Blackwell Family Elizabeth Blackwell Printed Matter (U.S. Sanitary Commission Report, Oct. 12, 1861)[?] and more [?] [?] boxes [?] equally wit[?] [?] We now return the gratitude not [?] [?] of the army itself, of sick and wo[?] [?] men, of cold shivering backs warmed [?] [?] to the generous souls who have supplied, and are [?] [?ally] recruiting our stores, with the work of their hands and [th?] beating of their hearts. The liberal donors of money in the city of New York to the treasury of the Woman's Central deserve special thanks also. Their prompt support enabled the organization to start at once into vigorous existence, and the continuance of their favor is essential to its future success. It is proper to add that professional gentlemen--whose time [?] [?] towns and [?] ism, the [tendern?] garments, done up [?] all the offerings of [?] made better [citizen?] by bending over the [?] for, and [?] monthly in each month, [s?all] report report in full the results of the The Committee on Correspondence, forwarding, [sto??] shall have for their duties, first, the custody, care, and storage then, the packing and forwarding of the goods; and, finally, all the correspondence with the "Woman's Central Association of Relief," either for instructions, counsel, sympathy, or business. They shall send a monthly letter, and, if possible, a monthly package, to the Woman's Central. VI. The best methods of packing and directing are all found 4 put out we able to attend, and President's advice, largest possible stock of Committee, on the plan of work for that work of the lastSANITARY COMMISSION. No. 32. REPORT CONCERNING THE Woman's Central Association of Relief AT NEW YORK, TO THE U. S. SANITARY COMMISSION AT WASHINGTON. OCT. 12, 1851. NEW YORK: WM. C. BRYANT & CO., PRINTERS, 41 NASSAU ST., COR. [LI?] 1861.PREFACE. To THE SANITARY COMMISSION OF THE U. S. GOVERNMENT: Gentlemen,—The efficient aid rendered our Commission by the Woman's Central Association of Relief at New York, has induced me to prepare a report on the origin, organization, and working of that Society, for permanent record among the papers of the Commission. Having been an original member of that Association, I am able to give facts which would be soon lost sight of if not now recorded. I am not without hope, also, that the circulation of this report will be serviceable to the Woman's Central Association, and, through them, to the Sanitary Commission. I have accordingly ordered the printing of it for that purpose. Respectfully yours, HENRY W. BELLOWS, Prest. New York, Oct. 12, 1861.THE ORIGIN, ORGANIZATION, AND WORKING OF THE WOMAN'S CENTRAL ASSOCIATION OF RELIEF. The wants of the Army awakened the attention and solicitude of the women of the country from the very earliest moment that our new War of Independence broke out. The month of April, 1861, was distinguished not more by the universal springing of the grass, than by the uprising of the women of the land. New York specially distinguished herself by the earnestness with which her mothers, wives, and daughters sprang to the succor of the husbands, brothers, and sons of the nation, who were mustering for the battle-field, and were soon to be in imminent peril of their lives. The churches, the schools, the parlors, the bedchambers, were alive with the patriotic industry of those whose fingers could not rest while a stitch could be set, a bandage torn, for the relief of the brave soldiers, girding themselves for the fight. Our noblest surgeons and physicians were lecturing in parlors and vestries on the best methods of making lint and bandages, or cutting hospital garments. Little circles and associations, with patriotic intent, of every name, were multiplying, like rings in the water, over the face of the whole country; they were all in need of information, direction, and guidance. At a meeting of fifty or sixty ladies, very informally called6 at the New York Infirmary for Women, on April 25th, 1861, the providential suggestion of attempting to organize the whole benevolence of the women of the country into a general and central association, was ripened into a plan, and took shape in the following appeal, which, at the instance of the following Committee -- MRS. DUDLEY FIELD, MRS. HENRY BAYLIS, MRS. CYRUS W. FIELD, Miss E. BLACKWELL, M. D., Dr. HARRIS, Dr. BELLOWS, Ch'n., was procured to be signed by the ladies whose names are appended. It was published in all the principal New York papers of Monday, April 29th, 1861. To the Women of New York, and especially to those already engaged in preparing against the time of wounds and sickness in the Army. The importance of systematizing and concentrating the spontaneous and earnest efforts now making by the women of New York, for the supply of extra medical aid to our army through its present campaign, must be obvious to all reflecting persons. Numerous societies, working without concert, organization, or head, without any direct understanding with the official authorities, without any positive instructions as to the immediate or future wants of the army, are liable to waste their enthusiasm in disproportionate efforts, to overlook some claims and overdo others, while they give unnecessary trouble in official quarters, by the variety and irregularity of their proffers of help or their inquiries for guidance. As no existing organization has a right to claim precedence over any other, or could properly assume to lead in this noble cause, where all desire to be first, it is proposed by the undersigned, members of various circles now actively engaged in this work, that the women of New York should meet in the Cooper Institute, on Monday next, at 11 o'clock A. M., to confer together, and to appoint a General Committee, with power to organize the benevolent purposes of all into a common movement. To make the meeting practical and effective, it seems proper here to set... briefly the objects that should be kept in view. The form which... benevolence has already taken, and is likely to take, in the 7 present crisis, is, first, the contribution of labor, skill, and money in the preparation of lint, bandages, and other stores, in aid of the wants of the Medical Staff; second, the offer of personal service as nurses. In regard to the first, it is important to obtain and disseminate exact official information as to the nature and variety of the wants of the Army; to give proper direction and proportion to the labor expended, so as to avoid superfluity in some things and dificiency in others; and to this end, to come to a careful and thorough understanding with the official head of the Medical Staff, through a committee having this department in hand. To this committee should be assigned the duty of conferring with other associations in other parts of the country, and especially, through the press, to keep the women of the loyal States everywhere informed how their efforts may be most wisely and economically employed, and their contributions of all kinds most directly concentrated at New York, and put at the service of the Medical Staff. A central depot would, of course, be the first thing to be desired. In regard to the second form of benevolence -- the offer of personal service as nurses -- it is felt that the public mind needs much enlightenment, and the overflowing zeal and sympathy of the women of the nation, a careful channel, not only to prevent waste of time and effort, but to save embarrassment to the official staff, and to secure real efficiency in the service. Should our unhappy war be continued, the Army is certain to want the services of extra nurses, not merely on account of the casualties of the field, but of the camp diseases originating in the exposure of the soldiery to a strange climate and to unaccustomed hardships. The result of all the experience of the Crimean war has been to prove the total uselessness of any but picked and skilled women in this department of duty. The ardor and zeal of all other women should therefore be concentrated upon finding, preparing, and sending, bands of women, of suitable age, constitution, training, and temperament, to the Army at such points and at such times as they are asked for by the Medical Staff. A central organization is wanted, therefore, to which all those desiring to go as nurses may be referred, where a committee of examiners, partly medical and partly otherwise, may at once decide upon the fitness of the candidate. Those accepted should then at once be put under competent instruction and discipline -- (for which it is understood a thorough school will be opened at once by the Medical Facility of the city) -- and as occasion offers, the best prepared, in successive