand two hundred who went off only five +hundred came back, and the greater number of them wounded. + +Fifteen young men from this village have been missing since the terrible +battle of three weeks ago, the deaths of a half a dozen have been +confirmed but of the others nothing is known. + +I am afraid there is no chance of the war finishing before the winter is +over. + +I wish somebody would organize a "French Day" or "Divonne Day" and +collect pennies for me; we will need so many things before the winter is +over. The general who came the other day said to make the money we have +go to the furthest possible point, and then make debts--the soldiers +must be taken care of. + + + July 11, 1915. + +We have had arrivals and departures all week. The days are not half long +enough to do all that is necessary. My four men who came for electrical +treatment are getting on wonderfully well, the big one who was paralyzed +and who could not move hand or foot when he came, is now walking without +crutches, and feeds himself. + +The poor little chasseur who was shot through the body is really better. +He is beginning to walk--with a great deal of help, of course. He can +make the movements of walking and can put both legs straight out in +front of him, and the doctor says there is great hope of a permanent +cure. Poor little man, he deserves to get well, for I have never seen +such courage and patience. We begin to-morrow to prepare the big +dining-room for fifty new patients, so we shall have a busy week. I am +to have charge of the big ward and keep my floor as well. I will have +two military men nurses and some more people from the village to help. + + + July 17, 1915. + +We have had a most terrific rain for the last two days--the people are +getting anxious on account of the grain. + +There was no celebration in the village on the fourteenth as is usual, +but at the Ambulance we had a little feast in honor of the men who were +at Metezeral. We have four from the Seventh Chasseurs, whose regiment +was decorated for unusual bravery. + +My paralyzed man stood up alone last Sunday for the first time and now +he walks, pushing a chair before him like a baby. He is the happiest +thing you can imagine; for seven months he has had no hope of ever +walking again. + +Seven left last week and six more go on Monday, so we shall probably get +a train load before long. + +I have got a small English boy to help me in the mornings. He has been +at school in Switzerland and the whole family have come here for the +summer in order to help at the Ambulance. + +One of the great actors from Paris was here on Wednesday and played and +sang for the men. He is making a tour in an automobile and visiting all +the hospitals in order to give performances for the soldiers. A +collection is taken up afterwards that goes towards the support of the +hospital. The men were a most appreciative and enthusiastic audience. + +There is a young Swiss doctor from Geneva here now who has come to help +Dr. ---- who is very tired. I think he is rather surprised at the amount +of work the old doctor gets through in a day. He said this morning that +he would have to get up earlier in order to keep up with him. + +The brother of my chambermaid has been missing for a month and the poor +girl is terribly afraid he has been killed. He was at Arras, and the +fighting there has been terrible. + +Fifteen of the young men from the village are missing and every day +comes the news of the death of some one. + +We got five new men yesterday for electrical treatment; two of them are +regular giants and we cannot get any clothes or shoes to fit them. They +are devoted to my little paralyzed man, and sit around and watch him as +if he was a baby just learning to walk. + +I feel as sleepy as a dried apple to-night, so please forgive me if I +tell you the same things over many times. + + + July 25, 1915. + +Miss Todd took me out in her motor to-day for an hour. We took Daillet, +my star patient, with us. It was a pleasure to see his enjoyment. Doctor +R---- was much surprised at the progress he had made in eight days; he +says there is no doubt but that he will be entirely cured. Daillet +wrote to his mother and told her that he could stand alone and was +beginning to walk, but she did not believe it; she thought that he was +just trying to cheer her up, so he asked me to take a photo of him +standing up so that he could send it to her. He was the proudest, +happiest thing you can imagine when he sent it off. Then his aunt came +to see him, so the poor mother is finally convinced that it is true, and +is coming to see him as soon as the haying is done, but she has to work +in the fields now and cannot get away. + +It is wonderful the work that the women do here. There are only two old +horses left in the whole village, so the women harness themselves into +the rakes and waggons and pull them in place of the horses--and they so +seldom complain of the hard work. I asked one woman if she did not find +it very hard, and she said at first it came very difficult but she got +used to it and it was nice to be able to do their part. + +We got twenty men from Alsace on Friday--some of them badly wounded. +They did not arrive till half-past eleven at night, and it was three in +the morning before we got the dressings done and got them to bed. It is +the second time that some of them have been wounded. They are all +Chasseurs d' Alpines--they are a splendid type. Some of them had both +legs and both arms wounded. Yesterday we were rather anxious about +several of them, but to-day they are better. They generally sleep about +three days after they arrive, they are so done out. + +Mrs. H---- has had to leave to care for a typhoid patient, so my hands +are very full. My English boy is getting trained rapidly; he is only +seventeen and not very strong, too young to go to the war but very keen +to do something to help. + +Do not worry about me, I am as well as possible and as strong as a +horse, but as my day begins at half-past five in the morning and ends at +half-past nine at night I fall asleep over my letters. + +Thanks for the clippings; I would not have known B---- if the name had +not been there. I do not dare to think of his coming, and yet I would +not be proud of him if he did not want to come. I shall try and get up +to the north later so as to be nearer him when he comes. + +Good-night, mother; these are sad times, but we must not lose courage. I +wish I could see you to-night. + + + August 1, 1915. + +To say that I was delighted will not express my feelings when I got the +letter from the Loyalist Chapter, I. O. D. E., enclosing cheque. It was +awfully good of them to help us here, for I realize the demands for +help on every side and it is only natural that they should send to the +Canadians first. But O! it is so badly needed and will do so much good +here. I had been racking my brain trying to think of a way to scratch up +a few pennies, and then this delightful surprise came. + +This hospital is called the "Paradise of the Seventh Region," for it is +so very far ahead of most of the French military hospitals. But while +there is a good deal of luxury on one side, such as pleasant airy rooms, +comfortable beds, good food and air, on the other hand there is a great +lack of what we consider necessities. The first thing I did when I got +the letter with the money was to order a foot tub for each floor, +slippers for the patients when they are in the house, scissors for the +pharmacy and for each floor, and various other small things that I have +been longing for and that will save many steps. Now that the capacity +of the hospital has been increased by fifty beds, it is more difficult +than ever to get money from the general fund for things of that kind; it +really has to be kept for food and heating. We also need instruments and +basins, etc., for a table for dressings in the new ward, as we have +absolutely nothing. Then it is so nice to have a fund that we can draw +on in case of need. Sometimes the men are terribly poor and cannot +afford to get anything for themselves when they leave. Sometimes a +ticket for a wife or daughter to come to see them and cheer them up. It +is the second time some of these men have been wounded and they have not +seen their families for a year. + +It is just a year to-day (August 1st) since mobilization began. At five +o'clock in the morning the tocsin sounded and all the village gathered +at the Town Hall to read the notice of mobilization. There were many +sad and anxious hearts then, but many more now, for there is not a +family who has not lost someone who is near and dear to them--and still +it goes on. I wonder when the end will come. + +My prize patient, Daillet, walks down stairs by himself now by holding +on to the railing like a child. We are all proud of him. The doctor who +sent him here from Besançon came in the other day to see how he was +getting on and he could not believe it when he saw him. + +I am almost asleep so I must stop. I made a mistake this morning, got up +at half-past four instead of half-past five. + + + August 15, 1915. + +In the face of all the terrible things which are happening one must not +worry over little things. I have got to the stage now when I feel as if +one should never complain or worry if they have a roof over their heads +and enough to eat, and that all one's efforts should be given to +helping others. + +I feel perfectly overwhelmed with the letters that ought to be written, +but cannot find time to do them. I have been up all night and a couple +of days. We got thirty new patients last night. They arrived at 3 a.m. +and it was half-past five before we got them to bed. I did not get any +of this lot, as my rooms were full. There were not so many +wounded,--more sick, rheumatism, bronchitis, etc. One poor man said it +was like going directly from hell to heaven; it was the first time he +had slept in a bed for a year. Some of them have been wounded for the +second time. + +It is nearly eleven and I must be up early, so good-night. + + + August 23, 1915. + +Your letter has been long delayed, as they are very strict and holding +up the mails again. + +We heard this morning that there are French troops guarding the border +at Crassier, just half a mile from here. We hear all the Swiss border is +to be protected by barbed wire. I do not know what it all means unless +it is on account of spies. + +We got fifteen more patients last week, one yesterday and one to-day, +but as several went away we have still the same number--eighty-four. + +We have had a very busy morning. An inspector arrived just as we were +ready to operate, and between the two I did not know whether I was on my +head or my heels. Thirty of our men will go off on Monday and we will +probably get a train full later in the week. + +We have a phonograph with a rasping voice that plays from morning to +night. The soldiers love it; the poor things are so used to noise that +they don't seem happy without it, but sometimes I feel as if I could +scream. + +One of the men got a telegram saying his mother was dying; the doctor +gave him forty-eight hours leave--all he could possibly do--so he went +home and has just got back; could not stay for the funeral, but was so +thankful to have been able to see her. If he had been at the front that +would not have been possible--only another sad consequence of the war. +Another soldier received the news of the death of his little girl. + +Miss Todd took me out in her motor the other day. We had a beautiful run +over the mountains; the view was magnificent. We took one of the +soldiers with us and he enjoyed himself immensely; it was the first time +he had ever been in one. + + + Sunday, August 29, 1915. + +It is pouring rain, it is sad to say, as the soldiers are having a +little celebration. A band came from Noyon and the Count de Divonne made +a speech, two of the men received their Croix de Guerre, the doctor +made such a nice little speech to each of them. It was very touching to +see the groups of men, some with arms in slings and others with legs and +heads bandaged, and some who could not stand at all, still others were +in their beds. The decorations were given in the Grand Salle. + +I am not sure if all your letters reach me or not, sometimes I get two +in a week and then again none for three weeks. + +Thirty-three men go off to-morrow, some of them cured and back to the +front, some who will never be better, and some to go home on +convalescence. + +To-day the florist in the village sent a clothes basket full of roses to +the Ambulance for the fete. I thought of you and wished you could have +some. + + + September 5, 1915. + +Thanks for the money you sent from a friend in your last letter. I will +use it wisely and make it go as far as possible. There will be more +suffering this winter than there was last, but they are so brave, these +people, they seldom complain of anything. + +There is a little woman here whose husband was killed. She makes twenty +cents a day selling papers and gets ten cents a day pension. She has +three children, the eldest a girl of twelve. I got her a good pair of +boots the other day and warm underclothes for the other children. She +was so grateful. + +Don't worry about me. My expenses are very small, I have not bought any +clothes and do not need any this winter. + +To-day they had a big concert in the hotel, the proceeds go to the +Ambulance. + +We have had an awful week of rain and cold, but hope for a little more +sunshine to thaw us out. + +Our good doctor is going to be married next month. I am so glad, for he +lives all alone and needs some one to look after him. + +I shall have to go to bed to get warm. There is no heat in this house +and when it rains it is like an ice box. + + + September 11, 1915. + +I expect to leave here in two weeks to go to an Ambulance at the front. +It is somewhere in the north in Belgium. I think Dr. R---- is sorry to +have me leave, but it will be a much larger field and the kind of a +place where there will be much to do. They have all been so nice to me +here about helping me get my papers ready to send to the Minister of +War, so I do not think there will be any difficulty of my getting +through. I go to Paris first, then to Dunkirk, where Mrs. T---- will +meet me, after that my destination is uncertain. Do not worry if you do +not hear from me regularly, for it may be difficult to get mail +through. I will write as usual. + +I cannot tell you how glad I am to be able to go to the front, for it +means a chance to do good work and I shall be so glad to be in the north +when B---- comes over and nearer the Canadian boys. Even if I cannot +see them I shall not feel so far away. + +One of my men to-day got word that his baby, seven months old, had just +died and the little girl of two is very ill. He expected to go next week +and has been counting the days till he could see them. He has never seen +the baby as it was born after the war began--another one of the sad +things of this awful war. + +Good-night; I am so glad of the chance of active service. + + + September 16, 1915. + +It was awfully good of Miss W---- to send the money to me, it is so +much needed here. I expect to get off Monday or Tuesday of next week. + + + September 19, 1915. + +My orders came to-day, and I leave on Tuesday for Paris and on Friday +for Dunkirk. I am up to my eyes in work, for there is so much to be done +before leaving and new people to break in. Three military nurses arrived +yesterday, but it is rather difficult to manage for they know nothing at +all about taking care of sick people. They have all been at the front, +and wounded too badly to return and sent into an auxiliary service. One +is a priest, one a hair dresser and the third a horse dealer; however, +they are nice men and are willing to learn, which is a great thing in +their favor. + +If they are able to raise any money for me I will see that it is wisely +spent. There is great need everywhere, and I am proud of the people of +St. John, they have done so much. + +There is a poor woman who lives in a little village near here. She had +two sons--one has been killed in the war, the other a helpless cripple +for eighteen years and is not able to move out of his chair. He makes +baskets sometimes, but now there is no one to buy the baskets. The +mother goes out by the day but can earn so little. I gave him five +francs, one of the De Monts dressing gowns and some warm underclothes. +He was so grateful, poor boy, and says he will not feel the cold now. +His mother is away nearly all day and he sits by the window all alone +and depends upon the neighbours coming in to help him from time to time; +he is always cheerful and never complains. + +The W----s have such a hard time--they get so little of their income +since the war began. It has gradually gone down from $3,000.00 per year +to $500.00; four of them to live on that amount. So many people are in +just the same condition, there is no end to the misery. + +I do not know whether it is the French or the English army we are to +follow at my new post. + + + PARIS September 23, 1915. + +I am off to-morrow at 7.30 a.m., to Boulogne, then Calais and reach +Dunkirk at 9.30 p.m. + +I have had two very strenuous days and will be glad to rest in the train +to-morrow. It took such a time to get my papers in order. The +thermometer for the last two days has been about 100. + + + MOBILE NO. 1, France, 1915. + +I am really not in France but Belgium. I cannot tell you just where, but +it is within ten miles of the firing line, and not far from the place +where so many of our boys from home have been sent. I thought when I +came here that it would be entirely English, as the lady who gave the +hospital is an American married to an Englishman. The English are not +far away but they are taken to their own hospitals. + +We belong to a little wedge of the French that is in between the +English and Belgians. It is a regular field hospital and is composed of +a great many portable huts or sheds; some are fitted up as wards, +another the operating room, another the pharmacy, another supply room, +laundry, nurses' quarters, doctors' quarters, etc. It is a little colony +set down in the fields and the streets are wooden sidewalks. + +The first night I arrived I did not sleep, for the guns roared all night +long, and we could see the flashes from the shells quite plainly; the +whole sky was aglow. The French and English guns sounded like a +continuous roar of thunder; but when the shells from the German guns +landed on this side we could feel a distinct shock, and everything in +our little shanty rattled. + +Yesterday I saw my first battle in the air between German and French +aeroplanes. We could scarcely see the machines, they were so high up in +the air, but we could see the flashes from their guns quite distinctly +and hear the explosion of the shells. To-day a whole fleet of aeroplanes +passed over our heads; it was a wonderful sight. + +There are about one hundred and fifty beds in all here. + +I have been inspected by doctors, captains, generals, and all kinds of +people till I am weary. I hope they are satisfied at last, but I cannot +go off the hospital grounds until I have two different kinds of passes +given to me,--one is a permission to go on the roads about here and the +other is good as far as Dunkirk. + +We have a man in our ward who had a piece of shrapnel the size of an egg +in his abdomen; they had to take out about half a yard of intestines, +which had been torn to pieces. He was also shot through the shoulder, in +the arm and leg. As we got him within two hours after he was wounded +there was no infection, and having a clever surgeon he is getting along +famously. Another poor chap has lost his right arm and shot through the +liver as well as being cut up by piece of shrapnel--he is getting well +also. Two have died, and it is a blessing; for to live in darkness the +rest of one's life is worse than death. The Germans are using a new kind +of gas bomb that blinds the men. + +It is pouring rain to-night and cheerless enough here, but I can only +think of the poor men in the trenches. + +I got a joyful surprise to-day--a letter from Mr. Bell enclosing post +office order from Mr. Calhoun, of Philadelphia. Nothing gives me so much +pleasure as to help these poor people. + +It is beginning to get cold. I shall get bed socks for the men, for they +have not enough hot water bags to go round and all suffer from cold +feet. + +I passed Colonel MacLaren's hospital in the train--it is very +impressive to see the rows and rows of white tents. I also saw some +Canadian nurses in the distance, and did so want to get out and speak to +them. + +I must go to bed now to get warm. As long as one keeps going the cold is +not so apparent but when one sits still it is not pleasant. + +There are four English, three American and three French nurses here. + + + October 3, 1915. + +My fund is like the widow's cruse,--it never gives out. Somebody is +always sending me something. I do hope they all realize how grateful I +am and how much good I have been able to do. I have been very careful +how I spent it. + +A boy of twenty went off to-day. He had absolutely nothing warm to put +on him, so I got him an outfit at Dunkirk--he was almost blown to +pieces, poor boy, and he said that one sock was all that was left of his +clothes. They provide them with necessary things at the hospital, but +sometimes the supply gets a bit low and now it is so cold they need +extra underclothing. When he was brought in they put him in a ward by +himself because they thought he would not live through the night, he was +so terribly wounded. His right arm was gone, he had a bullet in his +liver--it is still there--and multiple wounds of head and body. But he +made a wonderful recovery and went away very white and weak, but +cheerful and confident that he will get something to do that will not +require two hands. He has the Medaille Militaire and the Croix de +Guerre, and his Lieutenant, Captain and General have all been to see him +several times--they say he was a wonderful soldier. + +[Illustration: Thought to be a hopeless case but everyone must have +their chance, three doctors operated at once amputating leg, an arm and +trepanning. Now as happy as the day is long.] + +Three of us went to Dunkirk by motor to get various supplies. We saw +many interesting things on the way, and in Dunkirk saw the destruction +caused by the bombardment. The whole side was out of the church and +several houses were simply crushed like a pack of cards. Some of the +nurses were in Dunkirk when it was bombarded, and they said the noise +was the most terrifying part of it all. + +The day we went to Dunkirk we saw a lot of armoured cars. Such curious +looking things they are--some are painted with blotches of yellow and +green and gray and red and brown so they cannot be distinguished from +the landscape. We saw lots of English troops. I looked in vain for +Canadians, but they are not far off. + +It has been awfully cold so far and rains most of the time. We have +decided that we shall just keep putting on clothes like the Italians do +in winter and never take anything off. + +We get wounded every day, sometimes not more than half a dozen, but as +they are almost all seriously wounded we are kept busy. + +There have been so many troops moving on lately, that we thought we +would be left without anything to do. We have orders not to do anything +that is not absolutely necessary as we may have to move also. + +I believe the hospital at Divonne has been taken over by the nuns. I +miss the lovely flowers that I had there. I share a small room with two +other nurses and there is not much room to spare. We have boxes put up +on end for tables and wash-stands, and there is only one chair. Some of +the nurses have tents, two in each. + +We have had a terrible busy week. All the new ones that came into my +ward lived only thirty-six or forty-eight hours--they were too far gone +to save. Five went away cured, and they really were cases to be proud +of. + +I think it was the sweetest thing of little Mary Murray to send me her +birthday money for my soldiers. I have been getting them fruit and +cigarettes for Sunday. That is the thing that overwhelms me at +times--the awful suffering every way one turns. Dorothy Thompson sent me +£5, much to my joy. + +Last night I could not sleep for the noise of the guns; they must have +been bombarding some place near at hand, for the whole earth seemed to +shake. + +The boys who drive the American ambulance and bring our patients in say +this place is a sort of heaven to them, they are always glad to get +here. Mrs. T---- does everything she can for them. They are a nice lot +of boys and are doing good work. + +Some of the poor men who have lost large pieces of their intestines +find the hospital diet a little hard. + + + MOBILE NO. 1, November 7, 1915. + +Letter writing is done, under difficulties here. I have gone to bed in +order to keep warm and have a small lantern with a candle in to light +the paper. + + + November 15, 1915. + +I did not get any further with my letter for the kitty insisted upon +playing with the candle and I was afraid we would have a fire, and since +then I have been so busy I have not had a minute. We have had three +glorious days and have appreciated them, I can tell you. It has been so +cold and wet we have all been water-logged. As for me, I have no word to +express my gratitude for all the friends have sent to me. I am quite +overwhelmed with all the gifts of money and supplies, but I shall make +good use of them and nothing shall be wasted. The wool which Mrs. S---- +sent turned up yesterday and I have already given half of it to the +women in one of the villages here to knit into socks. There is a dear +old English colonel who has a soup kitchen near the firing line, and he +is always looking for socks. He does a great deal of good, for he gets +the men when they are carried in from the trenches and gives them hot +drinks and hot water bottles, and warm socks when he has them. So many +of the men have just straw in their boots and are almost frozen. It +makes such a difference if they can get warmed up quickly. Poor souls, +they have had a hard time since the heavy rains began. They are brought +in here just caked with mud from head to foot. + +Oh, how glad I was to get the cheque from the "Red Cross" Society and +the cheque from Miss G----. I have written to her and would like to +write long letters to every one who is so kind, but there is not time. + +This Ambulance was established by an American lady who then gave it to +the French government. The expenses of running it are paid by them, but +I think Mrs. ---- pays the nurses and also helps out in the way of extra +supplies. + +On All Saints Day we went to the little cemetery and decorated the +graves of the soldiers who have died in the hospital. There was a +special mass and service in the churchyard and the General sent us an +invitation. It was pouring rain but I would not have missed it for +anything, and I only wish the mothers, wives and sisters could know how +beautiful it all was and how tenderly cared for are the last +resting-places of their dear ones. It was a picture I shall never +forget. The corner of the little churchyard with the forty new graves so +close together, each marked with a small wooden cross and heaped high +with flowers--the General standing with a group of officers and soldiers +all with bared heads--the nurses and one or two of the doctors from the +hospital behind them, and then the village people and refugees--hundreds +of them, it seemed to me--and the priest giving his lesson--and all the +time the rain coming down in torrents and nobody paying any attention to +it. There were no dry eyes, and when the General came and shook hands +with us afterwards, he could not speak. He is a splendid man, very +handsome and a patriot to the backbone,--one of the finest types of +Frenchmen. + +Do not worry about me for I am very well and so glad to be here in spite +of the cold and discomforts. Mrs. S----'s socks and bandages have just +come. + + + November 28, 1915. + +It is bitterly cold here, and we feel it more because it is so damp. I +can't tell you how thankful I am to be able to get socks and warm things +for the men. We can send things to the first dressing station by the +ambulances, and from there they go to the trenches at once. Mrs. D----'s +socks came yesterday, and I sent them off to Colonel Noble, who has the +soup kitchen at the front. All Mrs. S----'s have been given away. It was +such a good idea to have them white, for they put them on under the +others and it often saves the men from being infected by the dye of the +stockings. + +This morning when I got up my room was like a skating pond, for the +moisture had frozen on the floor and the water in the pitcher was solid. +The getting up in the morning is the hardest, but after we get started +we do not mind the cold. + +The patients have plenty of blankets and hot water bottles, so they do +not suffer. + +Two Zeppelins went over our head yesterday, but fortunately we are too +unimportant to be noticed. I suppose that is one of the reasons they +will not let us say where we are, for there are so many spies everywhere +that can send information. + +An English nurse came yesterday; she has had most interesting +experiences. She was in Brussels when it was taken by the Germans and +was obliged to take care of German soldiers and officers for some time. +She said the officers, as a rule, were brutes, but some of the men were +very nice and grateful. + +For three days and nights the guns have thundered without ceasing. I +wonder what it all means? + +My kitty keeps all the seventeen dogs that loaf around here in order. +Yesterday she chased a big yellow dog, half St. Bernard, down the main +sidewalk of the Ambulance. It was a very funny sight, for she was like a +little round ball of fury and the poor dog was frightened to death. + + + December 5, 1915. + +Last night we had the most awful wind storm. I thought our little hut +would be carried over into the German lines. It rained in torrents and +the roof leaked, and I could not get my bed away from the drips, so I +put up my umbrella and the kitty and I had quite a comfortable night. + +Ben Ali, the poor Arab who was so desperately wounded, was up to-day for +the first time. + +I have ordered six dozen pair of socks from Paris. My nice old English +Colonel Noble (with the soup kitchen) is always clamoring for them. I +think he saves lots of the men from having frozen feet. Madge S----'s +wool is being made into socks by the women of the village. + + + December 26, 1915. + +Christmas is over, and in spite of the under-current of sadness and the +suffering the men had a very happy day. In my ward all but one were well +enough to enjoy the tree, and they were like a lot of children with +their stockings. Christmas Eve one of the orderlies who was on guard +helped me decorate the ward and trim the tree, then we hung up their +stockings. They had oranges, sweets and cigarettes and some small toys +and puzzles and various things of that kind to amuse them. + +I had a package for each one in the morning, and, thanks to my good +friends at home, was able to give them some nice things. I had a pair of +warm socks and gloves for each one, a writing pad and envelopes, pen, +pencil, small comb in a case, tooth brush, tooth powder, piece of soap, +wash cloth and a small alcohol lamp with solidified alcohol--a thing +made especially for the trenches and which delighted them very +much--also a small box of sweets, and to several of the very poor ones I +gave a small purse with five francs in it. One poor boy said he had +never had such a Christmas in his life; he is one of a family of seven, +and says that in times of peace it was all they could do to get enough +to eat. + +Christmas day at four o'clock the tree was lighted, and one of the many +priests who act as infirmiers here came round to the different wards and +sang carols. He has a very beautiful voice and was much appreciated by +the soldiers. Mrs. Turner then came in, followed by an orderly with a +huge hamper containing a present for each man. They had a wonderful +dinner, soup, raw oysters, (which came from Dunkirk by motor), plum +pudding, etc. I could only give my men a bite of pudding to taste it, +but they were able to eat the oysters and other things in moderation. + +In the other wards, where there were only arms and legs and heads to +consider, they had a royal feast. She also gave a grand dinner to all +the infirmiers and men on the place--had a tree for them and a present +for each one. We also had a good dinner and a present for each. She +certainly went to a great deal of trouble and made many people happy. + +The next day we divided the things on the trees and each man made a +package to send home to his children. They were even more delighted to +be able to do this than with their own things. + +One poor man in my ward was so ill that I was afraid he would die, so I +moved his bed to the end of the ward and put screens around it so that +he would not be disturbed and that the others would not be disheartened +by seeing him. He was so much better Christmas night that we had great +hopes of saving him, but to-day he died. He was wounded in seven places +and one hip was gone. The General came at four o'clock and decorated +him. He roused up and saluted and seemed so pleased. In the evening the +doctor came to do his dressing and he seemed much better. After the +doctor had gone he turned to me and said, "That Major knows what he is +about, he is a corker." + +Ben Ali, my prize Arab, had a wonderful day. He ate too much and had to +stay in bed to-day, but he has been wrapping and unwrapping his presents +and having a fine time. He is just like a child, he is so pleased. He +has taken a great fancy to me and asked me to visit him after the war is +over. + +We had midnight mass on Christmas eve for the infirmiers and personnel +of the hospital. One of the empty wards was fitted up as a chapel and a +Franciscan monk from Montreal officiated. He is on duty here in the +lingerie, and is a splendid man. He is delicate, has some serious heart +trouble, so that he need not stay, but he came over to do what he could +for his country and his services are invaluable here. His mother was in +the north of the country taken by the Germans and he has not been able +to get any news of her for more than a year. + +We have had orders from head-quarters to close all the shutters as soon +as the lights are lit, so we feel as if we were shut up in packing +cases. + +There were a great many aeroplanes flying about to-day, so I suppose +they are expecting an attack of some kind. It is blowing a gale to-night +and I feel as if our little shanty would blow over. + + + January 1, 1916. + +It is hard to believe that we are beginning another year. If only it +will bring a lasting peace! The boxes have not turned up yet, but they +doubtless will one of these days, and we will be all the more glad to +see them because we have used up everything else. + +I expected to go on night duty immediately after Christmas, but we had +such sick people in my ward they did not want to make a change just +then. + +It is blowing a gale again to-night, and raining in torrents; it seems +as if it would never stop raining. The roof of one of the wards was +loosened the other night the wind was so strong, so the patients had to +be all moved out while it was being mended. Our barracks had to be +propped up also, all one side was loose and the rain came in in sheets. +I frequently go to bed with an umbrella. + + + January 16, 1916. + +We have had orders to evacuate all the men who are able to travel, so we +got rid of a great many--eighteen went on Tuesday, twenty on Friday and +nineteen more are to go next Tuesday. + +The roof nearly blew off my ward last night, so my patients had to be +moved into the next ward till it is mended. I am going to take advantage +of it and have a thorough house cleaning. + +Le Roux, the boy who has been here so long and who has been so terribly +ill, died on Tuesday. I had great hopes of him up till the last day. +Half an hour after he died the General came to decorate him. I hope they +will send the medals to his people, it seems hard that they should have +been just too late to give them to him. The next day I went to his +funeral--the first soldier's funeral I have seen. I was impressed with +the dignity and simplicity of it. The plain deal coffin was covered with +a black pall, which had a white cross at the head, the French flag +covered the foot and a bunch of purple violets, tied with red, white +and blue ribbon, lay between. It was carried in one of the covered +military carts. At three o'clock the little procession started for the +cemetery. First came the priest in soldier's uniform, carrying a small +wooden cross, on which was written Le Roux's name and the name of his +regiment. One of this kind is always put at the head of each grave. Then +came three soldiers with guns on their shoulders, then the car bearing +the coffin, and on each side three soldiers with arms reversed; directly +behind were two infirmiers and three soldiers with guns on their +shoulders, we two nurses in our uniforms, then two officers and some +more soldiers. As we went down the road to the little church in R---- we +passed long lines of soldiers going somewhere, and everyone saluted. A +few stray people followed us into the church and afterwards to the +graveyard, where we left Le Roux with his comrades who had gone before. +I had not been there since All Saints Day and it was sad to see how many +more