May the great disaster touch the hearts of men,
And, in God’s great mercy, bring back peace again.
—James Clarence Harvey.
This general subject of transportation was one regarding which the auxiliary was able to render substantial service, and merits a few descriptive words. The pressure upon the Quartermaster’s Department at Washington during the summer made it impossible to becertain of immediate transportation for nurses to their posts of duty. Even after orders were received, the nurses might be delayed several days for the necessary transportation pass. Under ordinary circumstances this might have seemed comparatively unimportant; but when a new hospital is opened and scores of patients lie waiting for the care which can be given only by the expected nurses, it is a matter of vital importance whether they come in twelve hours or a week.
When the auxiliary acceded to the suggestion from Washington, and undertook to relieve this pressure by paying the transportation of nurses who could not otherwise be put into immediate service, quite a change in plan was made. A number of nurses were ordered to New York by Dr. McGee, and were held in readiness to respond to requests from any part of the country. These nurses, added to the numbers being constantly enlisted here, made a substantial reserve for sudden calls. In a few hours after a telegram asking for a given number of nurses was received, the nurses could meet at the railway station, find an agent of the auxiliary there, who would distribute the tickets and sleeping-car accommodations that had already been secured, check their trunks, provide for the payment of the incidental expenses of the journey, and see the party off for its destination. It is believed that the money, labor and thought expended in this way brought a rich return.
As the responsibilities of the auxiliary developed, the need of a permanent office became apparent. In the absence of the president and first and second vice-presidents, Mrs. Cowdin became acting-president, and from July 28 to September 20 headquarters for the auxiliary were maintained at her residence, No. 15 West Eleventh street. Since September 20 the office of the auxiliary has been at Mrs. Reid’s residence, No. 451 Madison avenue. The scope and interest of the work increased daily, and its details required the entire attention of the executive officer, her assistants, Miss Gill and Miss Wadley, a stenographer and a bookkeeper. In addition, Mrs. W. Bayard Cutting, Mrs. W. Lanman Bull and Mrs. Geo. F. Shrady, Jr., of the executive committee, though compelled to be out of town, were in frequent communication with the New York office, and, in town and out, labored constantly to render the auxiliary more effective.
On August 10, Miss Gill, who from the beginning gave herself completely to the work, and whose services were of inestimable value, went to Washington to clear up several points relative to the enlistment of nurses. Aside from the adjustment of some details, two important results were obtained. One of these was the appointment by the surgeon-general of the acting president of the auxiliary as direct superintendent of the nurses at Fort Wadsworth, Fort Hamilton and Governor’s Island, with full power to appoint, transfer and recall them; the other, to which fuller reference will be hereafter made, was permission for Miss Maxwell, of the Presbyterian Hospital, New York, to go to Chickamauga with a party of nurses chosen by her. The Red Cross Hospital in New York, from which the nurses had theretofore been enlisted, being temporarily closed, Miss Maxwell offered her office at the Presbyterian Hospital for the registration of nurses sent out by the auxiliary; and at her urgent request, Miss K.M. Pierce, superintendent of the Samaritan Hospital at Troy, who was then in New York, devoted her vacation to making arrangements for the registration and transportation of the large number of nurses called into the city. After September 1 this work devolved upon Miss Wadley, and was transferred to a separate bureau at No. 6 East Forty-second street, where, under her direction, it has reached a high degree of efficiency.
One of the largest fields of the auxiliary’s activity was at Chickamauga. The typhoid epidemic which broke out in all the camps of instruction where our troops were stationed severely taxed the resources of the division hospitals. The surgeons had to rely mainly on the services of untrained men, and while the great need for the services of women was apparent, their employment in military camps had not then been attempted. Nowhere were the conditions more threatening than at Chickamauga; and toward the end of July, Miss Maud Cromelien, an agent of the auxiliary, visited the Division Hospitals at Camp Thomas. The need for prompt relief there manifested was imperative; and, acting under authority from New York, she made the following offer on behalf of the auxiliary to Lieutenant-Colonel Hoff, surgeon-in-chief at the camp, namely: to supply at least one division hospital with nurses; to meet all expenses of maintaining the nurses; and to erect, equip, and supply tents for their occupation; to supply a competent supervising nurse, and to make the entire party subject to the orders of the chief surgeon. This offer was reported to the surgeon-general at Washington, and by his direction accepted. Through the kindness of the managers of the Presbyterian Hospital, the auxiliary had the great good fortune to secure the consent of the superintendent of their training school, Miss Maxwell, to take charge of this relief party.
Miss Maxwell at once threw herself into the arduous task, and having obtained twenty most capable nurses, with promises of many more to follow, selected Miss Frances A. Stone as assistant superintendent, and started from New York with the party August 7. In the meantime, under the supervision of Miss Cromelien, dormitories and other accommodations had been provided at Camp Thomas, not only for this party, but for the large number of additional nurses that were expected. Upon reaching the camp, Miss Maxwell inspected the division hospitals, and then, by arrangement with the government authorities, took charge of the nursing at the Sternberg United States Field Hospital, which had just been opened to receive the overflow of patients from the crowded division hospitals. The suffering of the patients, and the pitiable lack of almost everything necessary to their proper care, are described by Miss Maxwell as among the saddest sights in her long experience. Yet out of all this misery and chaos much alleviation of pain and admirable order were soon brought. Beginning with 136 patients, 900 were received during the four weeks of Miss Maxwell’s superintendence. Of these 470 were furloughed and 68 died. In all the auxiliary expended at Chickamauga, for buildings, equipment, nurses, supplies and maintenance, more than $9000. In concluding her report of the work to the managers of the Presbyterian Hospital, Miss Maxwell wrote among other things:
I cannot say enough in praise of the liberality and thoughtfulness of the auxiliary of the Red Cross in supplying us with eight dormitories, a bath-house, store-rooms, kitchen, dining-room, house-keeper, servants, and not only the necessities, but many of the luxuries of life.