Behind the scenes in Peking : $b Being experiences during the siege of the LegationsHooker, Mary
History
Behind the scenes in Peking : $b Being experiences during the siege of the Legations
Hooker, Mary
Beijing (China) -- History -- Siege, 1900
At the hospital an apparatus for applying X rays would have saved the
lives of many. Poor Narahara, a Japanese officer, died this morning from
lock-jaw produced by a bullet which pierced his thigh. He has suffered
horribly for three weeks. Dr. Lippitt, after waiting four weeks for his
leg to be in a condition for the surgeons to make another search for the
bullet, had the pleasant news told him, after an agonizing examination,
that it could not be found. We are hoping that if the troops arrive soon
their medical corps will have X-ray machines, and that Lippitt’s leg may
be saved. He has suffered and is suffering much physical pain, but more
mental, I think, from the close proximity to the bed on which so many
men have died, all the details of which he has seen, and the climax was
reached during the night by the death of Narahara, whose wound was
almost similar to his, although lately Narahara’s wound has been
complicated by lock-jaw, whereas in the doctor’s case there have been no
complications. If we get out of Peking, Dr. Velde deserves from every
nation that is represented here a grateful acknowledgment of his
services during the siege.
The wife of the Russian Minister, Madame de Giers, a handsome woman with
a great charm of manner, has been a veritable angel of mercy in the
hospital. She has personally nursed most of the Russian patients, for
while all Russians of education speak either French or German, and the
hospital nurses understand their wants, to the poor sailors, who can
express themselves only in their own language, her nursing is a Godsend,
and she is on duty with her suffering compatriots an incredible number
of hours out of the twenty-four. A graduate trained nurse, working to
make a record, could do no more than she is doing, and her physical
strength, patience, and gentleness are a joy to witness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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