graves had been added to the line. The ward seems very empty +without Le Roux, but I am glad that the poor boy is at rest for he has +suffered so long. I am beginning to think that death is the only good +thing that can come to many of us. + +[Illustration: Nurses Quarters for Two.] + + + January 25, 1916. + +We have been awfully busy, wounded arriving every night, sometimes nine +and sometimes ten, etc. To-night we have had only six so far, but will +probably have some more before eight a.m., they have all been very bad +cases. There has been a terrific bombardment every night we have been on +duty. + +My little tent nearly blew away in the big wind storm, so I had to sleep +in the barracks--or rather try to sleep. I did not succeed very well, so +to-day I moved back to the tent. From my bed in the tent I can see the +troops passing on the road and aeroplanes in the sky. To-day we saw so +many we knew it would mean trouble to-night. The trenches were +bombarded, and some of the poor men who were wounded had to lie in the +mud and cold for over twelve hours before they could be moved, +consequently they arrived here in a pretty bad shape. One of the men had +on a pair of Mrs. D----'s socks. I had sent them to Colonel Noble and he +gave them to the men in the trenches. It has been clear and frosty for +two nights, such a relief after all the rain. The hospital is full of +very sick men. I am glad to be on night duty for a change. + + + January 30, 1916. + +It has been so cold and damp to-day that I could not get warm even in +bed. I like sleeping out in the little tent and as a rule sleep very +well--have a cup of hot tea when they wake us at six o'clock. I wear +two pair of socks, beside the rooms are not so frightfully damp since we +got up the little stoves; they get dried out once a day, which is a +great advantage. + +I am sending you some snap shots of my little kitty. We call her +"Antoinette" after the aeroplane, for she makes a noise like the +aeroplane when she sings. + +When I have a chance I shall go back to Divonne for a rest--it is too +far to go home--but there does not seem any chance of it at present. The +English nurses who have been here six months will have to go first, and +we are more than busy. There are two new nurses coming next +week--Canadians, I think. It is very difficult to get nurses up here, +there is so much red tape to go through. + +You must not worry about me, for I am really very well. The cold and +simple life is very healthy, even if it is not always comfortable. I +seem to be as strong as an ox and the more I have to do the better I +feel. + +It is joyful to hear that I am to have some more money. St. John people +certainly have been good. A box came to-day from Trinity, it had been +opened. There is the ambulance, I must run. + + + February 6, 1916. + +We are so busy here that we scarcely know where to turn. It is just a +procession of wounded coming and going all the time, for we have to send +them off as quickly as possible in order to make room for the new +arrivals. Thirty-eight went off last Tuesday and fifteen on Friday, but +the beds are filled up again. The last ones we have been getting are so +badly wounded that I wonder who can be moved on Tuesday. We have had +wild wind and rain for the last week, but to-day is cold and clear and +for the first time in weeks it is quiet--the cannonading has been +incessant. + +Two English aviators were brought in yesterday whose machine fell quite +near here; fortunately they are not very badly hurt. + +The box from the high school girls came to-day, and it was like having +Christmas all over again,--such a nice lot of things there were. I shall +have a fine time distributing them. + +Here comes the ambulance. One poor man died in the receiving ward and +the other two went to the operating room at once. They both have +symptoms of gas gangrene, and I am afraid one will lose an arm and the +other a leg. + +In spite of the cold and wet we keep extraordinarily well. + +Four new nurses have come, much to our relief, for the work was getting +rather beyond us. Two of them are Canadians from Toronto. They know ever +so many people I know. They sailed from St. John at Christmas time and +saw so many St. John friends of mine--they said everyone was so good to +them. + +We do not get a minute during the night and some days have been up to +lunch time. + + + February 22, 1916. + +There have been two big attacks and we have had our hands full. Since +Sunday the cannonading has gone on without ceasing. It seems to be all +round us. At night we can see the flashes of the guns quite distinctly, +in fact the sky is lit up most of the time. It is like the reflection of +a great fire--it would be very beautiful if one could get away from the +horror of what it all means. + +The aeroplanes were almost as thick as the motors--one came down in a +field near the hospital yesterday--the wings were riddled with bullets, +but fortunately the aviator was not hurt. We often see taubes, and +Zeppelins have gone over us several times, though I could not recognize +them, but the noise was unmistakeable. The wounded are nearly all +brought in at night so we have our hearts and hands full. The other +night twenty-three came in at once so we had to call up the day people +to help us; seventeen were operated upon and all are getting well but +one. + +From the twenty-third July, 1915, until the first January, 1916, seven +hundred and fifty patients have been cared for here and sixty-six have +died. I have had over one hundred wounded come in at night this last +month, and as they all come directly from the trenches you can imagine +what it means. + +Such a fine box came from Mrs. S---- and F---- containing bandages, +socks, etc., all most welcome. + +The ground is white with snow to-day but it will not stay long. + +It is very difficult to get nurses here as a command of the French +language is an essential. + +The guns are still at it, so there will be much to do to-night. + + + March 6, 1916. + +We have had snow several times this week and it is snowing again to-day. +It is very pretty for a little while but soon melts, and the mud is +worse than ever. + +I feel that I can never be grateful enough to the people who have +enabled me to do so much for these poor men. I am going to order some +more pillows, they are things that we need very much. All the lung cases +have to sit up in bed and need a great many pillows to make them +comfortable. Strange to say we have not lost a lung case and we have had +some pretty bad ones. There is one in now who was shot through the lung, +and yesterday they took out a long sibber bullet from under his rib; he +will be able to go home next week. When he came in he was in very bad +condition and he could not speak for a week. The treatment is to sit +them up in bed and give them morphine every day to keep them perfectly +quiet, the hemorrhage gradually stops and they get well very quickly. We +have had a number of deaths from that awful gas gangrene; there is not +much hope when that attacks them. + +[Illustration: AMBULANCE VOLANT, in Winter.] + +The bombardments have been so terrible lately that those who are +wounded in the morning cannot be taken out of the trenches until night, +and then they are in a sad condition. + +One day last week, just as I was getting ready to go to bed, some people +came out from the village to ask if we could help a poor girl who had +been burned. Mrs. Turner and I went at once with all sorts of dressings +and found her in a terrible state--her whole body burned--so of course +there was no hope. She only lived three days. I went in the mornings to +do her dressing and another nurse in the afternoon. She was burned by +lighting a fire with oil. + +Things are too heavy now for me to get my holiday. + + + March 12, 1916. + +Only ten admissions. All the efforts are being directed against Verdun. +The defence has been magnificent, and if only the ammunition holds out +there will be no danger of the Germans getting through; but what a +terrible waste of good material on both sides. + +Mrs. Turner has been obliged to go to Paris and has left me in charge of +the hospital. I hope nothing terrible will happen while she is away. + +The snow is all gone and we are having rain again. + +My kitty is getting very bad and spends all her nights out. She has +grown to be just a common ordinary cat now, but she caught a rat the +other day, so has become useful instead of ornamental. + + + March 20, 1916. + +I am left in charge of the Ambulance for a time and am a bit nervous, +having French, English, American, Canadian and Australian nurses under +me. + +We had quite an exciting time yesterday watching a German being chased +by four French machines. They all disappeared in the clouds so we do not +know what happened. To-day I counted eleven aeroplanes in the air at +once as well as three observation balloons. One aeroplane came so close +over the barracks that we could wave to the pilot. + +We had a lot of patients out of doors to-day, some on stretchers, others +on chairs, and others had their beds carried out--they enjoyed it so +much. We take advantage of all the good weather. + +It is pouring again to-night and the guns are booming in an ominous +manner. + +One day last week I went to Poperinghe with Mrs. C----. We heard there +was some Canadian troops there and I was hoping to find some friends, +but the Canadians had been moved; however, we talked with some Tommies, +gave them cigarettes and chocolate and had a very interesting time. + + + March 29, 1916. + +Just a week ago a French general was brought in wounded in the leg while +he was inspecting the Belgian trenches. We were rather overwhelmed at +first, but I arranged a corner of one of the wards and he spent one day +and night there while we fixed up an empty ward for him. The next day +his wife arrived and she is camping quite contentedly in another corner +of the ward. She, poor woman, has suffered much from the war but is very +brave. Her eldest son was killed, her second son is ill at Amiens, and +this is the second time the general has been wounded. The first time he +was in a hospital for three months. Her nephew, who is like a second +son, has also been killed, and his wife, a young woman of twenty-two, +taken prisoner by the Germans, and they have had no news of her since +September, 1914. The general's home was in the Aisne district and is, of +course, in the hands of the Germans. There is nothing left of the house +but the four walls; everything has been packed off to Germany, all the +wood work and metal has been taken for the trenches. The day the general +was brought in, the King of the Belgians came to decorate him, and we +were all so disappointed because we did not know about it and only one +or two of us saw him. He came in a motor, accompanied only by one +officer, and we did not know anything about it until he had gone. + +We had another awful storm last night--wind and rain. Windows blew off +and doors blew in, and one poor little night nurse was blown off the +sidewalk and nearly lost in the mud. + +One day last week I was surprised by a visit from two Canadian boys. +They were doing some engineering work in this section and when they +heard there were Canadians here they came over to see us. One was from +Toronto, the other from Fort William. I gave them one of the Christmas +cakes and some cigarettes. They went away very happy. I was hoping to +get news of some of our boys, but they did not know any of them +personally but expected to see some of the men from the Twenty-sixth in +a few days. I told them to tell any who could to come and see us. I have +been hoping ever since their visit to see B---- or S---- or D---- walk +in some day. It is awful to know that they are so near and not be able +to see them. + + + April 8, 1916. + +A cheque came to-day from the De Monts Chapter, I. O. D. E., which gave +me great joy. It touches me to tears to think of the way the St. John +people have helped me. I wish they could have a look in here and see how +much more I have been able to do on account of the help they have sent +me. + +There is a soldier who helps here by the name of Baquet; his wife has +just taken three orphan children, the oldest six years old, to look +after, in addition to her own four, her mother and her mother-in-law. +There are no men left to do the work on the farm, and poor Baquet did +not know how they could get along. I gave him one hundred francs and +told him it was from my friends in Canada. He did not want to take it at +first, saying it was sent for the wounded, but I explained to him that +it was sent to me to help the soldiers and the soldiers' families. He +said it would mean so much to his wife, she works from four in the +morning till dark. They are the sort of people who deserve help, and it +is such a joy to be able to lighten their burdens a little. + +We have only about eighty patients at present, but they keep us busy. +The two men who came in last have been so terribly wounded. We have had +a number of cases of gas gangrene. They are trying to cure them with a +new sort of serum. Two of the men really seem to be getting better. Four +cases were brought in yesterday. One poor man died at noon, and I was +glad he did not live any longer; another they had to operate on in the +afternoon and take his leg off. He was in very bad shape last night but +this morning he surprised every one by asking for pen and paper to write +to his mother, and says he feels fine. + +Our wounded general left to-day. He could not say enough nice things +about the hospital. He said he was so glad he had been brought here, not +only on his own account, but he was so glad to see how wonderfully his +men were taken care of. + +The guns have been going incessantly for the past two days, and we hear +that the English have taken four trenches. I have also heard that some +Canadians have come over lately and our B---- may be only four or five +miles from me. I asked the general if it would be possible for me to +find out; he said he would inquire and if B---- is anywhere in reach he +would get me a pass to go and see him. I feel as if I would start out +and walk to try and find him; but alas! one cannot get by the sentries +without proper papers. + +I hope my fur lined cape has not gone to the bottom. I think I shall +still need it in June, for after two wonderful sunshiny days we are +again freezing. Sunday and Monday were like days in June and we moved +the beds of the patients out in the grass and others were on +stretchers. We had the phonograph going, served lemonade, biscuits, +sweets and cigarettes. They had a wonderful time and all slept like tops +the next night. + +I think I shall have to find a new job when the war is over, for I don't +think I shall ever do any more nursing. + +I am trying to find a lot of straw hats like "cows' breakfasts" and +cheap parasols to protect their heads when they are taking sun baths. + +The dressings are taken down and one thickness of gauze only left over +the wound, and they are left in the sun from twenty minutes to two hours +according to what they can stand. + + + April 11, 1916. + +Yesterday we had quite an interesting time with air crafts. The machine +came down so close, that we could see the pilot and his assistant who +waved to us that they were going to throw something to us. A package +landed, almost in the pond. It turned out to be a letter tied up in a +handkerchief with some shot as weight. It was from the English boys who +were patients here for a while; they told us they would pay us a visit +some day. We could see the machine gun in front of the aeroplane quite +distinctly. In the afternoon there was another excitement--a German +machine chased by several French. It looked from below as if they had +got him, but they all disappeared in the clouds and we did not know the +result of the fight. + +At nine o'clock there was a terrific explosion as if a bomb had dropped +just outside the gate. We all rushed out and could hear the aeroplane +distinctly, but could not see it; no damage was done near us. We have +just heard that the bomb landed just outside the village doing no +damage. + +Thanks for the toilet articles, they are a wise selection. What we +before considered necessities we now know are luxuries. + +We have just got off a motor full of convalescents going home on +permission. I hope they will get a month, some of them have been in the +trenches twenty months. + + + May 3, 1916. + +I got a lot of linen hats and Chinese umbrellas to keep the sun off the +patients when they are out of doors. + +The two Canadian nurses are a joy to work with, for they have had +splendid training and are the kind that will go till they drop. + +We have a wounded German prisoner who was brought in three days ago. The +poor boy had to lose his right arm, and was at first terrified of every +one. He expected to be ill-treated, but now that he sees he gets the +same treatment as all the other patients he is happy and contented and +very glad to be with us. I thought if I ever saw a German in these +regions I would be capable of killing him myself, but one cannot +remember their nationality when they are wounded and suffering. + +[Illustration: Showing linen caps and chinese umbrellas purchased for +patients from contributions.] + +[Illustration: Queen of the Belgians leaving the ambulance.] + +I am sending you a photo of the Queen of the Belgians, who visited us +and was very nice; she spoke so highly of the Canadians and of the +splendid work they had done. + + PARIS, May 24, 1916. + +I left Dunkirk Thursday morning in time to escape the bombs, and stopped +off at Etaples to look up some of our friends at the Canadian hospital. +Dr. MacL---- had left for London but I saw M---- D----, and M---- P----. + +Etaples is a real city of hospitals now. I saw the St. John Ambulance +and the Canadian unit; they are both most interesting, so well +organized. + +Captain T---- took me to the station in a motor, for which I was glad, +as it is two miles, and the walk over in the sun was as much as I +wanted. Arrived at Paris at five the next morning rather weary, had a +hot bath, the first in a real tub for eight months, and when I went to +bed that night I slept for nearly twenty-four hours. + + + DIVONNE-LES-BAINS, May 30, 1916. + +I did not go to the Grand Hotel for reasons of economy. This is a clean +little place and I am quite comfortable but I miss the bathroom and the +balcony. + +There are no patients at the Ambulance here for the moment. All the +fighting is in the north and at Verdun. Poor Verdun--it is terrible +there, one hundred days and still no let up--I think there will be no +men left in France before long and then the English will have to take +their turn. When will it all end? Divonne is as beautiful as ever, and +so quiet and peaceful one would not realize that there was a war if it +were not for the fathers and sons who will never come back, and the +women who are struggling to make both ends meet. + +I have had news of several of my old patients who were here. Daillet, +who was paralyzed, is at Vichy and can walk two miles with crutches, two +others have been killed and many of the others back in the trenches. + +I have not been able to sleep, it is so quiet. + + MOBILE NO. 1, France, June 20, 1916. + +To-day I went over to Poperinghe to look up Margaret H----. She is in +charge of the Canadian clearing hospital and is doing a wonderful work. +They have been getting all the wounded from this last fight--receive one +day, evacuate the next, and the third day clean up and get ready again. +It is wonderfully organized; the trains come right up to the hospital +and there is a nurse for each car, so the patients are well looked +after. Margaret has been mentioned in despatches, I believe. I am so +glad, for she certainly deserves it. + + + June 25, 1916. + +I went over for Margaret H---- in the motor. She went with me to the +cemetery near the hospital and I put some roses on the grave of one of +our St. John boys. I wish his mother could see how well cared for it is. +Margaret came back to tea with us. + +To-day I have been specializing a man who has developed tetanus. I would +almost wish that he would die, for he has no hands, and has a great hole +in his chest and back, but strange to say he wants to live, is so +patient and so full of courage. When I have cases like this one I am +always so grateful to the people who have helped me in my work. If they +could see the comforts that can be given by a bottle of cologne or a +dozen oranges they would be rewarded. + +Our medicine chef was a prisoner in Germany for eleven months. The +things that he tells us makes one's blood boil. One cannot imagine human +beings as brutal as the Germans are. When they came into the town where +he had his hospital, they shot all the wounded that were left and eight +of his orderlies who stayed with him. He expected to be shot also, but +they needed his services so took him prisoner. + + + July 16, 1916. + +Another rainy day and as cold as the dickens but we are glad to get +through the summer without extreme heat or a pest of flies. + +My tetanus case is really getting better. + +Last week I went to a concert given at R---- for the soldiers who are +resting. It was one of the nicest I have ever been at. I did not want to +go, for I don't feel like any kind of gaiety, but Mrs. T---- insisted. +There were only three ladies present, the rest of the salle was filled +with soldiers just from the trenches. The concert was held in a stable. + +Some English and Canadian officers, who are on construction work near +here, have been coming to see us. One is Major H----, who was on the +Courtenay Bay work at St. John. + + + July 29, 1916. + +We are nearly eaten up with the mosquitoes so I have been to Dunkirk to +get some mosquito netting. + +Mrs. T---- gave a grand concert to the men on the anniversary of the +opening of this hospital. Denries, from the Opera Comique in Paris, and +Madame Croiza, from the opera in Paris, sang. The Prince of Teck was +here and in my ward, he was so nice to the patients. We had French, +English and Belgian generals, colonels and officers of various kinds. + + + NO. 3 CANADIAN CASUALTY STATION, + July 31, 1916. + +I got twenty-four hours permission and came out here to spend the night +with nursing Sister Margaret Hare, hoping to get some news of B----. I +have found out where he is and that he has been on rest and went back to +the trenches to-day. They are usually on duty eight days and off eight, +so Margaret is going to send him word when he next comes off to come +here and I will come over and meet him. I do hope we will be able to +make connection. It is so hard to be so near and yet not be able to see +him. If he is wounded he will have to pass through No. 10 Clearing +Station, which is right next to this. I have left my name and address at +the office, so if he should be brought in they will telephone to me and +I can get over to him in half an hour. The patients here are so well +taken care of. They have had a light day. I helped her a little in the +dressing room this morning, saw some of the men who had come in last +night, saw three operations. There is a very clever English surgeon here +and several McGill men. It is a scorching hot day. + +My tetanus patient is quite cured, is beginning to walk about. + + MOBILE NO. 1, August 14, 1916. + +We have had a strenuous and exciting week. It began with a visit from +the King of the Belgians, who came to decorate three of my men who had +fought in the trenches with conspicuous bravery. He visited all the +wards and talked with the soldiers. Like all the royalty I have met so +far, he is extraordinarily simple--wore no decorations or distinguishing +marks of any kind. We were all presented to him in turn and shook hands +with him. + +[Illustration: Nurse and Nephew. The meeting in France, one serving +with the French, the other with the Canadian B. E. F.] + +The next day we got twenty gas cases and several badly wounded men--one +Canadian from Ontario and two English boys, one was a policeman in +London. I asked the Ontario man how he happened to get to our Ambulance, +he said, "he'd be blessed if he knew," he was working on the lines which +run right up to the trenches when the warning for gas was given. He +started to put on his helmet and the next thing he knew he was in a "Red +Cross" ambulance on the way to the hospital. He is getting on splendidly +but we lost four of the gas cases. It is the worst thing I have seen +yet, much worse than the wounded, and the nursing is awfully hard, for +they cannot be left a moment until they are out of danger. + + + August 28, 1916. + +I have met our boy B---- at his rest camp not very far from here. It was +a joy to find him looking so well, and big and brown. + + + September 9, 1916. + +Rain, continuous rain. The guns have been roaring without any let-up for +three days and nights, and our little barracks are nearly shaken to +pieces. We have had several warnings of gas attacks, but fortunately +nothing has happened. One of the orderlies kept his mask on all night +and everyone was surprised that he was alive next morning, they are the +most awful smelling things you can imagine. + +We have never seen so many aeroplanes as during this past week. This +morning we counted eighteen in a row. + +Mrs. T---- is going to organize another hospital on the Somme and is +going to keep this one as well. She certainly has done a splendid work. +We are all hoping that the fighting will be over before Christmas. + + + October 1, 1916. + +The rain has begun, so I suppose we may expect to be under water for the +rest of the winter, but things are going well for us, so we must hope +on; but O! how dreadful it all is. + +A stationary balloon that is not far from here, used as a Belgian +observation post, was struck by a bomb from an aeroplane and we saw it +fall in flames. The men who were in it jumped out with parachutes and +both escaped without injury. + +Broterl, the famous French sniper and poet, came the other day to sing +for the soldiers. He is wonderful, and sang all sorts of songs that he +had composed in the trenches. The men were enchanted, it does such a lot +of good, for it makes them forget for a time. + +One of our orderlies has just got word that one of his brothers has been +killed at the Somme, another is dangerously wounded in the head, and a +third has lost his leg--he has six brothers, all at the front. + +One of the men in my ward got word of the death of his brother also. He +was a stretcher bearer and was helping a German officer who was +wounded. As soon as the German got to a place of safety he shot the poor +man who had been helping him. + +I am nearly frozen to-night and will have to go to bed. + + + October 9, 1916. + +Our Bayard has come through the Courcelette fight safely, where the New +Brunswickers did such wonders; but O! at such a terrible cost. + +It has been very cold and rainy here. I am afraid the bad weather has +set in. + +Wish you would send me an aluminum hot water bottle for Christmas, +another pair of Indian moccasins, and fill up the corners of the box +with malted milk and maple sugar. + +I shall never forget the poor little Breton who said when he saw me--as +he roused a little when we were taking him from the ambulance, +"maintenant je suis sauve" (Now I am saved). + +I have just received a cheque from the Rothesay Red Cross. Since I +began, my fund has never entirely given out, and I have been able to +give such a lot of pleasure and comfort to the men. + +If any one wants to know what to send me you might suggest Washington +coffee like Lady T---- sent. It was a great success. + +I am too cold to write any more, so good-night. + +I wish I had some of Maggie's crullers and squash pie, but the French +don't know anything about squash pies. + +Our poor man with a broken back has been moved to a hospital near his +home so his family can see him. We sent him on a mattress, fixed up with +pillows and cushions so that he did not suffer at all on the journey. + +When I have any one who is so ill as he was I bless the good people at +home counting infirmiers and men that work about the hospital--they are +soldiers who have been in the trenches for nearly two years, or been +disabled through wounds or sickness, or exchanged prisoners from Germany +unfit for military service. They call the hospital "le petit Paradis des +blesses" and are so glad to be sent here. A man was brought in here the +other day who was wounded for the second time, but he did not mind in +the least about his wounds, he was so glad to get back. He is delighted +because he will not be well enough to leave before Christmas. + +We sent to England for some pop-corn, and to-day the men have been like +a lot of happy children stringing the corn for the tree. They had never +seen it before and were much interested. We made quite a successful +popper out of a fly screen and a piece of wire netting. + +The other night we were talking over the various experiences we have +had since the beginning of the war--the terrible things we have +seen--the sad stories we have heard, and the strange but very true +friendships we have formed--and we all agree that we could never have +carried on our work in such a satisfactory way if it had not been for +the gifts which have come from time to time from our home friends. The +extra food that we have been able to give to the very sick men has made +all the difference in the world to their recovery, and then the warm +clothing when they go out, and the bit of money to help them over the +hard place. You cannot imagine how much it means to them. + +I remember so well one poor little man who had reached the limit of +endurance, and when I found the sleepless nights were due to worry and +not to pain, the whole pitiful little story came out. His wife was ill, +his sister-in-law dead and there were six children to be looked +after--the eldest a boy of eleven--and no money. As long as his wife had +been able to run the farm they had been able to get along, but she had +given out. The French soldier only gets five cents a day, so he had +nothing to send them. He cried like a baby when I told him I could help +him. We sent off a money order for one hundred francs the next day, and +I wish you could have seen the change in that man. That little sum of +money put things straight six months ago and now everything is going +well. But he will never forget, and both he and his wife have a very +warm feeling in their hearts for the good people across the sea who came +to their rescue in a time of need. When I begin to talk of my beloved +French it is hard to stop. + +[Illustration: My Salle--Christmas, 1916.] + + + January 1, 1917. + +The men had a wonderful Christmas day. They were like a happy lot of +children. We decorated the wards with flags, holly, mistletoe, and paper +flowers that the men made, and a tree in each ward. You cannot imagine +how pretty they were. Each patient began the day with a sock that was +hung to the foot of his bed by the night nurses. In each was an orange, +a small bag of sweets, nuts and raisins, a handkerchief, pencil, tooth +brush, pocket comb and a small toy that pleased them almost more than +anything else, and which they at once passed on to their children. They +had a fine dinner--jam, stewed rabbit, peas, plum pudding, fruit, nuts, +raisins and sweets. The plum puddings were sent by the sister of one of +the nurses. + +In the afternoon the trees were lighted and we had the official visit of +the medicine chef and all the staff. After the festivities were over we +began preparing for the tree for the refugee children. We had thought +that we would have enough left over to manage for fifty children, but +the list grew to one hundred and twenty-five. The mayor of the village +let us have a large room in his house, as the first place we had chosen +was too small. We had the tree on Sunday afternoon and three hundred and +thirty-one children arrived. Fortunately we had some extra things so +there was enough of something to go around. They had a lovely time, each +one got a small toy, a biscuit, and most of them a small bag of sweets +and an orange. The oranges and sweets gave out, but there was enough +biscuits and toys, but there was nothing left. + +We are all dead tired, for we worked like nailers for the past two +weeks; but it was worth while, for we were able to make a great many +people happy, and now we are sending off packages to the +trenches--things that came too late for Christmas. + +[Illustration: So many readers of this book expressed regret that it +did not contain a photo of the one who penned these letters, as she is +in home life, that we applied to the family, and after earnest +solicitation they granted this--the one in use on her passports in +France, which we are sure will complete this passport to the hearts of +her readers.] + +We expect to move this month. It will be an awful business breaking up +here, for all the barracks have to be taken to pieces and moved with us. +We have begun to take an inventory, and to pack up, but I do not know +just where we will move to, the papers are not in order yet. It is hard +to believe that another year of war has begun. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 'My Beloved Poilus', by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'MY BELOVED POILUS' *** + +***** This file should be named 24368-8.txt or 24368-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/3/6/24368/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'My Beloved Poilus' + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: January 20, 2008 [EBook #24368] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'MY BELOVED POILUS' *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>“My Beloved Poilus”</h1> + +<hr class="em22" /> + +<p style="width:24em; margin:0.5em auto 0 auto; font-size:0.9em">THESE HOME LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN GIRL, DAUGHTER OF A RETIRED GENERAL +OF THE U. S. ARMY, GIVING HER TRAINED SERVICES, CARING FOR THE WOUNDED +IN FRANCE AT AN ARMY AMBULANCE AND SUCCORING DISTRESS WHEREVER SHE MEETS +IT, ARE PUBLISHED BY HER FRIENDS WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE. SIMPLY AND +SOLELY TO RAISE MONEY TO AID HER IN HER WORK WHICH BEGAN ON THE 4th DAY +OF AUGUST, 1914.</p> + +<hr class="em22" /> + +<p style="width:24em; margin:0 auto 3em auto; font-size:0.9em">EVERY DOLLAR RECEIVED FROM THE SALE OF THE BOOK, LESS BARE COST OF +PRINTING AND EXPRESS CHARGES, GOES TO THE FUND.</p> + +<p class="c mt2"> +<span class="sc s">St. John, N. B.</span><br /> +BARNES & CO., <span class="sc">Limited</span>, PUBLISHERS.<br /> +<span class="s">1917</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<hr class="em22" /> +<p style="width:24em; margin:0.5em auto 0 auto; font-size:0.9em"><i>The Assistance of all Booksellers and Stationers is Solicited in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">i</a></span> +Pushing this Work. Price One Dollar. Single Copies by Mail Postage Paid. +Address “Poilus,” Box 163, St. John, N. B. Hospital Contributions will +be received and acknowledged by</i> <span class="nm sc">A. C. Skelton,</span> <i>Manager Bank of British +North America, St. John, N. B.</i></p> +<hr class="em22" /> + +<p class="c sc mt2">Copyright.</p> + +<p class="c i nm mtr5" style="font-size:0.9em"> +Canada, March 2, 1917.<br /> +United States, March, 1917.</p> +<hr class="cprt" /> +<p class="c i nm mbr5" style="font-size:0.9em"> +First Edition, March 15, 1917.<br /> +Second Edition, April 15, 1917.</p> + +<p class="c i mt1" style="font-size:0.9em">Engravings by<br /> +F. C. Wesley Co., St. John, N. B.</p> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">ii</a></span> +<h2>Preface.</h2> +</div> + +<p>When Florence Nightingale began her great work in the hospital wards at +Scutari in 1854, she little realised how far-reaching would be the +effect of her noble self-sacrificing efforts. Could she to-day visit the +war-stricken countries of Europe she would be astonished at the great +developments of the work of caring for the wounded soldiers which she +inaugurated so long ago. Her fine example is being emulated to-day by +hundreds of thousands of brave women who are devoting themselves to the +wounded, the sick and the dying in countless hospital wards.</p> + +<p>All too little is known of what these devoted nurses have done and are +doing. Some day the whole story will be given to the world; and the +hearts of all will be thrilled by stirring deeds of love and bravery. In +the meantime it is pleasing and comforting to catch fleeting glimpses of +a portion of the work as depicted in this sheaf of letters, now issued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">iii</a></span> +under the title of “My Beloved Poilus,” written from the Front by a +brave American nurse.</p> + +<p>Two outstanding features give special merit to these letters. They were +not written for publication, but for an intimate circle of relatives and +friends. And because of this they are not artificial, but are free and +graceful, with homely touches here and there which add so much to their +value. Amidst the incessant roar of mighty guns; surrounded by the +wounded and the dying; shivering at times with cold, and wearied almost +to the point of exhaustion, these letters were hurriedly penned. No time +had she for finely-turned phrases. Neither were they necessary. The +simple statements appeal more to the heart than most eloquent words.