The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Harriet Lane Home for Invalid ChildrenSunday afternoon
Oct. 7, 1917Dear Miss Turner:-
This is a glorious Sunday, when I am enprisoned for 24 hrs. in Harriet Lane. It has been visiting day, and all the mothers have been here from two to four oclock, and now have gone leaving the whole place in tears. There is nothing to do just now in the hospital, and I have a lovely roof abode to come to and see the sunset, so I am sitting out here having a little out doors. The only thing about being here is that every other day we are on, or one of us is, for 24 hrs. on a stretch, and when such a beautiful Sunday comes along it doesn't please me very much to be tied in the house. But I have counted the days to Thanksgiving, when it is my day off, just by luck, and we are planning a nice, nice walk to the country for our Thanksgiving dinner.
Helen told me about seeing you at college, and the new place on the west side of the road looking toward the sunset. I love it in those fields, it must be beautiful now on the hills with the leaves turning. Helen brought Imogene (?) to see me one day, and I hope I can know her better. It is so nice having them here. I tried to get Helen to tell me every simple thing she did at college, because I wanted to be there with her most awfully. I was wondering if you went to the mountains at all this fall. Some day wouldn't it be fun to repeat the good time at Randolph?
Do you know what Gertrude is doing now? Since August she has been doing food conservation work for Hoover in Buffalo. She has a little model kitchen, with several helpers. They are putting to good use the bits that generally go to waste, soft fruit and all sorts of things one degree above garbage. I think it is very interesting and one of the good things of the war - how people are being taught to use well what they have. I think Gertrude will do splendidly in that kind of publicity work.
Then have you seen Maddie lately? I guess you have - in the early summer. I think she is a very interesting person so are her letters. Did she tell you all the things she has gone thro? I think every nurse worth anything goes thro the same press in becoming part of a piece of machinery, and yet being a human part. Maddie took me around to see her "women." I wonder what she will do after she finishes. I think she has a big problem in fitting her life with the practical world. You know a little while ago she decided to leave, thinking she had enough of the mechanics of nursing, but now I think she will finish.
Now I want to tell you about my work. It isn't all a golden cloud by any means, especially as our resident is a man who said "I cant think of anything in petticoats is a doctor." But the experience is great and I love the children. I have the colored ward now, 20 of them, all ages up to 12 years. Every day I make mistakes and get called down, till I wonder if they will dismiss me. The other day I missed a fine congenital heart and every minute there are unheard of things you are expected to be watching for, or things get by. I have some wonderful cases just now, an epidemic meningitis, a tubercular meningitis, a sarcoma of the kidney in a little child three years old who is apparently well save for a big lump. Then there is a funny little creature with stricture of the oesophagus, who has to be dilated every 2 weeks. Right after dilating, she can eat solid food, then in a week or so it begins to close and she starts vomiting. I love the children, we have a regular circus with several clever little performing animals. It is a very happy place on our colored
worward. The little girl with stricture has the "dry groins" [?] most oall the time day or night. We had one little fellow a year old with nephritis, edema and high blood pressure. But he finally came round. I wish you could come down some time, it would be fun to show you the interesting cases. Now it is getting too dark to see, two beautiful stars are out, and it is past six when supper starts. I was just thinking how sad it is that the people we love and the places we love are often so far away from us, and no amount of thinking is quite the same as seeing.This afternoon such a funny thing happened. A colored mother had been up to see her child, and when she came down, she said good bye and gave me $.25 saying to buy myself some flowers, to thank me for telling her how her child was every day. I wasn't going to take the quarter, because I knew she didn't have money, but she seemed so disappointed that I kept it. I'm going to get some kind of a memorial to remember her by. I like the mothers so much.
Father has a Ford. We just love it, and our family is having so many good times in it this fall. It's nice for a family, you can all go and have such fine sociable times. We haven't any cook this year, with three girls at home, and the Ford helps make up for that.
Helen says that college seems just the same lovely place as ever. How is Dr. Clapp and will you give her my love? Thank you for a letter you wrote me last spring; it wasn't that I didn't care, that I haven't written sooner. Please write to me some day.
With love to you from Margaret.
Helen is here and sends her love, also a Miss Hearst ? 1906.