xt754746r699 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt754746r699/data/mets.xml The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. 1934 bulletins  English The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletins The Quarterly Bulletin of The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc., Vol. IX, No. 4, Spring 1934 text The Quarterly Bulletin of The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc., Vol. IX, No. 4, Spring 1934 1934 2014 true xt754746r699 section xt754746r699 Tl r • • B   ° f
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' THE QUARTERLY BULLETIN OF A
TI-IE FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE, Inc. I
. Published qLl£).I'I.€1`Iy by the Frontier Nursing Service. I.exingLmn, Ky. ·\,
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $1.00 PER YEAR >_ J U V
 — » »»E E    E REE {
v0LuME xx SPRING, 1934 xummm 4
“Ente2·ed as second class matter Jzmc 30, 1926, at the Post O_0’icc at I
Lcavingtcn, Ky., under the Act of March 3, 1ST9." ‘
CO])y1'IgII[ 1934. Frontier Nursing Sc1·vi<·e, Inc.
I I

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  RECONCILIATION
I I
Q, I begin through the grass once again to be bound to the Lord;
I I can see, through a face that has faded, the face full of rest
I Of the earth, ofthe mother, my heart with her heart in accord,
  As I lie ’mid the cool green tresses that mantle her breast
I I begin with the grass once again to be bound to the Lord.
I
  By the hand of a child I am led to the throne of the King
  For a touch that now fevers me not is forgotten and far, .
  And His infinite sceptred hands that sway us can bring
Me in dreams from the laugh of a child to the song of a star.
On the laugh of a child I am borne to the joy of the King. ·
—"A. E." (1867- )
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- 2 · THE QUARTERLY BULLETIN `  g
””" L"" -
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A "Working" at Wendover R
3
Friday, March 16th, found Wendover in a state of general Z
activity and gaiety. Thirty-seven men from the vicinity gathered
for a "working"—a tangible indication of the cooperation and {
friendliness of these neighbors of ours. 1
A "working" is a common occurrence for which a group of rv
men assemble to accomplish some big piece of work for a neigh-
bor. At Wendover there was an accumulation of repair work,
drains to be built to take care of the heavy rains, chicken houses
to be creosoted, the garden to be made ready for planting, some ;
carpentry on the "Upper Shelf" and fencing at the Clearing. I
Early in the morning the men were busy on these various 3
jobs and in what seemed an amazingly short time results were A
visible. Everything was done with such order and eagerness
that the general atmosphere was one of bustling activity and gay
friendliness. One man was overheard saying: "Oh, no, I never _
get hungry and I never get tired, because I eat before I’m hungry
and quit before I’m tired."  
At noon everyone gathered for mid-day dinner which con- Z
sisted of the customary chicken and dumplings, honiiny, green ‘ .
beans and pie. One of the men remarked later to the Wendover Y
nurse: "That sure was a fine clever dinner Mrs. Breckinridge &
gave us the other day." Soon after dinner the men were back at .
work and by "quitting time" practically all of the work was ‘
finished.
A week or so later five other men who had been unable to I
come that day came to explain and to offer their help. All Hve
came again a few days later and nnished the few small jobs
which remained.
Perhaps nothing can explain better the attitude of our __
friends in the hills and their feeling of being an essential part of __
the Service. To them we are deeply grateful for everything they  
have done in making possible our work with them.
MARION Ross.