order, be sent, under proper escort, to the scene of war, as they are wanted. It is felt that all who want to go, and are fitted to go, should have in their turn a fair chance to do so, and are not unlikely to be wanted sooner8 or later. Of these, many may be rich and many poor. Some may wish to go at their own charges, and others will require to be aided to their expenses, and still others, for the loss of their time. But the best nurses should be sent, irrespective of these distinctions -- as only the best are economical on any terms. It will at once appear that without a central organization, with proper authority, there can be no efficiency, system, or discipline in this important matter of nurses -- and there can be no organization, to which a cheerful submission will be paid, except it originate in the common will, and become the genuine representative of all the women of New York, and of all the existing associations having this kind of aid in view. It is obvious that such an organization will require generous contributions, and that all the women of New York and of the country, not otherwise lending aid, will have a direct opportunity of giving support to the object so near their hearts, through the treasury of this common organization. To consider this matter deliberately, and to take such common action as may then appear wise, we earnestly invite the women of New York, and the pastors of the churches, with such medical advisers as may be specially invited, to assemble for counsel and action, at the Cooper Institute, on Monday morning next, at eleven o'clock. Mrs. Gen. Dix, " Hamilton Fish, " Lewis C. Jones, " E. Robinson, " Wm. Kirkland, " Wm. H. Aspinwall, " R. B. Minturn, " Jas. B. Johnson, " Judge Roosevelt, " A. M. Bininger, " W. C. Bryant, " R. L. Stuart, " D. D. Field, " W. B. Astor, Jr., " M. Grinnell, " G. L. Schuyler, " Peter Cooper, " Thos. Tileston, " F. S. Wiley, Mrs. R. Gracie, " M. Catlin, " Chandler, " R. B. Winthrop, " G. Stuyvesant, " Geo. Curtis, " A. R. Eno, " W. F. Carey, " A. S. Hewitt, " Dr. Peaslee, " H. B. Smith, " R. Hitchcock, " F. F. Marbury, " F. F. B. Morse, " Judge Daly, " Chas. R. Swords, Miss Marquand, Mrs. G. Holbrooke, " D. Adams, 9 Mrs. H. Webster, " Moffat, " H. W. Bellows, " Stuart Brown, " Ellis, " J. D. Wolfe, " Alonzo Potter, " R. Campbell, " H. K. Bogart, " Chas. Butler, " C. E. Lane, " M. D. Swett, " R. M. Blatchford, " S. F. Bridgham, " A. W. Bradford, " W. H. Lee, " Parke Godwin, " H. J. Raymond, " S. L. M. Barlow, " J. Auchincloss, " Walker, " Elisha Fish, " C. A. Seward, " S. Osgood, " Griffin, " L. M. Rutherford, " S. J. Baker, Mrs. H. Baylis, " Jno. Sherwood, " S. H. Tyng, " Capt. Shumway, " Edwd. Bayard, " Jas. I. Jones, " Judge Betts, " Wm. G. Ward, " H. E. Eaton, " W. C. Evarts, " Judge Bonney, Miss Minturn, Mrs. M. Trimble, " S. B. Collins, " R. H. Bowne, " B. R. McIlvaine, " N. Lawrence, " Jno. Reid, " C. Newbold, " J. B. Collins, " J. C. Smith, " Paul Spofford, " C. W. Field, " P. Townsend, " L. Baker, " Chas. King. The following article from the columns of the Tribune, of Tuesday morning, April 30th, 1861, will show the result of this call. We may add, that a large body of the most distinguished citizens--clergymen, lawyers, physicians, merchants, and philanthropists --occupied the platform with the women who had led in the good cause.10 (From the Tribune, April 30th.) LADIES' MILITARY RELIEF MEETING AT THE COOPER INSTITUTE. According to previous announcement, the ladies of this city held a meeting at the Cooper Institute, on Monday morning, for the purpose of maturing some plan of centralized effort for the provision of materials and nurses for the army in the event of active war. The large hall of the Institute was completely filled in every part. On the platform were the wives and daughters of many of our most distinguished citizens. The chair was occupied by DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, who, in a brief address, set forth the object of the meeting, and called upon The Rev. Dr. BELLOWS, who made an eloquent speech, in the course of which he presented the importance of any action which the ladies might take in the conflict which had been established between patriotism and rebellion. The mothers and sisters of the first American revolution had imparted courage to the fathers and brothers who had gone forth to do battle for the right; and it was no evil omen to find the same relationships in the present crisis. In this way the national heart spoke out of its better sentiments. Its virtue gave impulse to every instinct of patriotism, and was a sure defence of American dignity and power. The HON. HANNIBAL HAMLIN, Vice-President of the United States, whose unexpected presence created much interest, when he rose to speak was received with shouts of applause from all 11 parts of the house. He spoke briefly, in a strain of high and commanding eloquence, expressing the delight with which he witnessed the uprising of the people to sustain the government and defend the country. Here was a vast assemblage collected from humble and luxurious homes. The occasion was one which warranted this. All that we hold dear, whether in social or commercial life, is at stake, is in peril. There is nothing in commerce, nothing in domestic life, that is not the issue. What are they if they are not guarded and protected by law? The government is attempted to be subverted. Our stars and stripes have been ignominiously treated. Our fortifications have been taken by rebels, and our government threatened with subversion, till we have all been united. We have no other course but to vindicate the integrity of our government. False is the humanity that could falter now in this hour of trouble. Our safety is in the loyalty of the people; our destruction with those who hesitate. We must now test the question whether we have a government. To abandon it is to abandon all. The contest is said to be a sectional one. The actual question is one of government or no government, and we have got that to settle; whether we have a government, whether we received one from our fathers, and whether we will transmit it to our prosperity. On this question, however the people may array themselves in sections, the people were all loyal, and desired to uphold the Union and the Constitution; but the way to save the Union was to uphold the government. The country could not be saved otherwise than through its constitutional rulers. He was delighted to see so many assembled, ready and willing to take their share in the cause, and to help in saving the country. Rome, in the days of her greatest renown, never witnessed such a sight; the world, he might say, had never seen its like. They were met to systematize their effort to relieve the sick and wounded. God bless the women, 12 The whole women of the North was with them, and from every hill and valley throughout New England, they would pour in their contributions in aid of the cause, and present themselves personally offerings upon the altars of their country. Mr. Hamlin sat down amid great applause. THE CHAIRMAN said there were two gentlemen present who had been at Fort Sumter, and he would call upon one of them to address the meeting. Dr. CRAWFORD rose, and advanced to the front of the platform, and briefly addressed the meeting. He said, that the medical men had met to render their assistance to the ladies, and that in such a movement it was proper to make the headquarters at New York. Dr. WOOD said, he was requested by the medical gentlemen connected with the Bellevue Hospital, to state that they were ready to render all the assistance in their power to the ladies, by advice, and by the training of nurses at the institution. The supporters of that institution would take at least fifty, and support and qualify them to go out and act as nurses. He desired that the Committee of ladies would act with the medical gentlemen in the selection of such as were suitable to be taken in and trained for nurses. He mentioned, that for the same purpose, the institution on Blackwell's Island would be at their disposal, and that no effort on the part of the faculty would be wanting to send out competent nurses. DR. VALENTINE MOTT said, that the ordinary and extraordinary, or consulting surgeons, would do everything possible to qualify those who should come under their care for nursing the sick and wounded. From what he had learned, he said that it 13 would take a seven years' war to use up all the bandages already provided. There were wagon-loads of lint now ready, so heartily had the ladies gone into the work; but if their efforts were carried on in a desultory way, much would be thrown away. As for