| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Valence, to her relatives, regarding order to remove Pinet to the 201 on Wednesday evening; Mme. Soureillat's refusal to do so on such a cold night in the motor ambulance; news that all the patients were to be transferred next morning, with Pinet and Cortill on stretchers in the horse ambulance; the patients were not pleased; Pinet so upset that he had vomited 'most foetid material'; he has lost all power on one side; Mme. Soureillat accompanied the patients and Amelia began to clean the salle de pansement; Robinet remained for his massage; Mme. Soureillat returned suffering from 'coeur gros' after her treatment at the 201; they are to remain at the disposal of officers, but nothing more; the mattresses have been rolled up and all the linen sent to the lingerie; Mme. Soureillat was not thanked for all her work, and the news she brought was that Amelia would shortly no longer be needed; the patients are angry 'but "c'est militaire" explains everything and from my own observation of things, I am not at all surprised that the men who have lived under such a system during these past years are embittered and mutinous when they enter civil life again'; admission of an officer who became feverish at the station; it is gastro-enteric trouble, and requires a visit to the 201's pharmacy; proposed visit to the Hôpital Général to see Lemoigne who is dying from meningitis after his operation; his wrist had become tuberculous; 'a gentle, pure victim of the war'; Pinet is declining and it is as well that he is nearer the doctor at the 201; Amelia has been at the dentist to have a filling renewed; visit to Mme. Delattre who has offered her help to securing Amelia's future now that the patients have been taken from the annexe; they are all to receive certificates of service to take with them; there are lots of applicants for the remaining posts; no decision can be made for a month, anyway, as the committee are still debating the retention of military service; Valence is no longer a centre of réforme and the patients will be sent to Lyon or Grenoble; Dr. Jacquin has already gone to Grenoble; the Hôpital Général might become entirely civilian shortly, in which case its present staff will be adequate; the 201 is the last to close and has received officers from the Valentin; the annexe currently has 5 officers; everywhere else in the annexe looks like a furniture store, and rumour has it that the evangelical committee wants its building back in April; the Salle Joffre will probably send its patients down to the Salle Elisabeth, and the 201 may also close suddenly; departure of Michel, the infirmier, who has been appreciative of Amelia's sincerity and calm; she gave him a woolly scarf. He was a good worker and deserved a decoration, though he was not clean. [Letter breaks off without signature] |