Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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vided for us. Armed with soap, towels and toothbrushes, everybody got off the train, and there was a general cleaning up. The men shaved and the girls combed, it was really a very funny sight. The train trip with its very novel experiences covered two days and two nights. T We arrived May 7th in Chatel-Guyon, a very beautiful summer resort in the south central part of France. We found our hospital was to be in various hotels scattered through the town. VVe were quartered in the Du Pare Hotel, our main hospital building for the first few days, until a permanent nurses' home was selected. Part of our equipmentcame with us, and we immediately began to unpack and get things into shape. But first, the hotel needed a thorough cleaning, and the nurses played a very important part in this. With pails of water, brushes and soap, the windows, woodwork and fioors were scrubbed until the building did not look like the same place. The unpacking and placing of the equipment was no small matter, but under Col. Carnett's efiicient management, things moved along very quickly, and at the end of ten days we were ready for two hundred patients. But as each hospital train carried from three hundred and fifty to five hundred patients, we did not receive our first train until june 8th, just one month after we arrived in Chatel- Guyon. The nurses helped a great deal in the setting up of the Hospital, one detail marked linen on the marking machine and sewed marked tapes on pajamas, etc., that could not be put in the marking machine, another detail stocked the linen, rooms, another made up beds, and others equipped the wards and operating rooms. A few days after our arrival here, six of the nurses were sent for temporary duty to Camp Hospital No. 44 Riom, a little later twenty nurses were sent to Base Hospital No. l8, six to Base Hospital No. 66, and fifteen to Base Hospital No. l5, all for temporary duty until our patients arrived. On june Sth our first surgical team, which included two nurses, was ordered to the front. I , A At the time the Hrst train. of 359 patients arrived, there were only sixteen nurses for duty, they worked very hard for a few days until the nurses on detached duty were returned. At first we were disappointed to be so far from the front, and our surroundings were so beautiful it was hard for us to realize we were at war, but when the train loads of our own boys came in with such horrible wounds-and a number of trains came directly from the front-we realized there was a war and also plenty to do even in the rear. - T - The American ,boys were wonderful patients, and we are all probably spoiled for going back to special nursing. Not until after the armistice was signed, did we have our full number of nurses. When we were the busiest withaZZ75 patients w-e had just forty-nine nurses for duty. It was impossible to do everything for the patients we would like to have done, but the sickest ones always received the best of care. 102 '

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B On April 20, we were told that orders were expected and that the following day was the last day we might have shore leave. Everyone was very much excited and hastened to New York to do a last bit of shopping. VVe left Ellis Island April 22d on the small boat Holyoake for Pier No. ZZ, Hoboken, N. J. On arriving at the Pier, we learned with joy that we were to sail on the Leviathan, formerly the Vaterland, the boat upon which many of us hoped we would sail. We immediately went on board and were assigned state- rooms, two, three, four and five in each room. We were very comfortable. Our oflicers and men came on board the same day and we were delighted to see them, as there had been a rumor we might sail on separate boats. We were on board two days before we sailed, during which time we were much interested in the loading of the boat with supplies, and saw much of our own equipment loaded. We sailed April 24th, leaving port 6 A. M. At last we were on our way. The trip over was one delight from beginning to end. The boat is the largest in the world and we felt perfectly safe. At no time did anyone have the slightest fear. We were convoyed the last 36 hours by 4 destroyers, and even in the danger zone when we were ordered to wear our life preservers constantly and sleep in our clothes, we could not scare up any fear. Both the army and navy oflicers did everything to make the voyage a pleasant one and they succeeded wonderfully well. There were three bands on board and we danced every afternoon and every evening until the lights were turned off. The weather was delightful and we spent the days on deck. The boat was