</p> + +<p>These letters will bring great comfort to many who have loved ones at +the Front. They will tell them something of the careful sympathetic +treatment the wounded receive. The glimpses given here and there, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">iv</a></span> +the efforts made by surgeons and nurses alike to administer relief, and +as far as possible to assuage the suffering of the wounded, should prove +most comforting. What efforts are made to cheer the patients, and to +brighten their lot, and what personal interest is taken in their +welfare, are incidentally revealed in these letters. For instance, “The +men had a wonderful Christmas Day (1916). They were like a happy lot of +children. We decorated the ward with flags, holly and mistletoe, and +paper flowers that the men made, and a tree in each ward.”</p> + +<p>How these letters bring home to us the terrible tragedy that is going on +far across the ocean. And yet mingled with the feeling of sadness is the +spirit of inspiration which comes from the thought of those brave men +who are offering themselves to maintain the right, and the devoted women +who are ministering to their needs. Our heads bow with reverence, and +our hearts thrill with pride, when we think of them. But we must do +more than think and feel; we must do our part in supporting them and +upholding their hands. They have given their all. They can do no more, +and dare we do less?</p> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: 0; clear: both;"><tr><td> +<p class="c">H. A. CODY,<br /> +<i>Rector St. James Church.</i></p> + +<p class="i s mt1" style="text-align:left"> +Author of “Rod of the Lone Patrol,”<br /> +<span style="margin-left:4em">“Frontiersman,”</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left:4em">“If any Man Sin,”</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left:4em">Etc., Etc.</span><br /></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>St. John, N. B.,<br /> +<span style="margin-left:2em">February 19th, 1917.</span></p> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_4" id="pg_4">4</a></span> +<h2>Introduction</h2> +</div> + +<p>The writer of these letters, a graduate of McGill College, and the +Presbyterian Hospital, New York, left New York in the Spring of 1914 +with a patient, for the Continent, finally locating at +Divonne-Les-Bains, France, near the Swiss border, where they were on +August 1st, when war broke out. She immediately began giving her +assistance in “Red Cross” work, continuing same until the latter part of +November, when she returned with her patient to New York—made a hurried +visit to her home in St. John and after Christmas returned to again take +up the work which these letters describe.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:516px"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_5" id="pg_5">5</a></span> +<a name="illus-000" id="illus-000"></a> +<img src="images/illus-008.jpg" alt="Ambulance Volant, France." title="" width="516" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">Ambulance Volant</span>,<br />France.</span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-008-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_6" id="pg_6">6</a></span> +<h2>“My Beloved Poilus”</h2> +</div> + +<h3><span class="sc">Divonne-les-bains, France</span>,<br />August 2, 1914.</h3> + +<p><span class="sc">Dear Mother:</span></p> + +<p>The awful war we have all been dreading is upon us—<i>France is +Mobilizing</i>. At five o’clock yesterday morning the tocsin sounded from +the Mairie (village hall) and men, women, and children all flocked to +hear the proclamation which the Mayor of the village read. It called +upon all of military age—between twenty years and fifty years—to march +at once, and inside of twenty-four hours five hundred men had gone, they +knew not where. The bravery of these villagers—men and women—is +remarkable, and not to be forgotten. No murmuring, no +complaining,—just, “Ma Patrie,” <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_7" id="pg_7">7</a></span>tying up the little bundle—so +little—and going; none left but old men, women and children.</p> + +<p>We have started teaching the women and girls to make bandages, sponges, +etc., for the hospital which will be needed here.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Divonne-Les-Bains, France.</span><br />August 23, 1914.</h3> + +<p>Your letter came yesterday—twenty days on the way—but I was fortunate +to get it at all; so many of these poor people, whose nearest and +dearest have gone to fight for their country, have had no word from them +since they marched away, and they do not know where they are.</p> + +<p>From this little village 500 men left the first day of mobilization; +there is not a family who has not some one gone, and from some both +fathers and sons have gone, as the age limit is from twenty to fifty +years.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_8" id="pg_8">8</a></span>I am filled with admiration and respect for these people. The courage +of both the men and women is remarkable. There is no hesitation, and no +grumbling, and everyone tries to do whatever he or she can to help the +cause.</p> + +<p>I do not know if I told you, in my last letter, of the poor lady who +walked all night through the dark and storm to see her son who was +leaving the next morning. All the horses and motors had been taken by +the Government for the army, so she started at eleven o’clock at night, +all by her self, and got here about five in the morning—her son left at +seven, so she had two hours with him. While there are such mothers in +France she cannot fall. There are many such stories I might tell you, +but I have not the time.</p> + +<p>The “Red Cross” has started a branch hospital here, and I have been +helping them to get it in order. It is just about <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_9" id="pg_9">9</a></span>ready now, and we may +get soldiers any day.</p> + +<p>I have classes every morning and find many of the women very quick to +learn the rudiments of nursing. Every one in the place is making +supplies and our sitting room is a sort of depot where they come for +work.</p> + +<p>If my patient is as well in October as she is now I am going to stay and +give my services to the “Red Cross.” If I have to go home with her I +will come back—I would be a coward and deserter if I did not do all I +could for these poor brave people.</p> + +<h3>October 25, 1914.</h3> + +<p>Another Sunday—but this is cold and rainy—the days slip by so quickly +I cannot keep track of them. We have only two soldiers left at the +hospital—they tell us every day that others are coming. The country all +about is perfectly beautiful with the autumn coloring. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_10" id="pg_10">10</a></span>We do not see +any of the horrors of the war here. If it were not for the tales that +come to us from outside, and for the poor broken men who come back, we +would not know it was going on. There are very enthusiastic accounts of +the Canadians in all the English papers.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Paris</span>, about February 15, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Back safely in Paris after taking my patient to New York and a short +visit home, which now seems like a dream.</p> + +<p>I have been spending a lot of time at the American Ambulance this week, +but have not gone out to stay as yet, as I still have to see some other +small hospitals and had to go to the Clearing House to make arrangements +for sending supplies, which I brought from home and New York, to +different places.</p> + +<p>I have seen quite a number of operations, and as X-ray pictures are +taken of all the cases there is no time wasted <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_11" id="pg_11">11</a></span>in hunting for a bullet; +they get the bullet out in about two minutes. They are using Dr. Criles’ +anæsthetic—nitrous oxide gas and oxygen—it has no bad effects +whatever. The patients come out of it at once as soon as the mask is +taken off, and there is no nausea or illness at all; and most of them go +off laughing, for they cannot believe that it is all over,—they feel so +well; but oh, mother, it is awful to see the sad things that have +happened. In some cases there are only pieces of men left. One young +chap, twenty-one years old, has lost both legs. At first he did not want +to live, but now he is beginning to take an interest in things and is +being fitted for wooden legs.</p> + +<p>The dental department has done wonderful work. They build up the frame +work of the face and jaws and then the surgeons finish the work by +making new noses and lips and eyelids. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_12" id="pg_12">12</a></span>I thought I had seen a good many +wonderful things, but I did not believe it possible to make any thing +human out of some of the pieces of faces that were left, and in some of +the cases they even get rid of the scars. Photos are taken when they +first come in, and then in the various stages of recovery. One of the +worst cases I saw the last day I was out. He has to have one more +operation to fill in a small hole in one side of his nose and then he +will be all right.</p> + +<p>Last Sunday one of the men in Miss B——’s ward was given the medal for +distinguished service. He had saved his officer’s life—went right out +before the guns and carried him in on his back. He was struck himself +just before he got to his own lines and one leg almost torn off. When +they brought him to the American Ambulance, all the doctors, except Dr. +B——, said his leg would have to come off at once—he refused <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_13" id="pg_13">13</a></span>to do it +and saved the leg for the man. It will be stiff, of course, as the knee +joint is gone entirely; but will be better than a wooden leg, and the +poor man is so pleased.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:353px"> +<a name="illus-001" id="illus-001"></a> +<img src="images/illus-017.jpg" alt="The Dog who Saved His Master's Life." title="" width="353" /><br /> +<span class="caption sc">The Dog who Saved His Master's Life.</span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-017-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_15" id="pg_15">15</a></span>I must tell you about the wonderful dog that is at the American +Ambulance; perhaps you have read about him in some of the papers. His +master came from Algeria, and of course did not expect to take his dog +with him, but when the ship left the wharf the dog jumped into the sea +and swam after it, so they put off a boat and hauled him on board, and +he has been with his master all through the war. He was in the trenches +with him, and one day a German shell burst in the trench and killed all +of his companions and buried this man in the mud and dirt as well as +injuring him terribly. Strange to say the dog was not hurt at all, and +the first thing the man remembered was the dog digging the mud off his +face. As soon as he realized his master was alive he ran off for help, +and when they were brought into the Ambulance together there were not +many dry eyes about. After he was sure his master was being taken care +of he consented to go and be fed, and now he is having the time of his +life. He is the most important person in the place. He has a beautiful +new collar and medal, lives in the diet kitchen, and is taken out to +walk by the nurses, and best of all is allowed to see his master every +day. I will send a photo of him to you. His master has lost one leg, the +other is terribly crushed, and one hand also, but Doctor B—— thinks he +can save them.</p> + +<p>I think I shall go back to Divonne-Les-Bains—they are urging me so +strongly and there seems to be more need there.</p> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_16" id="pg_16">16</a></span> +<h3>February 19, 1915.</h3> +</div> + +<p>Back again in Divonne-Les-Bains. It seems as if I had never been away—I +have fallen into the old work so easily. I left Paris Sunday night about +eight o’clock and arrived here at two the next day, and had a warm +welcome from everybody. One poor man died of tetanus before I got back. +I have nine on my floor. I have thirteen patients, nine in bed all the +time, and the others up part of the day. One of the women of the village +helps me in the morning, two others help with the cleaning up and +serving meals; everything has to be carried up three flights of stairs, +so you can imagine the work.</p> + +<p>I have a very comfortable room at the hotel, go to the Ambulance at +seven in the morning and generally get back at nine or half past. I do +not know how long I shall be here—until this lot get well or more come.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_17" id="pg_17">17</a></span>One of the patients is a chef, and was acting as cook for the regiment +when a shell landed in his soup pot; he was not wounded, but his heart +was knocked out of place by the shock and his back was twisted when he +fell.</p> + +<h3>February 28, 1915.</h3> + +<p>The poor man who was so very ill died on the morning of the twenty-third +after three weeks of intense suffering—I stayed that night with him. +The others are all out of danger with the exception of two who cannot +get well—one is paralyzed and the other has tuberculosis.</p> + +<p>I went to the village for the first time yesterday and was quite touched +by the welcome I received at every little shop and house. The people +seemed genuinely glad to have me back. They cannot seem to get over the +fact that I have crossed the ocean twice and come back to them. To them +the ocean is a thing of terror, especially since the war broke <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_18" id="pg_18">18</a></span>out. +Doctor R—— has a great many sick people in the country about here to +take care of in addition to the soldiers. In one house they had nothing +to eat but potatoes, but he is a good deal like our dear old doctor, and +feeds and clothes and takes care of them himself.</p> + +<h3>March 5, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I can scarcely believe that it is nearly three weeks since I left Paris. +I have been so busy, that the days fly by. Some of the men are leaving +to-morrow, and most of the others are getting along very well.</p> + +<p>Mr. E—— is indeed kind. He has just sent an order to the village +people, who make beautiful lace and embroidery, for $500.00 worth of +work. They are so happy about it, for it means food for many of them. +One poor woman, who has lost her husband in the war and has a child to +take care of, can earn only <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_19" id="pg_19">19</a></span>eighteen francs a month, that is $3.60, and +that is all she has to live on.</p> + +<h3>March 7, 1915.</h3> + +<p>One of the American doctors from the American Ambulance came to see me +yesterday. He was very much interested in what he saw and is coming back +in ten days. We have had one or two beautiful days, the pussy-willows +are beginning to come out, and primroses everywhere.</p> + +<p>Dr. S—— said that the man who owned the wonderful dog that is at the +American Ambulance is really getting well, and they managed to save one +leg and the crushed hand.</p> + +<p>In Dr. B——’s service he did not do a single amputation during the +months of January and February,—a very wonderful record.</p> + +<p>Dr. S—— seems to think there is no hope of my poor paralyzed man +getting better, he may live for twenty <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_20" id="pg_20">20</a></span>years but can never walk. I am +giving him English lessons every day. He is very quick at learning; it +helps pass the time. Poor man, he has already been in bed six months.</p> + +<h3>March 21, 1915.</h3> + +<p>This has been the most lovely Spring day. The violets are blooming in +the fields, they are smaller than ours but very fragrant; the yellow +primroses are beautiful and grow everywhere. There is still lots of snow +on the mountains but none in the valley. If it were not for the soldiers +who are here we could scarcely believe that terrible fighting is going +on so near us.</p> + +<p>A lot of our men went off last week, some of them scarcely able to +hobble, poor things, but all the hospitals are being cleared out to make +room for the freshly wounded. We are expecting a new lot every day, and +have prepared ten extra beds.</p> + +<p>I will have some letters this week to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_21" id="pg_21">21</a></span>send to the “Red Cross” and “The +De Monts” Chapter, I. O. D. E., thanking them for the things they sent +back by me; they have been so much appreciated, done so much good and +relieved so much distress. I gave some to Mademoiselle de C—— who sent +them to a small hospital in Normandy near their chateau, some to the +hospital here, and some to a small hospital not far from here where they +are very poor; the doctor who is in charge there nearly wept when he +knew the things were for him.</p> + +<h3>March 26, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Another beautiful day and the air is soft and balmy as a day in June. +The woods and fields are full of spring flowers, there are big soft gray +pussies on all the willow trees and the other trees are beginning to +show a faint tinge of green. It is certainly a lovely place.</p> + +<p>You probably felt much relieved that I was not in Paris at the time of +the last <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_22" id="pg_22">22</a></span>air raid when the bombs were dropped. One fell so near the +Ambulance at Neuilly that one of the doctors was knocked out of bed by +the shock.</p> + +<p>I had my paralyzed man out on the balcony to-day, it is the first time +in six months that he has been out.</p> + +<p>One of the men here, who has lost the use of both hands, told me to-day +that he had six brothers in the army; two have been killed, two wounded +and two are still at the front. He was a coachman in a private family, +has lost a thumb of one hand and on the other has only the thumb and one +finger left. Fortunately his employer is a good man and will take care +of him; but think of the poor man,—horses are his chief joy, and he +will never be able to drive again.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:540px"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_23" id="pg_23">23</a></span> +<a name="illus-002" id="illus-002"></a> +<img src="images/illus-026.jpg" alt="THE HOPELESSLY PARALYZED MAN Who afterwards walked two miles on crutches." title="" width="540" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">The Hopelessly Paralyzed Man</span><br />Who afterwards walked two miles on crutches.</span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-026-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_24" id="pg_24">24</a></span> +<h3>April 2, 1915.</h3> +</div> + +<p>Easter Sunday and still raining. We had a splendid service from Mr. +R—— and a Communion service after. The service is more like the +Presbyterian than any other. We have four new soldiers but the large +convoy has not yet arrived. There has been awful fighting in Alsace +lately, so the wounded must come soon.</p> + +<p>To-day we had a specially good dinner for the men. Madam B—— gave them +cigars and Easter eggs, and after dinner they sang some of their songs, +then gave us three cheers. They are a fine lot of men and so grateful +for everything we do for them.</p> + +<p>The story of the dog has gone through the whole country, but it is nice +to know that it is really true, and to have seen the dog.</p> + +<p>Dr. B—— was able to save the other leg of the dog’s master, and after +another operation he thinks he will have the use of his hand.</p> + +<h3>April 10, 1915.</h3> + +<p>We had a severe snow storm to-day and yesterday also, and in between the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_25" id="pg_25">25</a></span>snow storms it poured rain; all the lovely, spring weather has +disappeared.</p> + +<p>Wednesday night they announced the arrival of a train of wounded, for +the next morning at half-past five, but did not tell us how many to +expect. We all went to the Ambulance at half-past five and got +everything ready for dressing and beds prepared for thirty. At seven +thirteen arrived,—all convalescents, and no dressings at all to do. The +last time forty came, and all in a dreadful state of infection, so we +never know what to expect.</p> + +<p>I am not sorry I came back to Divonne for I feel that I have been able +to help more here than in Paris; there they have many to help and here +very few.</p> + +<p>I am sending you a photo of three of my patients—Chasseurs d’ Alpine or +“Blue Devils” as the Germans call them—they are the ones who have done +such wonderful work in Alsace.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:346px"> +<a name="illus-003" id="illus-003"></a> +<img src="images/illus-029.jpg" alt="THREE CHASSEURS D' ALPINE Called by the Germans "Blue Devils."" title="" width="346" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">Three Chasseurs d' Alpine</span><br />Called by the Germans “Blue Devils.”</span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-029-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_27" id="pg_27">27</a></span> +<h3>April 19, 1915.</h3> +</div> + +<p>I have had quite a busy week, for my men have been coming and going. The +paralyzed man has been sent to Bourg, the two Chasseurs d’ Alpine have +gone and I have six new ones—this lot is ill, not wounded. There are +three officers among them,—one is a cousin of Madam B——, the French +lady who helped establish this Ambulance. Her husband came on Thursday; +he has eight days leave. He is very interesting, for he has been all up +through the north of France. He is adjutant to one of the generals and +travels from eighty to one hundred miles a day in a motor, carrying +despatches. There is a French aviator here, but he has not got his +machine, so I am afraid there is no hope for me.</p> + +<h3>April 25, 1915.</h3> + +<p>They took down all the stoves in the Ambulance last week, and the day +after it snowed; we had to put some of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_28" id="pg_28">28</a></span>men to bed to keep them +warm. We have been very busy all week, new patients coming every day +till now we have forty. Most of them are not wounded. Poor fellows, they +are utterly done out; some have pneumonia, others rheumatism, one +paralyzed and all sorts of other things. This is a wonderful place for +them to come to and most of them get well very quickly. They are talking +of increasing the number of beds in the hospital and of making it a +regular military one. In that case they will send a military doctor here +and the whole thing will be re-organized. They want me to promise to +take charge of it, but I do not think it would be a wise thing, there is +so much red tape and so many things about the military organization I do +not understand, that I am afraid I would get into hot water at once.</p> + +<p>I am sending you a circular of Mademoiselle de Cauomonts’ lace school. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_29" id="pg_29">29</a></span>They do lovely work and need all the help and orders that they can get. +They will be glad to execute orders by mail for anyone writing them to +Divonne-Les-Bains, France.</p> + +<h3>May 2, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I have never seen anything as lovely as the country is now, it is like +one great garden; how I wish you could be here. I have had a busy day, +as one of my patients had to be operated on. Doctor R—— took a piece +of shrapnel out of his arm, and two others have been pretty ill; four +leave to-morrow, so the general clearing up will begin again.</p> + +<p>My poor old lady who had a stroke of paralysis died yesterday. I have +been helping take care of her. The only son is at the front. So many old +people are dying this year; when they get ill they don’t seem to have +any power of resistance; poor things, they have endured so much they +cannot stand any more.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_30" id="pg_30">30</a></span>There is a poor little woman here who comes from Dinant, that was +destroyed by the Germans in the early part of the war. She has lost all +trace of her father and mother; her husband and brother have both been +killed and their property utterly destroyed. Mr. B——, the pastor of +the Protestant Church, has not been able to find his mother, who +disappeared last August. Every day we hear of something new.</p> + +<p>The papers are full of accounts of the gallant fighting of the +Canadians, but the losses have been very heavy.</p> + +<h3>May 9, 1915.</h3> + +<p>It is just a year to-day since I sailed from New York, starting on our +trip with Mrs. E——. Little did we think of the horrors that have +happened since.</p> + +<p>Seven more men went off last night, so we have only twenty left. I have +ten on my floor, but only four in bed; the others are able to be out all +day. Charrel, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_31" id="pg_31">31</a></span>one of my patients who just left, was one of six +brothers, all of whom went off the first days of the war; three have +been killed, the other three wounded.</p> + +<p>I am going to Lyons on Thursday for a few days to visit some of the +hospitals.</p> + +<p>The French papers are full of the heroism of the Canadian troops; they +have done wonderful work at Ypres, but at what a terrible cost.</p> + +<p>I feel so proud every time I see the dressing gowns the DeMonts Chapter +sent me—they are the nicest we have.</p> + +<h3>May 18, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I left here Thursday at noon with Madam B—— who went to Paris. Before +I left I telegraphed to Madam M——, the wife of the soldier who was +here such a long time, asking her to get me a room, but when I arrived I +found the whole family at the station to meet me and they insisted on my +going home to stay with them. They <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_32" id="pg_32">32</a></span>are very simple people, but so kind +and hospitable. I think it is quite an event having a stranger stay with +them. We ate in the kitchen, and the whole family seemed to sleep in a +cupboard opening off of it.</p> + +<p>I saw a lot of hospitals and was rather favorably impressed with them. +At the Hotel Dieu, they had received seven hundred patients within +twenty-four hours. I think the saddest part was the eye ward, there were +so many who would never see again and some of them so young. There were +some with both legs gone and others both feet, and many with one arm or +leg missing.</p> + +<p>The boats on the river that were fitted up as hospitals were very +interesting, but I fancy would be very hot in the summer and the +mosquitoes would be terrible.</p> + +<p>Saturday I spent the day with Mademoiselle R——, who had been staying +at the Hotel at Divonne for a time. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_33" id="pg_33">33</a></span>The R——’s are a wealthy family +who have lived in Lyons for generations. Mademoiselle was able to take +me to a good many of the hospitals, as they have done a good deal for +them. We visited them in the morning, which was much more interesting, +as we saw the work going on. At two of the hospitals wounded were +arriving when we left there, so we saw the whole thing. I also saw the +dressing being done in one of the large military hospitals. In the +afternoon we went to a “Red Cross” hospital, where she worked in the +lingerie; there are fifty beds and the patients are taken care of by the +sisters. They seemed to be very cheerful and well looked after.</p> + +<p>Sunday morning I got up at 3.30 and took a train at 4.30 for Romans +where Mrs. C—— is working in a military hospital. At eight I arrived +at Tourons and had to walk from there to a small <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_34" id="pg_34">34</a></span>village called Tain, +where I got a tramway to Romans. I arrived at eleven, had my lunch on +the sidewalk before a cafe,—a most excellent meal for fifty cents. I +found Mrs. C—— at the convent, where she is staying; fortunately she +had the afternoon off. She has charge of the dressings and all of the +infected operations. At the hospital where she is they have forty +wounded Germans; they seem very contented and glad to be there. Mrs. +C—— says it is dreadful to do their dressings, for they have no +self-control at all; they have a certain dogged courage that makes them +fight as they do, in the face of certain death, but when they are +wounded they cannot stand the pain. The French, on the contrary, seldom +say a word; they will let one do anything, and if the pain is very bad +they moan occasionally or say a swear word, but I have never seen one +who lost control of himself and screamed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_35" id="pg_35">35</a></span>I had dinner with Mrs. C—— at the convent, and at 7.15 took the train +for Valence where I changed and waited two hours for the train to Lyons, +but there was so much going on at the station that the time did not seem +long,—troops coming and going all the time and a hospital train with +three hundred wounded arrived.</p> + +<p>Monday morning I left for Divonne and arrived back very tired but well +satisfied with my trip.</p> + +<p>I found two new patients, one with a leg as big as an elephant and the +other out of his head. I have twelve now on my floor.</p> + +<p>Just think! lily of the valley grows wild here, and you can get a bushel +in a morning; the whole place is sweet with the perfume.</p> + +<h3>May 29, 1915.</h3> + +<p>We got twelve more patients Wednesday,—six left. I still have fifteen; +this lot were all ill. One man is quite a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_36" id="pg_36">36</a></span>character. The doctor put him +on milk diet the first day—but he did not approve, so he went to the +village and bought a loaf of bread and some ham.</p> + +<p>Between the florist of the village and the wife of one of the soldiers I +am kept well supplied with roses. I wish I could share my riches with +you.</p> + +<p>I am anxiously waiting to hear of the safe arrival of the Twenty-fourth; +as we have heard nothing, they must be all right. It is hard to have +them go but I cannot understand the attitude of those who will not go or +who object to their men and boys going. You are just beginning to feel +now what they have been suffering here since August last.</p> + +<p>Madam L’H—— was called back to Verdun to-day; she was supposed to have +three weeks’ holidays, but has only been away ten days. She is not fit +to go back but there is no help for it.</p> + +<p>There was great excitement here when <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_37" id="pg_37">37</a></span>Italy finally declared war. It is +awful to think of the brutes throwing bombs on Venice. I do hope they +will not do any harm there.</p> + +<p>I must say good-night, for I am tired. I am up at half-past five every +morning and seldom get off duty before nine at night.</p> + +<h3>June 20, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Yesterday we got five patients,—the four worst were consigned to me. +One poor chap was shot through the body and the spine was injured; they +do not know just what the extent of the injury is, but he is completely +paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately he is very small, so it is +not difficult to take care of him; he is the most cheerful soul, and +says he has much to be thankful for as he has never suffered at all. +When he was shot he simply had the sensation of his legs disappearing. +When he fell he said to a comrade, “Both my legs have gone,” but he had +no pain at all. His <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_38" id="pg_38">38</a></span>comrade assured him that he had not lost his legs, +but he said he could not believe it until he got to the hospital. He has +received the Medaille Militaire for bravery, and his comrades said he +certainly deserved it. He is so glad to get here, where it is real +country and quiet. We put him on a chaise longue on the balcony to-day +and he has been out of doors all day long.</p> + +<p>It is after ten o’clock, but I am still at the Ambulance. We are waiting +for a train that is bringing us fifteen wounded directly from Alsace. +Poor souls, they will be glad to get here, for they have been a long +time on the way.</p> + +<p>No letters this week; regulations are very strict again, and they are +holding up all mail for eight or ten days.</p> + +<h3>June 22, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I had to stop my letter as the men arrived. We got eighteen instead of +fifteen. Such a tired dirty lot they <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_39" id="pg_39">39</a></span>were; they came straight from the +battle field, and had only had one dressing done since they were +wounded. Some of them came on stretchers, others were able to walk, as +they were wounded in the arms and head. I drew two from this lot, which +brings my number up to seventeen again. One of mine has both bones +broken in his leg and the other is wounded in the left side and +shoulder. One poor chap had been a prisoner in one of the trenches for +four days and they were unable to get any food all that time; most of +them have slept ever since they arrived, they were so exhausted.</p> + +<p>To-day a military doctor came from Besançon to show us about some +special electrical treatment. They are going to increase the beds by +fifty to begin with, and later may make it three hundred.</p> + +<p>The news is not good to-day, the Russians seem to be retreating all the +time and the losses in the north are terrible. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_40" id="pg_40">40</a></span>There seems to be no +doubt in the minds of many people that the war will last another year at +least; it seems too terrible.</p> + +<h3>June 27, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I did not get my letter off to-day as there was so much to do. We have +had inspection all week. They have finally decided to enlarge the +hospital very much and make it a semi-military institution of four +hundred beds. We are to turn the large dining-room into a ward with +fifty beds, and the large part of the hotel will hold three hundred +more. They want me to take charge. Dr. R—— will be chief with two +assistants. There will be forty men nurses—convalescent soldiers—and I +do not know how many more women nurses. I am very glad it has been so +decided, for it is a great pity this place has not been of more use. Our +last lot of men are getting on very well now; but we have had a hard +week, for some of them were very <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_41" id="pg_41">41</a></span>ill. The doctor was very much afraid +one man would lose his arm, but he has managed to save it.</p> + +<p>I have grown to be a sort of official shotsnapper for the Ambulance and +village. It is really very interesting and my camera is very good.</p> + +<p>Did I send you the snaps of the Bayin baby? She is only nine months old +and runs around like a rabbit—is as pretty as a picture. I am so sleepy +I can hardly see, so good-night.</p> + +<h3>July 4, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I was glad to get your letter this week; three weeks on the way is a +long time to wait.</p> + +<p>I have such mixed feelings when I hear that the troops have left St. +John. My heart aches for those left behind, but I am so glad to know +they are on the way, for they are needed badly and they will get a royal +welcome, for Canadians have proved their worth. When they were in +barracks and had nothing <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_42" id="pg_42">42</a></span>to do but drill they were not always angels, +but when there was real work to be done their equal was not to be found. +The French papers were full of the stories of their bravery. There were +some officers who said that while others were splendid fighters the +Canadians were marvelous.</p> + +<p>It must have been terribly hard for Mrs. —— to let S—— go. I wish +you would ask her for his address. I will try and get in touch with him +and if he should be ill or wounded tell her I will go to him if I have +to walk to get there. Get D——’s address also, so I can look after him. +When I hear of them all being over here a wave of homesickness comes +over me and I feel that I must go and join them.</p> + +<p>There is much to be done on this side now, for the fighting in Alsace +has been terrible. The last lot of soldiers that came were Chasseurs d’ +Alpine, and out <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_43" id="pg_43">43</a></span>of one thousand two hundred who went off only five +hundred came back, and the greater number of them wounded.</p> + +<p>Fifteen young men from this village have been missing since the terrible +battle of three weeks ago, the deaths of a half a dozen have been +confirmed but of the others nothing is known.</p> + +<p>I am afraid there is no chance of the war finishing before the winter is +over.</p> + +<p>I wish somebody would organize a “French Day” or “Divonne Day” and +collect pennies for me; we will need so many things before the winter is +over. The general who came the other day said to make the money we have +go to the furthest possible point, and then make debts—the soldiers +must be taken care of.</p> + +<h3>July 11, 1915.