Sister Blandina’s Hospital
Sister Blandina instituted her own regimen for patients who were well enough to be mobile. She ordered wood by the cord and set up a chopping yard next to the hospital. She assigned men to chop wood for five minutes a turn, to develop their stamina in view of their soon departure from the hospital. The male patients understood her goal of helping them regain their strength, all except one. An Irishman from the North of Ireland stood up in the convalescent ward to give a speech.
“Men, when that little boss comes in again and tells any of us to go to the wood pile to chop wood flatly say, ‘No, I am a patient. You receive plenty of money, or else you would not go on the plains and grading camps to hunt for the sick!’”
As soon as she heard about it, Sister Blandina moved immediately to quell the mutiny. She took the bull by the horns: “I understand that someone here has advised the men not to chop wood when I ask them to do so?”
The culprit stood up, “I am the man who told the men not to chop wood, and that you are well paid for what you do, or else you would not go hunting for the sick.”
She responded: “Suppose you put this question to every man in this ward, beginning with yourself, ‘How much have you paid since you were received into the hospital?’”
The big man replied, “I did not pay anything—you did not ask me to.”
“No, sir, you were too ill when we found you on the Santa Fe Trail. You may put the same question to any patient in the hospital.” She then explained that going to the wood pile for five minutes was to help the patients regain their strength, prepare them for returning to work.
“I’ll be hanged, Sister! I thought you were making money on us. I am a brute and could not understand why not a man here agreed with me. I will take my bundle and start on the road.”
Having made herself clear, she said, “Good-bye, and God speed you.”
This blog is an excerpt from Discovery Tour Guide Allen Steele, from his book SANTA FE 1880, “Chronicles From the Year of the Railroad”.