 l
.  ·— EEoNT1En Nunsme SERVICE 3
i
T OPEN LETTER
Ever since my back was broken in November, 1931, the doc-
tors have said that I needed a minimum of three months’ holiday,
Q in order to effect a complete recovery. Owing to the difficult
,1 times through which we have been passing, it has just not been
i possible for me to leave the work for more than two or three
weeks. I have been out of the steel brace now for some months
and get along well with partial support. My last X-rays were in
February and showed a satisfactory condition of the bony struc-
. ture. There is still, however, almost constant pain from torn
. ligaments and muscles, and whenever I am tired, which is often,
the pain is really uncomfortable. The orthopedic surgeon, Dr.
E Marmaduke Brown, of Lexington, who has been taking care of
me, and the other doctors in consultation, all agree that a three
Y months’ holiday is absolutely essential to prevent a chronic condi-
tion. I am leaving the work, therefore, on June first, and am not
' returning until September first. My present plan is to sail on a
, freighter for some point in the Mediterranean, to get a long sea
Q voyage, and then to England, spending the summer visiting
. friends on country places and motoring with friends, including a
j » number of "old girls" with whom I went to school in Switzerland
i in the ’90’s.
· During my absence, the field work of the Frontier Nursing
K Service will be under the direction of my assistant, Miss Mary B.
W'illeford, R. N., Ph.D.; and the trained administrative staff,
who have been carrying such a load during the last years, will
now take on the necessary added responsibility. The medical di-
rector, Dr. John H. Kooser, who has been with us for nearly
three years, will be in charge of his end of things, as usual; and
the supervisory posts in the hospital and in the field are admir-
»_ ‘ ably filled by members of our old guard. The senior nurses in
charge of the various scattered centers are all old guard people.
  Our National Chairman, Mrs. S. Thruston Ballard, expects to
spend the whole summer at her place near Louisville, and our
Treasurer, Mr. C. N. Manning, President of the Security Trust
Company of Lexington, Kentucky, will also be on duty whenever ·

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needed. In addition, one of our Executive Committee members,  
Mr. M. C. Begley, lives at Hyden, so that the Executive Commit—  
tee is represented in the center of our work. L
This is the longest absence I have taken from the Frontier i
Nursing Service since it was organized nine years ago, and I
have postponed it as long as I dare. As a nurse, I cannot disre- C
gard indennitely the orders of my medical advisors. This letter 1
is written, first, in reply to the inquiries of many friends, with ,
whom I have no time to correspond, and who ask me for news of
myself in the Bulletin. It is written, second, as a request to all Q
the friends of the Frontier Nursing Service to stand by during '
my long absence, to renew if possible their support promptly on L
getting their reminders, and to keep the thought of the work con-
stantly alive in their loyal hearts.
Yours sincerely,
MARY BRECKINRIDGE.  
l
1
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The Cover Picture 1
, The figure on the cover of this issue of the Bulletin is that l
of Miss Betty Lester, midwifery supervisor of the Frontier Nurs- I
ing Service, mounted on "Traveler." I
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A if
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 ` ivnonrriian Nunsme snnvica  
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l BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS
l ;._...
i We were tremendously pleased to have Mrs. Roger K. Rogan
and Mrs. Edward B. Danson, of Glendale, Ohio, visit us early in
March. Their daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Anne, had just
O completed their first terms as couriers with signal success. Mrs.
l Rogan has accepted the position of Co-Chairman, with Mr.
' James M. Hutton, of our Cincinnati Committee, and she will be
_ hostess at her home in Glendale for the annual meeting of the
l Frontier Nursing Service, sponsored by the Cincinnati Commit-
. tee on May 31st. All of our friends will remember that our first _
" co-chairman in Cincinnati was the late Mrs. Davis C. Anderson,
whose name is held in high regard and deep affection in our
Service forever.
i It was the source of special happiness, at our annual meet-
' ing in Washington, in the Textile Museum of Mrs. George Hewitt
‘ Myers, that our Washington Chairman, Mrs. Cary T. Grayson,
I was able to preside and introduce the Director. Admiral Gray-
son’s long illness has deeply stirred the affections of his many
  friends, who are now rejoicing in his marked improvement.
1 Our annual meeting in New York, in the drawing room of
Mrs. Walter B. James’ house, went off splendidly, with Mrs.
Linzee Blagden, the Chairman, presiding. The officers of the
New York Committee gave their admirable reports for the year,
I and Miss Gladys Peacock sang some of the Mountain Ballads.
l In addition to the Director’s annual report, the audience heard
an address by Dr. George W. Kosmak, on the need for the mid-
wife in this country. Dr. Kosmak began by quoting from Dr.
Howard W. Haggard, as follows: "The position of woman in
“ any civilization is gauged best by the care given her at the birth
J of her child." He summarized admirably the condition of the
/.-» child-bearing woman at different stages of history and the part
‘ that the midwife had taken in caring for her. He brought out
succinctly the difference between the untrained and the trained
, midwife, and called attention to the possibilities in American
l