</h3> + +<p>We have had arrivals and departures all week. The days are not half long +enough to do all that is necessary. My <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_44" id="pg_44">44</a></span>four men who came for electrical +treatment are getting on wonderfully well, the big one who was paralyzed +and who could not move hand or foot when he came, is now walking without +crutches, and feeds himself.</p> + +<p>The poor little chasseur who was shot through the body is really better. +He is beginning to walk—with a great deal of help, of course. He can +make the movements of walking and can put both legs straight out in +front of him, and the doctor says there is great hope of a permanent +cure. Poor little man, he deserves to get well, for I have never seen +such courage and patience. We begin to-morrow to prepare the big +dining-room for fifty new patients, so we shall have a busy week. I am +to have charge of the big ward and keep my floor as well. I will have +two military men nurses and some more people from the village to help.</p> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_45" id="pg_45">45</a></span> +<h3>July 17, 1915.</h3> +</div> + +<p>We have had a most terrific rain for the last two days—the people are +getting anxious on account of the grain.</p> + +<p>There was no celebration in the village on the fourteenth as is usual, +but at the Ambulance we had a little feast in honor of the men who were +at Metezeral. We have four from the Seventh Chasseurs, whose regiment +was decorated for unusual bravery.</p> + +<p>My paralyzed man stood up alone last Sunday for the first time and now +he walks, pushing a chair before him like a baby. He is the happiest +thing you can imagine; for seven months he has had no hope of ever +walking again.</p> + +<p>Seven left last week and six more go on Monday, so we shall probably get +a train load before long.</p> + +<p>I have got a small English boy to help me in the mornings. He has been +at school in Switzerland and the whole <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_46" id="pg_46">46</a></span>family have come here for the +summer in order to help at the Ambulance.</p> + +<p>One of the great actors from Paris was here on Wednesday and played and +sang for the men. He is making a tour in an automobile and visiting all +the hospitals in order to give performances for the soldiers. A +collection is taken up afterwards that goes towards the support of the +hospital. The men were a most appreciative and enthusiastic audience.</p> + +<p>There is a young Swiss doctor from Geneva here now who has come to help +Dr. —— who is very tired. I think he is rather surprised at the amount +of work the old doctor gets through in a day. He said this morning that +he would have to get up earlier in order to keep up with him.</p> + +<p>The brother of my chambermaid has been missing for a month and the poor +girl is terribly afraid he has been killed. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_47" id="pg_47">47</a></span>He was at Arras, and the +fighting there has been terrible.</p> + +<p>Fifteen of the young men from the village are missing and every day +comes the news of the death of some one.</p> + +<p>We got five new men yesterday for electrical treatment; two of them are +regular giants and we cannot get any clothes or shoes to fit them. They +are devoted to my little paralyzed man, and sit around and watch him as +if he was a baby just learning to walk.</p> + +<p>I feel as sleepy as a dried apple to-night, so please forgive me if I +tell you the same things over many times.</p> + +<h3>July 25, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Miss Todd took me out in her motor to-day for an hour. We took Daillet, +my star patient, with us. It was a pleasure to see his enjoyment. Doctor +R—— was much surprised at the progress he had made in eight days; he +says there is no doubt but that he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_48" id="pg_48">48</a></span>will be entirely cured. Daillet +wrote to his mother and told her that he could stand alone and was +beginning to walk, but she did not believe it; she thought that he was +just trying to cheer her up, so he asked me to take a photo of him +standing up so that he could send it to her. He was the proudest, +happiest thing you can imagine when he sent it off. Then his aunt came +to see him, so the poor mother is finally convinced that it is true, and +is coming to see him as soon as the haying is done, but she has to work +in the fields now and cannot get away.</p> + +<p>It is wonderful the work that the women do here. There are only two old +horses left in the whole village, so the women harness themselves into +the rakes and waggons and pull them in place of the horses—and they so +seldom complain of the hard work. I asked one woman if she did not find +it very hard, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_49" id="pg_49">49</a></span>and she said at first it came very difficult but she got +used to it and it was nice to be able to do their part.</p> + +<p>We got twenty men from Alsace on Friday—some of them badly wounded. +They did not arrive till half-past eleven at night, and it was three in +the morning before we got the dressings done and got them to bed. It is +the second time that some of them have been wounded. They are all +Chasseurs d’ Alpines—they are a splendid type. Some of them had both +legs and both arms wounded. Yesterday we were rather anxious about +several of them, but to-day they are better. They generally sleep about +three days after they arrive, they are so done out.</p> + +<p>Mrs. H—— has had to leave to care for a typhoid patient, so my hands +are very full. My English boy is getting trained rapidly; he is only +seventeen and not very strong, too young to go to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_50" id="pg_50">50</a></span>the war but very keen +to do something to help.</p> + +<p>Do not worry about me, I am as well as possible and as strong as a +horse, but as my day begins at half-past five in the morning and ends at +half-past nine at night I fall asleep over my letters.</p> + +<p>Thanks for the clippings; I would not have known B—— if the name had +not been there. I do not dare to think of his coming, and yet I would +not be proud of him if he did not want to come. I shall try and get up +to the north later so as to be nearer him when he comes.</p> + +<p>Good-night, mother; these are sad times, but we must not lose courage. I +wish I could see you to-night.</p> + +<h3>August 1, 1915.</h3> + +<p>To say that I was delighted will not express my feelings when I got the +letter from the Loyalist Chapter, I. O. D. E., enclosing cheque. It was +awfully good of them to help us here, for I realize the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_51" id="pg_51">51</a></span>demands for +help on every side and it is only natural that they should send to the +Canadians first. But O! it is so badly needed and will do so much good +here. I had been racking my brain trying to think of a way to scratch up +a few pennies, and then this delightful surprise came.</p> + +<p>This hospital is called the “Paradise of the Seventh Region,” for it is +so very far ahead of most of the French military hospitals. But while +there is a good deal of luxury on one side, such as pleasant airy rooms, +comfortable beds, good food and air, on the other hand there is a great +lack of what we consider necessities. The first thing I did when I got +the letter with the money was to order a foot tub for each floor, +slippers for the patients when they are in the house, scissors for the +pharmacy and for each floor, and various other small things that I have +been longing for and that will <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_52" id="pg_52">52</a></span>save many steps. Now that the capacity +of the hospital has been increased by fifty beds, it is more difficult +than ever to get money from the general fund for things of that kind; it +really has to be kept for food and heating. We also need instruments and +basins, etc., for a table for dressings in the new ward, as we have +absolutely nothing. Then it is so nice to have a fund that we can draw +on in case of need. Sometimes the men are terribly poor and cannot +afford to get anything for themselves when they leave. Sometimes a +ticket for a wife or daughter to come to see them and cheer them up. It +is the second time some of these men have been wounded and they have not +seen their families for a year.</p> + +<p>It is just a year to-day (August 1st) since mobilization began. At five +o’clock in the morning the tocsin sounded and all the village gathered +at the Town Hall to read the notice of mobilization. There <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_53" id="pg_53">53</a></span>were many +sad and anxious hearts then, but many more now, for there is not a +family who has not lost someone who is near and dear to them—and still +it goes on. I wonder when the end will come.</p> + +<p>My prize patient, Daillet, walks down stairs by himself now by holding +on to the railing like a child. We are all proud of him. The doctor who +sent him here from Besançon came in the other day to see how he was +getting on and he could not believe it when he saw him.</p> + +<p>I am almost asleep so I must stop. I made a mistake this morning, got up +at half-past four instead of half-past five.</p> + +<h3>August 15, 1915.</h3> + +<p>In the face of all the terrible things which are happening one must not +worry over little things. I have got to the stage now when I feel as if +one should never complain or worry if they have a roof over their heads +and enough to eat, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_54" id="pg_54">54</a></span>and that all one’s efforts should be given to +helping others.</p> + +<p>I feel perfectly overwhelmed with the letters that ought to be written, +but cannot find time to do them. I have been up all night and a couple +of days. We got thirty new patients last night. They arrived at 3 <span class="sc">a. m.</span> +and it was half-past five before we got them to bed. I did not get any +of this lot, as my rooms were full. There were not so many +wounded,—more sick, rheumatism, bronchitis, etc. One poor man said it +was like going directly from hell to heaven; it was the first time he +had slept in a bed for a year. Some of them have been wounded for the +second time.</p> + +<p>It is nearly eleven and I must be up early, so good-night.</p> + +<h3>August 23, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Your letter has been long delayed, as they are very strict and holding +up the mails again.</p> + +<p>We heard this morning that there are <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_55" id="pg_55">55</a></span>French troops guarding the border +at Crassier, just half a mile from here. We hear all the Swiss border is +to be protected by barbed wire. I do not know what it all means unless +it is on account of spies.</p> + +<p>We got fifteen more patients last week, one yesterday and one to-day, +but as several went away we have still the same number—eighty-four.</p> + +<p>We have had a very busy morning. An inspector arrived just as we were +ready to operate, and between the two I did not know whether I was on my +head or my heels. Thirty of our men will go off on Monday and we will +probably get a train full later in the week.</p> + +<p>We have a phonograph with a rasping voice that plays from morning to +night. The soldiers love it; the poor things are so used to noise that +they don’t seem happy without it, but sometimes I feel as if I could +scream.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_56" id="pg_56">56</a></span>One of the men got a telegram saying his mother was dying; the doctor +gave him forty-eight hours leave—all he could possibly do—so he went +home and has just got back; could not stay for the funeral, but was so +thankful to have been able to see her. If he had been at the front that +would not have been possible—only another sad consequence of the war. +Another soldier received the news of the death of his little girl.</p> + +<p>Miss Todd took me out in her motor the other day. We had a beautiful run +over the mountains; the view was magnificent. We took one of the +soldiers with us and he enjoyed himself immensely; it was the first time +he had ever been in one.</p> + +<h3>Sunday, August 29, 1915.</h3> + +<p>It is pouring rain, it is sad to say, as the soldiers are having a +little celebration. A band came from Noyon and the Count de Divonne made +a speech, two of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_57" id="pg_57">57</a></span>men received their Croix de Guerre, the doctor +made such a nice little speech to each of them. It was very touching to +see the groups of men, some with arms in slings and others with legs and +heads bandaged, and some who could not stand at all, still others were +in their beds. The decorations were given in the Grand Salle.</p> + +<p>I am not sure if all your letters reach me or not, sometimes I get two +in a week and then again none for three weeks.</p> + +<p>Thirty-three men go off to-morrow, some of them cured and back to the +front, some who will never be better, and some to go home on +convalescence.</p> + +<p>To-day the florist in the village sent a clothes basket full of roses to +the Ambulance for the fete. I thought of you and wished you could have +some.</p> + +<h3>September 5, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Thanks for the money you sent from <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_58" id="pg_58">58</a></span>a friend in your last letter. I will +use it wisely and make it go as far as possible. There will be more +suffering this winter than there was last, but they are so brave, these +people, they seldom complain of anything.</p> + +<p>There is a little woman here whose husband was killed. She makes twenty +cents a day selling papers and gets ten cents a day pension. She has +three children, the eldest a girl of twelve. I got her a good pair of +boots the other day and warm underclothes for the other children. She +was so grateful.</p> + +<p>Don’t worry about me. My expenses are very small, I have not bought any +clothes and do not need any this winter.</p> + +<p>To-day they had a big concert in the hotel, the proceeds go to the +Ambulance.</p> + +<p>We have had an awful week of rain and cold, but hope for a little more +sunshine to thaw us out.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_59" id="pg_59">59</a></span>Our good doctor is going to be married next month. I am so glad, for he +lives all alone and needs some one to look after him.</p> + +<p>I shall have to go to bed to get warm. There is no heat in this house +and when it rains it is like an ice box.</p> + +<h3>September 11, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I expect to leave here in two weeks to go to an Ambulance at the front. +It is somewhere in the north in Belgium. I think Dr. R—— is sorry to +have me leave, but it will be a much larger field and the kind of a +place where there will be much to do. They have all been so nice to me +here about helping me get my papers ready to send to the Minister of +War, so I do not think there will be any difficulty of my getting +through. I go to Paris first, then to Dunkirk, where Mrs. T—— will +meet me, after that my destination is uncertain. Do not worry if you do +not hear from me regularly, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_60" id="pg_60">60</a></span>for it may be difficult to get mail +through. I will write as usual.</p> + +<p>I cannot tell you how glad I am to be able to go to the front, for it +means a chance to do good work and I shall be so glad to be in the north +when B—— comes over and nearer the Canadian boys. Even if I cannot +see them I shall not feel so far away.</p> + +<p>One of my men to-day got word that his baby, seven months old, had just +died and the little girl of two is very ill. He expected to go next week +and has been counting the days till he could see them. He has never seen +the baby as it was born after the war began—another one of the sad +things of this awful war.</p> + +<p>Good-night; I am so glad of the chance of active service.</p> + +<h3>September 16, 1915.</h3> + +<p>It was awfully good of Miss W—— to send the money to me, it is so +much needed here. I expect to get off Monday or Tuesday of next week.</p> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_61" id="pg_61">61</a></span> +<h3>September 19, 1915.</h3> +</div> + +<p>My orders came to-day, and I leave on Tuesday for Paris and on Friday +for Dunkirk. I am up to my eyes in work, for there is so much to be done +before leaving and new people to break in. Three military nurses arrived +yesterday, but it is rather difficult to manage for they know nothing at +all about taking care of sick people. They have all been at the front, +and wounded too badly to return and sent into an auxiliary service. One +is a priest, one a hair dresser and the third a horse dealer; however, +they are nice men and are willing to learn, which is a great thing in +their favor.</p> + +<p>If they are able to raise any money for me I will see that it is wisely +spent. There is great need everywhere, and I am proud of the people of +St. John, they have done so much.</p> + +<p>There is a poor woman who lives in a little village near here. She had +two <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_62" id="pg_62">62</a></span>sons—one has been killed in the war, the other a helpless cripple +for eighteen years and is not able to move out of his chair. He makes +baskets sometimes, but now there is no one to buy the baskets. The +mother goes out by the day but can earn so little. I gave him five +francs, one of the De Monts dressing gowns and some warm underclothes. +He was so grateful, poor boy, and says he will not feel the cold now. +His mother is away nearly all day and he sits by the window all alone +and depends upon the neighbours coming in to help him from time to time; +he is always cheerful and never complains.</p> + +<p>The W——s have such a hard time—they get so little of their income +since the war began. It has gradually gone down from $3,000.00 per year +to $500.00; four of them to live on that amount. So many people are in +just the same condition, there is no end to the misery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_63" id="pg_63">63</a></span>I do not know whether it is the French or the English army we are to +follow at my new post.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Paris</span>, September 23, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I am off to-morrow at 7.30 <span class="sc">a. m.</span>, to Boulogne, then Calais and reach +Dunkirk at 9.30 <span class="sc">p.m.</span></p> + +<p>I have had two very strenuous days and will be glad to rest in the train +to-morrow. It took such a time to get my papers in order. The +thermometer for the last two days has been about 100.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Mobile</span> No. 1, France, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I am really not in France but Belgium. I cannot tell you just where, but +it is within ten miles of the firing line, and not far from the place +where so many of our boys from home have been sent. I thought when I +came here that it would be entirely English, as the lady who gave the +hospital is an American married to an Englishman. The English are not +far away but they are taken to their own hospitals.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_64" id="pg_64">64</a></span>We belong to a little wedge of the French that is in between the +English and Belgians. It is a regular field hospital and is composed of +a great many portable huts or sheds; some are fitted up as wards, +another the operating room, another the pharmacy, another supply room, +laundry, nurses’ quarters, doctors’ quarters, etc. It is a little colony +set down in the fields and the streets are wooden sidewalks.</p> + +<p>The first night I arrived I did not sleep, for the guns roared all night +long, and we could see the flashes from the shells quite plainly; the +whole sky was aglow. The French and English guns sounded like a +continuous roar of thunder; but when the shells from the German guns +landed on this side we could feel a distinct shock, and everything in +our little shanty rattled.</p> + +<p>Yesterday I saw my first battle in the air between German and French +aeroplanes. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_65" id="pg_65">65</a></span>We could scarcely see the machines, they were so high up in +the air, but we could see the flashes from their guns quite distinctly +and hear the explosion of the shells. To-day a whole fleet of aeroplanes +passed over our heads; it was a wonderful sight.</p> + +<p>There are about one hundred and fifty beds in all here.</p> + +<p>I have been inspected by doctors, captains, generals, and all kinds of +people till I am weary. I hope they are satisfied at last, but I cannot +go off the hospital grounds until I have two different kinds of passes +given to me,—one is a permission to go on the roads about here and the +other is good as far as Dunkirk.</p> + +<p>We have a man in our ward who had a piece of shrapnel the size of an egg +in his abdomen; they had to take out about half a yard of intestines, +which had been torn to pieces. He was also shot through the shoulder, in +the arm and leg. As <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_66" id="pg_66">66</a></span>we got him within two hours after he was wounded +there was no infection, and having a clever surgeon he is getting along +famously. Another poor chap has lost his right arm and shot through the +liver as well as being cut up by piece of shrapnel—he is getting well +also. Two have died, and it is a blessing; for to live in darkness the +rest of one’s life is worse than death. The Germans are using a new kind +of gas bomb that blinds the men.</p> + +<p>It is pouring rain to-night and cheerless enough here, but I can only +think of the poor men in the trenches.</p> + +<p>I got a joyful surprise to-day—a letter from Mr. Bell enclosing post +office order from Mr. Calhoun, of Philadelphia. Nothing gives me so much +pleasure as to help these poor people.</p> + +<p>It is beginning to get cold. I shall get bed socks for the men, for they +have not enough hot water bags to go round and all suffer from cold +feet.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_67" id="pg_67">67</a></span>I passed Colonel MacLaren’s hospital in the train—it is very +impressive to see the rows and rows of white tents. I also saw some +Canadian nurses in the distance, and did so want to get out and speak to +them.</p> + +<p>I must go to bed now to get warm. As long as one keeps going the cold is +not so apparent but when one sits still it is not pleasant.</p> + +<p>There are four English, three American and three French nurses here.</p> + +<h3>October 3, 1915.</h3> + +<p>My fund is like the widow’s cruse,—it never gives out. Somebody is +always sending me something. I do hope they all realize how grateful I +am and how much good I have been able to do. I have been very careful +how I spent it.</p> + +<p>A boy of twenty went off to-day. He had absolutely nothing warm to put +on him, so I got him an outfit at Dunkirk—he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_68" id="pg_68">68</a></span>was almost blown to +pieces, poor boy, and he said that one sock was all that was left of his +clothes. They provide them with necessary things at the hospital, but +sometimes the supply gets a bit low and now it is so cold they need +extra underclothing. When he was brought in they put him in a ward by +himself because they thought he would not live through the night, he was +so terribly wounded. His right arm was gone, he had a bullet in his +liver—it is still there—and multiple wounds of head and body. But he +made a wonderful recovery and went away very white and weak, but +cheerful and confident that he will get something to do that will not +require two hands. He has the Medaille Militaire and the Croix de +Guerre, and his Lieutenant, Captain and General have all been to see him +several times—they say he was a wonderful soldier.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:340px"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_69" id="pg_69">69</a></span> +<a name="illus-004" id="illus-004"></a> +<img src="images/illus-072.jpg" alt="THOUGHT TO BE A HOPELESS CASE But Everyone must have their chance, three Doctors operated at once amputating Leg, an Arm and Trepanning. Now as happy as the day is long." title="" width="340" /><br /> +<p class="caption sc c">Thought to be A Hopeless Case</p> +<p style="margin-left:1em; text-indent:-1em; font-size:.8em;">But Everyone must have their chance, three Doctors operated at once amputating Leg, an Arm and Trepanning. Now as happy as the day is long.</p> +<a href="images/illus-072-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_70" id="pg_70">70</a></span>Three of us went to Dunkirk by motor to get various supplies. We saw +many interesting things on the way, and in Dunkirk saw the destruction +caused by the bombardment. The whole side was out of the church and +several houses were simply crushed like a pack of cards. Some of the +nurses were in Dunkirk when it was bombarded, and they said the noise +was the most terrifying part of it all.</p> + +<p>The day we went to Dunkirk we saw a lot of armoured cars. Such curious +looking things they are—some are painted with blotches of yellow and +green and gray and red and brown so they cannot be distinguished from +the landscape. We saw lots of English troops. I looked in vain for +Canadians, but they are not far off.</p> + +<p>It has been awfully cold so far and rains most of the time. We have +decided that we shall just keep putting on clothes <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_71" id="pg_71">71</a></span>like the Italians do +in winter and never take anything off.</p> + +<p>We get wounded every day, sometimes not more than half a dozen, but as +they are almost all seriously wounded we are kept busy.</p> + +<p>There have been so many troops moving on lately, that we thought we +would be left without anything to do. We have orders not to do anything +that is not absolutely necessary as we may have to move also.</p> + +<p>I believe the hospital at Divonne has been taken over by the nuns. I +miss the lovely flowers that I had there. I share a small room with two +other nurses and there is not much room to spare. We have boxes put up +on end for tables and wash-stands, and there is only one chair. Some of +the nurses have tents, two in each.</p> + +<p>We have had a terrible busy week. All the new ones that came into my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_72" id="pg_72">72</a></span>ward lived only thirty-six or forty-eight hours—they were too far gone +to save. Five went away cured, and they really were cases to be proud +of.</p> + +<p>I think it was the sweetest thing of little Mary Murray to send me her +birthday money for my soldiers. I have been getting them fruit and +cigarettes for Sunday. That is the thing that overwhelms me at +times—the awful suffering every way one turns. Dorothy Thompson sent me +£5, much to my joy.</p> + +<p>Last night I could not sleep for the noise of the guns; they must have +been bombarding some place near at hand, for the whole earth seemed to +shake.</p> + +<p>The boys who drive the American ambulance and bring our patients in say +this place is a sort of heaven to them, they are always glad to get +here. Mrs. T—— does everything she can for them. They are a nice lot +of boys and are doing good work.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_73" id="pg_73">73</a></span>Some of the poor men who have lost large pieces of their intestines +find the hospital diet a little hard.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Mobile No.</span> 1, November 7, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Letter writing is done, under difficulties here. I have gone to bed in +order to keep warm and have a small lantern with a candle in to light +the paper.</p> + +<h3>November 15, 1915.</h3> + +<p>I did not get any further with my letter for the kitty insisted upon +playing with the candle and I was afraid we would have a fire, and since +then I have been so busy I have not had a minute. We have had three +glorious days and have appreciated them, I can tell you. It has been so +cold and wet we have all been water-logged. As for me, I have no word to +express my gratitude for all the friends have sent to me. I am quite +overwhelmed with all the gifts of money and supplies, but I shall make +good use of them and nothing shall be wasted. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_74" id="pg_74">74</a></span>The wool which Mrs. S—— +sent turned up yesterday and I have already given half of it to the +women in one of the villages here to knit into socks. There is a dear +old English colonel who has a soup kitchen near the firing line, and he +is always looking for socks. He does a great deal of good, for he gets +the men when they are carried in from the trenches and gives them hot +drinks and hot water bottles, and warm socks when he has them. So many +of the men have just straw in their boots and are almost frozen. It +makes such a difference if they can get warmed up quickly. Poor souls, +they have had a hard time since the heavy rains began. They are brought +in here just caked with mud from head to foot.</p> + +<p>Oh, how glad I was to get the cheque from the “Red Cross” Society and +the cheque from Miss G——. I have written to her and would like to +write <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_75" id="pg_75">75</a></span>long letters to every one who is so kind, but there is not time.</p> + +<p>This Ambulance was established by an American lady who then gave it to +the French government. The expenses of running it are paid by them, but +I think Mrs. —— pays the nurses and also helps out in the way of extra +supplies.</p> + +<p>On All Saints Day we went to the little cemetery and decorated the +graves of the soldiers who have died in the hospital. There was a +special mass and service in the churchyard and the General sent us an +invitation. It was pouring rain but I would not have missed it for +anything, and I only wish the mothers, wives and sisters could know how +beautiful it all was and how tenderly cared for are the last +resting-places of their dear ones. It was a picture I shall never +forget. The corner of the little churchyard with the forty new graves so +close <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_76" id="pg_76">76</a></span>together, each marked with a small wooden cross and heaped high +with flowers—the General standing with a group of officers and soldiers +all with bared heads—the nurses and one or two of the doctors from the +hospital behind them, and then the village people and refugees—hundreds +of them, it seemed to me—and the priest giving his lesson—and all the +time the rain coming down in torrents and nobody paying any attention to +it. There were no dry eyes, and when the General came and shook hands +with us afterwards, he could not speak. He is a splendid man, very +handsome and a patriot to the backbone,—one of the finest types of +Frenchmen.</p> + +<p>Do not worry about me for I am very well and so glad to be here in spite +of the cold and discomforts. Mrs. S——’s socks and bandages have just +come.</p> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_77" id="pg_77">77</a></span> +<h3>November 28, 1915.</h3> +</div> + +<p>It is bitterly cold here, and we feel it more because it is so damp. I +can’t tell you how thankful I am to be able to get socks and warm things +for the men. We can send things to the first dressing station by the +ambulances, and from there they go to the trenches at once. Mrs. D——’s +socks came yesterday, and I sent them off to Colonel Noble, who has the +soup kitchen at the front. All Mrs. S——’s have been given away. It was +such a good idea to have them white, for they put them on under the +others and it often saves the men from being infected by the dye of the +stockings.</p> + +<p>This morning when I got up my room was like a skating pond, for the +moisture had frozen on the floor and the water in the pitcher was solid. +The getting up in the morning is the hardest, but after we get started +we do not mind the cold.</p> + +<p>The patients have plenty of blankets <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_78" id="pg_78">78</a></span>and hot water bottles, so they do +not suffer.</p> + +<p>Two Zeppelins went over our head yesterday, but fortunately we are too +unimportant to be noticed. I suppose that is one of the reasons they +will not let us say where we are, for there are so many spies everywhere +that can send information.</p> + +<p>An English nurse came yesterday; she has had most interesting +experiences. She was in Brussels when it was taken by the Germans and +was obliged to take care of German soldiers and officers for some time. +She said the officers, as a rule, were brutes, but some of the men were +very nice and grateful.</p> + +<p>For three days and nights the guns have thundered without ceasing. I +wonder what it all means?</p> + +<p>My kitty keeps all the seventeen dogs that loaf around here in order. +Yesterday <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_79" id="pg_79">79</a></span>she chased a big yellow dog, half St. Bernard, down the main +sidewalk of the Ambulance. It was a very funny sight, for she was like a +little round ball of fury and the poor dog was frightened to death.</p> + +<h3>December 5, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Last night we had the most awful wind storm. I thought our little hut +would be carried over into the German lines. It rained in torrents and +the roof leaked, and I could not get my bed away from the drips, so I +put up my umbrella and the kitty and I had quite a comfortable night.</p> + +<p>Ben Ali, the poor Arab who was so desperately wounded, was up to-day for +the first time.</p> + +<p>I have ordered six dozen pair of socks from Paris. My nice old English +Colonel Noble (with the soup kitchen) is always clamoring for them. I +think he saves lots of the men from having frozen feet. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_80" id="pg_80">80</a></span>Madge S——’s +wool is being made into socks by the women of the village.</p> + +<h3>December 26, 1915.</h3> + +<p>Christmas is over, and in spite of the under-current of sadness and the +suffering the men had a very happy day. In my ward all but one were well +enough to enjoy the tree, and they were like a lot of children with +their stockings. Christmas Eve one of the orderlies who was on guard +helped me decorate the ward and trim the tree, then we hung up their +stockings. They had oranges, sweets and cigarettes and some small toys +and puzzles and various things of that kind to amuse them.</p> + +<p>I had a package for each one in the morning, and, thanks to my good +friends at home, was able to give them some nice things. I had a pair of +warm socks and gloves for each one, a writing pad and envelopes, pen, +pencil, small comb in a case, tooth brush, tooth powder, piece of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_81" id="pg_81">81</a></span>soap, +wash cloth and a small alcohol lamp with solidified alcohol—a thing +made especially for the trenches and which delighted them very +much—also a small box of sweets, and to several of the very poor ones I +gave a small purse with five francs in it. One poor boy said he had +never had such a Christmas in his life; he is one of a family of seven, +and says that in times of peace it was all they could do to get enough +to eat.</p> + +<p>Christmas day at four o’clock the tree was lighted, and one of the many +priests who act as infirmiers here came round to the different wards and +sang carols. He has a very beautiful voice and was much appreciated by +the soldiers. Mrs. Turner then came in, followed by an orderly with a +huge hamper containing a present for each man. They had a wonderful +dinner, soup, raw oysters, (which came from Dunkirk by motor), plum +pudding, etc. I could only give <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_82" id="pg_82">82</a></span>my men a bite of pudding to taste it, +but they were able to eat the oysters and other things in moderation.</p> + +<p>In the other wards, where there were only arms and legs and heads to +consider, they had a royal feast. She also gave a grand dinner to all +the infirmiers and men on the place—had a tree for them and a present +for each one. We also had a good dinner and a present for each. She +certainly went to a great deal of trouble and made many people happy.</p> + +<p>The next day we divided the things on the trees and each man made a +package to send home to his children. They were even more delighted to +be able to do this than with their own things.</p> + +<p>One poor man in my ward was so ill that I was afraid he would die, so I +moved his bed to the end of the ward and put screens around it so that +he would not be disturbed and that the others would not be disheartened +by seeing him. He <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_83" id="pg_83">83</a></span>was so much better Christmas night that we had great +hopes of saving him, but to-day he died. He was wounded in seven places +and one hip was gone. The General came at four o’clock and decorated +him. He roused up and saluted and seemed so pleased. In the evening the +doctor came to do his dressing and he seemed much better. After the +doctor had gone he turned to me and said, “That Major knows what he is +about, he is a corker.”