nurses, he said it was not every woman that could do for a nurse; some were born for nurses, they were naturally fitted for it; others never could be fitted for its duties, but an intelligent, competent woman, in the hands of a competent doctor, could soon be fitted for the sick room. Dr. A. H. STEVENS said, it was of much importance to make a good selection in the persons sent to the Hospital to be trained. Some fainted at the sight of blood, others were born to be nurses-they wanted women of discreet manners with strong constitutions, to reside for a month at Bellevue Hospital. The Rev. Dr. Bethune, Dr. Satterlee, the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, Dr. Church and Dr. Sayre, also briefly addressed the meeting. The Committee appointed to prepare a plan of operations, reported the following-14 ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION. Woman's Central Association for the Sick and Wounded of the Army. I. The women of New York hereby associate themselves as a Committee of the whole, for the furnishing of comforts and medical stores, and especially of nurses, in aid of the Medical Staff of the army during the present war. II. To give organization and efficiency to the scattered efforts, now so widely and earnestly making, and to increase and magnify these humane labors, they hereby resolve themselves into a "Woman's Central Association of Relief." III. The objects of this Association shall be to collect and distribute information, obtained from official sources, concerning the actual and probable wants of the army; to establish a recognized union with the Medical Staff of the Federal and State Troops, and to act as auxiliary to their efforts; to unite with the New York Medical Association, for the supply of lint, bandages, &c., in sustaining a central depot of stores; to solicit and accept the aid of all local associations, here or elsewhere, choosing to act through this society, and especially to open a bureau for the examination and registration of candidates for medical instruction as nurses, and to take measures for securing a supply of well-trained nurses against any possible demand of the war. IV. A President, Treasurer, and Secretary, chosen at their first meeting, shall perform the duties usually connected with those offices in societies analogous to this. 15 V. The Board of Managers shall appoint three committees of eight each, and severally called the Financial, the Executive, and the Registration Committees. VI. The Financial Committee shall be charged with the duty of soliciting, guarding, and disbursing the funds of this association, and of holding its other property. The callers of this meeting, and all the women of New York and the country, are invited to lend their aid in swelling the resources of this organization. The treasurer shall give speedy notice through the newspapers of all the moneys or contributions, in any form, received by the Central Association. Subscriptions shall be solicited through the public press. A rigid economy shall be required of the Financial Committee, and all funds in their hands at the expiration of the war, shall be given to existing charities in the city, according to the will and appointment of the callers of this meeting (and the officers of affiliated societies) convened for that purpose. The operations of the Central Association, shall proceed upon a scale proportioned to the funds received, and its activity must depend for its very commencement on immediate contributions of money and stores, which are hereby solicited. VII. The Executive Committee shall select their own chairman; shall establish direct relations with the central authorities of the Medical Staff and with the Hospital Committee, on the education of nurses; obtain and diffuse all necessary information for the better guidance of affiliation and subsidiary associations; keep the women of the country apprised, through the press, of the best direction their industry can take, and superintend the reception and transfer of stores; devise ways and means of increasing and improving the usefulness of the association, and carry out generally the orders of the Board.16 VIII. The Committee of Registration, acting in general with the Hospital Committee, shall have joint charge of the examination and registration of all those offering themselves as nurses, in co-operation with the plans and purposes of the Hospital Committee for their education. They shall have charge of the Bureau of Registration, to be opened as soon as possible at a convenient room in the city. IX. The Board of Management, appointed by the meeting, shall enter at once upon its duties. It shall meet weekly during the war; but five shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of ordinary business. X. The association shall be governed in all its affairs by a board of managers, twelve of whom shall be ladies and twelve gentlemen, who shall select their own officers, and fill all vacancies in their number, and this board shall consist of the following persons: Mrs. Hamilton Fish, " H. Baylis, " H. D. Sweet, " Chas. Abernathy, Miss E. Blackwell, Mrs. Cyrus W. Field, " G. L. Schuyler, " d'Oremieulx, " Dr. Ed. Bayard, " Christine Griffin, " V. Botta, " C. M. Kirkland. Dr. Val. Mott, John D. Wolfe, Hector Morrison, Frederick L. Olmsted, Geo. F. Allen, Dr. Elisha Harris, " Markoe, " Draper, Rev. Dr. Hague, " " Bellows, " " A. D. Smith, " Morgan Dix. 17 The Board of Management met immediately and finally organized, with the following officers and committees: President, VALENTINE MOTT, M.D. Vice-President, HENRY W. BELLOWS, D.D. Secretary, GEORGE F. ALLEN, ESQ. Treasurer, HOWARD POTTER, ESQ. of the firm, Brown, Brothers & Co., 59 Wall street. Several gentlemen of the original board declining, their places were filled by others, and the three committees constituted in the following manner: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. H. W. Bellows, D.D., Chairman, Mrs. G. L. Schuyler, Miss Collins, F. L. Olmsted, Esq., Valentine Mott, M.D., T. d'Oremieulx, W. H. Draper, M.D., G. F. Allen, Esq. REGISTRATION COMMITTEE. E. Blackwell, M.D., Chairman, Mrs. H. Baylis, " V. Botta, Wm. A. Muhlenberg, D.D., Mrs. W. P. Griffin, Secretary, " J. A. Swett, " C. Abernethy, E. Harris, M.D. 218 FINANCE COMMITTEE. Howard Potter, Esq., John D. Wolfe, Esq., William Hague, D. D., J. H. Markoe, M. D., Mrs. Hamilton Fish, " C. M. Kirkland, " C. W. Field, Asa D. Smith, D.D. Peter Cooper, Esq., kindly furnished rooms for meeting, and and a store-room for receiving supplies, in the Cooper Union building. The business of the association soon increased so rapidly, as to compel the society to hire a store in the building, No. 10 Cooper Union, (on Third avenue), where they now receive all their supplies and transact the business of the Executive Committee. Dr. Bellows, as Chairman of the Executive Committee, with Dr. E. Harris, having united with a Committee of the New York Medical Association, for the supply of lint and bandages, viz., Dr. W. H. Van Buren and Dr. Harsen, went to Washington early in May for the purpose of establishing that connection with the U. S. Government referred to in the third article of the Constitution. Having discovered the extreme difficulty of obtaining accurate information, even from the Government itself -- perplexed and embarrassed by the suddenness and the extent of the war upon its hands -- and the futility of carrying out the plans of the Woman's Central Association, or those of any other benevolent society of similar ends, without a much larger kind of machinery and a much more extensive system than had been originally contemplated -- the idea of a "Sanitary Commission" with a resident organization of Washington, suddenly presented itself to the Committee as the only means of a solution of the difficulties with which the benevolent intentions of the women of the country were threatened, and the following letter to the Secretary of War initiated that plan. We publish it, because 19 it explains the origin of the connection of the Association with the U. S. Sanitary Commission -- which thus in fact grew out of the Woman's Central Association: To the Secretary of War: SIR, -- The undersigned, representing three Associations of the highest respectability in the city of New York, namely, the Woman's Central Association of relief for the Sick and Wounded of the Army, the Advisory Committee of the Boards of Physicians and Surgeons of the Hospitals of New York, the New York Medical Association for furnishing Hospital Supplies in aid of the Army, beg leave to address the department of War in behalf of the objects committed to them as a mixed Delegation with