It seems as if Mrs. Reid had thought of every detail possible to make the gift as near perfect as a mortal may, even providing one of the purest specimens of radium. It is her earnest hope that similar hospitals will be erected throughout the country, so that in times of emergency they may be ready for immediate use for Red Cross purposes.
The affairs of the Hospital are administered by a Board of representative women consisting of Mrs. Ansel M. Easton, Vice-President; Mrs. Charles E. Green, Treasurer; Mrs. Lewis P. Hobart, Secretary; Mrs. Ernest Coxhead, Corresponding Secretary; Mrs. A. M. Easton, Mrs. William H. Crocker, Miss Jennie Crocker, Mrs. Frances C. Carolan, Mrs. Walter Martin, Mrs. Laurence Irving Scott, Mrs. William Tubbs, Mrs. E. D. Beylard, Mrs. N. B. W. Gallwey, Mrs. J. D. Grant, Mrs. Mountford Wilson, Mrs. James Otis Lincoln. The president is Rev. N. B. W. Gallwey, whose deep interest and able leadership have been of inestimable assistance.
Operating-room of Hospital.
Mrs. Reid is Honorary President of the Board, and as perhaps it can be said of no other person living, this modest, generous donor has in the completion of this work finished a golden circle around the world of love and service for suffering humanity, for the Philippines, Paris, London, New York and California now share in the ministering care which she has provided.
THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS
WAR’S AFTERMATH.
Improvised hospitals were organized in every straggling village, but by far the largest number of wounded were brought to Castiglione. There was an almost interminable procession of wagons, packed with officers and soldiers—cavalrymen, infantry, artillery—all battered and bleeding, covered with dirt and dust and blood, each jolt of the carts adding to their suffering. Many died on the way, their bodies being transferred from the wagons to the roadside, and left there for others to bury. Such were reported as “missing.”
From Castiglione many of the wounded were sent on to hospitals in other Lombard towns for regular treatment and necessary amputations. As the means of transportation were very limited, long delays were caused and the overcrowding baffles description. The whole city became one vast improvised hospital. The convents, the barracks, the churches and the private houses were filled with wounded. Others were placed on straw in the open courts and parks, with hastily constructed roofs of planks and cloth. The citizens of the town were seen running from street to street, seeking doctors for their suffering guests. Later others came and went with dejected air, begging for assistance to remove the dead bodies, with which they knew not what to do. All the physicians in the place were inadequate and most of the military surgeons were forced to leave with their armies.