</p> + +<p>Ben Ali, my prize Arab, had a wonderful day. He ate too much and had to +stay in bed to-day, but he has been wrapping and unwrapping his presents +and having a fine time. He is just like a child, he is so pleased. He +has taken a great fancy to me and asked me to visit him after the war is +over.</p> + +<p>We had midnight mass on Christmas eve for the infirmiers and personnel +of the hospital. One of the empty wards <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_84" id="pg_84">84</a></span>was fitted up as a chapel and a +Franciscan monk from Montreal officiated. He is on duty here in the +lingerie, and is a splendid man. He is delicate, has some serious heart +trouble, so that he need not stay, but he came over to do what he could +for his country and his services are invaluable here. His mother was in +the north of the country taken by the Germans and he has not been able +to get any news of her for more than a year.</p> + +<p>We have had orders from head-quarters to close all the shutters as soon +as the lights are lit, so we feel as if we were shut up in packing +cases.</p> + +<p>There were a great many aeroplanes flying about to-day, so I suppose +they are expecting an attack of some kind. It is blowing a gale to-night +and I feel as if our little shanty would blow over.</p> + +<h3>January 1, 1916.</h3> + +<p>It is hard to believe that we are beginning another year. If only it +will bring <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_85" id="pg_85">85</a></span>a lasting peace! The boxes have not turned up yet, but they +doubtless will one of these days, and we will be all the more glad to +see them because we have used up everything else.</p> + +<p>I expected to go on night duty immediately after Christmas, but we had +such sick people in my ward they did not want to make a change just +then.</p> + +<p>It is blowing a gale again to-night, and raining in torrents; it seems +as if it would never stop raining. The roof of one of the wards was +loosened the other night the wind was so strong, so the patients had to +be all moved out while it was being mended. Our barracks had to be +propped up also, all one side was loose and the rain came in in sheets. +I frequently go to bed with an umbrella.</p> + +<h3>January 16, 1916.</h3> + +<p>We have had orders to evacuate all the men who are able to travel, so we +got rid of a great many—eighteen went <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_86" id="pg_86">86</a></span>on Tuesday, twenty on Friday and +nineteen more are to go next Tuesday.</p> + +<p>The roof nearly blew off my ward last night, so my patients had to be +moved into the next ward till it is mended. I am going to take advantage +of it and have a thorough house cleaning.</p> + +<p>Le Roux, the boy who has been here so long and who has been so terribly +ill, died on Tuesday. I had great hopes of him up till the last day. +Half an hour after he died the General came to decorate him. I hope they +will send the medals to his people, it seems hard that they should have +been just too late to give them to him. The next day I went to his +funeral—the first soldier’s funeral I have seen. I was impressed with +the dignity and simplicity of it. The plain deal coffin was covered with +a black pall, which had a white cross at the head, the French flag +covered the foot and a bunch of purple violets, tied with red, white +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_87" id="pg_87">87</a></span>and blue ribbon, lay between. It was carried in one of the covered +military carts. At three o’clock the little procession started for the +cemetery. First came the priest in soldier’s uniform, carrying a small +wooden cross, on which was written Le Roux’s name and the name of his +regiment. One of this kind is always put at the head of each grave. Then +came three soldiers with guns on their shoulders, then the car bearing +the coffin, and on each side three soldiers with arms reversed; directly +behind were two infirmiers and three soldiers with guns on their +shoulders, we two nurses in our uniforms, then two officers and some +more soldiers. As we went down the road to the little church in R——, +we passed long lines of soldiers going somewhere, and everyone saluted. A +few stray people followed us into the church and afterwards to the +graveyard, where we left Le Roux with his comrades who had gone before. +I had not been there since All Saints Day and it was sad to see how many +more graves had been added to the line. The ward seems very empty +without Le Roux, but I am glad that the poor boy is at rest for he has +suffered so long. I am beginning to think that death is the only good +thing that can come to many of us.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:342px"> +<a name="illus-005" id="illus-005"></a> +<img src="images/illus-091.jpg" alt="Nurses Quarters for Two." title="" width="342" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">Nurses Quarters for Two.</span></span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-091-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_89" id="pg_89">89</a></span> +<h3>January 25, 1916.</h3> +</div> + +<p>We have been awfully busy, wounded arriving every night, sometimes nine +and sometimes ten, etc. To-night we have had only six so far, but will +probably have some more before eight <span class="sc">a. m.</span>, they have all been very bad +cases. There has been a terrific bombardment every night we have been on +duty.</p> + +<p>My little tent nearly blew away in the big wind storm, so I had to sleep +in the barracks—or rather try to sleep. I did not succeed very well, so +to-day I moved back to the tent. From my bed in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_90" id="pg_90">90</a></span>tent I can see the +troops passing on the road and aeroplanes in the sky. To-day we saw so +many we knew it would mean trouble to-night. The trenches were +bombarded, and some of the poor men who were wounded had to lie in the +mud and cold for over twelve hours before they could be moved, +consequently they arrived here in a pretty bad shape. One of the men had +on a pair of Mrs. D——’s socks. I had sent them to Colonel Noble and he +gave them to the men in the trenches. It has been clear and frosty for +two nights, such a relief after all the rain. The hospital is full of +very sick men. I am glad to be on night duty for a change.</p> + +<h3>January 30, 1916.</h3> + +<p>It has been so cold and damp to-day that I could not get warm even in +bed. I like sleeping out in the little tent and as a rule sleep very +well—have a cup of hot tea when they wake us at six <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_91" id="pg_91">91</a></span>o’clock. I wear +two pair of socks, beside the rooms are not so frightfully damp since we +got up the little stoves; they get dried out once a day, which is a +great advantage.</p> + +<p>I am sending you some snap shots of my little kitty. We call her +“Antoinette” after the aeroplane, for she makes a noise like the +aeroplane when she sings.</p> + +<p>When I have a chance I shall go back to Divonne for a rest—it is too +far to go home—but there does not seem any chance of it at present. The +English nurses who have been here six months will have to go first, and +we are more than busy. There are two new nurses coming next +week—Canadians, I think. It is very difficult to get nurses up here, +there is so much red tape to go through.</p> + +<p>You must not worry about me, for I am really very well. The cold and +simple life is very healthy, even if it is not always comfortable. I +seem to be <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_92" id="pg_92">92</a></span>as strong as an ox and the more I have to do the better I +feel.</p> + +<p>It is joyful to hear that I am to have some more money. St. John people +certainly have been good. A box came to-day from Trinity, it had been +opened. There is the ambulance, I must run.</p> + +<h3>February 6, 1916.</h3> + +<p>We are so busy here that we scarcely know where to turn. It is just a +procession of wounded coming and going all the time, for we have to send +them off as quickly as possible in order to make room for the new +arrivals. Thirty-eight went off last Tuesday and fifteen on Friday, but +the beds are filled up again. The last ones we have been getting are so +badly wounded that I wonder who can be moved on Tuesday. We have had +wild wind and rain for the last week, but to-day is cold and clear and +for the first time in weeks it is quiet—the cannonading has been +incessant.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_93" id="pg_93">93</a></span>Two English aviators were brought in yesterday whose machine fell quite +near here; fortunately they are not very badly hurt.</p> + +<p>The box from the high school girls came to-day, and it was like having +Christmas all over again,—such a nice lot of things there were. I shall +have a fine time distributing them.</p> + +<p>Here comes the ambulance. One poor man died in the receiving ward and +the other two went to the operating room at once. They both have +symptoms of gas gangrene, and I am afraid one will lose an arm and the +other a leg.</p> + +<p>In spite of the cold and wet we keep extraordinarily well.</p> + +<p>Four new nurses have come, much to our relief, for the work was getting +rather beyond us. Two of them are Canadians from Toronto. They know ever +so many people I know. They sailed from St. John at Christmas time and +saw so many <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_94" id="pg_94">94</a></span>St. John friends of mine—they said everyone was so good to +them.</p> + +<p>We do not get a minute during the night and some days have been up to +lunch time.</p> + +<h3>February 22, 1916.</h3> + +<p>There have been two big attacks and we have had our hands full. Since +Sunday the cannonading has gone on without ceasing. It seems to be all +round us. At night we can see the flashes of the guns quite distinctly, +in fact the sky is lit up most of the time. It is like the reflection of +a great fire—it would be very beautiful if one could get away from the +horror of what it all means.</p> + +<p>The aeroplanes were almost as thick as the motors—one came down in a +field near the hospital yesterday—the wings were riddled with bullets, +but fortunately the aviator was not hurt. We often see taubes, and +Zeppelins have gone over us several times, though I could not recognize +them, but the noise <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_95" id="pg_95">95</a></span>was unmistakeable. The wounded are nearly all +brought in at night so we have our hearts and hands full. The other +night twenty-three came in at once so we had to call up the day people +to help us; seventeen were operated upon and all are getting well but +one.</p> + +<p>From the twenty-third July, 1915, until the first January, 1916, seven +hundred and fifty patients have been cared for here and sixty-six have +died. I have had over one hundred wounded come in at night this last +month, and as they all come directly from the trenches you can imagine +what it means.</p> + +<p>Such a fine box came from Mrs. S—— and F—— containing bandages, +socks, etc., all most welcome.</p> + +<p>The ground is white with snow to-day but it will not stay long.</p> + +<p>It is very difficult to get nurses here as a command of the French +language is an essential.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_96" id="pg_96">96</a></span>The guns are still at it, so there will be much to do to-night.</p> + +<h3>March 6, 1916.</h3> + +<p>We have had snow several times this week and it is snowing again to-day. +It is very pretty for a little while but soon melts, and the mud is +worse than ever.</p> + +<p>I feel that I can never be grateful enough to the people who have +enabled me to do so much for these poor men. I am going to order some +more pillows, they are things that we need very much. All the lung cases +have to sit up in bed and need a great many pillows to make them +comfortable. Strange to say we have not lost a lung case and we have had +some pretty bad ones. There is one in now who was shot through the lung, +and yesterday they took out a long sibber bullet from under his rib; he +will be able to go home next week. When he came in he was in very bad +condition and he could not speak for a week. The treatment is to sit +them up in bed and give them morphine every day to keep them perfectly +quiet, the hemorrhage gradually stops and they get well very quickly. We +have had a number of deaths from that awful gas gangrene; there is not +much hope when that attacks them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:544px"> +<a name="illus-006" id="illus-006"></a> +<img src="images/illus-100.jpg" alt="AMBULANCE VOLANT, In Winter." title="" width="544" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">Ambulance Volant,</span><br />In Winter.</span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-100-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_98" id="pg_98">98</a></span>The bombardments have been so terrible lately that those who are +wounded in the morning cannot be taken out of the trenches until night, +and then they are in a sad condition.</p> + +<p>One day last week, just as I was getting ready to go to bed, some people +came out from the village to ask if we could help a poor girl who had +been burned. Mrs. Turner and I went at once with all sorts of dressings +and found her in a terrible state—her whole body burned—so of course +there was no hope. She only lived three days. I went in the mornings to +do her dressing and another <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_99" id="pg_99">99</a></span>nurse in the afternoon. She was burned by +lighting a fire with oil.</p> + +<p>Things are too heavy now for me to get my holiday.</p> + +<h3>March 12, 1916.</h3> + +<p>Only ten admissions. All the efforts are being directed against Verdun. +The defence has been magnificent, and if only the ammunition holds out +there will be no danger of the Germans getting through; but what a +terrible waste of good material on both sides.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Turner has been obliged to go to Paris and has left me in charge of +the hospital. I hope nothing terrible will happen while she is away.</p> + +<p>The snow is all gone and we are having rain again.</p> + +<p>My kitty is getting very bad and spends all her nights out. She has +grown to be just a common ordinary cat now, but she caught a rat the +other day, so has become useful instead of ornamental.</p> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_100" id="pg_100">100</a></span> +<h3>March 20, 1916.</h3> +</div> + +<p>I am left in charge of the Ambulance for a time and am a bit nervous, +having French, English, American, Canadian and Australian nurses under +me.</p> + +<p>We had quite an exciting time yesterday watching a German being chased +by four French machines. They all disappeared in the clouds so we do not +know what happened. To-day I counted eleven aeroplanes in the air at +once as well as three observation balloons. One aeroplane came so close +over the barracks that we could wave to the pilot.</p> + +<p>We had a lot of patients out of doors to-day, some on stretchers, others +on chairs, and others had their beds carried out—they enjoyed it so +much. We take advantage of all the good weather.</p> + +<p>It is pouring again to-night and the guns are booming in an ominous +manner.</p> + +<p>One day last week I went to Poperinghe with Mrs. C——. We heard there +was <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_101" id="pg_101">101</a></span>some Canadian troops there and I was hoping to find some friends, +but the Canadians had been moved; however, we talked with some Tommies, +gave them cigarettes and chocolate and had a very interesting time.</p> + +<h3>March 29, 1916.</h3> + +<p>Just a week ago a French general was brought in wounded in the leg while +he was inspecting the Belgian trenches. We were rather overwhelmed at +first, but I arranged a corner of one of the wards and he spent one day +and night there while we fixed up an empty ward for him. The next day +his wife arrived and she is camping quite contentedly in another corner +of the ward. She, poor woman, has suffered much from the war but is very +brave. Her eldest son was killed, her second son is ill at Amiens, and +this is the second time the general has been wounded. The first time he +was in a hospital for three months. Her nephew, who is like a second +son, has <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_102" id="pg_102">102</a></span>also been killed, and his wife, a young woman of twenty-two, +taken prisoner by the Germans, and they have had no news of her since +September, 1914. The general’s home was in the Aisne district and is, of +course, in the hands of the Germans. There is nothing left of the house +but the four walls; everything has been packed off to Germany, all the +wood work and metal has been taken for the trenches. The day the general +was brought in, the King of the Belgians came to decorate him, and we +were all so disappointed because we did not know about it and only one +or two of us saw him. He came in a motor, accompanied only by one +officer, and we did not know anything about it until he had gone.</p> + +<p>We had another awful storm last night—wind and rain. Windows blew off +and doors blew in, and one poor little night nurse was blown off the +sidewalk and nearly lost in the mud.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_103" id="pg_103">103</a></span>One day last week I was surprised by a visit from two Canadian boys. +They were doing some engineering work in this section and when they +heard there were Canadians here they came over to see us. One was from +Toronto, the other from Fort William. I gave them one of the Christmas +cakes and some cigarettes. They went away very happy. I was hoping to +get news of some of our boys, but they did not know any of them +personally but expected to see some of the men from the Twenty-sixth in +a few days. I told them to tell any who could to come and see us. I have +been hoping ever since their visit to see B—— or S—— or D—— walk +in some day. It is awful to know that they are so near and not be able +to see them.</p> + +<h3>April 8, 1916.</h3> + +<p>A cheque came to-day from the De Monts Chapter, I. O. D. E., which gave +me great joy. It touches me to tears <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_104" id="pg_104">104</a></span>to think of the way the St. John +people have helped me. I wish they could have a look in here and see how +much more I have been able to do on account of the help they have sent +me.</p> + +<p>There is a soldier who helps here by the name of Baquet; his wife has +just taken three orphan children, the oldest six years old, to look +after, in addition to her own four, her mother and her mother-in-law. +There are no men left to do the work on the farm, and poor Baquet did +not know how they could get along. I gave him one hundred francs and +told him it was from my friends in Canada. He did not want to take it at +first, saying it was sent for the wounded, but I explained to him that +it was sent to me to help the soldiers and the soldiers’ families. He +said it would mean so much to his wife, she works from four in the +morning till dark. They are the sort of people who deserve help, and it +is such <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_105" id="pg_105">105</a></span>a joy to be able to lighten their burdens a little.</p> + +<p>We have only about eighty patients at present, but they keep us busy. +The two men who came in last have been so terribly wounded. We have had +a number of cases of gas gangrene. They are trying to cure them with a +new sort of serum. Two of the men really seem to be getting better. Four +cases were brought in yesterday. One poor man died at noon, and I was +glad he did not live any longer; another they had to operate on in the +afternoon and take his leg off. He was in very bad shape last night but +this morning he surprised every one by asking for pen and paper to write +to his mother, and says he feels fine.</p> + +<p>Our wounded general left to-day. He could not say enough nice things +about the hospital. He said he was so glad he had been brought here, not +only on his own account, but he was so glad to see <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_106" id="pg_106">106</a></span>how wonderfully his +men were taken care of.</p> + +<p>The guns have been going incessantly for the past two days, and we hear +that the English have taken four trenches. I have also heard that some +Canadians have come over lately and our B—— may be only four or five +miles from me. I asked the general if it would be possible for me to +find out; he said he would inquire and if B—— is anywhere in reach he +would get me a pass to go and see him. I feel as if I would start out +and walk to try and find him; but alas! one cannot get by the sentries +without proper papers.</p> + +<p>I hope my fur lined cape has not gone to the bottom. I think I shall +still need it in June, for after two wonderful sunshiny days we are +again freezing. Sunday and Monday were like days in June and we moved +the beds of the patients out in the grass and others were on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_107" id="pg_107">107</a></span>stretchers. We had the phonograph going, served lemonade, biscuits, +sweets and cigarettes. They had a wonderful time and all slept like tops +the next night.</p> + +<p>I think I shall have to find a new job when the war is over, for I don’t +think I shall ever do any more nursing.</p> + +<p>I am trying to find a lot of straw hats like “cows’ breakfasts” and +cheap parasols to protect their heads when they are taking sun baths.</p> + +<p>The dressings are taken down and one thickness of gauze only left over +the wound, and they are left in the sun from twenty minutes to two hours +according to what they can stand.</p> + +<h3>April 11, 1916.</h3> + +<p>Yesterday we had quite an interesting time with air crafts. The machine +came down so close, that we could see the pilot and his assistant who +waved to us that they were going to throw something to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_108" id="pg_108">108</a></span>us. A package +landed, almost in the pond. It turned out to be a letter tied up in a +handkerchief with some shot as weight. It was from the English boys who +were patients here for a while; they told us they would pay us a visit +some day. We could see the machine gun in front of the aeroplane quite +distinctly. In the afternoon there was another excitement—a German +machine chased by several French. It looked from below as if they had +got him, but they all disappeared in the clouds and we did not know the +result of the fight.</p> + +<p>At nine o’clock there was a terrific explosion as if a bomb had dropped +just outside the gate. We all rushed out and could hear the aeroplane +distinctly, but could not see it; no damage was done near us. We have +just heard that the bomb landed just outside the village doing no +damage.</p> + +<p>Thanks for the toilet articles, they are <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_109" id="pg_109">109</a></span>a wise selection. What we +before considered necessities we now know are luxuries.</p> + +<p>We have just got off a motor full of convalescents going home on +permission. I hope they will get a month, some of them have been in the +trenches twenty months.</p> + +<h3>May 3, 1916.</h3> + +<p>I got a lot of linen hats and Chinese umbrellas to keep the sun off the +patients when they are out of doors.</p> + +<p>The two Canadian nurses are a joy to work with, for they have had +splendid training and are the kind that will go till they drop.</p> + +<p>We have a wounded German prisoner who was brought in three days ago. The +poor boy had to lose his right arm, and was at first terrified of every +one. He expected to be ill-treated, but now that he sees he gets the +same treatment as all the other patients he is happy and contented and +very glad to be with us. I thought if I ever saw a German in these +regions I would be capable of killing him myself, but one cannot +remember their nationality when they are wounded and suffering.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:547px"> +<a name="illus-007" id="illus-007"></a> +<img src="images/illus-113.jpg" alt="SHOWING LINEN CAPS AND CHINESE UMBRELLAS Purchased for Patients from Contributions." title="" width="547" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">Showing Linen Caps and Chinese Umbrellas</span> Purchased for Patients from Contributions.</span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-113-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:545px"> +<a name="illus-008" id="illus-008"></a> +<img src="images/illus-114.jpg" alt="Queen of the Belgians Leaving the Ambulance." title="" width="545" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">Queen of the Belgians Leaving the Ambulance.</span></span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-114-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_112" id="pg_112">112</a></span>I am sending you a photo of the Queen of the Belgians, who visited us +and was very nice; she spoke so highly of the Canadians and of the +splendid work they had done.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Paris</span>, May 24, 1916.</h3> + +<p>I left Dunkirk Thursday morning in time to escape the bombs, and stopped +off at Etaples to look up some of our friends at the Canadian hospital. +Dr. MacL—— had left for London but I saw M—— D——, and M—— P——.</p> + +<p>Etaples is a real city of hospitals now. I saw the St. John Ambulance +and the Canadian unit; they are both most interesting, so well +organized.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_113" id="pg_113">113</a></span>Captain T—— took me to the station in a motor, for which I was glad, +as it is two miles, and the walk over in the sun was as much as I +wanted. Arrived at Paris at five the next morning rather weary, had a +hot bath, the first in a real tub for eight months, and when I went to +bed that night I slept for nearly twenty-four hours.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Divonne-Les-Bains</span>, May 30, 1916.</h3> + +<p>I did not go to the Grand Hotel for reasons of economy. This is a clean +little place and I am quite comfortable but I miss the bathroom and the +balcony.</p> + +<p>There are no patients at the Ambulance here for the moment. All the +fighting is in the north and at Verdun. Poor Verdun—it is terrible +there, one hundred days and still no let up—I think there will be no +men left in France before long and then the English will have to take +their turn. When will it all end? Divonne is as beautiful as ever, and +so quiet <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_114" id="pg_114">114</a></span>and peaceful one would not realize that there was a war if it +were not for the fathers and sons who will never come back, and the +women who are struggling to make both ends meet.</p> + +<p>I have had news of several of my old patients who were here. Daillet, +who was paralyzed, is at Vichy and can walk two miles with crutches, two +others have been killed and many of the others back in the trenches.</p> + +<p>I have not been able to sleep, it is so quiet.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Mobile No.</span> 1, France, June 20, 1916.</h3> + +<p>To-day I went over to Poperinghe to look up Margaret H——. She is in +charge of the Canadian clearing hospital and is doing a wonderful work. +They have been getting all the wounded from this last fight—receive one +day, evacuate the next, and the third day clean up and get ready again. +It is wonderfully organized; the trains come right up to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_115" id="pg_115">115</a></span>hospital +and there is a nurse for each car, so the patients are well looked +after. Margaret has been mentioned in despatches, I believe. I am so +glad, for she certainly deserves it.</p> + +<h3>June 25, 1916.</h3> + +<p>I went over for Margaret H—— in the motor. She went with me to the +cemetery near the hospital and I put some roses on the grave of one of +our St. John boys. I wish his mother could see how well cared for it is. +Margaret came back to tea with us.</p> + +<p>To-day I have been specializing a man who has developed tetanus. I would +almost wish that he would die, for he has no hands, and has a great hole +in his chest and back, but strange to say he wants to live, is so +patient and so full of courage. When I have cases like this one I am +always so grateful to the people who have helped me in my work. If they +could see the comforts that can be <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_116" id="pg_116">116</a></span>given by a bottle of cologne or a +dozen oranges they would be rewarded.</p> + +<p>Our medicine chef was a prisoner in Germany for eleven months. The +things that he tells us makes one’s blood boil. One cannot imagine human +beings as brutal as the Germans are. When they came into the town where +he had his hospital, they shot all the wounded that were left and eight +of his orderlies who stayed with him. He expected to be shot also, but +they needed his services so took him prisoner.</p> + +<h3>July 16, 1916.</h3> + +<p>Another rainy day and as cold as the dickens but we are glad to get +through the summer without extreme heat or a pest of flies.</p> + +<p>My tetanus case is really getting better.</p> + +<p>Last week I went to a concert given at R—— for the soldiers who are +resting. It was one of the nicest I have ever been at. I did not want to +go, for <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_117" id="pg_117">117</a></span>I don’t feel like any kind of gaiety, but Mrs. T—— insisted. +There were only three ladies present, the rest of the salle was filled +with soldiers just from the trenches. The concert was held in a stable.</p> + +<p>Some English and Canadian officers, who are on construction work near +here, have been coming to see us. One is Major H——, who was on the +Courtenay Bay work at St. John.</p> + +<h3>July 29, 1916.</h3> + +<p>We are nearly eaten up with the mosquitoes so I have been to Dunkirk to +get some mosquito netting.</p> + +<p>Mrs. T—— gave a grand concert to the men on the anniversary of the +opening of this hospital. Denries, from the Opera Comique in Paris, and +Madame Croiza, from the opera in Paris, sang. The Prince of Teck was +here and in my ward, he was so nice to the patients. We had French, +English and Belgian generals, colonels and officers of various kinds.</p> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_118" id="pg_118">118</a></span> +<h3><span class="sc">No. 3 Canadian Casualty Station,</span><br />July 31, 1916.</h3> +</div> + +<p>I got twenty-four hours permission and came out here to spend the night +with nursing Sister Margaret Hare, hoping to get some news of B——. I +have found out where he is and that he has been on rest and went back to +the trenches to-day. They are usually on duty eight days and off eight, +so Margaret is going to send him word when he next comes off to come +here and I will come over and meet him. I do hope we will be able to +make connection. It is so hard to be so near and yet not be able to see +him. If he is wounded he will have to pass through No. 10 Clearing +Station, which is right next to this. I have left my name and address at +the office, so if he should be brought in they will telephone to me and +I can get over to him in half an hour. The patients here are so well +taken care of. They have had a light day. I <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_119" id="pg_119">119</a></span>helped her a little in the +dressing room this morning, saw some of the men who had come in last +night, saw three operations. There is a very clever English surgeon here +and several McGill men. It is a scorching hot day.</p> + +<p>My tetanus patient is quite cured, is beginning to walk about.</p> + +<h3><span class="sc">Mobile No.</span> 1, August 14, 1916.</h3> + +<p>We have had a strenuous and exciting week. It began with a visit from +the King of the Belgians, who came to decorate three of my men who had +fought in the trenches with conspicuous bravery. He visited all the +wards and talked with the soldiers. Like all the royalty I have met so +far, he is extraordinarily simple—wore no decorations or distinguishing +marks of any kind. We were all presented to him in turn and shook hands +with him.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:342px"> +<a name="illus-009" id="illus-009"></a> +<img src="images/illus-123.jpg" alt="NURSE AND NEPHEW. The meeting in France, one serving with the French, the other with the Canadian B. E. F." title="" width="342" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">Nurse and Nephew.</span> The meeting in France, one serving with the French, the other with the Canadian B. E. F.</span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-123-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_121" id="pg_121">121</a></span>The next day we got twenty gas cases and several badly wounded men—one +Canadian from Ontario and two English boys, one was a policeman in +London. I asked the Ontario man how he happened to get to our Ambulance, +he said, “he’d be blessed if he knew,” he was working on the lines which +run right up to the trenches when the warning for gas was given. He +started to put on his helmet and the next thing he knew he was in a “Red +Cross” ambulance on the way to the hospital. He is getting on splendidly +but we lost four of the gas cases. It is the worst thing I have seen +yet, much worse than the wounded, and the nursing is awfully hard, for +they cannot be left a moment until they are out of danger.</p> + +<h3>August 28, 1916.</h3> + +<p>I have met our boy B—— at his rest camp not very far from here. It was +a joy to find him looking so well, and big and brown.</p> + +<h3>September 9, 1916.</h3> + +<p>Rain, continuous rain. The guns have been roaring without any let-up for +three <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_122" id="pg_122">122</a></span>days and nights, and our little barracks are nearly shaken to +pieces. We have had several warnings of gas attacks, but fortunately +nothing has happened. One of the orderlies kept his mask on all night +and everyone was surprised that he was alive next morning, they are the +most awful smelling things you can imagine.</p> + +<p>We have never seen so many aeroplanes as during this past week. This +morning we counted eighteen in a row.</p> + +<p>Mrs. T—— is going to organize another hospital on the Somme and is +going to keep this one as well. She certainly has done a splendid work. +We are all hoping that the fighting will be over before Christmas.</p> + +<h3>October 1, 1916.</h3> + +<p>The rain has begun, so I suppose we may expect to be under water for the +rest of the winter, but things are going well for us, so we must hope +on; but O! how dreadful it all is.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_123" id="pg_123">123</a></span>A stationary balloon that is not far from here, used as a Belgian +observation post, was struck by a bomb from an aeroplane and we saw it +fall in flames. The men who were in it jumped out with parachutes and +both escaped without injury.</p> + +<p>Broterl, the famous French sniper and poet, came the other day to sing +for the soldiers. He is wonderful, and sang all sorts of songs that he +had composed in the trenches. The men were enchanted, it does such a lot +of good, for it makes them forget for a time.</p> + +<p>One of our orderlies has just got word that one of his brothers has been +killed at the Somme, another is dangerously wounded in the head, and a +third has lost his leg—he has six brothers, all at the front.</p> + +<p>One of the men in my ward got word of the death of his brother also. He +was a stretcher bearer and was helping a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_124" id="pg_124">124</a></span>German officer who was +wounded. As soon as the German got to a place of safety he shot the poor +man who had been helping him.</p> + +<p>I am nearly frozen to-night and will have to go to bed.</p> + +<h3>October 9, 1916.</h3> + +<p>Our Bayard has come through the Courcelette fight safely, where the New +Brunswickers did such wonders; but O! at such a terrible cost.</p> + +<p>It has been very cold and rainy here. I am afraid the bad weather has +set in.</p> + +<p>Wish you would send me an aluminum hot water bottle for Christmas, +another pair of Indian moccasins, and fill up the corners of the box +with malted milk and maple sugar.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the poor little Breton who said when he saw me—as +he roused a little when we were taking him from the ambulance, +“maintenant je suis sauve” (Now I am saved).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_125" id="pg_125">125</a></span>I have just received a cheque from the Rothesay Red Cross. Since I +began, my fund has never entirely given out, and I have been able to +give such a lot of pleasure and comfort to the men.</p> + +<p>If any one wants to know what to send me you might suggest Washington +coffee like Lady T—— sent. It was a great success.</p> + +<p>I am too cold to write any more, so good-night.</p> + +<p>I wish I had some of Maggie’s crullers and squash pie, but the French +don’t know anything about squash pies.</p> + +<p>Our poor man with a broken back has been moved to a hospital near his +home so his family can see him. We sent him on a mattress, fixed up with +pillows and cushions so that he did not suffer at all on the journey.