so large there was scarcely any motion, and consequently no one was seasick. At sunset the ship was darkened and no one was allowed on deck. If you were fortunate enough to have an inside stateroom you were permitted to have light, but no lights were allowed on the outside staterooms. The nurses were allowed in the navy lounge until 9 P. M. The only hardship of the whole trip was the fact that we had to be in our rooms at 9 olclock. It took just eight days to cross, and we landed in Brest May 2, 1918, at 7 A. M. The nurses remained on board the ship and the officers and men were sent to a rest camp for a few days. We bade them good-bye very reluctantly, we were fearful we might be separated. On Sunday, May Sth, we went ashore and met them at the station in Brest. We, entrained about ll A. M. Rations were issued to us, which consisted of bully beef, salmon, baked beans, canned tomatoes, canned sweet potatoes, a loaf of bread each and jam. The nurses did not have mess kits, but the odicers were kind enough to share theirs, and we managed very well. There were six nurses to a compartment. At night we put our suitcases in the center, and most of us slept fairly well. There was no water on the train, and two or three times a day the train would stop, some- times we would have time to wash a bit, but more often not. However, at one place on the second day of the trip, the train stopped at a place where there was one hydrant, and several, tubs of water had been pro- 101

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-:Q-5.5 lx ggi, R. ,':.1,,f3 ..1 ' .- . t.1.-.'.:si,-:.,,t,,.- .. . Q Em'--.9i1': g3i-if.ng1--r , -' . . 'ary-QXNQI gif 1, .fy I 5.9.0 : 1, I ,gg!igc.3-g5.t'.f,g4,g.-. fx -. , . . , 1 . vxxifbtiisi-liar'-q.f 41,1-s - - . . , , . H V. ., 451:-jggikwxgisj-.frx,,A:'f,',.xt h R V . , I' - g -i Q iam, Y qi AAF-Klwg F- wif,--, ,. ,,.,,,,,,,i. .Ln..L4,.....W::.:...--4' QHSQ- Leffldff 1 We received our first patients june 8, 1918, and discharged the last ones january 20, 1919. Our Nurses' Home was one of the newer hotels in the town, with just enough rooms to accommodate the sixty-Hve nurses, two secretaries, and one dietitian. The rooms accommodated two and three persons very nicely. There were large built-in wardrobes with mirrored doors, hot and cold running water, and electric lights in each room. During the winter, electric stoves were in every room. The rooms were equipped with beds and bedding and a chair. Many of the girls had tables, desks and even chiffoniers made with cretonne curtains furnished by the Red Cross. Our rooms were very attractive and most comfortable. We had one fairly large living. room and two small ones. The Red Cross rented very pretty wicker furniture, a piano and victrola, and with our U. of P. pictures and pennants, our quarters were very homelike. The dining room was a very pretty one, our tables were long wooden ones, picnic style. Gur food was always very good, and we had plenty of everything at all times. 4 Before our patients came we had a number of dances. Our Hrst one will always linger in our memories, it was held in the dining room of the Du Pare Hotel, and everybody was interested and helped in some way. VVe gathered wild flowers, and there were beautiful ones growing everywhere, and with our large American flags, Base Hospital, U. of P. and RedfCross flags, red and blue bunting and pennants, the dance hall was beautifully decorated. The music was furnished by our orchestra of Unit men. After the patients arrived, when we were not busy, we had numerous dances and parties of various kinds, sometimes held in the Nurses' Home, but usually in the Du Pare Hotel. 0ne dance was held in the dining room of the Continental Hotel, rented for the evening by the Red Cross. Aviators from a nearby camp were always invited to our parties and seemed to enjoy th-em very much. They gave a number of dances for us at their camp and always were excellent hosts. Also when not busy, we had time for a number of picnics and walks among the hills of the beautiful country around Chatel-Guyon. There were a number of interest- ing old chateaux within walking distance and we enjoyed exploring them. . Cn October 19, 1918, three nurses were detached and sent to Hospital. Train No. S6 for duty. January 7, 1919, three nurses were sent to Camp Hospital No. 45, Aix-les-Bains, january 13th, fifteen nurses to Treves, Germany, for duty with the Third Army, and January 22d, twenty were sent for further duty to Beau Desseta Hospital Center near Bordeaux. j During our stayin France we were allowed seven days' leave every four months, and most of us were able to see some of the interesting cities and the southern part of France along the beautiful Mediterranean. j EDITH B. IRWIN. 103 j