March 10.—We have just received a box full of good things, from the Hebrew Military Aid Society in Mobile; preserves, sardines, wines, oysters, spices, and also twenty-four pairs of socks; we also received five hundred dollars, sent by Daniel Wheeler, Esq., from the Richmond fund in Mobile, all of which is most acceptable.
1 received a letter a few days ago from Mr. Ellman, president of the Hebrew Military Aid Society, with a list of the articles in the box, informing me of its having been sent. I had told some of the patients what they might expect, and they have been anxiously looking for the arrival of the box. I have an invitation to a grand ball, to be given in honor of General Johnston, our commander-in-chief; of course I have no idea of accepting.
Mrs.W. and I live like Sisters of Charity; we get up in the morning about 4 o’clock, and breakfast by candle-light, which meal consists of real coffee without milk, but sugar, hash, and bread; we eat it in our room. Unless we get up early, we find it impossible to get through with our duties. Mrs. W. prepares toddies and egg-nogs; I see that the delicacies for the sick are properly prepared. After the duties of the day are over, we then write letters for the men, telling their relations they are here, or informing them of their decease; other times mending some little articles for them. Mrs. W. is up many a night till 12 o’clock, working for her “dear boys,” as she calls them.
We have a very nice set of men as cooks, who will not let us do any thing for ourselves, if they can help it. They make our fires, and bring us wood and water; in fact, we want for nothing they can procure for us. In the language of Mrs. W., I say, “God bless them all.” Our head cook is a young man about nineteen, by the name of Gordon Halford; he was very sick when he first came here; we paid him some little attention, and he is so grateful that he seems to think he can never repay us; he is a perfect treasure. We have another one, who is now quite sick, whose name is Allen; he is one of John Morgan’s squadron, and the best of men. I can scarcely keep from laughing when I see him standing by the stove, turning batter-cakes; he is so tall. There is also a Mr. Drew, who came here sick; these men are serving their country as effectually as if they were in the field, and much better, for they could not stand field service; they get many a sneer for being here, but people who do what they feel to be their duty need not mind that.
The great trouble about hospitals is the sameness of the diet; in the morning we have batter-cakes made of the mush left from the previous meal, rice, and stale bread, (I do not mean what the men leave, as nothing is used which has been in the wards,) hash made out of the soup-meat, toast, mush, milk, tea, coffee, and beefsteak. Our batter-cakes never have eggs in them; they have a little flour and soda, and are very nice. For dinner, we have and chicken soup, potatoes, rice, dried fruit, and for dessert a luxurious baked pudding, made of the same materials as the battercakes, with molasses for sweetening, with the addition of spices. For each meal we have what is called special diet, for the worst cases sometimes, as is specially ordered by the surgeons, and others whatever we can get the patient to eat; it generally consists of light diet, such as chicken and beef-tea, arrow-root, sago, boiled milk thickened with flour, milk, tea, and toast. We get a good deal of milk and eggs now. For supper we have dried fruit, toast, tea, and coffee.
Our kitchen is a nice one; it has a distributing room next to it. Our quartermaster, Captain Gribble, is very kind in supplying us with as many dishes as we want.
There is a large kitchen and convalescent dining-room down-stairs, and an officer’s table, in a room by itself. The diet of the latter is the same as that of privates; the diet is far from being what it ought to be, but it is the best that can be had. We have trouble in keeping tableware, no matter how closely it is watched; soldiers will carry it off; they seem to think that government property is theirs, and they have a right to take it whenever they please. We lose dozens of spoons, cups, plates, knives, and forks in this way. On the tables for the convalescents we have table covers, although I prefer a wellscoured bare table; but the surgeons wish to make the hospital as much like home as possible.
There is one department in which I think there could be a great improvement—the laundry. When the men come in, their clothes are taken off and clean ones put on; their dirty ones are put in their haversacks, just as they are when taken off. When the men leave to go to another hospital, their soiled ones are put on again. I told Dr. Hunter I did not think it was right; he replied, it could not be avoided, as hundreds are coming and going daily. The fact is, it is almost impossible to get people to do washing.