</p> + +<p>When I have any one who is so ill as he was I bless the good people at +home <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_126" id="pg_126">126</a></span>counting infirmiers and men that work about the hospital—they are +soldiers who have been in the trenches for nearly two years, or been +disabled through wounds or sickness, or exchanged prisoners from Germany +unfit for military service. They call the hospital “le petit Paradis des +blesses” and are so glad to be sent here. A man was brought in here the +other day who was wounded for the second time, but he did not mind in +the least about his wounds, he was so glad to get back. He is delighted +because he will not be well enough to leave before Christmas.</p> + +<p>We sent to England for some pop-corn, and to-day the men have been like +a lot of happy children stringing the corn for the tree. They had never +seen it before and were much interested. We made quite a successful +popper out of a fly screen and a piece of wire netting.</p> + +<p>The other night we were talking over <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_127" id="pg_127">127</a></span>the various experiences we have +had since the beginning of the war—the terrible things we have +seen—the sad stories we have heard, and the strange but very true +friendships we have formed—and we all agree that we could never have +carried on our work in such a satisfactory way if it had not been for +the gifts which have come from time to time from our home friends. The +extra food that we have been able to give to the very sick men has made +all the difference in the world to their recovery, and then the warm +clothing when they go out, and the bit of money to help them over the +hard place. You cannot imagine how much it means to them.</p> + +<p>I remember so well one poor little man who had reached the limit of +endurance, and when I found the sleepless nights were due to worry and +not to pain, the whole pitiful little story came out. His wife was ill, +his sister-in-law dead and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_128" id="pg_128">128</a></span>there were six children to be looked +after—the eldest a boy of eleven—and no money. As long as his wife had +been able to run the farm they had been able to get along, but she had +given out. The French soldier only gets five cents a day, so he had +nothing to send them. He cried like a baby when I told him I could help +him. We sent off a money order for one hundred francs the next day, and +I wish you could have seen the change in that man. That little sum of +money put things straight six months ago and now everything is going +well. But he will never forget, and both he and his wife have a very +warm feeling in their hearts for the good people across the sea who came +to their rescue in a time of need. When I begin to talk of my beloved +French it is hard to stop.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:553px"> +<a name="illus-010" id="illus-010"></a> +<img src="images/illus-132.jpg" alt="MY SALLE--CHRISTMAS, 1916." title="" width="553" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><span class="sc">My Salle—Christmas, 1916.</span></span> +<br /><a href="images/illus-132-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_130" id="pg_130">130</a></span> +<h3>January 1, 1917.</h3> +</div> + +<p>The men had a wonderful Christmas day. They were like a happy lot of +children. We decorated the wards with flags, holly, mistletoe, and paper +flowers that the men made, and a tree in each ward. You cannot imagine +how pretty they were. Each patient began the day with a sock that was +hung to the foot of his bed by the night nurses. In each was an orange, +a small bag of sweets, nuts and raisins, a handkerchief, pencil, tooth +brush, pocket comb and a small toy that pleased them almost more than +anything else, and which they at once passed on to their children. They +had a fine dinner—jam, stewed rabbit, peas, plum pudding, fruit, nuts, +raisins and sweets. The plum puddings were sent by the sister of one of +the nurses.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon the trees were lighted and we had the official visit of +the medicine chef and all the staff. After the festivities were over we +began preparing for the tree for the refugee children. We had thought +that we would have enough <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_131" id="pg_131">131</a></span>left over to manage for fifty children, but +the list grew to one hundred and twenty-five. The mayor of the village +let us have a large room in his house, as the first place we had chosen +was too small. We had the tree on Sunday afternoon and three hundred and +thirty-one children arrived. Fortunately we had some extra things so +there was enough of something to go around. They had a lovely time, each +one got a small toy, a biscuit, and most of them a small bag of sweets +and an orange. The oranges and sweets gave out, but there was enough +biscuits and toys, but there was nothing left.</p> + +<p>We are all dead tired, for we worked like nailers for the past two +weeks; but it was worth while, for we were able to make a great many +people happy, and now we are sending off packages to the +trenches—things that came too late for Christmas.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:311px"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_132" id="pg_132">132</a></span> +<a name="illus-135" id="illus-135"></a> +<img src="images/illus-135.jpg" alt="photo of author" title="" width="311" /><br /> +<p style="margin-left:1em; text-indent:-1em; font-size:.8em;"> +So many readers of this book expressed regret that it +did not contain a photo of the one who penned these letters, as she is +in home life, that we applied to the family, and after earnest +solicitation they granted this—the one in use on her passports in +France, which we are sure will complete this passport to the hearts of +her readers.</p> +<a href="images/illus-072-lg.jpg"><span style="font-size: x-small">LINK TO IMAGE</span></a><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_133" id="pg_133">133</a></span>We expect to move this month. It will be an awful business breaking up +here, for all the barracks have to be taken to pieces and moved with us. +We have begun to take an inventory, and to pack up, but I do not know +just where we will move to, the papers are not in order yet. It is hard +to believe that another year of war has begun.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 'My Beloved Poilus', by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'MY BELOVED POILUS' *** + +***** This file should be named 24368-h.htm or 24368-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/3/6/24368/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4407eae --- /dev/null +++ b/24368-h/images/illus-135.jpg diff --git a/24368-h/images/illus-cvr.jpg b/24368-h/images/illus-cvr.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2de6264 --- /dev/null +++ b/24368-h/images/illus-cvr.jpg diff --git a/24368.txt b/24368.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f290d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/24368.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2569 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'My Beloved Poilus', by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'My Beloved Poilus' + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: January 20, 2008 [EBook #24368] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'MY BELOVED POILUS' *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + "MY BELOVED POILUS" + +THESE HOME LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN GIRL, DAUGHTER OF A RETIRED GENERAL +OF THE U. S. ARMY, GIVING HER TRAINED SERVICES, CARING FOR THE WOUNDED +IN FRANCE AT AN ARMY AMBULANCE AND SUCCORING DISTRESS WHEREVER SHE MEETS +IT, ARE PUBLISHED BY HER FRIENDS WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE. SIMPLY AND +SOLELY TO RAISE MONEY TO AID HER IN HER WORK WHICH BEGAN ON THE 4th DAY +OF AUGUST, 1914. + +EVERY DOLLAR RECEIVED FROM THE SALE OF THE BOOK, LESS BARE COST OF +PRINTING AND EXPRESS CHARGES, GOES TO THE FUND. + + St. John, N. B. + BARNES & CO., Limited, PUBLISHERS. + 1917 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The Assistance of all Booksellers and Stationers is Solicited in +Pushing this Work. Price One Dollar. Single Copies by Mail Postage Paid. +Address "Poilus," Box 163, St. John, N. B. Hospital Contributions will +be received and acknowledged by A. C. Skelton, Manager Bank of British +North America, St. John, N. B. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + Copyright. + + Canada, March 2, 1917. + United States, March, 1917. + + First Edition, March 15, 1917. + Second Edition, April 15, 1917. + + Engravings by + F. C. Wesley Co., St. John, N. B. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + PREFACE. + +When Florence Nightingale began her great work in the hospital wards at +Scutari in 1854, she little realised how far-reaching would be the +effect of her noble self-sacrificing efforts. Could she to-day visit the +war-stricken countries of Europe she would be astonished at the great +developments of the work of caring for the wounded soldiers which she +inaugurated so long ago. Her fine example is being emulated to-day by +hundreds of thousands of brave women who are devoting themselves to the +wounded, the sick and the dying in countless hospital wards. + +All too little is known of what these devoted nurses have done and are +doing. Some day the whole story will be given to the world; and the +hearts of all will be thrilled by stirring deeds of love and bravery. In +the meantime it is pleasing and comforting to catch fleeting glimpses of +a portion of the work as depicted in this sheaf of letters, now issued +under the title of "My Beloved Poilus," written from the Front by a +brave American nurse. + +Two outstanding features give special merit to these letters. They were +not written for publication, but for an intimate circle of relatives and +friends. And because of this they are not artificial, but are free and +graceful, with homely touches here and there which add so much to their +value. Amidst the incessant roar of mighty guns; surrounded by the +wounded and the dying; shivering at times with cold, and wearied almost +to the point of exhaustion, these letters were hurriedly penned. No time +had she for finely-turned phrases. Neither were they necessary. The +simple statements appeal more to the heart than most eloquent words. + +These letters will bring great comfort to many who have loved ones at +the Front. They will tell them something of the careful sympathetic +treatment the wounded receive. The glimpses given here and there, of +the efforts made by surgeons and nurses alike to administer relief, and +as far as possible to assuage the suffering of the wounded, should prove +most comforting. What efforts are made to cheer the patients, and to +brighten their lot, and what personal interest is taken in their +welfare, are incidentally revealed in these letters. For instance, "The +men had a wonderful Christmas Day (1916). They were like a happy lot of +children. We decorated the ward with flags, holly and mistletoe, and +paper flowers that the men made, and a tree in each ward." + +How these letters bring home to us the terrible tragedy that is going on +far across the ocean. And yet mingled with the feeling of sadness is the +spirit of inspiration which comes from the thought of those brave men +who are offering themselves to maintain the right, and the devoted women +who are ministering to their needs. Our heads bow with reverence, and +our hearts thrill with pride, when we think of them. But we must do +more than think and feel; we must do our part in supporting them and +upholding their hands. They have given their all. They can do no more, +and dare we do less? + + H. A. CODY, + Rector St. James Church. + + Author of "Rod of the Lone Patrol," + "Frontiersman," + "If any Man Sin," + Etc., Etc. + +St. John, N. B., +February 19th, 1917. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + INTRODUCTION + +The writer of these letters, a graduate of McGill College, and the +Presbyterian Hospital, New York, left New York in the Spring of 1914 +with a patient, for the Continent, finally locating at +Divonne-Les-Bains, France, near the Swiss border, where they were on +August 1st, when war broke out. She immediately began giving her +assistance in "Red Cross" work, continuing same until the latter part of +November, when she returned with her patient to New York--made a hurried +visit to her home in St. John and after Christmas returned to again take +up the work which these letters describe. + +[Illustration: Ambulance Volant, France.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + "MY BELOVED POILUS" + + + Divonne-les-bains, France, + August 2, 1914. + + +DEAR MOTHER: + +The awful war we have all been dreading is upon us--_France is +Mobilizing_. At five o'clock yesterday morning the tocsin sounded from +the Mairie (village hall) and men, women, and children all flocked to +hear the proclamation which the Mayor of the village read. It called +upon all of military age--between twenty years and fifty years--to march +at once, and inside of twenty-four hours five hundred men had gone, they +knew not where. The bravery of these villagers--men and women--is +remarkable, and not to be forgotten. No murmuring, no +complaining,--just, "Ma Patrie," tying up the little bundle--so +little--and going; none left but old men, women and children. + +We have started teaching the women and girls to make bandages, sponges, +etc., for the hospital which will be needed here. + + + Divonne-Les-Bains, France. + August 23, 1914. + +Your letter came yesterday--twenty days on the way--but I was fortunate +to get it at all; so many of these poor people, whose nearest and +dearest have gone to fight for their country, have had no word from them +since they marched away, and they do not know where they are. + +From this little village 500 men left the first day of mobilization; +there is not a family who has not some one gone, and from some both +fathers and sons have gone, as the age limit is from twenty to fifty +years. + +I am filled with admiration and respect for these people. The courage +of both the men and women is remarkable. There is no hesitation, and no +grumbling, and everyone tries to do whatever he or she can to help the +cause. + +I do not know if I told you, in my last letter, of the poor lady who +walked all night through the dark and storm to see her son who was +leaving the next morning. All the horses and motors had been taken by +the Government for the army, so she started at eleven o'clock at night, +all by her self, and got here about five in the morning--her son left at +seven, so she had two hours with him. While there are such mothers in +France she cannot fall. There are many such stories I might tell you, +but I have not the time. + +The "Red Cross" has started a branch hospital here, and I have been +helping them to get it in order. It is just about ready now, and we may +get soldiers any day. + +I have classes every morning and find many of the women very quick to +learn the rudiments of nursing. Every one in the place is making +supplies and our sitting room is a sort of depot where they come for +work. + +If my patient is as well in October as she is now I am going to stay and +give my services to the "Red Cross." If I have to go home with her I +will come back--I would be a coward and deserter if I did not do all I +could for these poor brave people. + + + October 25, 1914. + +Another Sunday--but this is cold and rainy--the days slip by so quickly +I cannot keep track of them. We have only two soldiers left at the +hospital--they tell us every day that others are coming. The country all +about is perfectly beautiful with the autumn coloring. We do not see +any of the horrors of the war here. If it were not for the tales that +come to us from outside, and for the poor broken men who come back, we +would not know it was going on. There are very enthusiastic accounts of +the Canadians in all the English papers. + + + PARIS, about February 15, 1915. + +Back safely in Paris after taking my patient to New York and a short +visit home, which now seems like a dream. + +I have been spending a lot of time at the American Ambulance this week, +but have not gone out to stay as yet, as I still have to see some other +small hospitals and had to go to the Clearing House to make arrangements +for sending supplies, which I brought from home and New York, to +different places. + +I have seen quite a number of operations, and as X-ray pictures are +taken of all the cases there is no time wasted in hunting for a bullet; +they get the bullet out in about two minutes. They are using Dr. Criles' +anaesthetic--nitrous oxide gas and oxygen--it has no bad effects +whatever. The patients come out of it at once as soon as the mask is +taken off, and there is no nausea or illness at all; and most of them go +off laughing, for they cannot believe that it is all over,--they feel so +well; but oh, mother, it is awful to see the sad things that have +happened. In some cases there are only pieces of men left. One young +chap, twenty-one years old, has lost both legs. At first he did not want +to live, but now he is beginning to take an interest in things and is +being fitted for wooden legs. + +The dental department has done wonderful work. They build up the frame +work of the face and jaws and then the surgeons finish the work by +making new noses and lips and eyelids. I thought I had seen a good many +wonderful things, but I did not believe it possible to make any thing +human out of some of the pieces of faces that were left, and in some of +the cases they even get rid of the scars. Photos are taken when they +first come in, and then in the various stages of recovery. One of the +worst cases I saw the last day I was out. He has to have one more +operation to fill in a small hole in one side of his nose and then he +will be all right. + +Last Sunday one of the men in Miss B----'s ward was given the medal for +distinguished service. He had saved his officer's life--went right out +before the guns and carried him in on his back. He was struck himself +just before he got to his own lines and one leg almost torn off. When +they brought him to the American Ambulance, all the doctors, except Dr. +B----, said his leg would have to come off at once--he refused to do it +and saved the leg for the man. It will be stiff, of course, as the knee +joint is gone entirely; but will be better than a wooden leg, and the +poor man is so pleased. + +[Illustration: The Dog who Saved His Master's Life.] + +I must tell you about the wonderful dog that is at the American +Ambulance; perhaps you have read about him in some of the papers. His +master came from Algeria, and of course did not expect to take his dog +with him, but when the ship left the wharf the dog jumped into the sea +and swam after it, so they put off a boat and hauled him on board, and +he has been with his master all through the war. He was in the trenches +with him, and one day a German shell burst in the trench and killed all +of his companions and buried this man in the mud and dirt as well as +injuring him terribly. Strange to say the dog was not hurt at all, and +the first thing the man remembered was the dog digging the mud off his +face. As soon as he realized his master was alive he ran off for help, +and when they were brought into the Ambulance together there were not +many dry eyes about. After he was sure his master was being taken care +of he consented to go and be fed, and now he is having the time of his +life. He is the most important person in the place. He has a beautiful +new collar and medal, lives in the diet kitchen, and is taken out to +walk by the nurses, and best of all is allowed to see his master every +day. I will send a photo of him to you. His master has lost one leg, the +other is terribly crushed, and one hand also, but Doctor B---- thinks he +can save them. + +I think I shall go back to Divonne-Les-Bains--they are urging me so +strongly and there seems to be more need there. + + + February 19, 1915. + +Back again in Divonne-Les-Bains. It seems as if I had never been away--I +have fallen into the old work so easily. I left Paris Sunday night about +eight o'clock and arrived here at two the next day, and had a warm +welcome from everybody. One poor man died of tetanus before I got back. +I have nine on my floor. I have thirteen patients, nine in bed all the +time, and the others up part of the day. One of the women of the village +helps me in the morning, two others help with the cleaning up and +serving meals; everything has to be carried up three flights of stairs, +so you can imagine the work. + +I have a very comfortable room at the hotel, go to the Ambulance at +seven in the morning and generally get back at nine or half past. I do +not know how long I shall be here--until this lot get well or more come. + +One of the patients is a chef, and was acting as cook for the regiment +when a shell landed in his soup pot; he was not wounded, but his heart +was knocked out of place by the shock and his back was twisted when he +fell. + + + February 28, 1915. + +The poor man who was so very ill died on the morning of the twenty-third +after three weeks of intense suffering--I stayed that night with him. +The others are all out of danger with the exception of two who cannot +get well--one is paralyzed and the other has tuberculosis. + +I went to the village for the first time yesterday and was quite touched +by the welcome I received at every little shop and house. The people +seemed genuinely glad to have me back. They cannot seem to get over the +fact that I have crossed the ocean twice and come back to them. To them +the ocean is a thing of terror, especially since the war broke out. +Doctor R---- has a great many sick people in the country about here to +take care of in addition to the soldiers. In one house they had nothing +to eat but potatoes, but he is a good deal like our dear old doctor, and +feeds and clothes and takes care of them himself. + + + March 5, 1915. + +I can scarcely believe that it is nearly three weeks since I left Paris. +I have been so busy, that the days fly by. Some of the men are leaving +to-morrow, and most of the others are getting along very well. + +Mr. E---- is indeed kind. He has just sent an order to the village +people, who make beautiful lace and embroidery, for $500.00 worth of +work. They are so happy about it, for it means food for many of them. +One poor woman, who has lost her husband in the war and has a child to +take care of, can earn only eighteen francs a month, that is $3.60, and +that is all she has to live on. + + + March 7, 1915. + +One of the American doctors from the American Ambulance came to see me +yesterday. He was very much interested in what he saw and is coming back +in ten days. We have had one or two beautiful days, the pussy-willows +are beginning to come out, and primroses everywhere. + +Dr. S---- said that the man who owned the wonderful dog that is at the +American Ambulance is really getting well, and they managed to save one +leg and the crushed hand. + +In Dr. B----'s service he did not do a single amputation during the +months of January and February,--a very wonderful record. + +Dr. S---- seems to think there is no hope of my poor paralyzed man +getting better, he may live for twenty years but can never walk. I am +giving him English lessons every day. He is very quick at learning; it +helps pass the time. Poor man, he has already been in bed six months. + + + March 21, 1915. + +This has been the most lovely Spring day. The violets are blooming in +the fields, they are smaller than ours but very fragrant; the yellow +primroses are beautiful and grow everywhere. There is still lots of snow +on the mountains but none in the valley. If it were not for the soldiers +who are here we could scarcely believe that terrible fighting is going +on so near us. + +A lot of our men went off last week, some of them scarcely able to +hobble, poor things, but all the hospitals are being cleared out to make +room for the freshly wounded. We are expecting a new lot every day, and +have prepared ten extra beds. + +I will have some letters this week to send to the "Red Cross" and "The +De Monts" Chapter, I. O. D. E., thanking them for the things they sent +back by me; they have been so much appreciated, done so much good and +relieved so much distress. I gave some to Mademoiselle de C---- who sent +them to a small hospital in Normandy near their chateau, some to the +hospital here, and some to a small hospital not far from here where they +are very poor; the doctor who is in charge there nearly wept when he +knew the things were for him. + + + March 26, 1915. + +Another beautiful day and the air is soft and balmy as a day in June. +The woods and fields are full of spring flowers, there are big soft gray +pussies on all the willow trees and the other trees are beginning to +show a faint tinge of green. It is certainly a lovely place. + +You probably felt much relieved that I was not in Paris at the time of +the last air raid when the bombs were dropped. One fell so near the +Ambulance at Neuilly that one of the doctors was knocked out of bed by +the shock. + +I had my paralyzed man out on the balcony to-day, it is the first time +in six months that he has been out. + +One of the men here, who has lost the use of both hands, told me to-day +that he had six brothers in the army; two have been killed, two wounded +and two are still at the front. He was a coachman in a private family, +has lost a thumb of one hand and on the other has only the thumb and one +finger left. Fortunately his employer is a good man and will take care +of him; but think of the poor man,--horses are his chief joy, and he +will never be able to drive again. + +[Illustration: The hopelessly paralyzed man who afterwards walked two +miles on crutches.] + + + April 2, 1915. + +Easter Sunday and still raining. We had a splendid service from Mr. +R---- and a Communion service after. The service is more like the +Presbyterian than any other. We have four new soldiers but the large +convoy has not yet arrived. There has been awful fighting in Alsace +lately, so the wounded must come soon. + +To-day we had a specially good dinner for the men. Madam B---- gave them +cigars and Easter eggs, and after dinner they sang some of their songs, +then gave us three cheers. They are a fine lot of men and so grateful +for everything we do for them. + +The story of the dog has gone through the whole country, but it is nice +to know that it is really true, and to have seen the dog. + +Dr. B---- was able to save the other leg of the dog's master, and after +another operation he thinks he will have the use of his hand. + + + April 10, 1915. + +We had a severe snow storm to-day and yesterday also, and in between the +snow storms it poured rain; all the lovely, spring weather has +disappeared. + +Wednesday night they announced the arrival of a train of wounded, for +the next morning at half-past five, but did not tell us how many to +expect. We all went to the Ambulance at half-past five and got +everything ready for dressing and beds prepared for thirty. At seven +thirteen arrived,--all convalescents, and no dressings at all to do. The +last time forty came, and all in a dreadful state of infection, so we +never know what to expect. + +I am not sorry I came back to Divonne for I feel that I have been able +to help more here than in Paris; there they have many to help and here +very few. + +I am sending you a photo of three of my patients--Chasseurs d' Alpine or +"Blue Devils" as the Germans call them--they are the ones who have done +such wonderful work in Alsace. + +[Illustration: Three Chasseurs d'Alpine called by the Germans "Blue +Devils."] + + + April 19, 1915. + +I have had quite a busy week, for my men have been coming and going. The +paralyzed man has been sent to Bourg, the two Chasseurs d' Alpine have +gone and I have six new ones--this lot is ill, not wounded. There are +three officers among them,--one is a cousin of Madam B----, the French +lady who helped establish this Ambulance. Her husband came on Thursday; +he has eight days leave. He is very interesting, for he has been all up +through the north of France. He is adjutant to one of the generals and +travels from eighty to one hundred miles a day in a motor, carrying +despatches. There is a French aviator here, but he has not got his +machine, so I am afraid there is no hope for me. + + + April 25, 1915. + +They took down all the stoves in the Ambulance last week, and the day +after it snowed; we had to put some of the men to bed to keep them +warm. We have been very busy all week, new patients coming every day +till now we have forty. Most of them are not wounded. Poor fellows, they +are utterly done out; some have pneumonia, others rheumatism, one +paralyzed and all sorts of other things. This is a wonderful place for +them to come to and most of them get well very quickly. They are talking +of increasing the number of beds in the hospital and of making it a +regular military one. In that case they will send a military doctor here +and the whole thing will be re-organized. They want me to promise to +take charge of it, but I do not think it would be a wise thing, there is +so much red tape and so many things about the military organization I do +not understand, that I am afraid I would get into hot water at once. + +I am sending you a circular of Mademoiselle de Cauomonts' lace school. +They do lovely work and need all the help and orders that they can get. +They will be glad to execute orders by mail for anyone writing them to +Divonne-Les-Bains, France. + + + May 2, 1915. + +I have never seen anything as lovely as the country is now, it is like +one great garden; how I wish you could be here. I have had a busy day, +as one of my patients had to be operated on. Doctor R---- took a piece +of shrapnel out of his arm, and two others have been pretty ill; four +leave to-morrow, so the general clearing up will begin again. + +My poor old lady who had a stroke of paralysis died yesterday. I have +been helping take care of her. The only son is at the front. So many old +people are dying this year; when they get ill they don't seem to have +any power of resistance; poor things, they have endured so much they +cannot stand any more. + +There is a poor little woman here who comes from Dinant, that was +destroyed by the Germans in the early part of the war. She has lost all +trace of her father and mother; her husband and brother have both been +killed and their property utterly destroyed. Mr. B----, the pastor of +the Protestant Church, has not been able to find his mother, who +disappeared last August. Every day we hear of something new. + +The papers are full of accounts of the gallant fighting of the +Canadians, but the losses have been very heavy. + + + May 9, 1915. + +It is just a year to-day since I sailed from New York, starting on our +trip with Mrs. E----. Little did we think of the horrors that have +happened since. + +Seven more men went off last night, so we have only twenty left. I have +ten on my floor, but only four in bed; the others are able to be out all +day. Charrel, one of my patients who just left, was one of six +brothers, all of whom went off the first days of the war; three have +been killed, the other three wounded. + +I am going to Lyons on Thursday for a few days to visit some of the +hospitals. + +The French papers are full of the heroism of the Canadian troops; they +have done wonderful work at Ypres, but at what a terrible cost. + +I feel so proud every time I see the dressing gowns the DeMonts Chapter +sent me--they are the nicest we have. + + + May 18, 1915. + +I left here Thursday at noon with Madam B---- who went to Paris. Before +I left I telegraphed to Madam M----, the wife of the soldier who was +here such a long time, asking her to get me a room, but when I arrived I +found the whole family at the station to meet me and they insisted on my +going home to stay with them. They are very simple people, but so kind +and hospitable. I think it is quite an event having a stranger stay with +them. We ate in the kitchen, and the whole family seemed to sleep in a +cupboard opening off of it. + +I saw a lot of hospitals and was rather favorably impressed with them. +At the Hotel Dieu, they had received seven hundred patients within +twenty-four hours. I think the saddest part was the eye ward, there were +so many who would never see again and some of them so young. There were +some with both legs gone and others both feet, and many with one arm or +leg missing. + +The boats on the river that were fitted up as hospitals were very +interesting, but I fancy would be very hot in the summer and the +mosquitoes would be terrible. + +Saturday I spent the day with Mademoiselle R----, who had been staying +at the Hotel at Divonne for a time. The R----'s are a wealthy family +who have lived in Lyons for generations. Mademoiselle was able to take +me to a good many of the hospitals, as they have done a good deal for +them. We visited them in the morning, which was much more interesting, +as we saw the work going on. At two of the hospitals wounded were +arriving when we left there, so we saw the whole thing. I also saw the +dressing being done in one of the large military hospitals. In the +afternoon we went to a "Red Cross" hospital, where she worked in the +lingerie; there are fifty beds and the patients are taken care of by the +sisters. They seemed to be very cheerful and well looked after. + +Sunday morning I got up at 3.30 and took a train at 4.30 for Romans +where Mrs. C---- is working in a military hospital. At eight I arrived +at Tourons and had to walk from there to a small village called Tain, +where I got a tramway to Romans. I arrived at eleven, had my lunch on +the sidewalk before a cafe,--a most excellent meal for fifty cents. I +found Mrs. C---- at the convent, where she is staying; fortunately she +had the afternoon off. She has charge of the dressings and all of the +infected operations. At the hospital where she is they have forty +wounded Germans; they seem very contented and glad to be there. Mrs. +C---- says it is dreadful to do their dressings, for they have no +self-control at all; they have a certain dogged courage that makes them +fight as they do, in the face of certain death, but when they are +wounded they cannot stand the pain. The French, on the contrary, seldom +say a word; they will let one do anything, and if the pain is very bad +they moan occasionally or say a swear word, but I have never seen one +who lost control of himself and screamed. + +I had dinner with Mrs. C---- at the convent, and at 7.15 took the train +for Valence where I changed and waited two hours for the train to Lyons, +but there was so much going on at the station that the time did not seem +long,--troops coming and going all the time and a hospital train with +three hundred wounded arrived. + +Monday morning I left for Divonne and arrived back very tired but well +satisfied with my trip. + +I found two new patients, one with a leg as big as an elephant and the +other out of his head. I have twelve now on my floor. + +Just think! lily of the valley grows wild here, and you can get a bushel +in a morning; the whole place is sweet with the perfume. + + + May 29, 1915. + +We got twelve more patients Wednesday,--six left. I still have fifteen; +this lot were all ill. One man is quite a character. The doctor put him +on milk diet the first day--but he did not approve, so he went to the +village and bought a loaf of bread and some ham. + +Between the florist of the village and the wife of one of the soldiers I +am kept well supplied with roses. I wish I could share my riches with +you. + +I am anxiously waiting to hear of the safe arrival of the Twenty-fourth; +as we have heard nothing, they must be all right. It is hard to have +them go but I cannot understand the attitude of those who will not go or +who object to their men and boys going. You are just beginning to feel +now what they have been suffering here since August last. + +Madam L'H---- was called back to Verdun to-day; she was supposed to have +three weeks' holidays, but has only been away ten days. She is not fit +to go back but there is no help for it. + +There was great excitement here when Italy finally declared war. It is +awful to think of the brutes throwing bombs on Venice. I do hope they +will not do any harm there. + +I must say good-night, for I am tired. I am up at half-past five every +morning and seldom get off duty before nine at night. + + + June 20, 1915. + +Yesterday we got five patients,--the four worst were consigned to me. +One poor chap was shot through the body and the spine was injured; they +do not know just what the extent of the injury is, but he is completely +paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately he is very small, so it is +not difficult to take care of him; he is the most cheerful soul, and +says he has much to be thankful for as he has never suffered at all. +When he was shot he simply had the sensation of his legs disappearing. +When he fell he said to a comrade, "Both my legs have gone," but he had +no pain at all. His comrade assured him that he had not lost his legs, +but he said he could not believe it until he got to the hospital. He has +received the Medaille Militaire for bravery, and his comrades said he +certainly deserved it. He is so glad to get here, where