Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, August 8, 1915, Page 18

Tiie OMAHA SUNDAY -BEE MAGAZINE PA@_] FowHerWarN of the Court Photographer Could Not Conceal. Why tHCzarina’s Mind Has Been Restorc;d concentration and exaggerated terrors, and made her a normal human belng. ‘The Czarina has gone into war nursing & most serlous and efficlent manner. has established a hospital of her own, known as “the Court Hospital,” at Tsars- ere By A. K. Vandeventer, Ph.D., The Distinguished Amerigan Psychologist. LTHOUGH the occurrence must seem strange to & lay mind, there is nothing surprising to the allenist in the statement that the Czarina of Rus- sla has recovered from her mental disease under the influence of her war occupa- tions, That which unbalances the minds . of sane people may in some cases restore the equilibrium of the mentally unbal- anced, From the accounts we have received of the Czarina’s former condition we must believe that she was suffering from a mild. form of melancholia. A sensitive and tional young woman at the time of her entry into the Russian court, her whole nature was repeatedly shocked by the ter- rorist attempts on the life of her husband, herself and their family, by the intrigues constantly pursued in court circles, and by the tly strange and erratic out- bursts of Russian character. The bur den of maternity increased the straln on her physical organism, and the best possible experience in their hospital They took examinations like other war nurses and showed themselves thoroughly qualified for their work. It may be re- marked that they have not had the same amount of study as regular trained nurses, butl:mm hmwt&n‘fitmm found absolutely necessary countries to qualify war nurses after less than the former period of training. The great diffi- culty of the doctors n to protect :l:-u-:ldhu from nurses with no training The Czarina has given an amount of hard labor to this hospital which she prob- ably never dreamed of, and which no Queen in Europe can equal. She works at the hospital with her daughters from & m. to 2 p.m every day, and often uch later. She invariably returns in the evening, and sometimes, when she has a dangerous). patient, she stays there all night. The Court ‘Hospital accommodates two hundred soldiers and thirty officers. There is & perfectly equipped operating theatre, a commodious surgical dress! ward, and an upto-date laboratory for X-ray work and research € Puoros - wv BRrown: Tres. Y The and Her Daughters Nursing Wounded Czarina _oldiers m the Court Hospital, at Tsarskoe Selo, an Occupation Which Has Restored Her Mind to a Normal Condition. Her Self-Sacrificing Ordeal Amid ‘The Czarina Assisting a Surgeon to Operate on a Soldier in Her Own Hospital. . in Her Imperial State Cost ume, Showing the Sad, Worried Expression Which knowledge that the Czar and the Russian nation were disappointed at her long fail- ure to produce a male heir to the throne <did not lessen this strain. The court could do nothing to protect her agalnst these troubles except to sur- round her with every possible luxury and keep her in perfect idleness. Agalinst secret and Mmaginary terrors it gave her less than no protection. Under these con- ditions she must have developed a habit of morbid selfdntrospection, which greatly increased the tendency to melancholia, Then came the great war, in which the life of almost everyone around her was stake. The habit of doing serious wo! which she then acquired, and the contact with wounded soldiers excited in her the normal reactions which all human beings whould experience in their relations with one another. We must suppose that there WAaS no gross or serious lesion in her brain. The sudden resumption of normal contact with her fellow beings, of which she had long been deprived, but under ciroum- stances very exciting and stimulating, re- stored to her deranged mental apparatus the “tone” without which it could not function properly, The Omarina and her beautiful daughters wear the regular nurses' uniform, which is entirely of white and covers the hair completely, There 18 a red cross on the left arm. Many men familiar with fash- fous, declare that it is the most winning, picturesque and becoming costume a wo- man can wear. It resembles a nun's dress somewhat, but is sclentifically adapted to 3: requirements of the nursing profes- n. The Csarina and her daughters take their orders from the director of the hos- pital and the other doctors, just as if they were ordinary nurses. They understood that it would cause great harm and em- tion, and so they move about among the others without any distinction euch as would have to be paid to them in the out- side world. ‘The ordinary soldier is not told at first that his nurse is the Czarina. She takes hold of him in a businesslike maanner, hands the surgeon his instruments, ban- dages the patient's wounds, atteénds to all his wants and gives im his diet. ‘When she has performed all her duties «ha will often sit down by the bedside, the Woe and Misery of the Army Hos- The Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, the Two Pretty Older hters of the Czarina, Who Are Assisting Her in Her Nurs- Da ing Duties. take the soldier's hand and chat with