due credentials. These three Associations being engaged at home in a common object, are acting together with great efficiency and harmony, to contribute towards the comfort and security of our troops, by methodizing the spontaneous benevolence of the city and State of New York; obtaining information from the public authorities of the best methods of aiding our Department with such supplies as the regulations of the Army do not provide, or the sudden and pressing necessities of the time do not permit the Department to furnish; and, in general, striving to play into the hands of the regular authorities in ways as efficient and as little embarrassing as extra-official co-operation can be. These Associations would not trouble the War Department with any call on its notice, if they were not persuaded that some positive recognition of their existence and efforts was essential to the peace and comfort of the several Bureaus of the War Department itself. The present is essentially a people's war. The hearts and minds, the bodies and souls, of the whole people and of both sexes throughout the loyal States, are in it. The rush of volunteers to arms is equalled by the enthusiasm and zeal of the women of the Nation, and the clerical and medical professions vie with each other in their ardor to contribute in some manner to the success of our noble and sacred cause. The War Department will hereafter, therefore, inevitably experience in all its bureaus the incessant and irrepressible motions of this zeal, in the offer of medical aid, the applications of nurses, and the contribution of supplies. Ought not this noble and generous enthusiasm to be encouraged and utilized? Would not the Department win a still higher place in the confidence and affections of the good people of the loyal States, and find itself generally strengthened in its efforts, by accepting in some positive manner, the services of the Associations we represent, which are20 laboring to bring into system and practical shape the general zeal and benevolent activity of the women of the land in behalf of the Army? And would not a great economy of time, money, and effort be secured by fixing and regulating the relations of the Volunteer Associations to the War Department, and especially to the Medical Bureau? Convinced by inquiries made here of the practical difficulty of reconciling the aims of their own and numerous similar Associations in other cities with the regular workings of the Commissariat and the Medical Bureau, and yet fully persuaded of the importance to the country, and to the success of the war, of bringing such an arrangement about, the undersigned respectfully ask that a mixed Commission of civilians distinguished for their philanthropic experience and acquaintance with sanitary matters, of medical men, and of military officers, be appointed by the Government, who shall be charged with the duty of investigating the best means of methodizing and reducing to practical service the already active but undirected benevolence of the people toward the army; who shall consider the general subject of the prevention of sickness and suffering among the troops, and suggest the wisest methods, which the people at large can use to manifest their good-will towards the comfort, security, and health of the army. It must be well known to the Department of War that several such Commissions followed the Crimean and Indian wars. The civilization and humanity of the age and of the American people, demand that such a commission should precede our second War of Independence—more sacred than the first. We wish to prevent the evils that England and France could only investigate and deplore. This War ought to be waged in a spirit of the highest intelligence, humanity, and tenderness for the health, comfort, and safety of our brave troops. And every measure of the Government that shows its sense of this, will be eminently popular, strengthen its hands, and redound to its glory at home and abroad. The undersigned are charged with several specific petitions, additional to that of asking for a Commission for the purposes above described, although they all would fall under the duties of that Commission. 1. They ask that the Secretary of War will order some new rigor in the inspection of volunteer troops, as they are persuaded that under the present State regulations throughout the country a great number of under-aged and unsuitable persons are mustered, who are likely to swell the bills of mortality in the Army to a fearful percentage, to encumber the hospitals and embarrass the columns. They ask either for an order of re-inspection of the troops already mustered, or a summary discharge of those obviously destined to succumb to the diseases of the approaching summer. It is unnecessary 21 to argue the importance of a measure so plainly required by common humanity and economy of life and money. 2. The Committee are convinced by the testimony of the Medical Bureau itself, and the evidence of the most distinguished Army Officers, including the Commander-in-Chief, Adjutant-General Thomas, and the acting Surgeon-General, that the cooking of the volunteer and new regiments in general is destined to be of the most crude and perilous description, and that no preventive measure could be so effectual in preserving health and keeping off disease, as an order of the Department requiring a skilled cook to be enlisted in each company of the regiments. The Woman's Central Association, in connection with the Medical Boards, are prepared to assume the duty of collecting, registering, and instructing a body of cooks, if the Department will pass such an order, accompanying it with the allotment of such wages as are equitable. 3. The Committee represent that the Woman's Central Association of Relief have selected and are selecting, out of several hundred candidates, one hundred women, suited in all respects to become nurses in the General Hospitals of the Army. These women the distinguished physicians and surgeons of the various hospitals in New York have undertaken to educate and drill in a most thorough and laborious manner; and the Committee ask that the War Department consent to receive, on wages, these nurses, in such numbers as the exigencies of the campaign may require. It is not proposed that the nurses should advance to the seat of war, until directly called for by the Medical Bureau here, or that the Government should be at any expense until they are actually in service. 4. The Committee ask that the Secretary of War issue an order that in case of need the Medical Bureau may call to the aid of the regular medical force a set of volunteer dressers, composed of young medical men, drilled for this purpose by the hospital physicians and surgeons of New York, giving them such subsistence and such recognition as the rules of the service may allow under a generous construction. It is believed that a Commission would bring these and other matters of great interest and importance to the health of the troops into the shape of easy and practical adoption. But if no Commission is appointed, the Committee pray that the Secretary will order the several suggestions made to be carried into immediate effect, if consistent with the laws of the Department, or possible without the [?action] of Congress.22 Feeling themselves directly to represent large and important constituencies, and, indirectly, a widespread and commanding public sentiment, the Committee would most respectfully urge the immediate attention of the Secretary to the objects of their prayer. Very respectfully, HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D. W. H. VAN BUREN, M. D. ELISHA HARRIS, M. D. J. HARSEN, M. D. Washington, May 18th, 1861. The Sanitary Commission was duly ordered by the Secretary of War, June 9th, 1861, and went into immediate operation. It established the closest practical relations with the Woman's Central Association, and looked very largely to it for supplies, and for nurses; and finally by formal vote ratified on both sides, the Woman's Central was made a branch of the Sanitary Commission, and is now working (although with a wholly independent organization) under its guidance, and for its aid and support. Here follows the vote by which this connection was established: At a regular meeting of the Sanitary Commission, held September 10th, 1861, the following resolutions were offered by George T. Strong, Esq., seconded by Bishop Clark, and unanimously passed by the Board: "Resolved, That the Woman's Central Relief Association of New York is hereby, at its own generous instance, consisted an auxiliary branch of the Sanitary Commission, retaining full power to conduct its own affairs in all respects independently of the Commission, neither the Commission nor the Association being in any way responsible for any pecuniary liabilities or obligations, except such as are contracted or incurred by itself, or its authorized agents. 