it is real +country and quiet. We put him on a chaise longue on the balcony to-day +and he has been out of doors all day long. + +It is after ten o'clock, but I am still at the Ambulance. We are waiting +for a train that is bringing us fifteen wounded directly from Alsace. +Poor souls, they will be glad to get here, for they have been a long +time on the way. + +No letters this week; regulations are very strict again, and they are +holding up all mail for eight or ten days. + + + June 22, 1915. + +I had to stop my letter as the men arrived. We got eighteen instead of +fifteen. Such a tired dirty lot they were; they came straight from the +battle field, and had only had one dressing done since they were +wounded. Some of them came on stretchers, others were able to walk, as +they were wounded in the arms and head. I drew two from this lot, which +brings my number up to seventeen again. One of mine has both bones +broken in his leg and the other is wounded in the left side and +shoulder. One poor chap had been a prisoner in one of the trenches for +four days and they were unable to get any food all that time; most of +them have slept ever since they arrived, they were so exhausted. + +To-day a military doctor came from Besancon to show us about some +special electrical treatment. They are going to increase the beds by +fifty to begin with, and later may make it three hundred. + +The news is not good to-day, the Russians seem to be retreating all the +time and the losses in the north are terrible. There seems to be no +doubt in the minds of many people that the war will last another year at +least; it seems too terrible. + + + June 27, 1915. + +I did not get my letter off to-day as there was so much to do. We have +had inspection all week. They have finally decided to enlarge the +hospital very much and make it a semi-military institution of four +hundred beds. We are to turn the large dining-room into a ward with +fifty beds, and the large part of the hotel will hold three hundred +more. They want me to take charge. Dr. R---- will be chief with two +assistants. There will be forty men nurses--convalescent soldiers--and I +do not know how many more women nurses. I am very glad it has been so +decided, for it is a great pity this place has not been of more use. Our +last lot of men are getting on very well now; but we have had a hard +week, for some of them were very ill. The doctor was very much afraid +one man would lose his arm, but he has managed to save it. + +I have grown to be a sort of official shotsnapper for the Ambulance and +village. It is really very interesting and my camera is very good. + +Did I send you the snaps of the Bayin baby? She is only nine months old +and runs around like a rabbit--is as pretty as a picture. I am so sleepy +I can hardly see, so good-night. + + + July 4, 1915. + +I was glad to get your letter this week; three weeks on the way is a +long time to wait. + +I have such mixed feelings when I hear that the troops have left St. +John. My heart aches for those left behind, but I am so glad to know +they are on the way, for they are needed badly and they will get a royal +welcome, for Canadians have proved their worth. When they were in +barracks and had nothing to do but drill they were not always angels, +but when there was real work to be done their equal was not to be found. +The French papers were full of the stories of their bravery. There were +some officers who said that while others were splendid fighters the +Canadians were marvelous. + +It must have been terribly hard for Mrs. ---- to let S---- go. I wish +you would ask her for his address. I will try and get in touch with him +and if he should be ill or wounded tell her I will go to him if I have +to walk to get there. Get D----'s address also, so I can look after him. +When I hear of them all being over here a wave of homesickness comes +over me and I feel that I must go and join them. + +There is much to be done on this side now, for the fighting in Alsace +has been terrible. The last lot of soldiers that came were Chasseurs d' +Alpine, and out of one thousand two hundred who went off only five +hundred came back, and the greater number of them wounded. + +Fifteen young men from this village have been missing since the terrible +battle of three weeks ago, the deaths of a half a dozen have been +confirmed but of the others nothing is known. + +I am afraid there is no chance of the war finishing before the winter is +over. + +I wish somebody would organize a "French Day" or "Divonne Day" and +collect pennies for me; we will need so many things before the winter is +over. The general who came the other day said to make the money we have +go to the furthest possible point, and then make debts--the soldiers +must be taken care of. + + + July 11, 1915. + +We have had arrivals and departures all week. The days are not half long +enough to do all that is necessary. My four men who came for electrical +treatment are getting on wonderfully well, the big one who was paralyzed +and who could not move hand or foot when he came, is now walking without +crutches, and feeds himself. + +The poor little chasseur who was shot through the body is really better. +He is beginning to walk--with a great deal of help, of course. He can +make the movements of walking and can put both legs straight out in +front of him, and the doctor says there is great hope of a permanent +cure. Poor little man, he deserves to get well, for I have never seen +such courage and patience. We begin to-morrow to prepare the big +dining-room for fifty new patients, so we shall have a busy week. I am +to have charge of the big ward and keep my floor as well. I will have +two military men nurses and some more people from the village to help. + + + July 17, 1915. + +We have had a most terrific rain for the last two days--the people are +getting anxious on account of the grain. + +There was no celebration in the village on the fourteenth as is usual, +but at the Ambulance we had a little feast in honor of the men who were +at Metezeral. We have four from the Seventh Chasseurs, whose regiment +was decorated for unusual bravery. + +My paralyzed man stood up alone last Sunday for the first time and now +he walks, pushing a chair before him like a baby. He is the happiest +thing you can imagine; for seven months he has had no hope of ever +walking again. + +Seven left last week and six more go on Monday, so we shall probably get +a train load before long. + +I have got a small English boy to help me in the mornings. He has been +at school in Switzerland and the whole family have come here for the +summer in order to help at the Ambulance. + +One of the great actors from Paris was here on Wednesday and played and +sang for the men. He is making a tour in an automobile and visiting all +the hospitals in order to give performances for the soldiers. A +collection is taken up afterwards that goes towards the support of the +hospital. The men were a most appreciative and enthusiastic audience. + +There is a young Swiss doctor from Geneva here now who has come to help +Dr. ---- who is very tired. I think he is rather surprised at the amount +of work the old doctor gets through in a day. He said this morning that +he would have to get up earlier in order to keep up with him. + +The brother of my chambermaid has been missing for a month and the poor +girl is terribly afraid he has been killed. He was at Arras, and the +fighting there has been terrible. + +Fifteen of the young men from the village are missing and every day +comes the news of the death of some one. + +We got five new men yesterday for electrical treatment; two of them are +regular giants and we cannot get any clothes or shoes to fit them. They +are devoted to my little paralyzed man, and sit around and watch him as +if he was a baby just learning to walk. + +I feel as sleepy as a dried apple to-night, so please forgive me if I +tell you the same things over many times. + + + July 25, 1915. + +Miss Todd took me out in her motor to-day for an hour. We took Daillet, +my star patient, with us. It was a pleasure to see his enjoyment. Doctor +R---- was much surprised at the progress he had made in eight days; he +says there is no doubt but that he will be entirely cured. Daillet +wrote to his mother and told her that he could stand alone and was +beginning to walk, but she did not believe it; she thought that he was +just trying to cheer her up, so he asked me to take a photo of him +standing up so that he could send it to her. He was the proudest, +happiest thing you can imagine when he sent it off. Then his aunt came +to see him, so the poor mother is finally convinced that it is true, and +is coming to see him as soon as the haying is done, but she has to work +in the fields now and cannot get away. + +It is wonderful the work that the women do here. There are only two old +horses left in the whole village, so the women harness themselves into +the rakes and waggons and pull them in place of the horses--and they so +seldom complain of the hard work. I asked one woman if she did not find +it very hard, and she said at first it came very difficult but she got +used to it and it was nice to be able to do their part. + +We got twenty men from Alsace on Friday--some of them badly wounded. +They did not arrive till half-past eleven at night, and it was three in +the morning before we got the dressings done and got them to bed. It is +the second time that some of them have been wounded. They are all +Chasseurs d' Alpines--they are a splendid type. Some of them had both +legs and both arms wounded. Yesterday we were rather anxious about +several of them, but to-day they are better. They generally sleep about +three days after they arrive, they are so done out. + +Mrs. H---- has had to leave to care for a typhoid patient, so my hands +are very full. My English boy is getting trained rapidly; he is only +seventeen and not very strong, too young to go to the war but very keen +to do something to help. + +Do not worry about me, I am as well as possible and as strong as a +horse, but as my day begins at half-past five in the morning and ends at +half-past nine at night I fall asleep over my letters. + +Thanks for the clippings; I would not have known B---- if the name had +not been there. I do not dare to think of his coming, and yet I would +not be proud of him if he did not want to come. I shall try and get up +to the north later so as to be nearer him when he comes. + +Good-night, mother; these are sad times, but we must not lose courage. I +wish I could see you to-night. + + + August 1, 1915. + +To say that I was delighted will not express my feelings when I got the +letter from the Loyalist Chapter, I. O. D. E., enclosing cheque. It was +awfully good of them to help us here, for I realize the demands for +help on every side and it is only natural that they should send to the +Canadians first. But O! it is so badly needed and will do so much good +here. I had been racking my brain trying to think of a way to scratch up +a few pennies, and then this delightful surprise came. + +This hospital is called the "Paradise of the Seventh Region," for it is +so very far ahead of most of the French military hospitals. But while +there is a good deal of luxury on one side, such as pleasant airy rooms, +comfortable beds, good food and air, on the other hand there is a great +lack of what we consider necessities. The first thing I did when I got +the letter with the money was to order a foot tub for each floor, +slippers for the patients when they are in the house, scissors for the +pharmacy and for each floor, and various other small things that I have +been longing for and that will save many steps. Now that the capacity +of the hospital has been increased by fifty beds, it is more difficult +than ever to get money from the general fund for things of that kind; it +really has to be kept for food and heating. We also need instruments and +basins, etc., for a table for dressings in the new ward, as we have +absolutely nothing. Then it is so nice to have a fund that we can draw +on in case of need. Sometimes the men are terribly poor and cannot +afford to get anything for themselves when they leave. Sometimes a +ticket for a wife or daughter to come to see them and cheer them up. It +is the second time some of these men have been wounded and they have not +seen their families for a year. + +It is just a year to-day (August 1st) since mobilization began. At five +o'clock in the morning the tocsin sounded and all the village gathered +at the Town Hall to read the notice of mobilization. There were many +sad and anxious hearts then, but many more now, for there is not a +family who has not lost someone who is near and dear to them--and still +it goes on. I wonder when the end will come. + +My prize patient, Daillet, walks down stairs by himself now by holding +on to the railing like a child. We are all proud of him. The doctor who +sent him here from Besancon came in the other day to see how he was +getting on and he could not believe it when he saw him. + +I am almost asleep so I must stop. I made a mistake this morning, got up +at half-past four instead of half-past five. + + + August 15, 1915. + +In the face of all the terrible things which are happening one must not +worry over little things. I have got to the stage now when I feel as if +one should never complain or worry if they have a roof over their heads +and enough to eat, and that all one's efforts should be given to +helping others. + +I feel perfectly overwhelmed with the letters that ought to be written, +but cannot find time to do them. I have been up all night and a couple +of days. We got thirty new patients last night. They arrived at 3 a.m. +and it was half-past five before we got them to bed. I did not get any +of this lot, as my rooms were full. There were not so many +wounded,--more sick, rheumatism, bronchitis, etc. One poor man said it +was like going directly from hell to heaven; it was the first time he +had slept in a bed for a year. Some of them have been wounded for the +second time. + +It is nearly eleven and I must be up early, so good-night. + + + August 23, 1915. + +Your letter has been long delayed, as they are very strict and holding +up the mails again. + +We heard this morning that there are French troops guarding the border +at Crassier, just half a mile from here. We hear all the Swiss border is +to be protected by barbed wire. I do not know what it all means unless +it is on account of spies. + +We got fifteen more patients last week, one yesterday and one to-day, +but as several went away we have still the same number--eighty-four. + +We have had a very busy morning. An inspector arrived just as we were +ready to operate, and between the two I did not know whether I was on my +head or my heels. Thirty of our men will go off on Monday and we will +probably get a train full later in the week. + +We have a phonograph with a rasping voice that plays from morning to +night. The soldiers love it; the poor things are so used to noise that +they don't seem happy without it, but sometimes I feel as if I could +scream. + +One of the men got a telegram saying his mother was dying; the doctor +gave him forty-eight hours leave--all he could possibly do--so he went +home and has just got back; could not stay for the funeral, but was so +thankful to have been able to see her. If he had been at the front that +would not have been possible--only another sad consequence of the war. +Another soldier received the news of the death of his little girl. + +Miss Todd took me out in her motor the other day. We had a beautiful run +over the mountains; the view was magnificent. We took one of the +soldiers with us and he enjoyed himself immensely; it was the first time +he had ever been in one. + + + Sunday, August 29, 1915. + +It is pouring rain, it is sad to say, as the soldiers are having a +little celebration. A band came from Noyon and the Count de Divonne made +a speech, two of the men received their Croix de Guerre, the doctor +made such a nice little speech to each of them. It was very touching to +see the groups of men, some with arms in slings and others with legs and +heads bandaged, and some who could not stand at all, still others were +in their beds. The decorations were given in the Grand Salle. + +I am not sure if all your letters reach me or not, sometimes I get two +in a week and then again none for three weeks. + +Thirty-three men go off to-morrow, some of them cured and back to the +front, some who will never be better, and some to go home on +convalescence. + +To-day the florist in the village sent a clothes basket full of roses to +the Ambulance for the fete. I thought of you and wished you could have +some. + + + September 5, 1915. + +Thanks for the money you sent from a friend in your last letter. I will +use it wisely and make it go as far as possible. There will be more +suffering this winter than there was last, but they are so brave, these +people, they seldom complain of anything. + +There is a little woman here whose husband was killed. She makes twenty +cents a day selling papers and gets ten cents a day pension. She has +three children, the eldest a girl of twelve. I got her a good pair of +boots the other day and warm underclothes for the other children. She +was so grateful. + +Don't worry about me. My expenses are very small, I have not bought any +clothes and do not need any this winter. + +To-day they had a big concert in the hotel, the proceeds go to the +Ambulance. + +We have had an awful week of rain and cold, but hope for a little more +sunshine to thaw us out. + +Our good doctor is going to be married next month. I am so glad, for he +lives all alone and needs some one to look after him. + +I shall have to go to bed to get warm. There is no heat in this house +and when it rains it is like an ice box. + + + September 11, 1915. + +I expect to leave here in two weeks to go to an Ambulance at the front. +It is somewhere in the north in Belgium. I think Dr. R---- is sorry to +have me leave, but it will be a much larger field and the kind of a +place where there will be much to do. They have all been so nice to me +here about helping me get my papers ready to send to the Minister of +War, so I do not think there will be any difficulty of my getting +through. I go to Paris first, then to Dunkirk, where Mrs. T---- will +meet me, after that my destination is uncertain. Do not worry if you do +not hear from me regularly, for it may be difficult to get mail +through. I will write as usual. + +I cannot tell you how glad I am to be able to go to the front, for it +means a chance to do good work and I shall be so glad to be in the north +when B---- comes over and nearer the Canadian boys. Even if I cannot +see them I shall not feel so far away. + +One of my men to-day got word that his baby, seven months old, had just +died and the little girl of two is very ill. He expected to go next week +and has been counting the days till he could see them. He has never seen +the baby as it was born after the war began--another one of the sad +things of this awful war. + +Good-night; I am so glad of the chance of active service. + + + September 16, 1915. + +It was awfully good of Miss W---- to send the money to me, it is so +much needed here. I expect to get off Monday or Tuesday of next week. + + + September 19, 1915. + +My orders came to-day, and I leave on Tuesday for Paris and on Friday +for Dunkirk. I am up to my eyes in work, for there is so much to be done +before leaving and new people to break in. Three military nurses arrived +yesterday, but it is rather difficult to manage for they know nothing at +all about taking care of sick people. They have all been at the front, +and wounded too badly to return and sent into an auxiliary service. One +is a priest, one a hair dresser and the third a horse dealer; however, +they are nice men and are willing to learn, which is a great thing in +their favor. + +If they are able to raise any money for me I will see that it is wisely +spent. There is great need everywhere, and I am proud of the people of +St. John, they have done so much. + +There is a poor woman who lives in a little village near here. She had +two sons--one has been killed in the war, the other a helpless cripple +for eighteen years and is not able to move out of his chair. He makes +baskets sometimes, but now there is no one to buy the baskets. The +mother goes out by the day but can earn so little. I gave him five +francs, one of the De Monts dressing gowns and some warm underclothes. +He was so grateful, poor boy, and says he will not feel the cold now. +His mother is away nearly all day and he sits by the window all alone +and depends upon the neighbours coming in to help him from time to time; +he is always cheerful and never complains. + +The W----s have such a hard time--they get so little of their income +since the war began. It has gradually gone down from $3,000.00 per year +to $500.00; four of them to live on that amount. So many people are in +just the same condition, there is no end to the misery. + +I do not know whether it is the French or the English army we are to +follow at my new post. + + + PARIS September 23, 1915. + +I am off to-morrow at 7.30 a.m., to Boulogne, then Calais and reach +Dunkirk at 9.30 p.m. + +I have had two very strenuous days and will be glad to rest in the train +to-morrow. It took such a time to get my papers in order. The +thermometer for the last two days has been about 100. + + + MOBILE NO. 1, France, 1915. + +I am really not in France but Belgium. I cannot tell you just where, but +it is within ten miles of the firing line, and not far from the place +where so many of our boys from home have been sent. I thought when I +came here that it would be entirely English, as the lady who gave the +hospital is an American married to an Englishman. The English are not +far away but they are taken to their own hospitals. + +We belong to a little wedge of the French that is in between the +English and Belgians. It is a regular field hospital and is composed of +a great many portable huts or sheds; some are fitted up as wards, +another the operating room, another the pharmacy, another supply room, +laundry, nurses' quarters, doctors' quarters, etc. It is a little colony +set down in the fields and the streets are wooden sidewalks. + +The first night I arrived I did not sleep, for the guns roared all night +long, and we could see the flashes from the shells quite plainly; the +whole sky was aglow. The French and English guns sounded like a +continuous roar of thunder; but when the shells from the German guns +landed on this side we could feel a distinct shock, and everything in +our little shanty rattled. + +Yesterday I saw my first battle in the air between German and French +aeroplanes. We could scarcely see the machines, they were so high up in +the air, but we could see the flashes from their guns quite distinctly +and hear the explosion of the shells. To-day a whole fleet of aeroplanes +passed over our heads; it was a wonderful sight. + +There are about one hundred and fifty beds in all here. + +I have been inspected by doctors, captains, generals, and all kinds of +people till I am weary. I hope they are satisfied at last, but I cannot +go off the hospital grounds until I have two different kinds of passes +given to me,--one is a permission to go on the roads about here and the +other is good as far as Dunkirk. + +We have a man in our ward who had a piece of shrapnel the size of an egg +in his abdomen; they had to take out about half a yard of intestines, +which had been torn to pieces. He was also shot through the shoulder, in +the arm and leg. As we got him within two hours after he was wounded +there was no infection, and having a clever surgeon he is getting along +famously. Another poor chap has lost his right arm and shot through the +liver as well as being cut up by piece of shrapnel--he is getting well +also. Two have died, and it is a blessing; for to live in darkness the +rest of one's life is worse than death. The Germans are using a new kind +of gas bomb that blinds the men. + +It is pouring rain to-night and cheerless enough here, but I can only +think of the poor men in the trenches. + +I got a joyful surprise to-day--a letter from Mr. Bell enclosing post +office order from Mr. Calhoun, of Philadelphia. Nothing gives me so much +pleasure as to help these poor people. + +It is beginning to get cold. I shall get bed socks for the men, for they +have not enough hot water bags to go round and all suffer from cold +feet. + +I passed Colonel MacLaren's hospital in the train--it is very +impressive to see the rows and rows of white tents. I also saw some +Canadian nurses in the distance, and did so want to get out and speak to +them. + +I must go to bed now to get warm. As long as one keeps going the cold is +not so apparent but when one sits still it is not pleasant. + +There are four English, three American and three French nurses here. + + + October 3, 1915. + +My fund is like the widow's cruse,--it never gives out. Somebody is +always sending me something. I do hope they all realize how grateful I +am and how much good I have been able to do. I have been very careful +how I spent it. + +A boy of twenty went off to-day. He had absolutely nothing warm to put +on him, so I got him an outfit at Dunkirk--he was almost blown to +pieces, poor boy, and he said that one sock was all that was left of his +clothes. They provide them with necessary things at the hospital, but +sometimes the supply gets a bit low and now it is so cold they need +extra underclothing. When he was brought in they put him in a ward by +himself because they thought he would not live through the night, he was +so terribly wounded. His right arm was gone, he had a bullet in his +liver--it is still there--and multiple wounds of head and body. But he +made a wonderful recovery and went away very white and weak, but +cheerful and confident that he will get something to do that will not +require two hands. He has the Medaille Militaire and the Croix de +Guerre, and his Lieutenant, Captain and General have all been to see him +several times--they say he was a wonderful soldier. + +[Illustration: Thought to be a hopeless case but everyone must have +their chance, three doctors operated at once amputating leg, an arm and +trepanning. Now as happy as the day is long.] + +Three of us went to Dunkirk by motor to get various supplies. We saw +many interesting things on the way, and in Dunkirk saw the destruction +caused by the bombardment. The whole side was out of the church and +several houses were simply crushed like a pack of cards. Some of the +nurses were in Dunkirk when it was bombarded, and they said the noise +was the most terrifying part of it all. + +The day we went to Dunkirk we saw a lot of armoured cars. Such curious +looking things they are--some are painted with blotches of yellow and +green and gray and red and brown so they cannot be distinguished from +the landscape. We saw lots of English troops. I looked in vain for +Canadians, but they are not far off. + +It has been awfully cold so far and rains most of the time. We have +decided that we shall just keep putting on clothes like the Italians do +in winter and never take anything off. + +We get wounded every day, sometimes not more than half a dozen, but as +they are almost all seriously wounded we are kept busy. + +There have been so many troops moving on lately, that we thought we +would be left without anything to do. We have orders not to do anything +that is not absolutely necessary as we may have to move also. + +I believe the hospital at Divonne has been taken over by the nuns. I +miss the lovely flowers that I had there. I share a small room with two +other nurses and there is not much room to spare. We have boxes put up +on end for tables and wash-stands, and there is only one chair. Some of +the nurses have tents, two in each. + +We have had a terrible busy week. All the new ones that came into my +ward lived only thirty-six or forty-eight hours--they were too far gone +to save. Five went away cured, and they really were cases to be proud +of. + +I think it was the sweetest thing of little Mary Murray to send me her +birthday money for my soldiers. I have been getting them fruit and +cigarettes for Sunday. That is the thing that overwhelms me at +times--the awful suffering every way one turns. Dorothy Thompson sent me +L5, much to my joy. + +Last night I could not sleep for the noise of the guns; they must have +been bombarding some place near at hand, for the whole earth seemed to +shake. + +The boys who drive the American ambulance and bring our patients in say +this place is a sort of heaven to them, they are always glad to get +here. Mrs. T---- does everything she can for them. They are a nice lot +of boys and are doing good work. + +Some of the poor men who have lost large pieces of their intestines +find the hospital diet a little hard. + + + MOBILE NO. 1, November 7, 1915. + +Letter writing is done, under difficulties here. I have gone to bed in +order to keep warm and have a small lantern with a candle in to light +the paper. + + + November 15, 1915. + +I did not get any further with my letter for the kitty insisted upon +playing with the candle and I was afraid we would have a fire, and since +then I have been so busy I have not had a minute. We have had three +glorious days and have appreciated them, I can tell you. It has been so +cold and wet we have all been water-logged. As for me, I have no word to +express my gratitude for all the friends have sent to me. I am quite +overwhelmed with all the gifts of money and supplies, but I shall make +good use of them and nothing shall be wasted. The wool which Mrs. S---- +sent turned up yesterday and I have already given half of it to the +women in one of the villages here to knit into socks. There is a dear +old English colonel who has a soup kitchen near the firing line, and he +is always looking for socks. He does a great deal of good, for he gets +the men when they are carried in from the trenches and gives them hot +drinks and hot water bottles, and warm socks when he has them. So many +of the men have just straw in their boots and are almost frozen. It +makes such a difference if they can get warmed up quickly. Poor souls, +they have had a hard time since the heavy rains began. They are brought +in here just caked with mud from head to foot. + +Oh, how glad I was to get the cheque from the "Red Cross" Society and +the cheque from Miss G----. I have written to her and would like to +write long letters to every one who is so kind, but there is not time. + +This Ambulance was established by an American lady who then gave it to +the French government. The expenses of running it are paid by them, but +I think Mrs. ---- pays the nurses and also helps out in the way of extra +supplies. + +On All Saints Day we went to the little cemetery and decorated the +graves of the soldiers who have died in the hospital. There was a +special mass and service in the churchyard and the General sent us an +invitation. It was pouring rain but I would not have missed it for +anything, and I only wish the mothers, wives and sisters could know how +beautiful it all was and how tenderly cared for are the last +resting-places of their dear ones. It was a picture I shall never +forget. The corner of the little churchyard with the forty new graves so +close together, each marked with a small wooden cross and heaped high +with flowers--the General standing with a group of officers and soldiers +all with bared heads--the nurses and one or two of the doctors from the +hospital behind them, and then the village people and refugees--hundreds +of them, it seemed to me--and the priest giving his lesson--and all the +time the rain coming down in torrents and nobody paying any attention to +it. There were no dry eyes, and when the General came and shook hands +with us afterwards, he could not speak. He is a splendid man, very +handsome and a patriot to the backbone,--one of the finest types of +Frenchmen. + +Do not worry about me for I am very well and so glad to be here in spite +of the cold and discomforts. Mrs. S----'s socks and bandages have just +come. + + + November 28, 1915. + +It is bitterly cold here, and we feel it more because it is so damp. I +can't tell you how thankful I am to be able to get socks and warm things +for the men. We can send things to the first dressing station by the +ambulances, and from there they go to the trenches at once. Mrs. D----'s +socks came yesterday, and I sent them off to Colonel Noble, who has the +soup kitchen at the front. All Mrs. S----'s have been given away. It was +such a good idea to have them white, for they put them on under the +others and it often saves the men from being infected by the dye of the +stockings. + +This morning when I got up my room was like a skating pond, for the +moisture had frozen on the floor and the water in the pitcher was solid. +The getting up in the morning is the hardest, but after we get started +we do not mind the cold. + +The patients have plenty of blankets and hot water bottles, so they do +not suffer. + +Two Zeppelins went over our head yesterday, but fortunately we are too +unimportant to be noticed. I suppose that is one of the reasons they +will not let us say where we are, for there are so many spies everywhere +that can send information. + +An English nurse came yesterday; she has had most interesting +experiences. She was in Brussels when it was taken by the Germans and +was obliged to take care of German soldiers and officers for some time. +She said the officers, as a rule, were brutes, but some of the men were +very nice and grateful. + +For three days and nights the guns have thundered without ceasing. I +wonder what it all means? + +My kitty keeps all the seventeen dogs that loaf around here in order. +Yesterday she chased a big yellow dog, half St. Bernard, down the main +sidewalk of the Ambulance. It was a very funny sight, for she was like a +little round ball of fury and the poor dog was frightened to death. + + + December 5, 1915. + +Last night we had the most awful wind storm. I thought our little hut +would be carried over into the German lines. It rained in torrents and +the roof leaked, and I could not get my bed away from the drips, so I +put up my umbrella and the kitty and I had quite a comfortable night. + +Ben Ali, the poor Arab who was so desperately wounded, was up to-day for +the first time. + +I have ordered six dozen pair of socks from Paris. My nice old English +Colonel Noble (with the soup kitchen) is always clamoring for them. I +think he saves lots of the men from having frozen feet. Madge S----'s +wool is being made into socks by the women of the village. + + + December 26, 1915. + +Christmas is over, and in spite of the under-current of sadness and the +suffering the men had a very happy day. In my ward all but one were well +enough to enjoy the tree, and they were like a lot of children with +their stockings. Christmas Eve one of the orderlies who was on guard +helped me decorate the ward and trim the tree, then we hung up their +stockings. They had oranges, sweets and cigarettes and some small toys +and puzzles and various things of that kind to amuse them. + +I had a package for each one in the morning, and, thanks to my good +friends at home, was able to give them some nice things. I had a pair of +warm socks and gloves for each one, a writing pad and envelopes, pen, +pencil, small comb in a case, tooth brush, tooth powder, piece of soap, +wash cloth and a small alcohol lamp with solidified alcohol--a thing +made especially for the trenches and which delighted them very +much--also a small box of sweets, and to several of the very poor ones I +gave a small purse with five francs in it. One poor boy said he had +never had such a Christmas in his life; he is one of a family of seven, +and says that in times of peace it was all they could do to get enough +to eat. + +Christmas day at four o'clock the tree was lighted, and one of the many +priests who act as infirmiers here came round to the different wards and +sang carols. He has a very beautiful voice and was much appreciated by +the soldiers. Mrs. Turner then came in, followed by an orderly with a +huge hamper containing a present for each man. They had a wonderful +dinner, soup, raw oysters, (which came from Dunkirk by motor), plum +pudding, etc. I could only give my men a bite of pudding to taste it, +but they were able to eat the oysters and other things in moderation. + +In the other wards, where there were only arms and legs and heads to +consider, they had a royal feast. She also gave a grand dinner to all +the infirmiers and men on the place--had a tree for them and a present +for each one. We also had a good dinner and a present for each. She +certainly went to a great deal of trouble and made many people happy. + +The next day we divided the things on the trees and each man made a +package to send home to his children. They were even more delighted to +be able to do this than with their own things. + +One poor man in my ward was so ill that I was afraid he would die, so I +moved his bed to the end of the ward and put screens around it so that +he would not be disturbed and that the others would not be disheartened +by seeing him. He was so much better Christmas night that we had great +hopes of saving him, but to-day he died. He was wounded in seven places +and one hip was gone. The General came at four o'clock and decorated +him. He roused up and saluted and seemed so pleased. In the evening the +doctor came to do his dressing and he seemed much better. After the +doctor had gone he turned to me and said, "That Major knows