him it he is well enough to listen. By the time he has learned that she is the Czarina he has become too accustomed to her minis- trations to feel embarrassed. The two pretty young daughters of the Czarina behave in the same professional yot friendly way. Many a poor fellow, with his spirit nearly crushed out of him by months of privation and dreadful perils, followed by terrible wounds, has been cheered up and brought to life again by the sympathetic smiles and gentle hands of these two charming young women. The Czarina had no sooner begun to do this practical work among the wounded than a great change was noted in her man- ner and appearance. She lost the worried, harassed, melancholy air she had worn for many years. She even lost the Intense nervousness she had exhibited at the slightest noise, such as the creaking of a board or the turning of a door handle. She acquired a cheerful though grave manner, thoroughly self-controlled and self-confl- dent. During an interval between her duties at the hospital the Czarina confessed to the director that she had experienced a complete mental and physical change since she had been there. Her Majesty’s re- marks on this subject have been conveyed to your correspondent, for she wishes everybody to know how pleased she is with her experience in the hospital. “I have forgotten all my worri ments since I have Czarina, “It is fmpo self in the presence all these poor fel- lows, who are enduring such real troubles when I used to make myself miserable over imaginary ones. My only interest in life is to see my patients get better. It is strange that the sight of so much suffer ing does not make one despondent, but the fact that ome can work for them makes one hopeful and even cheerful. If I were only a visitor, making them a visit of syn- P L‘y. the sight would make me miser- able. That often happened to me in other days when 1 made visits to hospitals, but now that I know how to do something for them the feeling is quite different. “The patience and cheerfulness with which most of them bear their sufferings re & lesson to me. Many of them are crippled for life, and yet they are thankful to be alive. We who have all the material things we can desire and yet are not happy, a great deal to learn from thy poor, and this is the best opportunity 1 have ever had to learn.” When the patients are convalescent they are sent to recuperate in Finland, where. pitals Saves Russia’s Em- press from Hopeless In- sanity amid beautiful surroundings, they regain strength, and in most cases are ready to return to fight the enemy. Tsarskoe Selo is not suitable for the last stage of treat- ment, for this little town, besides Her Majesty’s hospital, has numerous private institutions in which several thousand wounded are always being cared for. The hospital which has thus been equipped is in a wing of the Czar's Palace, In rooms which still retain the royal fur- niture are white bedsteads with the wounded lying in them. HEvery day a “sanitary” train from different parts of the theatre of War brings many carriages full of wounded directly to Tsarskoe Selo. Count Schulenburg, who was formerly the principal court official, is the chief of the sanitary train, which is named “The Tsare- vitch Train,” after the Crown Prince Alexis. The train possesses an operating theatre for urgent cases and almost every hospital appliance in miniature. Especial care is taken of the seriously wounded, beds are arranged as stretchers, and one end of the carriage can be entirely opened. Thanks to this the wounded are thus easily moved, avolding all difficulties which may oceur in turning the bed through a doorway. Those carriages which do not possess this ingenious device are used for patients who are only slightly wounded; but here, again, one of the doctors who belongs to the staff of the train has invented & stretcher which avoids much of the com- mon discomforts of being carried in this way. They are longitudinally and hori- zontally flexible, and consequently they pass through any doorway with a semi- circular movement, and ail the time the position of the patient is comfortable, Every carriage has electric bells and tele phones. The train goes as near as pos. sible to the firing line, and motor-cars or horse vehicles are sent to advanced posis tions to fetch in the wounded. The train arrives in Tsarskoe Selo at the Czar's pri- vate station, which is not open to the pub- le. The Czarina very often meets the train in person. The chief of the train gives a full account of his wounded, and they are directed to different hospitals. Every wounded man is ticketed with the name of the hospital to which he is dis- patched. After the arrival of the wounded in hosy pital all linen is changed, they are bathed and placed in comfortable beds, and among them all, like guardian angels, the Tsarina and her daughters give them every help and their sympathy. Those hundreds of wounded will go to different villages and towns, to remote parts of the vast land of Russia, carrying with them the memories of the good Tsarina, who has shown to all a mother's love for her children, while she on her part must be no iess grateful to them for having rescued her from aa unfortunate mental condition.