23 "Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretary of the Board communicate in writing semi-weekly with the Woman's Central Relief Association, keeping it regularly informed of the wants of the army, and the expectations of the Commission from that source of supply." Meanwhile the several committees of the "Woman's Central" had taken up their work with faith and earnestness, and none but those who have immediately overlooked it can appreciate the amount of time and labor it has demanded and received. I. The Financial Committee, on whose success the possibility of the scheme depended, found in its chairman, Mrs. Hamilton Fish, a most laborious and successful agent. Indeed, she may be said to have saved the other members of the Committee the largest part of their burdens, pouring into the treasury, by her own single exertions, up to this date, the sum of $5,124, while the whole receipts from other sources have been $2,091 93. It will, however, be necessary, as the sphere of the Woman's Central Association increases, that all the members of the committee should exhibit a similar activity, even if they may not expect similar success. Unquestionably, the Association will require additional funds, as the nature of its operations will show. To what could the beneficence of the wealthy women of the land be more worthily directed than to the support of the operations of that society? We ask for it their generous and their immediate aid, equally in stores and in money. II. The Registration Committee has had a most serious and laborious work on its hands, little understood by the public. The daily attention of its members was for months given to the arduous toil of selecting from hundreds of applicants, women fit24 to receive an education as nurses. It divided itself into the following sub-committees. 1st. On Applications. 2d. On Examination of Testimonials. 3d. On Superintendence in the Hospitals. 4th. On Outfit and Forwarding. The following report by Miss E. Blackwell, Chairman of the Registration Committee, will show the principles by which the Committee was guided in its work: REPORT OF THE REGISTRATION COMMITTEE, ON THE SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF NURSES FOR THE ARMY. Adopted by the Board of Managers in May, 1861. As there exists at present in the public mind very little positive knowledge in relation to army nursing, it is of great importance that certain facts should be widely circulated, which will show to all, and particularly to the women interested in this subject, what can and what cannot be accomplished by them. It is believed that when the conditions under which army-nursing by women is alone possible and proper are fully understood, much of the noble enthusiasm of women, whose sole desire is to serve their country in this momentous crisis, will be directed into other channels, where intelligent and patriotic effort is imperatively called for. The first fact to be distinctly understood is this, viz., that women have not hitherto been employed in military hospitals as nurses. The nursing is done by soldiers drafted out of the ranks for that purpose, and there is no provision whatever for boarding, paying, or in any way recognizing women in the capacity of nurses to sick soldiers. Women, therefore, who now go on to Washington with the idea of nursing, go there on their own responsibility, and find themselves without recognition by the authorities, with no proper provision for their support, and with no work to do. There is now a considerable number of these volunteer nurses in Washington. A 25 letter has already been received by a member of our board from Miss D. L. Dix, containing an informal request from the authorities that no more volunteer lady nurses be encouraged to come on until officially requested, as it would prove embarrassing to have more there at present. At the same time we have received from the Chief Medical Bureau of the Army, the following statement, to wit: that the plans now in progress under the direction of this Association, and the hospitals of this city, receive the full approbation of the proper authorities, and that the services of the bands of nurses selected and proposed under those plans will be gratefully accepted whenever such services can be consistently called into requisition. The second fact to be widely known is this, viz, that nursing in military hospitals is a very different thing from nursing in civil hospitals, and still more from private nursing. The class of patients to be nursed, the character of the under nurses, who will always be men, the social isolation of the position, and the absolute necessity of enforcing military discipline, combine to render nursing in military hospitals a service of peculiar difficulty, which can only be accomplished successfully by a select and disciplined band of nurses. Of course, such service could not be rendered by the young and inexperienced. nor by those possessing delicate constitutions, not by persons of unsteady character. Women in middle life, intelligent, trustworthy, and zealous in their work, are the suitable individuals from whom this band should be formed. In accordance with the above views, and guided by the printed records of Miss Nightingale's invaluable experience in army nursing, and the testimony of military surgeons, the following regulations being approved by the Hospital Association, to whom they were submitted: Age. - Each candidate must be between the ages of thirty and forty-five years, exceptions being only made in the case of nurses of valuable experience. Health. - Only women of strong constitution will be received; chronic disease, or other physical weakness, disqualifying for service. Character. - Every applicant must present a written testimonial or introduction from a responsible person who can be seen. If the applicant be accepted, these testimonials will be filed, and the name of the referee entered on the register of nurses. Only persons of the highest respectability26 ability will be received. While the utmost delicacy is used in such investigation, the requisition of morality, sobriety, honesty, and trustworthiness will be rigidly enforced. Discipline. -- A promise of cordial compliance with all the regulations of the service will be required; the subordination of nurses to the general superintendent, and of all to the medical authorities, being distinctly insisted on. Each candidate will be required to sign the printed regulation of the service. Dress. -- A regulation dress will be appointed by the board, which each nurse will be required to adopt, no hoops being allowed in the service. A committee on outfit will be appointed to superintend the wardrobe of the nursing corps, which will be regulated by the amount of baggage allowed to each individual. Admission. -- Each registered candidate will receive a ticket of admission signed by the Secretary of this Board. She will take this ticket to the Hospital Committee for counter signature, and will then enter upon the course of instruction arranged by the Physicians and the Board. Number of Candidates. -- The number of nurses required will necessarily be limited, for each woman must be qualified to act as a chief or head nurse. Ten Bands, or a class of one hundred, will now be enrolled, due notice being given in the daily journals when the lists are full. Should a second corps be needed, the call will again be published in the papers. The Registration Committee meet daily in the Cooper Institute, in the Philosophical Rooms, on the fourth floor, between the hours of two and four, P. M. They earnestly invite all ladies possessing the necessary qualifications to present themselves for registration. Those who are fitted by nature and position to engage in this new and difficult work, will render invaluable aid to their country by devoting themselves to its thorough accomplishment; and we call upon all women to sustain this Association in its labors, by encouraging suitable applicants to come forward, and by collecting the funds which will be needed for the outfit, support, and transport of the Bands of Nurses. To carry out these results and the spirit of the report required the utmost vigilance, the soundest judgment, and the most devoted persistency. 27 1st. To receive applications, of which hundreds were made in person. 2d. To answer and file letters on the subject, which were numerous, and admitted not of merely formal answers. 