 ` 6 THE QUARTERLY Burnmriiv
obstetrics of the use of the trained nurse-midwife. "It would be »
a sorry admission," he said, "if we accepted a hazard from
, childbearing as high as that which now prevails in this country. ~
Therefore we must consider every factor involved and if we can
bring about a change for the better in certain places at least by
I providing adequate and proper midwife service, then we should ,
I not hesitate to adopt it." ( 
He spoke in accents that deeply moved us of the "marvelous
and successful work done by the Frontier Nursing Service," and `
said that it should be extended to other sections of this country
where the prospective mother is not getting a square deal.
=l< >|< >l< >l<
It was our privilege to present the work of the Frontier  
I Nursing Service for the first time in Princeton, to the Present  
I Day Club. Mrs. C. F. Goodrich, widow of Admiral Goodrich, has I
graciously accepted the chairmanship of the Princeton Com- I
mittee. .  
>i= * >i= =c< I
_ Among other speaking engagements which the Director par-
I ticularly enjoyed this spring was one to the Woman’s National
1 Press Club in Washington, and one to the Congressional Club in
; Washington, sponsored by Mrs. Richard Wigglesworth, nee Flor-
ence Booth, of Louisville, wife of Representative Wigglesworth, I
g of Massachusetts; and one to our old friends at the Bennett I
J ‘ School in Millbrook, New York. '
  .*.. I
I Our annual meeting in Boston was in the evening, at the
l home of Mrs. L. Carteret Fenno. Mrs. Fenno has more than  
once opened her house to us for this purpose. The meeting was I
I well attended by both men and women. Mr. Charles Jackson, I
, treasurer of the New England Committee, presided and intro-
  duced the Director. Mrs. E. A. Codman, Chairman of the New
  England Committee, arranged this and other meetings.
fj At the annual meeting in Providence, at the home of Mrs.  
I Gammell, Mrs. Gammell Cross, the Chairman, presided, and the  , 
, attendance was one of the largest we have ever had at the first  
~ annual meeting held by a new committee.  
 ,, I

 Fnonriim Nunsmc smiaviciz 7
Dr. John M. Bergland, of Baltimore, presided at our annual
meeting there, where we had an attendance of over three hun-
V dred people in the big hall graciously loaned us by the Union A
Memorial Hospital.
It was the Director’s privilege also to speak to the students
: of Goucher College the following morning.
QI >r =e= # >1= i
. The Director concluded her Eastern tour by speaking at the
V animal meeting of the National Needlework Guild of America,
held this year in Lexington, Kentucky, under the auspices of
Mrs. Paul Justice. Mrs. Preston, of Princeton, presided and
introduced the speaker, who considers it one of the privileges of
j her life to have spoken to and met so large a group of distin-
i guished and useful women.
{ We acknowledge with thanks and profound appreciation
l another grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to
l carry our- statistical work and Central records system. To this
` corporation for its invaluable financial aid, and to Dr. Louis I.
Dublin, of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, for his
help in first setting up our Central records system and deciding
on the type of records, we owe the fact that our statistical work
is on a sound, scientific basis. Our complete records of thousands
I of the early American stock will be of profound interest, not
l only to this generation but to future periods of American life.
We have nearly completed our second thousand midwifery cases.
Q Dr. Dublin will tabulate these as he did the first thousand. At
this writing, in over 900 deliveries we have not had one maternal
; death.
l a =: *  
I We acknowledge, also, with grateful appreciation a legacy
of $15,000.00 from the estate of Mrs. Helen Draper Ayer, of
Boston, through the courtesy of her brother, Mr. VVickliHe ·
Draper. This gift has been put into a trust fund and the income
  from it is for the upkeep, repairs, insurance, depreciation and
 K  general maintenance of the nursing center given by Mrs. Ayer
i in memory of her mother——the Jessie Preston Draper Memorial.
{ Any part of the income not needed for this purpose may go
I

