Series 03: John Brady Nash letters, January 1914-December 1915 - Page 8
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[Page 8]
us company. They are scavangers which in quest of food follow in the wake of deep sea ships day in day out.
During the morning, after visiting the hospital, I devoted my time to reading a surgical work and the French book that M. Chayet gave to me. Major Barrett has the best French book I have seen, the first column is English, the next correctly written French, while the third are the French words written phonetically. Thus by speaking aloud the printing in the third column one can get an approximate idea of how the Frenchman speaks his language on his native soil. Trying to place within his skull a smattering of French is an occupation of nearly every man on board; I do not note that the nurses are equally enthusiastic in their pursuit of knowledge.
The inmost recesses of my brain have been ransacked during the last few hours trying to bring forth the name of the medical man who in Havana submitted himself to be bitten by mosquitoes as a test of Dr. Finlays statement that the little beastie carried the germs of the disease from one human being to another. You may 'member that I read the account of his heroism to you more than once and we spoke about the meaneness of the United States Republic when it gave to the doctors widow the paltry sum of 17 dollars per month for the support of herself & her children.
[Monsieur A. Chayet was Consul General of France in Sydney in 1915.
Sir James William Barrett KBE CMG MD MS FRCS, 1862-1945, ophthalmologist, of Melbourne, Victoria, was appointed head of the Australian Red Cross at the outbreak of the war and sailed from Brisbane on 21 November 1914 on HMAT A55 Kyarra. He served in Egypt as registrar and oculist with the 1st Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis, and was promoted to Major and later Lieutenant Colonel. As a result of administrative problems at the hospital, he was relieved of his duties in February 1916 and resigned his commission. Ignoring an order to return to Australia, he instead went to England and there joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving as a medical consultant and in other roles in Egypt. He returned to Australia in 1919.]