3d. To investigate testimonials -- a work of extreme care and solicitude. 4th. To introduce and overlook the nurses in their education in the Hospitals. 5th. To attend to their outfit, and see that those who went were sufficiently and properly clothed. 6th. To summon and forward the several bands called for -- often unexpectedly -- from Washington. For it will be remembered that these women, after receiving their education, scattered to their homes, which were often distant, and had to be re-collected. To keep them from discouragement, on account of inevitable delays and the long suspense of the War Department and the Medical Bureau as to the terms on which they could be received into the service, was a task of delicacy and difficulty, and involved -- 7th. The necessity of seeking reliable information from Washington as to the nursing service -- a duty which took two of the ladies of the association, Miss E. Blackwell and Mrs. Griffin, to Washington, to make personal investigations into the condition, relations, and prospects of the nurses already forwarded. 8th. To keep accurate and systematic accounts.28 9th. To report the proceedings of the Committee of Registration to the association. 10th. To prepare statements of what had been done by the committee for the press, and manage their insertion in the public journals. All these duties have been performed by the Committee of Registration in a most thorough, conscientious, and successful manner. It is to be regretted that a more favorable account of the way in which the nurses have been received and treated in the hospitals cannot be given. They have not been placed, as they expected and were fitted to be, in the position of head nurses. On the contrary, with a very inefficient force of male nurses, they have been called on to do every form of service, have been over-tasked and worn down with mental and purely mechanical duties, additional to the more responsible offices and duties of nursing. They have encountered a certain amount of suspicion, jealousy, and ill-treatment, which has rendered their situation very trying. It must be confessed that the intrinsic difficulties of their situation are very great; that women nurses in military hospitals, though most grateful to the sick soldier himself, are objects of continual evil speaking among coarse, subordinates, are looked at with a doubtful eye by all but the most enlightened surgeons, and have a very uncertain, semi-legal position, with poor wages and little sympathy, except from the sick and wounded men they comfort and bless. Nothing but the most patriotic and humane motives could sustain women in this position. These nurses have commonly, almost always proved worthy of the confidence so carefully reposed in them by the society. They have been only too refined for their places. The association does not feel authorized 29 to send on more from the same class of life from which these have come -- certainly not until their position and relations are essentially improved. The society is deeply convinced of the wisdom of absolutely withholding all nurses not over thirty years of age, and of sending none but those of settled character, with marked sobriety of manners and appearance. We are convinced of the value and importance of supplying the hospitals with women nurses. Those which have been sent have done a work of unspeakable importance; indeed, have been indispensable. It is impossible to tell what increase of suffering and mortality would have occurred but for their incessant exertions. Some of these women have brought the blessings of those ready to perish abundantly upon their heads, and their names will be held in undying reverence and affection by wounded soldiers saved to their country and their families by their watchful and tender devotion. Up to this date the association has forwarded thirty-two nurses to Washington. Miss Dix has received them (and as many others, perhaps, from other quarters, of similar efficiency and worth), and they have been distributed as follows: Columbia Hospital . . . 5 Georgetown Hospital . . . 7 " Seminary Hospital . . . 2 Alexandria General Hospital . . . 8 " Seminary Hospital . . . 6 General Hospital, Baltimore . . . 2 At large, to assist Miss Dix . . . 2 ___ 32 A few other nurses are in training, and more will be put in training if required. It seems probable that the prospective hospital accommodations for 15,000 beds, to be erected, it is30 hoped, under the auspice of the Sanitary Commission, will require, and will allow, the aid of women nurses, under far better conditions of comfort than have hitherto existed. It seems important, therefore, that the training of at least a hundred good nurses should be at once proceeded with.* III. The Executive Committee have had charge, as appears by the constitution of the society, of the whole subject of supplies: 1st. Obtaining information in regard to what was wanted at Washington and elsewhere - a question of the utmost difficulty. The want of supplies could not be theorized about nor answered in advance. The real difficulty of the want of supplies has been, that Government was ready to purchase all articles allowed by the Army regulation ; by they have not been able to procure them as fast as they were wanted. Contractors have failed, the fulfilment of orders is delayed, and a temporary want is felt, which the Commission, through the labors of the women of the country, is designed to supply. Then, in addition to things allowed by the Regulation, there are a considerable number of articles essential to the comfort and health of soldiers not taken into view by the Army Regulations - and quite as necessary to a volunteer soldier as those which are allowed by Government. These, private benevolence must provide. The Government has not been ready to publish its necessities in advance, to confess its weakness in these respects, to broadly, and therefore there have been contradictory reports flying abroad that the benevolence of the public was not necessary; that the Government was doing, or could do, or ought to do, A "Manual for Nurses," containing recipes for articles of diet for the sick, prepared at the instance of the Med. Ass., for the supply of lint and bandages, was published, and has been somewhat used in the hospitals. 31 all that the public was spontaneously attempting. Meanwhile bare feet, tattered and unchanged shirts, blanketless limbs, and untold destitution have existed, and still exist, spite of the legal obligations and the best exertions of the Government. And it is only ignorance and selfishness which cry with such impertinent confidence, that the benevolence of the public is needless and wasteful. There never was greater need of exertion than now, and almost everything in the shape of army clothing, whether for sick or for well soldiers - uniforms excepted- is needed and is called for by the Sanitary Commission, and by this Branch of it. The next duty of the Executive Committee has been to organize a system of supply, by circulating the information obtained from Headquarters, and by advertisement; and still more by direct appeal, to stir up and give systematic shape to the kindly and patriotic impulses of the women of the country far and wide. In the performance of this duty an extended correspondence was at once opened, and the result has been the affiliation of Woman's Central with a large number of societies, churches, and communities, principally in New York and the adjoining States. The great business of obtaining supplies is still kept up only by the aid of an incessant and systematic correspondence, to which has been added personal solicitation of stores, from grocers, merchants, and others, by patriotic women, willing to humble themselves in this always arduous and mortifying service. 