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they could find among the miserable band of convalescent soldiers

drafted off to tend their sick comrades; they were faced with

disease; mutilation; and death in all their most appalling forms;

crowded multitudinously about them in an ever…increasing mass。

They were like men in a shipwreck; fighting; not for safety; but

for the next moment's bare existence to gain; by yet another

frenzied effort; some brief respite from the waters of

destruction。



In these surroundings; those who had been long inured to scenes

of human suffering surgeons with a world…wide knowledge of

agonies; soldiers familiar with fields of carnage; missionaries

with remembrances of famine and of plague yet found a depth of

horror which they had never known before。 There were moments;

there were places; in the Barrack Hospital at Scutari; where the

strongest hand was struck with trembling; and the boldest eye

would turn away its gaze。



Miss Nightingale came; and she; at any rate; in that inferno; did

not abandon hope。 For one thing; she brought material succour。

Before she left London she had consulted Dr。 Andrew Smith; the

head of the Army Medical Board; as to whether it would be useful

to take out stores of any kind to Scutari; and Dr。 Andrew Smith

had told her that 'nothing was needed'。 Even Sidney Herbert had

given her similar assurances; possibly; owing to an oversight;

there might have been some delay in the delivery of the medical

stores; which; he said; had been sent out from England 'in

profusion'; but 'four days would have remedied this'。 She

preferred to trust her own instincts; and at Marseilles purchased

a large quantity of miscellaneous provisions; which were of the

utmost use at Scutari。 She came; too; amply provided with money

in all; during her stay in the East; about £7;000 reached her

from private sources; and; in addition; she was able to avail

herself of another valuable means of help。



At the same time as herself; Mr。 Macdonald; of The Times; had

arrived at Scutari; charged with the duty of administering the

large sums of money collected through the agency of that

newspaper in aid of the sick and wounded; and Mr。 Macdonald had

the sense to see that the best use he could make of The Times

Fund was to put it at the disposal of Miss Nightingale。 'I cannot

conceive;' wrote an eye…witness; 'as I now calmly look back on

the first three weeks after the arrival of the wounded from

Inkerman; how it could have been possible to have avoided a state

of things too disastrous to contemplate; had not Miss Nightingale

been there; with the means placed at her disposal by Mr。

Macdonald。' But the official view was different。 What! Was the

public service to admit; by accepting outside charity; that it

was unable to discharge its own duties without the assistance of

private and irregular benevolence? Never! And accordingly when

Lord Stratford de Redcliffe; our ambassador at Constantinople;

was asked by Mr。 Macdonald to indicate how The Times Fund could

best be employed; he answered that there was indeed one object to

which it might very well be devoted the building of an English

Protestant Church at Pera。



Mr。 Macdonald did not waste further time with Lord Stratford; and

immediately joined forces with Miss Nightingale。 But; with such a

frame of mind in the highest quarters; it is easy to imagine the

kind of disgust and alarm with which the sudden intrusion of a

band of amateurs and females must have filled the minds of the

ordinary officer and the ordinary military surgeon。 They could

not understand it what had women to do with war? Honest

Colonels relieved their spleen by the cracking of heavy jokes

about 'the Bird'; while poor Dr。 Hall; a rough terrier of a man;

who had worried his way to the top of his profession; was struck

speechless with astonishment; and at last observed that Miss

Nightingale's appointment was extremely droll。



Her position was; indeed; an official one; but it was hardly the

easier for that。 In the hospitals it was her duty to provide the

services of herself and her nurses when they were asked for by

the doctors; and not until then。 At first some of the surgeons

would have nothing to say to her; and; though she was welcomed by

others; the majority were hostile and suspicious。 But gradually

she gained ground。 Her good will could not be denied; and her

capacity could not be disregarded。 With consummate tact; with all

the gentleness of supreme strength; she managed at last to impose

her personality upon the susceptible; overwrought; discouraged;

and helpless group of men in authority who surrounded her。 She

stood firm; she was a rock in the angry ocean; with her alone was

safety; comfort; life。 And so it was that hope dawned at Scutari。

The reign of chaos and old night began to dwindle; order came

upon the scene; and common sense; and forethought; and decision;

radiating out from the little room off the great gallery in the

Barrack Hospital where; day and night; the Lady Superintendent

was at her task。 Progress might be slow; but it was sure。



The first sign of a great change came with the appearance of some

of those necessary objects with which the hospitals had been

unprovided for months。 The sick men began to enjoy the use of

towels and soap; knives and forks; combs and tooth…brushes。 Dr。

Hall might snort when he heard of it; asking; with a growl; what

a soldier wanted with a tooth…brush; but the good work went on。

Eventually the whole business of purveying to the hospitals was;

in effect; carried out by Miss Nightingale。 She alone; it seemed。

whatever the contingency; knew where to lay her hands on what was

wanted; she alone could dispense her stores with readiness; above



all; she alone possessed the art of circumventing the pernicious

influences of official etiquette。 This was her greatest enemy;

and sometimes even she was baffled by it。 On one occasion 27;000

shirts; sent out at her instance by the Home Government; arrived;

were landed; and were only waiting to be unpacked。 But the

official 'Purveyor' intervened; 'he could not unpack them;' he

said; 'with out a Board。' Miss Nightingale pleaded in vain; the

sick and wounded lay half…naked shivering for want of clothing;

and three weeks elapsed before the Board released the shirts。 A

little later; however; on a similar occasion; Miss Nightingale

felt that she could assert her own authority。 She ordered a

Government consignment to be forcibly opened while the miserable

'Purveyor' stood by; wringing his hands in departmental agony。



Vast quantities of valuable stores sent from England lay; she

found; engulfed in the bottomless abyss of the Turkish Customs

House。 Other ship…loads; buried beneath munitions of war destined

for Balaclava; passed Scutari without a sign; and thus hospital

materials were sometimes carried to and fro three times over the

Black Sea; before they reached their destination。 The whole

system was clearly at fault; and Miss Nightingale suggested to

the home authorities that a Government Store House should be

instituted at Scutari for the reception and distribution of the

consignments。 Six months after her arrival this was done。



In the meantime; she had reorganised the kitchens and the

laundries in the hospitals。 The ill…cooked hunks of meat; vilely

served at irregular intervals; which had hitherto been the only

diet for the sick men; were replaced by punctual meals; well…

prepared and appetising; while strengthening extra foods soups

and wines and jellies ('preposterous luxuries'; snarled Dr。 Hall)

were distributed to those who needed them。 One thing; however;

she could not effect。 The separation of the bones from the meat

was no part of official cookery: the rule was that the food must

be divided into equal portions; and if some of the portions were

all bone well; every man must take his chance。 The rule;

perhaps; was not a very good one; but there it was。 'It would

require a new Regulation of the Service;' she was told; 'to bone

the meat。' As for the washing arrangements; they were

revolutionised。 Up to the time of Miss Nightingale's arrival; the

number of shirts the authorities had succeeded in washing was

seven。 The hospital bedding; she found; was 'washed' in cold

water。 She took a Turkish house; had boilers installed; and

employed soldiers' wives to do the laundry work。 The expenses

were defrayed from her own funds and that of The Times; and

henceforward; the sick and wounded had the comfort of clean

linen。



Then she turned her attention to their clothing。 Owing to

military exigencies; the greater number of the men had abandoned

their kit; their knapsacks were lost forever; they possessed

nothing but what was on their persons; and that was usually only

fit for speedy destruction。 The 'Purveyor'; of course; pointed

out that; according to the regulations; all soldiers should bring

with them into hospital an adequate su

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