HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1973-06-14, Page 15The Listowei Bomar, The WIn civalic.. Imes
*rest orsfederateby Wenger :
a
'RS ANN'
CAS ib, t in r
S �'�`a her harrtia ussels��i alto d'e' t ::
� s ended d � by
Victorian Order`0.1iirse for the r a. R•
rs. Sheila Lancaster, the
(Staff Photo)
AltboUgh, the . "Perth.
Bram sof Victorian r
Nom: iff xiot One Of ihe
groups in Canada,, ttfdoes,go
quite: n .way The VQN went 1
• Stratford in iii►,; It WAS a nom"
nurse . branch with one ., n
serving the'cammmnity,
Expanslon took pace ' as the
needs of the various communit
arose: ,.: it Il was one of
the tommunities, of St, Mar)!
Sebringvilie, 'Shakespeare
Tavistock came. under the VON%
service. By 1971, due to'the intro--
duction of the Home 'Care , 'o -
.gram, the Stratford VONAranch
was asked d' ,to.1 extenits b-.
daries to include Seaforth Chit*,
ton and;the Townships of Mc4
l0P, iiuliet, Tu'ckersnlith, fn
Huron County»
July of .lam bright two
changes for the VON. The onee
oneni buve .bnow
three full-time nurses and a , :the ,
same tine,• thea.all-incIpt4V.e
name.. Perth -Heron Branch, +c
VON became sof cial.
As.t well °as the two f ull i e
nuisea:in Stratford and one
sub officein; ton, thereares
part-time nurses employ �.
toWej, l p ;afop, , n f
Godciricli "now, hiave iort4•l
JON liiring;in the.eolUMUnitY and
peeving the .surrounding area,
Thus they are now ' reaching` i
far corners of the two counties.
One other new exciting de-
t elopment ire 1973 which involves
the VON right Across Canada, is.
the introduction:of a new symbol:
EtThe VON in the tome"*,
Today the Perthron branch
s
serves
H r
e1,954r
squa a miles. In 1972 .
'the branch made ,2,945 visits to
More than .515 patients. While
,nursing care in ' the • patient's
home is the core of the VON sere -
!ice, they are involved in many
Other activities. Itprovides the
nursing service for the Home
Care Program in both Pert)} tan'd.
Huron. Assessments of thecn ds
Of patients for the Canadian
er Society y are>dbrie,afd the'
recent activity undertakeni the,
VON in the area is the parame -'
al examinations for insurance
ompanies,
For the future, MaragretWood,,
the nurse in charge state:: "f.
.would like, to see more done: for
the elderly." Inthe area of Perth
Huron there are numerouse
in the 70's and up trying to wain -
lain themselves,. at home. Many
'are lonely, unable to get out.'1"he
VON nurse is .often'one of the 'few
leo iethey see during a whole
week, They i ;help In simplethings, suCh
little err , r e
Ming in :ho e,'or .'some:- . .
one to"Mow:are
You?" We must learn .to give ,of
our time,to, 'these olderfolk,"
Financially, the VON is :su
Ported in various ways, such as :,
ees .paid directly by the
patient or through a° health.
schemne, , such as Blue' Cross,
which Dover nitrsi s vice..
Service fees '.are also paid
through. ,the' Home Care Pro-.
gram, the Homemakers and
Nurses' Services Act and the Deh
Paranent7 of° Veterans Affairs, -
rg , rants eo e' from. various
1 • as 'the-
ire rovided
h ` ,:Community
.. gid.
Care' Vref ' ` due to the
person's Inability to pay, Either
we striv h to, obtain -assistance for
Poli through one of the
t
s !ve. P rain a or the ,..nurse
:works" oil with thefamily, a fee
per visit Visitlivbielithey can ,afford to
pay. Inll9'2=only 17 per cent of the
total revenue. of the Perth -Huron.
branch was . received, through
nursing -Mees paid by the patient;
ey 0
thew tiny on, foot.., throu ,1
'----bush with' a. mule train f `
VO'4 nurses did just at, howl
ever, when four of thetrt we a dis-
patched by the newly:: med
Victorian Order of Nurses .f for
Canada to help cope with wide-
spread disease aid injuries
among the miners who swarmed
to the Yukon gold fields in 1898.
Because they were attached to
a ' Canadian military expedition
the nurses took an all -Canadian
route through northern British
Columbia (most of the miners
reaiehed the Klondike through
American territory in Alaska).
They were 14 days on the trail,
averaging 11 miles a day. One
other woman accompanied the
party, Miss Faith Fenton, a re-
porter for the Toronto Globe.
Miss Georgea Powell, who
headed the team of nurses,
described her trip in graphic
terms: `From . mountain to
swamp to bog we went, bogs into
Whose. cold, damp, mossy depths
we would sink to our knees, and
under which the ice still remains;
swamps wh, re we trampled
down bushes and shrubs to make
footing for ourseles, and where
the. mules stuck many times,
often as many as 20 down all at
once, sometimes having to be un-
packed to be taken out, our bag-
gage dumped in the mud, and
where the mosquitoes held high
revelry."