3d. The reception, storage, unpacking, classification, and repacking of these supplies, many of them sent in a form liable to injury, and all needing care and rearrangement, has required the daily care of the Committee, and the help of two men. The marking of the goods with the stamp of the Society is necessary to vindicate the good faith of the Association with the32 public, and to let the soldiers know, and through them the donors, where their gifts have gone. 4th. The sending off of these goods to Washington, St. Louis, and elsewhere, has involved business arrangements with Express Companies and forwarders, requiring constant attention, tact, and system. The United States and American Express bring our goods wholly free. Adams's Express carries the goods of this Association at half price. A semi-weekly correspondence with Washington keeps "The Woman's Central" perpetually well informed of the wants of the Army. 5th. The advertising of the Association, and its appeals through the New York papers, has been chiefly conducted by the Secretary, G. F. Allen, Esq., and we are glad to acknowledge that this costly part of our service, which involves us, at least, to the extent of $50 per month, is usually done by the papers at half price. It would be ungrateful not to acknowledge here the zeal, devotion, and ability of one of the ladies of this Committee, Mrs. d'Oremieulx, now absent from the country, and therefore not improperly to be mentioned, who labored incessantly in the earlier months of the organization, and gave a most vital start to the life of this Committee. We are able here to furnish a table of the supplies received by the Woman's Central from its origin to the present date, and their disbursements. Rep'd to Oct. 10th, 1861. Hospital Garments . . . 32,295 Bedding . . . 15,147 Havelocks . . . 6,112 Miscellaneous articles* . . . 4,475 Jelly and preserves . . . 2,088 pkgs. Wines and other liquors. 601 qts. Farina, tea, sugar . . . 623 pkgs. *Eye-shades, pin-cushions, needle-cases, lint, and bandages, parcels of old linen and muslin, sponges, rolls of cotton batting, &c. 33 Forwarded to Sanitary Com. in Washington. Hospital Garments . . . 21,447 Bedding . . . 6,160 Havelocks . . . 1,997 Mis. articles . . . 1,430 Edibles . . . 60 boxes. Books . . . . 11 " Sanitary Com. St. Louis. Hos. garments . . . 2,035 Bedding . . . 1,423 Lint and bandages, &c. . . . 1 box. To Miss Dix. 2 boxes edibles. 4 boxes fans, containing 1,000 each. To Georgetown Hospital. 6 Boxes edibles. To Fortress Monroe. 5 boxes edibles. 138 Havelocks. To Med. Ass. Hos. garments . . . 603 Bedding . . . 532 Havelocks . . . 734 Bandages, lint, &c. . . . 842 To Various Regiments. 1667 Havelocks. 466 flannel shirts, also socks, lint, &c. The following circular containing latest directions is also to be sent forth: U. S. SANITARY COMMISSION, WOMAN'S CENTRAL RELIEF ASSOCIATION, 10 Cooper Union, Third Avenue. LIST OF SUPPLIES. 1. Bandages -- Assorted, without selvedges; shrunk and tightly rolled. 1 dozen, 1 inch wide, 1 yard long. 2 dozen, 2 inches wide, 3 yards long. 2 dozen, 2 1/2 inches wide, 3 yards long. 1 dozen, 3 inches wide, 4 yards long. 1/2 dozen, 3 1/2 inches wide, 5 yards long. 1/2 dozen, 4 inches wide, 6 yards long.34 2. Lint -- Scraped and raveled, in equal proportion, packed in boxes of uniform size. 3. Ring Pads and Cushions stuffed with hair and feathers. 4. Long Cotton and Canton Flannel Shirts, 1 1/4 yards long; 2 breadths of unbleached cotton, 7/8 yard wide, open 9 inches at the bottom; length of Sleeve, 5/8 yard; length of Arm hole, 12 inches; length of Band, 20 inches; open in front, to the bottom -- a piece 4 inches wide lapping under -- fastened with tapes. 5. Short Shirts, made like long, only 1 yard long, and open in front. 6. Loose Canton Flannel and Woolen Drawers. 7. Dressing Gowns of double calico. 8. Eye-Shades, of Green Silk, with elastics. 9. Handkerchiefs, towels, and slippers. 10. Bed Sacking, of ticking, 7 feet long and 1 yard wide; open at one end, with strings. 11. Pillow-Sacks, of ticking, 16 inches wide and 30 inches long; Pillow-Cases, of Cotton, one-half yard wide, 1 yard long. 12. Linen and Cotton Sheets, 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. 13. White or Gray Flannel Hospital Undershirts -- two breadths flannel gusset at the neck, narrow neck-band. 14. Blankets for single beds. 15. Quilts 7 feet by 50 inches. 16. Knit woollen socks. Some of the shirts should have the sleeves open on the outside to the shoulder, with strings. EDIBLES. 1. Arrowroot; Condensed Milk. 2. Whiskey; Brandy; White Wine -- for wine whey, etc. 3. Pure Lemon Syrup. 4. Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Sugar, Oatmeal, Crackers. 5. Spices, Condiments, Desiccated Vegetables. 6. Tobacco, Farina, Sago, Tapioca. Com. on Cor. and Supplies: MISS COLLINS, Mrs. G. L. SCHUYLER, " R. M. BLATCHFORD, Dr. W. H. DRAPER, Mr. SAML. F. BRIDGHAM. 35 We append also, the last circular of the U. S. Sanitary Commission -- addressed to the Loyal Women of America -- which will complete all the documentary evidence needed to put the public in full possession of the position and wants of the Woman's Central Association. TO THE LOYAL WOMEN OF AMERICA. TREASURY BUILDING, Washington, October 1st, 1861. COUNTRYWOMEN: You are called upon to help take care of our sick and wounded soldiers and sailors. It is true that government undertakes their care, but all experience, in every other country as well as our own, shows that government alone cannot completely provide for the humane treatment of those for whom the duty of providing, as well as possible, is acknowledged. Even at this period of the war, and with a much smaller proportion of sick and wounded than is to be expected, there is much suffering, and dear lives are daily lost because government cannot put the right thing in the right place at the right time. No other government has ever provided as well for its soldiers, so soon after the breaking out of a war of this magnitude, and yet it remains true that there is much suffering, and that death unnecessarily occurs from the imperfectness of the government arrangements. This is partly owing to the ignorance, partly to the indolence, and partly to the inhumanity and knavery of various agents of government, as well as to the organic defects of the system. But humanity to the sick must, to a certain extent, be sacrificed, under government, to the purpose of securing the utmost possible strength and efficiency to the military force. Whatever aid is to be given from without, must still be administered systematically, and in perfect, subordination to the general system of administration of the government. To hold its agents in any degree responsible for the duties with which they are charged, government must protect them from the interference of irresponsible persons. Hence, an intermediate agency becomes necessary, which, without taking any of the duties of the regular agents of government out of their hands, can, nevertheless, offer to them means of administering to the wants of the sick and wounded much beyond what could be obtained within the arbitrary36 limits of supply established by government, and in strict accordance with the regulations necessary for maintaining a proper accountability to it. The Sanitary Commission, a volunteer and unpaid bureau of the War Department of the government, constitutes such an agency. Under its present organization, every camp and military hospital, from the Atlantic to the Plains, is regularly and frequently visited, its wants ascertained, anticipated as far as possible, and whenever it is right, proper, and broadly merciful, supplied directly by the Commission to the extent of its ability. For the means of maintaining this organization, and of exercising, through it, a direct influence upon the officers and men favorable to a prudent guard against the dangers of disease to which they are subject which is its first and principal object, the Commission is wholly dependent upon voluntary contribution to its treasury. For the means of administering to the needs of the sick and wounded, the Commission relies upon gift-offerings of their own handiwork from the loyal women of the land. It receives not one dollar from government. A large proportion of the gifts of the people to the army hitherto have been wasted, or worse than wasted, because directed without knowledge of discrimination.. It is only through the Commission that such gifts can reach the army with a reasonable assurance that they will be received where they will do the most good and the least harm. The Sanitary Commission has established its right to claim the confidence of the nation. The Secretary of War and Major-General McClellan have both recently acknowledged, in the warmest terms and advantages which have already resulted from its labors, and the discretion and skill with which they have been directed. Its advice had been feely taken, and, in several important particulars, acted upon, favorably to the health of the army, but the government. There has scarcely been a company of volunteers in the field, with regard to which some special defect, error, or negligence, endangering health, has not been pointed out by its agents, and its removal or abatement effected. There has not been a single instance in which its services, or advice offered through all its various agencies, have been repulsed; not a single complaint has been received of its embarrassing any officer in his duty, or of its interfering with discipline in the slightest degree. Its