Finding Themselves: The Letters of an American Amy Chief Nurse in the British Hospital in FranceStimson, Julia C. (Julia Catherine)
History
Finding Themselves: The Letters of an American Amy Chief Nurse in the British Hospital in France
Stimson, Julia C. (Julia Catherine)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Thanks so much for the book and for your dear letters. “Carry On” is
wonderful, and we love to read such things over here. I’m lending it
around now. Bab’s music came to-day; it was dear of her to send it. It
has been played already with much success. The violin is such a comfort.
I played last evening right straight through the book. I’ve never
enjoyed playing so much before.
Oceans of love,
Julie.
Sunday evening, October 14.
Dearest Dad and Mother:--
Miss Taylor and I are in our cozy office waiting for the time for the
evening report, which won’t be for about half an hour yet. We have both
been to first supper and will now rest ourselves a little for this half
hour. She has decided to do a picture puzzle. I wish you all could see
how nice our office is. We have the tiniest coal stove that ever
existed, and yet it is just the right size for this place. We have been
having a fire in it for the past few days, for it has been very cold
and raining almost every day. An orderly with a lantern has just come in
out of the darkness to tell us that sixty cases are on the way to the
hospital now and sixty more are coming at midnight. We are just about
full to capacity, but every day we send out some, so every day we can
take more in. I have been off duty a couple of hours late this
afternoon, the first time off since I got back from Paris last Tuesday.
Phil, who is walking a little with me every day, came up to our mess for
tea this afternoon and afterwards I walked with him around the race
track. He was pretty glad to get back to bed after this rather lengthy
expedition. His wound is very nearly closed. It has done remarkably
well. After I left him being put to bed by the nice convalescent patient
who looks after him, I went down to the evening service in the Y. M. C.
A. hut, the Sunday evening Episcopal service that comes just before the
Non-conformist service.
Dean Davis conducted the service, and how I wished that some of his St.
Louis parishioners could have seen him. His audience in that rough hut
was about 200 convalescent patients in their blue suits, with heads or
arms bandaged, or coughing, coughing the way so many of our poor gassed
men cough. There were a few English Sisters and V. A. D.’s there, but I
was the only American, this evening. I wish you could hear these men
sing. There is nothing like the singing that I’ve heard the Tommies do.
Their deep voices singing in unison, and with great earnestness such
words as “Plenteous grace with thee is found, Grace to cleanse from
every sin, Let the healing streams abound, Make and keep me pure
within,” can never be forgotten. The Dean spoke briefly, but right out
from the shoulder to them from that chapter in the letter to the
Ephesians about, “Lie not, for ye are members one of another, and let
him that stole, steal no more but rather let him work, that he may have
wherewith to give to him that hath need,” etc. There was more about
tenderness, and growing in grace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account