Word of the nurses' journey
spread quickly and many, sick
and injured miners were brought
considerable distances to places
where it was known the party
would camp. -
-As if the land journey were not
bad enough, the nursing team be-
came separated in a boatwreck
on one of the rivers. Miss Powell
was taken ahead to' Dawson
where she at one took charge of
the Good SaMaritan Hospital, as
"matron, teacher, nurse and
maid of all work".
Typhoid was at its height. The
patients had in . many cases
walked as far as 12 miles from
their diggings in the broiling sun
"with , their temperatures rang-
ing from 101 to 104 degrees, their
strength often failing before
reaching hospital".
'Miss Powell found that sick-
ness wasn't the only problem .
Filth and 'vermin were every-
where and' it cost four dollars to
have a blanket washed.
When the three other nurses
artived they found Miss Powell
herself down with typhoid in her
little tent beside the hospital. Her
bed was a postal sack filled with
shavings, laid on birds.
Lady Aberdeen, wife of the
then Govelrur General Of Canada
and the Victorian Order's first
THE FOUR VON nurses who went to' the Klondike .in 1898 were, left to right, ,Margaret
•
Payson, Rachel Hanna, Georgea Powell and Amy Scott. Seated at right is Faith Fentonk a
reporter for The' Toronto Globe and the only Other woman on the trip.
a
SEVENtY.F EvemRS AGO the Victorian Order Norse ware the uniform on the left. .
By 1925 she was attired as the model in the centre and by 1940 het• ""niform was stream.
fined to what was considered as veiny chic.^
sr
T sf ;sty lljil hell an .in oartttai;
�j.M
I; i t wa {w.lien tie' ,uris .heft for'
? the Klondike. Like the gold rush
itself, their service in the Klon-
dike was short lived. The Order's
Board of Governors decided to
wind up the operation in 1899.
In ,summing it up, Lady Aber-
deen '`wrote of the four nurses:
"One of them had to leave owing
to a `;serious operation; one has
been appointed superintendent of
a =hospital at Dawson. with the
consent of The Victorian Order;
one has taken a position at, the
f
has
allows her
another post where Mier }s( gees
•
will be more rec juiced in ,view of
the great diminution ofthe popu-
lation of Dawson".
Miss Powell later retired 'and
was paid $250 -in lieu of ;travelling
expenses, as she decided. to re-,
main in Dawson City. The VON's
"Klondike Expedition" was :over,
but 5 years of nursing service
was just beginning,
LISTOWEL
VON—Mrs. Mrs..Susan. James,' Reg. N.. o istd
shown above in VON modern;dress, but carrying a L
1918 vintage, services, thearea8. of Listowel, Milverto
Palmerston.TM}y,
'� n�bfl�gyni"kcfiT?
44,
IN THE EARLY DAYS the nurses made their rounds on
foot, for the most part, and bicycles were considered a great
improvement.
VON NURSES were among the first women in Canada to
drive cars regularly on their daily rounds. Then, as ,now,
they could always count on helpers in time of trouble.
Walking suits, hobnailed boots,
bloomers designed for Yukon
Few women have ever been
able to say that their clothes were
aligned at Government House in
Ottawa. But it happened to four
members of the Victorian Order
of Nurses for Canada, this year
marking its 75th anniversary.
The "designer" was Lady
Aberdeen, wife of the then
Governor General of Canada and
first president of the VON. The
nurses were to go to the Klondike
gold fields to help care for the
hundreds of sick and injured
miners who had followed "The
Trail of '98".
It Was a rough trip through
northern ,British Columbia and
mostly on foot, through muskeg
where the nurses often sank up to
their knees. They wore hobnailed
boots, and as travelling gear,
Lady Aberdeen had designed
walking suits of brown duck with
short skirts, bloomers and gait-
ers "in the style of a natty bicycle
suit". ,
A lengthy report in The Toronto
Globe of April 19, 1898, included
descriptions of other clothing for
the well-dressed nurse: "On an-
other figure their waterproof
suits and tarpaulin hats were
shown, and there was also on a
third figure their winter suit of
heavy blue blanket, with a big
hood to match, lined with quilted
silk. The sleeping bags... are
made of canvas lined with flannel
and interlined with eiderdown. In
shape they are not unlike a big
old-fashioned bolster case, only
that they button halfway down
the length. With each bag is a
hood of the same materials and
this is fastened across the face so
that only the eyes and mouth will
be left uncovered."
In the more populated parts of
Canada where branches had been
established, VON nurses lived to-
gether in homes established by
the Order, and made their rounds
on foot. They wore a blue uniform
of heavy gingham and when
visiting a patient added starched
white cuffs and aprons which
they carried with them. In the
homes themselves they wore an
alpaca blue uniform. When going
out at night to visit patients they
prepared themselves for any
emergency by carrying a police-
man's whistle on a ribbon about
their necks.
When bicycles became readily
available many nurses used them
to speed up their calls on
patients, and later on VON nurses
were among the first women in
Canada to drive cars regularly on
their daily rounds.