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‘ s THE QUARTERLY BULLETIN E
towards the maintenance of the nurses working at the center, l
their horses and supplies. T
$ =i= =E=    
The most recent write-up of our work is in the Kentucky t
Progress Magazine, Spring Number (The Thoroughbred Edi—  
_ tion), and was written by Miss Wilma Duvall. It is profusely  _
illustrated. That entire number of the Kentucky Progress Maga- T
zine is full of charming illustrated articles about horses, famous ..
portraits and famous artists, old homes, old furniture, old fire-
places, _recipes for mint juleps and Kentucky country hams, and T
the like. `
Other recent write-ups of the Service are: Mountain Medi- ’
cine, by Dr. Kooser, in the Journal of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, i
April 1934; and an interesting paper in the Bryn Mawr Alumnae  
Bulletin, by Sylvia Bowditch of Boston, one of our most out-  
standing couriers.  
    =l<    
Engagements and weddings among our courier service are T
being announced with decided frequency these days. Miss Rosa- p
mond Rust’s marriage to Mr. Reginald Stuart Ward will take
place on June 2nd. Miss Marianne Stevenson’s marriage to Mr.
' Paul Magnuson, Jr., on June 29th. Other engagements have
been announced, as follows, but we have not heard whether Q
definite dates have been set for the weddings: Miss Dorothy `
Clark, of New York_City, to Mr. Edwin Allen Locke; Miss Mar- S
garet McLennan, of Chicago, to Mr. John B. Morse; Miss Betty- V 1
Wynn Rugee, of Milwaukee, to Mr. Herbert T. Holbrook.  
The Annual Meeting of the trustees, committee members, g
subscribers, and their friends, of the Frontier Nursing Service, f
will be held on Tuesday, May 29th, at the Country Club, on the
_ · Paris Pike, near Lexington, Kentucky, at 12 :30 noon. Luncheon '
, will be served at 60 cents per person, after which reports of the
" work will be given and a business meeting will take place. Every-  
body, everywhere, is cordially invited to attend and is asked to
make reservations in advance, through Mrs. George Hunt, 424 J
1 West Second Street, Lexington, Kentucky. ,

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  -
` Enom·1ER Nunsme sEnv1cE ei
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i A Possum Bend Party
é 1__._
. May 9th dawned a beautiful spring morning for our third
* annual Mothers’ and Babies’ Day. Invited for 10 a. m., some of
`» our guests arrived at 8 a. m. As one mother·explained as we
I helped her and her 18-months-old son, Franklin D., to dismount:
`I "A person can’t tell how long it will take to git from the head of
y Hell-for-Certain to the Nurses, on our old mule when hits been _
· ploughing all the week." Then, in an aside to me: "I’ve brought
I you three dozen eggs towards my bill, because I’m looking again
u in September, and I’m depending on you all to come to me." And
i so we book another case.
Q Now we arrive at the clinic porch, where everyone is getting
{ acquainted with old school pals and kinsfolk whom they have not
Q seen for years. I marvel again that we live in such a man’s
I world that these women living so near each other so rarely meet.
A How gay they all look in their bright print dresses, and the
babies all dressed up for the occasion.
Then the work began. Green, with the help of the Washing-
ton courier, Marion Shouse, weighed, measured and gave Infant
I Welfare advice to all. "Pebble" Stone, the senior courier, and I
* then took the mothers through to the living room in parties of
eight, where we had a light lunch prepared, of rolls, coffee,
l ginger bread, pies, and milk. How we appreciate our cow at
* times like this!
l After a while we all changed jobs and so relieved each other.
] By 2 p. m. everyone had left for their various cabins, many of
V them four to six miles away.
Z We had 24 babies under 12 months old, 28 from one year to
’ two years, and 58 mothers and helpers—120 in all.
· Nom K. KELLY.
"A cow is tied by the horns but a man by his word."
, —Chi1dren of the Mountain Eagle.
. By ELIZABETH CLEVELAND MILLER.

