Wedded to War Read Online Free Page B

on the walnut table next to her, and breathed in the fragrance of orange and cloves. She picked up today’s
New York Times
and froze. Without taking her eyes off the paper, she rattled the cup back on its saucer.
    CALL FOR NURSING CANDIDATES BY THE WOMEN’S CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR RELIEF
     
    Women have not hitherto been employed in military hospitals as nurses. The nursing is done by soldiers drafted out of the ranks for that purpose….
    Nursing in military hospitals is a very different thing from nursing in civil hospitals, and still more from private nursing. The class of patients to be nursed, the character of the under nurses, who will always be men, the social isolation of the position, and the absolute necessity of enforcing military discipline, combine to render nursing in military hospitals a service of peculiar difficulty which can only be accomplished successfully by a select and disciplined band of nurses.
    The following regulations for selecting candidates have been drawn up—these regulations being approved by the Hospital Association to whom they were submitted.
    Age.—Each candidate must be between the ages of thirty andforty-five years, exceptions being only made in the case of nurses of valuable experience.
    Health.—Only women of strong constitutions will be received; chronic disease, or other physical weakness, disqualifying for service.
    Character.—Every applicant must present a written testimonial or introduction from a responsible person who can be seen. Only persons of the highest respectability will be received.
    Discipline.—A promise of cordial compliance with all the regulations of the service will be required.
    Dress.—A regulation dress will be appointed by the board, which each nurse will be required to adopt, no hoops being allowed in the service.
    Number of Candidates.—Ten Bands, or a class of one hundred, will now be enrolled, due notice being given in the daily journals when the lists are full. Should a second corps be needed the call will again be published in the papers.
    The Registration Committee meet daily in the Cooper Institute in the Philosophical Rooms, on the fourth floor, between the hours of two and four P.M. They earnestly invite all ladies possessing the necessary qualifications to present themselves for registration.
    Those who are fitted by nature and position to engage in this new and difficult work, will render invaluable aid to their country by devoting themselves to its thorough accomplishment.
Signed,
Drs. Elizabeth Blackwell,
Edward Delafield,
J. R. Wood, and Elisha Harris.
     
    She read the notice again.
    Are they crazy?
    As the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, Dr. Blackwell could be expected to come up with such an outrageous plan to insert women into the men’s sphere of work. But there were three other doctors names attached, all highly distinguished men.
    Wincing from being in the same position for too long, Charlotte unfolded her legs from under her, sending Dickens to the floor, and began to pace the room, the ribboned hem of her skirt skimming the French rug beneath her feet. Just imagine. Women serving their country so close to the action! She had read all about England’s Florence Nightingale and her work in the Crimean War, but never dreamed such a thing would be possible in this country. They must be desperate for help.
    But she was too young, according to the requirements printed in the paper. And even if she were old enough, she would be useless as a nurse. She could scarcely stand the mention of blood, let alone the sight of it, ever since her father’s death. And besides, her mother, Caroline, would never allow it. Well-bred women had no business getting their hands dirty, she could almost hear her say. It was the reason Caroline had discouraged her from continuing her work at the House of Industry.
    Thunder grumbled outside, and the clouds, finally ripped open from beneath, released their cargo. Raindrops fell fat