The first two nurses trained at the Norwegian Hospital (Tabitha) have received their diplomas. It was two years ago that the nurses' school at the hospital was opened. The superintendent, Mr. Oscar Torrison, congratulated the staff on its success, and said:

"On behalf of the Norwegian Lutheran Tabitha Society of Chicago and its board of directors, I wish to bid you all a hearty welcome to the first graduating exercises of the Norwegian Lutheran Tabitha Hospital Training School for nurses.

"Our hospital and training school for nurses have been in existence a little over two years. I congratulate the society upon having passed through these two years without any loss or accident by fire or the 2elements, and upon the fact that during these two years of financial depression and hard times, the hospital has been able not only to live, but to relieve much suffering and want among the poor, unfortunate, and sick Scandinavians of our community. During these two years, our hospital has rendered 3,442 days of service to charity patients and 926 to those that are classed as half charity patients. That we have been able to do this much for the cause of charity is largely due to the self-sacrifice of the women of our society, who with so much kindness and sympathy, have devoted themselves to the cause represented by the hospital.

"I congratulate the society upon having so many noble women enlisted in its cause, and I congratulate them upon the success which has crowned their efforts. Our hospital is fortunate, and is to be congratulated, too, upon the great interest that has been taken in it by its able medical and surgical staff members who have devoted so much of their valuable 3time to the advancement of the hospital, to the medical attendance and surgical aid offered not only to hospital patients who have been able to pay for themselves, but also to the charity patients who have been so unfortunate as to need medical or surgical aid without having means of their own to secure it.

"I should like to pause here to pay a tribute of respect and thanks, on behalf of the Society and its board of directors, to that distinguished surgeon who stands at the head of our surgical staff--our surgeon-in-chief--I refer to Dr. C. Fenger (a Dane), whose high ideals in regard to his noble profession and whose greatness of heart have led him to give so much of his valuable time and skill to our hospital for the cause of humanity and charity. We thank him for it; we congratulate ourselves upon having it.

"The nurses in our training school are to be congratulated upon the opportunity afforded then of getting their knowledge and instruction from 4men of such high standing in their profession. Our society has reason to congratulate itself upon the further fact, that in the selection of applicants for admission to the training school, we have found a corps of nurses whose ambition to succeed in their calling, whose devotion to their duty, whose conduct and behavior during their connection with our institution have been a constant source of gratification to our board of directors. Of our first graduating class, the class that graduates this evening; Mrs. Amelia Wandell and Miss Balborg Brekke, I am glad to be able to say, conscientiously, that they have the confidence and respect of the entire board of directors, and that we feel and believe that in the career which they are now about to carve out for themselves, they will not only reflect credit upon the institution from which they graduate for proficiency in their chosen profession, but, that wherever duty calls them, they will go with the devotion of the true woman and the true nurse upon their mission of charity among the sick.

"Others will speak to you of the importance of trained nurses to the community. Others will talk to you of our training school, of charity and of other matters. I wish only to speak by way of introduction, to bid you welcome and to say to you that we have a hospital: bright, cheerful and homelike; well-equipped for giving medical and surgical aid; an operating room, much praised by the attending surgeons; a larger staff of Scandinavian physicians, surgeons and specialists than any other hospital in the country and containing many men eminent in their professions and in their specialties.

"Yet the real work of the hospital has only just begun. It remains with a generous public, and for the future to bring it to that full measure of usefulness which the nobleness of the cause deserves, and which we hope and believe it will attain."

Mr. Torreson was followed by Dr. Hetoen, who delivered his address.

After referring to the methods of caring for the sick in olden times and during the Middle Ages, he showed that the modern training school for nurses was essentially an American institution, the first effort in this direction having been made in the Philadelphia Lying-in Charity Hospital, in 1828.

"The American training schools have reached the highest degree of excellence, and the evolution of the training school and the trained nurse was traced to the higher value now being placed upon human life and health, as shown by the universal efforts made to improve the sanitary conditions and to give the sick and injured the most intelligent care.

"Nursing is no longer a low, menial occupation, but trained nursing is an art and a science. In America it is looked upon as a dignified profession, the followers of which are women of refinement and some culture.

"Sickness is universal and trained nurses are, in reality, just as much a necessity, perhaps more so, in the country than in the city. The field for the activity of the trained nurse, especially among the Norwegian settlers, is practically unlimited. As long as birth, sickness and death do not pass away, trained nurses will remain a necessity; this being so, the quality of the nurse is not a matter of indifference, but of profound interest to the sick as well as to the healthy.

"The trained nurse is the right hand of the physician and surgeon. Many a case of sickness recovers more because of good nursing than as a result of the doctor's skill. Trained nurses relieve a vast amount of needless suffering of the curable as well as incurable sick. 'When I come to die,' says Gross, America's greatest surgeon, 'give me plenty of light and fresh air in my room; and at my bedside, a trained and kind nurse.'

"The qualities that make the trained nurse so indispensable were stated 8to be: good health, neat habits; kindness, patience, and a sweet temper; a discreet tongue; good judgment; and alertness of mind--a rare combination, but, when present in some degree, and improved by training, the requirements of the sick room would be fulfilled. Poor, indifferent nurses are often dangerous persons, liable to degenerate into gossips, vendors of wonderful cures, illicit practitioners of medicine, and frauds. The lack of proper knowledge on the part of the honest, untrained nurse, stands in the way of her usefulness, even though she may have the 'knack' of nursing in the highest degree. The trained nurse not only knows but feels that the secrets of the sick room are sacred. Her pride in, and consciousness of, the dignity of her calling prevent her from ever becoming quack. She knows that to be honest and punctual in following the directions of the doctor is her first duty. She knows the hygiene of the sick room, of the patient, of her own person. She aims to have only pleasant impressions reach the patient, and sheds light and courage about her which rob disease of half its fears and pangs.

"The trained nurse must be trained in heart, in hand, and in mind. This requires hospitals. American hospitals, in general, have training schools for nurses. In Chicago, all the hospitals have training schools, except Catholic hospitals and a few others. This fact alone shows that the training school is considered to bring the best and the largest results. It does, indeed, give the best nurses to the hospital, because there is a general belief that whenever we do a practical thing and teach others how to do it, then we do it best and most carefully. The graduate nurses continue the good work of the hospital outside of its walls; maybe in places where it is even more necessary.

"The Norwegian Hospital is to be congratulated upon having established, so early in its career, a training school with comprehensive, modern, and the best views. The public, which naturally contributes to this hospital, should have just as much interest in its training school, as in its work of caring for the sick in its wards and rooms. As each year sees a small flock of trained nurses pass out to earn their living 10and do good, the work and influence of the hospital are extended. The friends and well-wishers of the hospital should never forget that the training school for nurses is the best way to enlarge the scope of the work of the hospital and at the same time secure the best kind of nursing for the patients in the hospital.

"It should be the duty of the individual father of a family, as well as his privilege, to secure the best attention in case of sickness or ailment of any kind, by either having the patient enter the hospital or by transforming the private dwelling into a temporary hospital. In sickness, so far as economy in money is concerned, relief from pain and suffering, saving time, the best hope for a speedy recovery are secured by availing oneself early of the best means now in existence for the care of the sick, namely: the careful physician, the modern hospital, and the trained nurse.

...."The first nurses to leave the hospital were loath to go. They said they 11would feel the loss of continued training. It seemed that probationary nurses taking their places were happy.

"The hospital stands as a monument to Scandinavian thrift and culture. May it, thus, stand forever!"