labor have, to this time, been chiefly directed to induce precautions against a certain class of diseases which have scourged almost every modern European army, which decimated our army in Mexico, and which, at one time, rendered nearly half of one of our armies in the war of 1812 unfit for service. It is a ground for national gratitude that our present armies have passed through the most trying season of the year wonderfully escaping danger. that there are grander causes for this 37 than the labors of the Commission cannot be doubted, but that, among human agencies, a large share of credit for it should be given to those labors, it is neither arrogant nor unreasonable to assert. In this assurance, what contribution that has hitherto been made to the treasury of the stores of the Commission is not received back again ten fold in value! More than sixty thousand articles have been received by the Commission from their patriotic countrywomen. It is not known that one sent to them has failed to reach its destination, nor had one been received that cannot be accounted for. It is confidently believed that there has not been of late a single case of serious illness in the army of the Potomac, nor wherever the organization of the Commission has been completely extended, in which some of these articles have not administered to the relief of suffering. After full and confidential conference with the Secretary of War, the commander of the army of the Potomac, and the Quartermaster-General, there is reason to ask with urgency for a large increase of the resources of the Commission, especially of that class of its resources upon which it must chiefly draw for the relief of the sick and wounded. The experience of the Commission has so well acquainted it with the earnest desire of the women of the North to be allowed to work in the national cause, that is is deemed unnecessary to do more than announce that there is a real and immediate occasion for their best exertions, and to indicate convenient arrangement for the end in view. It is, therefore, suggested that societies be at once formed in every neighborhood where they are not already established, and that existing societies of suitable organization, as Dorcas Societies, Sewing Societies, Reading Clubs, and Sociables, devote themselves, for a time, to the sacred service of the country; that energetic and respectable committees be appointed to call from house to house, and store to store, to obtain contributions in materials suitable to be made up, or money for the purchase of such materials; that collections be made in churches, and schools, and factories, and shops, for the same purpose; that contribution boxes be placed in post-offices, newspaper offices, railroad, and telegraph offices, public houses, steamboats and ferry boats, and in all other suitable places, labeled "for our sick and wounded;" said that all loyal women meet at such convenient times and places as may be agreed upon in each neighborhood or social circle, to work upon the materials which shall be so procured. Every woman in the county can, at the least, knit a pair of woolen stockings, or if not, can purchase them. In each town let there be concert on this subject, taking care that three or four sizes are provided. Fix upon a place for receiving, and a date when a package shall be transmitted, and38 send it as soon as possible to the most convenient of the sports of the Commission. DESCRIPTION OF ARTICLES MOST WANTED. Blankets for single beds; Quilts, of cheap material, about seven feet long by fifty inches wide; Knit Woolen Socks; Woolen or Canton Flannel Bedgowns, Wrappers, Undershirts, and Drawers; Small Hair and Feather Pillows and Cushions for wounded Limbs; Slippers. Delicacies for the sick -- such as farina, arrowroot, cornstarch, cocoa, condensed milk, and nicely dried fruit -- can be advantageously distributed by the Commission. Jellies should be carefully prepared to avoid fermentation, and most securely packed. Many articles of clothing have been injured, in packages heretofore sent the Commission, by the breaking of jars and bottles. Over every vessel containing jelly, strew white sugar to the depth of half an inch, and paste stout paper (not brandied) over the mouth. Jellies sent in stone bottles arrive in the best condition, and there is no difficulty in removing the contents for use. Every bottle, &c., containing jelly should be labelled. Aromatic spirits and waters; light easy chairs for convalescents; nicely made splints for wounded limbs; chequer and backgammon boards, and like articles for the amusement of wounded men; books, for desultory reading, and magazines, especially if illustrated, will be useful. All articles should be closely packed in wooden boxes, or in very strongly wrapped bales, and clearly directed. On the top of the contents of each box, under the cover, a list of what it contains should be placed; a duplicate of this list should be sent by mail. Arrangements for free transportation should be made, or freight paid for in advance. (The express companies will generally convey goods for this purpose, at a reduction on the usual rates.) Packages may be directed and sent, as is most economical, from any point, to any of the addresses below. -- ("For the U. S. Sanitary Commission:") Office of the Woman's Central Relief Association, Cooper Union, No 10 Third avenue, New York; Care of Samuel and William Welsh, No. 218 South Delaware avenue, Philadelphia; Care of Dr. S. G. Howe, 20 Bloomfield street, Boston; Care of Dr. W. H. Mussey, Cincinnati; 39 Care of Dr. C. D. Griswold, Wheeling, Virginia; Care of F. L. Olmsted, 211 F street, Washington, D. C. Acknowledgments will be made to all those who forward parcels, and a final report to the Secretary of War will be published, recording the names of all contributors, so far as they shall be known to the Commission. HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D., President. PROF. A. D. BACHE, LL. D. GEORGE T. STRONG. FRED. LAW OLMSTED. GEORGE W. CULLUM, U. S. A. ALEXANDER E. SHIRAS, U. S. A. ROBERT C. WOOD, M. D., U.S.A. WILLIAM H. VAN BUREN, M. D. Prof, WOLCOTT GIBBS, M. D. ELISHA HARRIS, M.D. SAMUEL G. HOWE, M. D. CORNELIUS R. AGNEW, M. D. J. S. NEWBERRY, M. D. HORACE BINNEY, JR. Rt. Rev. THOS. M. CLARK, D.D. Commissioners under the authority of the Secretary of War. FRED. LAW OLMSTED, General Secretary, Washington. A. J. BLOOR, Assistant Secretary, Washington. J. FOSTER JENKINS, M. D., Secretary for the army of the Potomac. J. H. DOUGLAS, M. D., Secretary for the divisions under Gen. Banks, Gen. Dix, and Gen. Wool. J. S. NEWBERRY, M. D., Secretary for the Western armies. The Sanitary Commission is doing a work of great humanity, and of direct practical value to the nation, in this time of its trial. It is entitled to the gratitude and confidence of the people, and I trust it will be generously supported. There is no agency through which voluntary offerings of patriotism can be more effectively made. A. LINCOLN. WINFIELD SCOTT. Washington, September 30th, 1861. In order to make it perfectly easy in towns and villages where no association exists, to form a society to work for the benefit of the soldiers, in connection with the "Woman's Central Ass. of Relief," and the Sanitary Commission, we here furnish some plain directions. 40 1. Let the first woman whose heart is stirred with yearnings to do something in her own town, go to two or three of her neighbors and take counsel. 2. Let them agree on some convenient day and house for a meeting of ladies, in the lecture-room of some place of worship, or in the town-house, or school-house. 3. Let notices of this be written, and carried to the pastors of all the churches in town, with a request that they be read, with comments by the pastor, in each society, at the close of service. 4. Let the ladies meet-select a President and Secretary; then let such portions of this pamphlet be read by the President as will serve to explain the nature and working of this Society. 5. Then let the ladies present form themselves into a Soldiers' Relief Circle, to meet once a week from 1 to 4 P. M.- the time to be spent in sewing or knitting for the soldier. 6. Let them, in addition to the President and Secretary already elected, choose a Treasurer and two committees-one on supplies and work, of three ladies, and one on correspondence, forwarding, and all other business, such as storing, engaging rooms, &c., of the same number. 7. The duty of the officers should be as follows: I. The President-to call and preside at all meetings, and have a general charge of the interests of the Circle. II. The Secretary-to enroll the names of the members (each