what he is +about, he is a corker." + +Ben Ali, my prize Arab, had a wonderful day. He ate too much and had to +stay in bed to-day, but he has been wrapping and unwrapping his presents +and having a fine time. He is just like a child, he is so pleased. He +has taken a great fancy to me and asked me to visit him after the war is +over. + +We had midnight mass on Christmas eve for the infirmiers and personnel +of the hospital. One of the empty wards was fitted up as a chapel and a +Franciscan monk from Montreal officiated. He is on duty here in the +lingerie, and is a splendid man. He is delicate, has some serious heart +trouble, so that he need not stay, but he came over to do what he could +for his country and his services are invaluable here. His mother was in +the north of the country taken by the Germans and he has not been able +to get any news of her for more than a year. + +We have had orders from head-quarters to close all the shutters as soon +as the lights are lit, so we feel as if we were shut up in packing +cases. + +There were a great many aeroplanes flying about to-day, so I suppose +they are expecting an attack of some kind. It is blowing a gale to-night +and I feel as if our little shanty would blow over. + + + January 1, 1916. + +It is hard to believe that we are beginning another year. If only it +will bring a lasting peace! The boxes have not turned up yet, but they +doubtless will one of these days, and we will be all the more glad to +see them because we have used up everything else. + +I expected to go on night duty immediately after Christmas, but we had +such sick people in my ward they did not want to make a change just +then. + +It is blowing a gale again to-night, and raining in torrents; it seems +as if it would never stop raining. The roof of one of the wards was +loosened the other night the wind was so strong, so the patients had to +be all moved out while it was being mended. Our barracks had to be +propped up also, all one side was loose and the rain came in in sheets. +I frequently go to bed with an umbrella. + + + January 16, 1916. + +We have had orders to evacuate all the men who are able to travel, so we +got rid of a great many--eighteen went on Tuesday, twenty on Friday and +nineteen more are to go next Tuesday. + +The roof nearly blew off my ward last night, so my patients had to be +moved into the next ward till it is mended. I am going to take advantage +of it and have a thorough house cleaning. + +Le Roux, the boy who has been here so long and who has been so terribly +ill, died on Tuesday. I had great hopes of him up till the last day. +Half an hour after he died the General came to decorate him. I hope they +will send the medals to his people, it seems hard that they should have +been just too late to give them to him. The next day I went to his +funeral--the first soldier's funeral I have seen. I was impressed with +the dignity and simplicity of it. The plain deal coffin was covered with +a black pall, which had a white cross at the head, the French flag +covered the foot and a bunch of purple violets, tied with red, white +and blue ribbon, lay between. It was carried in one of the covered +military carts. At three o'clock the little procession started for the +cemetery. First came the priest in soldier's uniform, carrying a small +wooden cross, on which was written Le Roux's name and the name of his +regiment. One of this kind is always put at the head of each grave. Then +came three soldiers with guns on their shoulders, then the car bearing +the coffin, and on each side three soldiers with arms reversed; directly +behind were two infirmiers and three soldiers with guns on their +shoulders, we two nurses in our uniforms, then two officers and some +more soldiers. As we went down the road to the little church in R---- we +passed long lines of soldiers going somewhere, and everyone saluted. A +few stray people followed us into the church and afterwards to the +graveyard, where we left Le Roux with his comrades who had gone before. +I had not been there since All Saints Day and it was sad to see how many +more graves had been added to the line. The ward seems very empty +without Le Roux, but I am glad that the poor boy is at rest for he has +suffered so long. I am beginning to think that death is the only good +thing that can come to many of us. + +[Illustration: Nurses Quarters for Two.] + + + January 25, 1916. + +We have been awfully busy, wounded arriving every night, sometimes nine +and sometimes ten, etc. To-night we have had only six so far, but will +probably have some more before eight a.m., they have all been very bad +cases. There has been a terrific bombardment every night we have been on +duty. + +My little tent nearly blew away in the big wind storm, so I had to sleep +in the barracks--or rather try to sleep. I did not succeed very well, so +to-day I moved back to the tent. From my bed in the tent I can see the +troops passing on the road and aeroplanes in the sky. To-day we saw so +many we knew it would mean trouble to-night. The trenches were +bombarded, and some of the poor men who were wounded had to lie in the +mud and cold for over twelve hours before they could be moved, +consequently they arrived here in a pretty bad shape. One of the men had +on a pair of Mrs. D----'s socks. I had sent them to Colonel Noble and he +gave them to the men in the trenches. It has been clear and frosty for +two nights, such a relief after all the rain. The hospital is full of +very sick men. I am glad to be on night duty for a change. + + + January 30, 1916. + +It has been so cold and damp to-day that I could not get warm even in +bed. I like sleeping out in the little tent and as a rule sleep very +well--have a cup of hot tea when they wake us at six o'clock. I wear +two pair of socks, beside the rooms are not so frightfully damp since we +got up the little stoves; they get dried out once a day, which is a +great advantage. + +I am sending you some snap shots of my little kitty. We call her +"Antoinette" after the aeroplane, for she makes a noise like the +aeroplane when she sings. + +When I have a chance I shall go back to Divonne for a rest--it is too +far to go home--but there does not seem any chance of it at present. The +English nurses who have been here six months will have to go first, and +we are more than busy. There are two new nurses coming next +week--Canadians, I think. It is very difficult to get nurses up here, +there is so much red tape to go through. + +You must not worry about me, for I am really very well. The cold and +simple life is very healthy, even if it is not always comfortable. I +seem to be as strong as an ox and the more I have to do the better I +feel. + +It is joyful to hear that I am to have some more money. St. John people +certainly have been good. A box came to-day from Trinity, it had been +opened. There is the ambulance, I must run. + + + February 6, 1916. + +We are so busy here that we scarcely know where to turn. It is just a +procession of wounded coming and going all the time, for we have to send +them off as quickly as possible in order to make room for the new +arrivals. Thirty-eight went off last Tuesday and fifteen on Friday, but +the beds are filled up again. The last ones we have been getting are so +badly wounded that I wonder who can be moved on Tuesday. We have had +wild wind and rain for the last week, but to-day is cold and clear and +for the first time in weeks it is quiet--the cannonading has been +incessant. + +Two English aviators were brought in yesterday whose machine fell quite +near here; fortunately they are not very badly hurt. + +The box from the high school girls came to-day, and it was like having +Christmas all over again,--such a nice lot of things there were. I shall +have a fine time distributing them. + +Here comes the ambulance. One poor man died in the receiving ward and +the other two went to the operating room at once. They both have +symptoms of gas gangrene, and I am afraid one will lose an arm and the +other a leg. + +In spite of the cold and wet we keep extraordinarily well. + +Four new nurses have come, much to our relief, for the work was getting +rather beyond us. Two of them are Canadians from Toronto. They know ever +so many people I know. They sailed from St. John at Christmas time and +saw so many St. John friends of mine--they said everyone was so good to +them. + +We do not get a minute during the night and some days have been up to +lunch time. + + + February 22, 1916. + +There have been two big attacks and we have had our hands full. Since +Sunday the cannonading has gone on without ceasing. It seems to be all +round us. At night we can see the flashes of the guns quite distinctly, +in fact the sky is lit up most of the time. It is like the reflection of +a great fire--it would be very beautiful if one could get away from the +horror of what it all means. + +The aeroplanes were almost as thick as the motors--one came down in a +field near the hospital yesterday--the wings were riddled with bullets, +but fortunately the aviator was not hurt. We often see taubes, and +Zeppelins have gone over us several times, though I could not recognize +them, but the noise was unmistakeable. The wounded are nearly all +brought in at night so we have our hearts and hands full. The other +night twenty-three came in at once so we had to call up the day people +to help us; seventeen were operated upon and all are getting well but +one. + +From the twenty-third July, 1915, until the first January, 1916, seven +hundred and fifty patients have been cared for here and sixty-six have +died. I have had over one hundred wounded come in at night this last +month, and as they all come directly from the trenches you can imagine +what it means. + +Such a fine box came from Mrs. S---- and F---- containing bandages, +socks, etc., all most welcome. + +The ground is white with snow to-day but it will not stay long. + +It is very difficult to get nurses here as a command of the French +language is an essential. + +The guns are still at it, so there will be much to do to-night. + + + March 6, 1916. + +We have had snow several times this week and it is snowing again to-day. +It is very pretty for a little while but soon melts, and the mud is +worse than ever. + +I feel that I can never be grateful enough to the people who have +enabled me to do so much for these poor men. I am going to order some +more pillows, they are things that we need very much. All the lung cases +have to sit up in bed and need a great many pillows to make them +comfortable. Strange to say we have not lost a lung case and we have had +some pretty bad ones. There is one in now who was shot through the lung, +and yesterday they took out a long sibber bullet from under his rib; he +will be able to go home next week. When he came in he was in very bad +condition and he could not speak for a week. The treatment is to sit +them up in bed and give them morphine every day to keep them perfectly +quiet, the hemorrhage gradually stops and they get well very quickly. We +have had a number of deaths from that awful gas gangrene; there is not +much hope when that attacks them. + +[Illustration: AMBULANCE VOLANT, in Winter.] + +The bombardments have been so terrible lately that those who are +wounded in the morning cannot be taken out of the trenches until night, +and then they are in a sad condition. + +One day last week, just as I was getting ready to go to bed, some people +came out from the village to ask if we could help a poor girl who had +been burned. Mrs. Turner and I went at once with all sorts of dressings +and found her in a terrible state--her whole body burned--so of course +there was no hope. She only lived three days. I went in the mornings to +do her dressing and another nurse in the afternoon. She was burned by +lighting a fire with oil. + +Things are too heavy now for me to get my holiday. + + + March 12, 1916. + +Only ten admissions. All the efforts are being directed against Verdun. +The defence has been magnificent, and if only the ammunition holds out +there will be no danger of the Germans getting through; but what a +terrible waste of good material on both sides. + +Mrs. Turner has been obliged to go to Paris and has left me in charge of +the hospital. I hope nothing terrible will happen while she is away. + +The snow is all gone and we are having rain again. + +My kitty is getting very bad and spends all her nights out. She has +grown to be just a common ordinary cat now, but she caught a rat the +other day, so has become useful instead of ornamental. + + + March 20, 1916. + +I am left in charge of the Ambulance for a time and am a bit nervous, +having French, English, American, Canadian and Australian nurses under +me. + +We had quite an exciting time yesterday watching a German being chased +by four French machines. They all disappeared in the clouds so we do not +know what happened. To-day I counted eleven aeroplanes in the air at +once as well as three observation balloons. One aeroplane came so close +over the barracks that we could wave to the pilot. + +We had a lot of patients out of doors to-day, some on stretchers, others +on chairs, and others had their beds carried out--they enjoyed it so +much. We take advantage of all the good weather. + +It is pouring again to-night and the guns are booming in an ominous +manner. + +One day last week I went to Poperinghe with Mrs. C----. We heard there +was some Canadian troops there and I was hoping to find some friends, +but the Canadians had been moved; however, we talked with some Tommies, +gave them cigarettes and chocolate and had a very interesting time. + + + March 29, 1916. + +Just a week ago a French general was brought in wounded in the leg while +he was inspecting the Belgian trenches. We were rather overwhelmed at +first, but I arranged a corner of one of the wards and he spent one day +and night there while we fixed up an empty ward for him. The next day +his wife arrived and she is camping quite contentedly in another corner +of the ward. She, poor woman, has suffered much from the war but is very +brave. Her eldest son was killed, her second son is ill at Amiens, and +this is the second time the general has been wounded. The first time he +was in a hospital for three months. Her nephew, who is like a second +son, has also been killed, and his wife, a young woman of twenty-two, +taken prisoner by the Germans, and they have had no news of her since +September, 1914. The general's home was in the Aisne district and is, of +course, in the hands of the Germans. There is nothing left of the house +but the four walls; everything has been packed off to Germany, all the +wood work and metal has been taken for the trenches. The day the general +was brought in, the King of the Belgians came to decorate him, and we +were all so disappointed because we did not know about it and only one +or two of us saw him. He came in a motor, accompanied only by one +officer, and we did not know anything about it until he had gone. + +We had another awful storm last night--wind and rain. Windows blew off +and doors blew in, and one poor little night nurse was blown off the +sidewalk and nearly lost in the mud. + +One day last week I was surprised by a visit from two Canadian boys. +They were doing some engineering work in this section and when they +heard there were Canadians here they came over to see us. One was from +Toronto, the other from Fort William. I gave them one of the Christmas +cakes and some cigarettes. They went away very happy. I was hoping to +get news of some of our boys, but they did not know any of them +personally but expected to see some of the men from the Twenty-sixth in +a few days. I told them to tell any who could to come and see us. I have +been hoping ever since their visit to see B---- or S---- or D---- walk +in some day. It is awful to know that they are so near and not be able +to see them. + + + April 8, 1916. + +A cheque came to-day from the De Monts Chapter, I. O. D. E., which gave +me great joy. It touches me to tears to think of the way the St. John +people have helped me. I wish they could have a look in here and see how +much more I have been able to do on account of the help they have sent +me. + +There is a soldier who helps here by the name of Baquet; his wife has +just taken three orphan children, the oldest six years old, to look +after, in addition to her own four, her mother and her mother-in-law. +There are no men left to do the work on the farm, and poor Baquet did +not know how they could get along. I gave him one hundred francs and +told him it was from my friends in Canada. He did not want to take it at +first, saying it was sent for the wounded, but I explained to him that +it was sent to me to help the soldiers and the soldiers' families. He +said it would mean so much to his wife, she works from four in the +morning till dark. They are the sort of people who deserve help, and it +is such a joy to be able to lighten their burdens a little. + +We have only about eighty patients at present, but they keep us busy. +The two men who came in last have been so terribly wounded. We have had +a number of cases of gas gangrene. They are trying to cure them with a +new sort of serum. Two of the men really seem to be getting better. Four +cases were brought in yesterday. One poor man died at noon, and I was +glad he did not live any longer; another they had to operate on in the +afternoon and take his leg off. He was in very bad shape last night but +this morning he surprised every one by asking for pen and paper to write +to his mother, and says he feels fine. + +Our wounded general left to-day. He could not say enough nice things +about the hospital. He said he was so glad he had been brought here, not +only on his own account, but he was so glad to see how wonderfully his +men were taken care of. + +The guns have been going incessantly for the past two days, and we hear +that the English have taken four trenches. I have also heard that some +Canadians have come over lately and our B---- may be only four or five +miles from me. I asked the general if it would be possible for me to +find out; he said he would inquire and if B---- is anywhere in reach he +would get me a pass to go and see him. I feel as if I would start out +and walk to try and find him; but alas! one cannot get by the sentries +without proper papers. + +I hope my fur lined cape has not gone to the bottom. I think I shall +still need it in June, for after two wonderful sunshiny days we are +again freezing. Sunday and Monday were like days in June and we moved +the beds of the patients out in the grass and others were on +stretchers. We had the phonograph going, served lemonade, biscuits, +sweets and cigarettes. They had a wonderful time and all slept like tops +the next night. + +I think I shall have to find a new job when the war is over, for I don't +think I shall ever do any more nursing. + +I am trying to find a lot of straw hats like "cows' breakfasts" and +cheap parasols to protect their heads when they are taking sun baths. + +The dressings are taken down and one thickness of gauze only left over +the wound, and they are left in the sun from twenty minutes to two hours +according to what they can stand. + + + April 11, 1916. + +Yesterday we had quite an interesting time with air crafts. The machine +came down so close, that we could see the pilot and his assistant who +waved to us that they were going to throw something to us. A package +landed, almost in the pond. It turned out to be a letter tied up in a +handkerchief with some shot as weight. It was from the English boys who +were patients here for a while; they told us they would pay us a visit +some day. We could see the machine gun in front of the aeroplane quite +distinctly. In the afternoon there was another excitement--a German +machine chased by several French. It looked from below as if they had +got him, but they all disappeared in the clouds and we did not know the +result of the fight. + +At nine o'clock there was a terrific explosion as if a bomb had dropped +just outside the gate. We all rushed out and could hear the aeroplane +distinctly, but could not see it; no damage was done near us. We have +just heard that the bomb landed just outside the village doing no +damage. + +Thanks for the toilet articles, they are a wise selection. What we +before considered necessities we now know are luxuries. + +We have just got off a motor full of convalescents going home on +permission. I hope they will get a month, some of them have been in the +trenches twenty months. + + + May 3, 1916. + +I got a lot of linen hats and Chinese umbrellas to keep the sun off the +patients when they are out of doors. + +The two Canadian nurses are a joy to work with, for they have had +splendid training and are the kind that will go till they drop. + +We have a wounded German prisoner who was brought in three days ago. The +poor boy had to lose his right arm, and was at first terrified of every +one. He expected to be ill-treated, but now that he sees he gets the +same treatment as all the other patients he is happy and contented and +very glad to be with us. I thought if I ever saw a German in these +regions I would be capable of killing him myself, but one cannot +remember their nationality when they are wounded and suffering. + +[Illustration: Showing linen caps and chinese umbrellas purchased for +patients from contributions.] + +[Illustration: Queen of the Belgians leaving the ambulance.] + +I am sending you a photo of the Queen of the Belgians, who visited us +and was very nice; she spoke so highly of the Canadians and of the +splendid work they had done. + + PARIS, May 24, 1916. + +I left Dunkirk Thursday morning in time to escape the bombs, and stopped +off at Etaples to look up some of our friends at the Canadian hospital. +Dr. MacL---- had left for London but I saw M---- D----, and M---- P----. + +Etaples is a real city of hospitals now. I saw the St. John Ambulance +and the Canadian unit; they are both most interesting, so well +organized. + +Captain T---- took me to the station in a motor, for which I was glad, +as it is two miles, and the walk over in the sun was as much as I +wanted. Arrived at Paris at five the next morning rather weary, had a +hot bath, the first in a real tub for eight months, and when I went to +bed that night I slept for nearly twenty-four hours. + + + DIVONNE-LES-BAINS, May 30, 1916. + +I did not go to the Grand Hotel for reasons of economy. This is a clean +little place and I am quite comfortable but I miss the bathroom and the +balcony. + +There are no patients at the Ambulance here for the moment. All the +fighting is in the north and at Verdun. Poor Verdun--it is terrible +there, one hundred days and still no let up--I think there will be no +men left in France before long and then the English will have to take +their turn. When will it all end? Divonne is as beautiful as ever, and +so quiet and peaceful one would not realize that there was a war if it +were not for the fathers and sons who will never come back, and the +women who are struggling to make both ends meet. + +I have had news of several of my old patients who were here. Daillet, +who was paralyzed, is at Vichy and can walk two miles with crutches, two +others have been killed and many of the others back in the trenches. + +I have not been able to sleep, it is so quiet. + + MOBILE NO. 1, France, June 20, 1916. + +To-day I went over to Poperinghe to look up Margaret H----. She is in +charge of the Canadian clearing hospital and is doing a wonderful work. +They have been getting all the wounded from this last fight--receive one +day, evacuate the next, and the third day clean up and get ready again. +It is wonderfully organized; the trains come right up to the hospital +and there is a nurse for each car, so the patients are well looked +after. Margaret has been mentioned in despatches, I believe. I am so +glad, for she certainly deserves it. + + + June 25, 1916. + +I went over for Margaret H---- in the motor. She went with me to the +cemetery near the hospital and I put some roses on the grave of one of +our St. John boys. I wish his mother could see how well cared for it is. +Margaret came back to tea with us. + +To-day I have been specializing a man who has developed tetanus. I would +almost wish that he would die, for he has no hands, and has a great hole +in his chest and back, but strange to say he wants to live, is so +patient and so full of courage. When I have cases like this one I am +always so grateful to the people who have helped me in my work. If they +could see the comforts that can be given by a bottle of cologne or a +dozen oranges they would be rewarded. + +Our medicine chef was a prisoner in Germany for eleven months. The +things that he tells us makes one's blood boil. One cannot imagine human +beings as brutal as the Germans are. When they came into the town where +he had his hospital, they shot all the wounded that were left and eight +of his orderlies who stayed with him. He expected to be shot also, but +they needed his services so took him prisoner. + + + July 16, 1916. + +Another rainy day and as cold as the dickens but we are glad to get +through the summer without extreme heat or a pest of flies. + +My tetanus case is really getting better. + +Last week I went to a concert given at R---- for the soldiers who are +resting. It was one of the nicest I have ever been at. I did not want to +go, for I don't feel like any kind of gaiety, but Mrs. T---- insisted. +There were only three ladies present, the rest of the salle was filled +with soldiers just from the trenches. The concert was held in a stable. + +Some English and Canadian officers, who are on construction work near +here, have been coming to see us. One is Major H----, who was on the +Courtenay Bay work at St. John. + + + July 29, 1916. + +We are nearly eaten up with the mosquitoes so I have been to Dunkirk to +get some mosquito netting. + +Mrs. T---- gave a grand concert to the men on the anniversary of the +opening of this hospital. Denries, from the Opera Comique in Paris, and +Madame Croiza, from the opera in Paris, sang. The Prince of Teck was +here and in my ward, he was so nice to the patients. We had French, +English and Belgian generals, colonels and officers of various kinds. + + + NO. 3 CANADIAN CASUALTY STATION, + July 31, 1916. + +I got twenty-four hours permission and came out here to spend the night +with nursing Sister Margaret Hare, hoping to get some news of B----. I +have found out where he is and that he has been on rest and went back to +the trenches to-day. They are usually on duty eight days and off eight, +so Margaret is going to send him word when he next comes off to come +here and I will come over and meet him. I do hope we will be able to +make connection. It is so hard to be so near and yet not be able to see +him. If he is wounded he will have to pass through No. 10 Clearing +Station, which is right next to this. I have left my name and address at +the office, so if he should be brought in they will telephone to me and +I can get over to him in half an hour. The patients here are so well +taken care of. They have had a light day. I helped her a little in the +dressing room this morning, saw some of the men who had come in last +night, saw three operations. There is a very clever English surgeon here +and several McGill men. It is a scorching hot day. + +My tetanus patient is quite cured, is beginning to walk about. + + MOBILE NO. 1, August 14, 1916. + +We have had a strenuous and exciting week. It began with a visit from +the King of the Belgians, who came to decorate three of my men who had +fought in the trenches with conspicuous bravery. He visited all the +wards and talked with the soldiers. Like all the royalty I have met so +far, he is extraordinarily simple--wore no decorations or distinguishing +marks of any kind. We were all presented to him in turn and shook hands +with him. + +[Illustration: Nurse and Nephew. The meeting in France, one serving +with the French, the other with the Canadian B. E. F.] + +The next day we got twenty gas cases and several badly wounded men--one +Canadian from Ontario and two English boys, one was a policeman in +London. I asked the Ontario man how he happened to get to our Ambulance, +he said, "he'd be blessed if he knew," he was working on the lines which +run right up to the trenches when the warning for gas was given. He +started to put on his helmet and the next thing he knew he was in a "Red +Cross" ambulance on the way to the hospital. He is getting on splendidly +but we lost four of the gas cases. It is the worst thing I have seen +yet, much worse than the wounded, and the nursing is awfully hard, for +they cannot be left a moment until they are out of danger. + + + August 28, 1916. + +I have met our boy B---- at his rest camp not very far from here. It was +a joy to find him looking so well, and big and brown. + + + September 9, 1916. + +Rain, continuous rain. The guns have been roaring without any let-up for +three days and nights, and our little barracks are nearly shaken to +pieces. We have had several warnings of gas attacks, but fortunately +nothing has happened. One of the orderlies kept his mask on all night +and everyone was surprised that he was alive next morning, they are the +most awful smelling things you can imagine. + +We have never seen so many aeroplanes as during this past week. This +morning we counted eighteen in a row. + +Mrs. T---- is going to organize another hospital on the Somme and is +going to keep this one as well. She certainly has done a splendid work. +We are all hoping that the fighting will be over before Christmas. + + + October 1, 1916. + +The rain has begun, so I suppose we may expect to be under water for the +rest of the winter, but things are going well for us, so we must hope +on; but O! how dreadful it all is. + +A stationary balloon that is not far from here, used as a Belgian +observation post, was struck by a bomb from an aeroplane and we saw it +fall in flames. The men who were in it jumped out with parachutes and +both escaped without injury. + +Broterl, the famous French sniper and poet, came the other day to sing +for the soldiers. He is wonderful, and sang all sorts of songs that he +had composed in the trenches. The men were enchanted, it does such a lot +of good, for it makes them forget for a time. + +One of our orderlies has just got word that one of his brothers has been +killed at the Somme, another is dangerously wounded in the head, and a +third has lost his leg--he has six brothers, all at the front. + +One of the men in my ward got word of the death of his brother also. He +was a stretcher bearer and was helping a German officer who was +wounded. As soon as the German got to a place of safety he shot the poor +man who had been helping him. + +I am nearly frozen to-night and will have to go to bed. + + + October 9, 1916. + +Our Bayard has come through the Courcelette fight safely, where the New +Brunswickers did such wonders; but O! at such a terrible cost. + +It has been very cold and rainy here. I am afraid the bad weather has +set in. + +Wish you would send me an aluminum hot water bottle for Christmas, +another pair of Indian moccasins, and fill up the corners of the box +with malted milk and maple sugar. + +I shall never forget the poor little Breton who said when he saw me--as +he roused a little when we were taking him from the ambulance, +"maintenant je suis sauve" (Now I am saved). + +I have just received a cheque from the Rothesay Red Cross. Since I +began, my fund has never entirely given out, and I have been able to +give such a lot of pleasure and comfort to the men. + +If any one wants to know what to send me you might suggest Washington +coffee like Lady T---- sent. It was a great success. + +I am too cold to write any more, so good-night. + +I wish I had some of Maggie's crullers and squash pie, but the French +don't know anything about squash pies. + +Our poor man with a broken back has been moved to a hospital near his +home so his family can see him. We sent him on a mattress, fixed up with +pillows and cushions so that he did not suffer at all on the journey. + +When I have any one who is so ill as he was I bless the good people at +home counting infirmiers and men that work about the hospital--they are +soldiers who have been in the trenches for nearly two years, or been +disabled through wounds or sickness, or exchanged prisoners from Germany +unfit for military service. They call the hospital "le petit Paradis des +blesses" and are so glad to be sent here. A man was brought in here the +other day who was wounded for the second time, but he did not mind in +the least about his wounds, he was so glad to get back. He is delighted +because he will not be well enough to leave before Christmas. + +We sent to England for some pop-corn, and to-day the men have been like +a lot of happy children stringing the corn for the tree. They had never +seen it before and were much interested. We made quite a successful +popper out of a fly screen and a piece of wire netting. + +The other night we were talking over the various experiences we have +had since the beginning of the war--the terrible things we have +seen--the sad stories we have heard, and the strange but very true +friendships we have formed--and we all agree that we could never have +carried on our work in such a satisfactory way if it had not been for +the gifts which have come from time to time from our home friends. The +extra food that we have been able to give to the very sick men has made +all the difference in the world to their recovery, and then the warm +clothing when they go out, and the bit of money to help them over the +hard place. You cannot imagine how much it means to them. + +I remember so well one poor little man who had reached the limit of +endurance, and when I found the sleepless nights were due to worry and +not to pain, the whole pitiful little story came out. His wife was ill, +his sister-in-law dead and there were six children to be looked +after--the eldest a boy of eleven--and no money. As long as his wife had +been able to run the farm they had been able to get along, but she had +given out. The French soldier only gets five cents a day, so he had +nothing to send them. He cried like a baby when I told him I could help +him. We sent off a money order for one hundred francs the next day, and +I wish you could have seen the change in that man. That little sum of +money put things straight six months ago and now everything is going +well. But he will never forget, and both he and his wife have a very +warm feeling in their hearts for the good people across the sea who came +to their rescue in a time of need. When I begin to talk of my beloved +French it is hard to stop. + +[Illustration: My Salle--Christmas, 1916.] + + + January 1, 1917. + +The men had a wonderful Christmas day. They were like a happy lot of +children. We decorated the wards with flags, holly, mistletoe, and paper +flowers that the men made, and a tree in each ward. You cannot imagine +how pretty they were. Each patient began the day with a sock that was +hung to the foot of his bed by the night nurses. In each was an orange, +a small bag of sweets, nuts and raisins, a handkerchief, pencil, tooth +brush, pocket comb and a small toy that pleased them almost more than +anything else, and which they at once passed on to their children. They +had a fine dinner--jam, stewed rabbit, peas, plum pudding, fruit, nuts, +raisins and sweets. The plum puddings were sent by the sister of one of +the nurses. + +In the afternoon the trees were lighted and we had the official visit of +the medicine chef and all the staff. After the festivities were over we +began preparing for the tree for the refugee children. We had thought +that we would have enough left over to manage for fifty children, but +the list grew to one hundred and twenty-five. The mayor of the village +let us have a large room in his house, as the first place we had chosen +was too small. We had the tree on Sunday afternoon and three hundred and +thirty-one children arrived. Fortunately we had some extra things so +there was enough of something to go around. They had a lovely time, each +one got a small toy, a biscuit, and most of them a small bag of sweets +and an orange. The oranges and sweets gave out, but there was enough +biscuits and toys, but there was nothing left. + +We are all dead tired, for we worked like nailers for the past two +weeks; but it was worth while, for we were able to make a great many +people happy, and now we are sending off packages to the +trenches--things that came too late for Christmas. + +[Illustration: So many readers of this book expressed regret that it +did not contain a photo of the one who penned these letters, as she is +in home life, that we applied to the family, and after earnest +solicitation they granted this--the one in use on her passports in +France, which we are sure will complete this passport to the hearts of +her readers.] + +We expect to move this month. It will be an awful business breaking up +here, for all the barracks have to be taken to pieces and moved with us. +We have begun to take an inventory, and to pack up, but I do not know +just where we will move to, the papers are not in order yet. It is hard +to believe that another year of war has begun. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 'My Beloved Poilus', by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'MY BELOVED POILUS' *** + +***** This file should be named 24368.txt or 24368.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/3/6/24368/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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