 · {
10 THERUi?.BT”??’E,’:§Ei‘i%E?‘.?’r  .  --a-a-rr..   .. Ma-  
Bits From the Letters Home of a New York Courier  
3
_"’_ I
March Sth, Thursday.  T
I didn’t think I would have a chance to write before Saturday .
but as we are now tide-bound at a center called Flat Creek we
can’t go on. So far we have had a wonderful time. The first night  E
we spent in Hyden at the hospital, two men were brought in, one _
had been shot and the other stabbed. The next day we rode l
twenty miles over the roughest country you ever saw but lovely l
and finally arrived at the center. Next day we went on to Red
I Bird and yesterday arrived here. Having had to ford eight times
_· with rain and thunder. The nurses at these centers are wonder-
I ful. The mountaineers are the finest looking people you have .
I ever seen and surprisingly intelligent when you think of the lack
of education they have had. g
The night we left Wendover another colt was born. Can’t ,
wait to get back and see it. It’s time now to feed the horses so I  
will stop. Don’t know if we will be able to get away until Sun- I
¤ day even if the tide goes down. Never had a better time. i
  * =E= =!= =!= _ i
  E
Q . Saturday night.  
  We got back here tonight after riding for about three hours J
{ in a heavy snow storm which made it pretty cold but lovely. At E
I the center we stayed at last night I went out with the nurse to a _
I woman who had a miscarriage which was some start as it was  
I very gory and I had to hold the lamp for the nurse so there was i
  no escape. I felt very queer at first but I didn’t mind so much  
Y? after a while. It was about 9 o’clock at night and a rough ride  
  of four miles with a lot of fording to do. The husband who came i
·._‘ I to get the nurse was on a slow horse so he wasn’t much help with if
  his lantern and we had to tear on ahead.  V
igv  

 a
E ivnonriim Nunsmc SERVICE ii
l ’ THE RELIEF NURSE
3
l By EMZABETH B. STEvENsoN, R. N.
 T When I came down to Kentucky I did not realize I would be
I so fortunate as to become relief nurse and go "here and yonder,"
‘ as we say in the mountains. A large committee meeting at c
, Hyden initiated me into the work and ways of our Service. Im-
 ` mediately afterwards I rode "Doc" over to Wendover, my first
l glimpse of a place which I always consider my home. The day
after I arrived Willeford had a conference with me and the result
l was the Jessie Preston Draper Memorial Center at Beech Fork
that afternoon. It was a chilly October evening when I arrived
and the cozy fire of beech logs looked good to me, so also did my
hot bath and dinner, as that was my first long ride of only twelve
` miles.
; We were very busy that first month at Beech Fork, and
_ Worcester went one way and I the other, trying to see all the
j babies and mothers who were calling for our services. I was
P really just a little proud of myself finding trails and doing a
i share of the work instead of just riding around with the other
i nurse on observation. When I was nicely settled at Beech Fork
l Willeford called me and the result—oif to the Barbara Butler
{ Atwood Memorial Center at Flat Creek to relieve for Peggy, who
{ had distant inoculation clinics and would be away three days a
l week for three weeks.
I I got to Flat Creek on the Sunday, congratulating myself on
~ another twelve-mile ride on dear old "Snip" and found a lovely
E house, and a nice little room which I always call mine. Peggy
i drew a sketch of that part of the district where visits were due
l to be paid and rode away leaving me, for the first time, alone, in
  a strange house and new country. Next morning the sketch was
`, not needed. Instead came a knock at the clinic door at 5 a. m.,
i and I was called to a little boy who had been kicked by a mule and
 l was "like to die." I saddled my horse, got my saddle bags and
. went along. Whilst riding I asked where we were going and got
` the answer, "Spring Creek—about two miles and a half." We

