Agnes Warner

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 114and 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 66we got him within two hours after he was wounded there was no infection, and having a clever surgeon he is getting along famously. ”

“ They are the sort of people who deserve help, and it is such 105a 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. ”

“ 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 9ready 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. ”

“ When I have any one who is so ill as he was I bless the good people at home 126counting 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. ”

“ 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.
73Some of the poor men who have lost large pieces of their intestines find the hospital diet a little hard. ”

“ 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.
30There is a poor little woman here who comes from Dinant, that was destroyed by the Germans in the early part of the war. ”

“ There is a poor woman who lives in a little village near here. She had two 62sons—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. ”

“ 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 52save 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. ”

“ 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.
67I 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. ”

“ The other night we were talking over 127the 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 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. ”

“ Sunday and Monday were like days in June and we moved the beds of the patients out in the grass and others were on 107stretchers. 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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, 54and 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. ”

“ The English are not far away but they are taken to their own hospitals.
64We 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”