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‘ 12 THE QUARTERLY BULLETIN j
' ’W 7WAA-»W4WiW{>-_W_“_W4_—W"`_ vnrrd- vW4——rAA— ‘
rode up Rocky Fork, a place which has rocks so large that it is  
like stepping up stairs. In a beautiful wood, we rode on and on. i
`When-I was beginning to doubt the two miles and a half I asked  
when we would come to the house, and the answer was "j ust over !
yon mountain," making a good six and a half mile trip. Finally  
I got to my patient, bound up his head and left instructions re- E
garding his comfort and treatment. I was hazy about getting  
R back but had I known "Snip" better I should not have worried.
We came back by a very different trail and stopped to speak to  '
everybody—especially as I wasn’t the regular nurse and had to I"
give my name, reason for being there, and “when would the X
nurse get back ?"  
When I got back to Beech Fork three days later Worcester p
had a rush of work, and was out on a delivery. I rode along to  
help her and had my first experience of riding in the dark. Many —
and varied are the sensations and impressions of such a ride and
I think it will always remain in my mind that first fording of a
river, the horse picking his way over rocks, the swirling water
underneath, and the intense dark. Fortunately, "Snip" was a
horse who "went" better in the dark than with a fiashlight. In
the next three weeks the trail between Beech Fork and Flat p
_ Creek became very familiar, and the coming and going made a
delightful change.
My next move was taking a prenatal to the hospital and, as
winter set in early that year, we had a hard-frozen trail to
Hyden. Riding at a walking pace for my patient’s sake, we took
six hours to make Hyden. My patient stood the trip very well .
p and had her baby some two weeks later with no heart complica- ·
I tions as we had feared. That same night Kelly brought a pa- I
tient into the Possum Bend Center at Confluence, from Grassy
Branch, and, from her story, it must have been a remarkable
feat how these mountaineers made the stretcher and carried
Orpha and her baby down the mountains, across the creeks, up
K the very steep steps of the swinging bridge (which I nervously W
  attempt only in a high tide) and got to the center in two hours I
time. The phone rang at Hyden and my orders were to relieve
Kelly on her district as soon as I could get there. On inquiring
3 the way, Green said she was going down to Dry Hill and would
it .

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l »__?, ; Faomrmn Nunsmo smnvigaé iz
¤ —_“‘?—‘_”“ 11}*
  show me the way as there were four fords to cross and Cutshin
i had quicksand and was very "tricky."
1
g I arrived at Confluence and found Kelly very busy with
; Orpha and her baby, and next morning set out armed with a list
T of prenatals and sick calls and instructions to go up Wilder, over
i Shoal Mountain and around by Possum Bend. I looked for a
° trail on top of Shoal Ridge, which I had been told would save me
· two miles, but eventually had to take the long way around, seeing
 .- all my patients and getting back by 4 :30 p. m. When I returned
I I thought I was almost finished for the day, but no—Dr. Kooser
I and Betty and a courier, Betsy Parsons, had all arrived before
Q me and everybody was hustling. I learned that Orpha was very
  much worse and doctor was giving her a transfusion. Can you
f picture that small room 05 the clinic with the patient and the
— "donor," our lamps draped with sterile towels, Kelly "doing
syringes," Marshie "giving" blood and doctor "taking?" I was
"dirty nurse" and, between pumping up the blood pressure and
keeping the saline hot on the kitchen stove, trying to get every-
thing that everybody wanted at once, I began to think I had only
started my day’s work, and such was the case. After supper at
9 :30 p. ni., the doctor arranged I should be on duty with Orpha,
I as Kelly was rather tired, and I was thankful that doctor "took a
night with us," as I had to call him twice. We had a very busy
time all that month at Confluence. Marshie was called every
night for a week and it was routine to look out for a prospective
father with his lantern, saddle a different horse, as we had five,
and send Marshie on her way. After much care and "treat-
‘ ` ments," and many trips on doctor’s part, we finally sent Orpha
A home in a sled—a chair fastened by wire found in the barn to
A make a comfortable seat, stones heated in the oven to keep her
feet warm, and innumerable "kivvers" around her. 4
Since it was Christmas time I stayed there three more days
and helped to unpack barrels of dolls, boxes of toys and clothing
for everybody. The Possum Bend nurses had arranged for dif-
W ferent schools to come in morning and afternoon all that week.
I Before we were out of bed the clinic and porch was the scene of
many expectant children. Programs and games, the gifts they
wanted, and hot cocoa and candy sent every child away happy.

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  I could guess when a boy had a knife. His hand in his pocket
  and a very satisfied look proved my surmise correct.
  Marion, at the Margaret Durbin Harper Center at Bowling-
{ town, had just broken the record for midwifery and, Christmas
I being on the way, my next call was there. Up Wilder and over
` Shoal Mountain was old ground to me, and my way over a new
ford and along the river road to the center was not difficult. Q
Dolls and toys of every conceivable form kept us busy for the L
school parties. Taking large sacks on either side of our horses  
. and filling our pockets with odds and ends for somebody who had
. come in from out of district we rode out morning and afternoon
. till our supplies gave out. Then came Christmas, a lovely peace-
, ful Sunday, and we expected to relax and enjoy the season. But
i things proved otherwise. Marion had a call up Leatherwood to
; a sick case and I had a baby case to visit. After finishing my call
I I continued over Shoal Mountain to have Christmas dinner with
i the nurses at Possum Bend. The horses had a grand day in the
pasture and we supplied them with apples. But the next morn-
. ing was to bring me a real sorrow as "Snip" had injured his leg
and never became well after that. I was at Confluence without a
horse and had to have "Lady Jane" sent by parcel post to enable .
me to reach Hyden that night.
. Again Christmas was in full swing at the hospital, and the
A preparation of a thousand bags of candy seemed tremendous to
me. One of the couriers dressed as Santa Claus distributed par-
g cels containing toys and clothing, and the bags of candy disap-
~ peared. We estimated about five hundred people that day.
¤ Although "Harry" was so very ill I had special instructions from ‘
j her to "see that Jimmie had his white horse," and Douglas "his
red sweater and cap."
. The next week the nurses at the Belle Barrett Hughitt
` Center at Brutus, Eleanor and Lois, both got iniiuenza, and Betty U
I and I were dispatched to relieve the districts and care for the
  nurses. The whole district knew in advance of our coming and  
¥‘; inquiries right and left for their own special nurse enabled me   ‘
H to know the people in a very easy, conversational manner. I  
y noted several landmarks to assist me on my return journey to
  Hyden, but have had no occasion to make use of them yet. A
 

 rnonrimn NURSING snigwicin is
trip through the "Flat Woods," recognized in the Service as a
verydifficult trail, to locate a new cabin where a prenatal had
gone to live, provided another adventure.
As "John" was going out for a week, the Clara Ford Center
on Red Bird River became my next rendezvous, and going up
Panco and over Jack’s Creek was comparatively easy after the
Brutus-Hyden trail. Here fractures seemed to be the order of
E V the day and while John was gone I had a broken arm, a dis-
if located shoulder, and a compound fracture from the hospital, all
to take care of, besides three deliveries. When "John" got back
I don’t know whether my horse or I was the more reluctant to go
and leave the lovely pasture and the beautiful log house.
However, back to the hospital we came and taking a differ-
ent trail I found myself at Bull Creek clinic where a crowd of
people were gathered for a "speaking." I stopped to help Wally,
who was busy weighing babies and giving advice to mothers and,
also, fathers. When we finally rode home, over the ridge, we
decided that it was a very profitable day. One incident I recall
particularly about this same Bull Creek clinic. I was in the
hospital and Wally was called on a delivery. It being Thursday
_ morning and her Bull Creek Clinic day, she was somewhat dis-
mayed, and I offered to relieve for her. As I had never been over
the ridge, Mac very kindly offered me "Scotty," her beautiful
collie, and he certainly was a great help. Along a certain trail
on top of the mountain and down Thousandsticks to the little
whitewashed clinic, with its fence of palings all around, he led
me and my horse. There I had an attendance of fifty mothers
and babies. "Scotty" escorted me back safely and so I always
say: "Our dogs are much more useful and companionable than
— one would believe."
Up to Beech Fork I was now called and I remember vividly
my stay there. Worcester had only one case due and, "as you
are here for only two nights it isn’t likely that anything will
happen," said she. She had no sooner left than a sick call came
5 · from the head of the Middle Fork, and getting back about 5 p. m.
  ‘ I settled down for a quiet night. A call up Bad Creek kept me
  out till 2:30 a. m., and hoping to get some sleep I quickly got into
bed. About twenty minutes after I imagined myself dreaming
that another prospective father was calling, but on looking out

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  the window my dream came true, for there sat another caller on
it a white mule. "Hurry, nurse, she’s bad off," was about all the
  conversation we had and I "cotched" the baby at 5 :30 a. m. I got
  back to the center to find the clinic full of patients. By mid-day
ig I had finished seeing all the patients and lay down for a couple of _
} hours’ rest. Another call came from down th