Letter from Jefferson Randolph Kean to Philip Showalter Hench, July 21, 1943 |
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2804 N STREET, N. W.
WASHINGTON 7, D. C.
July 21/43
My dear Colonel Hench
I was greatly pleased to get
your night-letter which came an
hour or two ago and your message
of congratulation to Gen Truby
gave him, I am sure, a thrill of pride
and satisfaction. He appreciates
as I do that it was your zeal and
tireless researches that was the
motive power which put us par-
ticipants in this episode to work
to do our part in this review, It is
well that you took it up when you did
for I was 84 last month, and the num-
ber grows less each year of those who
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knew Walter Reed and his assistants-
This morning's paper mentions the funer-
al at Arlington yesterday of Clyde L.
West- He was one of the last three cases
of experimental y. f. at Camp Lazear and
was sick of it at the time that - Reed
read his paper before the Pan-American
Medical Congress at Havana Feb. 4-7, 1901.
He had a mild case- He was a member
of Truby & Hospital Corps Detachment
which furnished most of the volunteers
at Camp Lazear- I note that the news-
papers speak of him as "Dr." West but
where and how he got the title I do not
know- I do not think he ever studied
medecine- If the gas situation had not
been so difficult here I would have
asked Gen. Ireland to take me out
to his funeral- Truby enjoyed so much
your visit to San Francisco last April-
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and I was so glad that you too got
together at last- He was concerned
that Laura Wood's book, Walter Reed
Doctor in Uniform came out before his
as she had made some references and
quotations from his U S S. but I wrote
him I did did not think it made
any difference or that his publisher
would make any fuss over it- She
gave him full credit, and her book
was printed three months sooner than
she anticipated- Have you read it?
I wrote her that you should have a
copy sent you, and I would like to
know how you like it- It is not inten-
ded to be a scientific work but to be
popular and for young readers- I
think she made a good job of it-
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We have had a very hot summer but
Mrs Kean and I have been getting
along quite well, tho we have had some
trouble with domestic service which
is much upset here by the reckless
employment of the colored population
at huge wages and very little referance
as to their qualifications by the U. S. Gov.
It seems to be one element in what the
New Dealers call their social gains-
We keep relatively cool by spending much
of our time in the basement and we
sleep there in a back room looking
out into the garden. Our prevaling
wind here in summer is from the
south and so. west and we have the
Potomac only half a mile to the south
of us here in Georgetown- I was glad
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to hear, I think it was thru Mr Kellogg
that you had a visit from Mrs
Hench and the baby this spring-
I hope you have arranged by this
time to have satisfactory clerical
assistance and can send me some
further account of how your hospital
administration gets on - and if you
are able to maintain your wonderfully
small death rate- We had a visitor
at dinner last night a Captain Greunan
a Washington man from Johns Hopkins
who has been a year and a half at
Fort Bragg N. C. but is now with Gen. Hosp.
No. 56 in S. C- He is up here taking a
refresher course in tropical medecine
at the Army Medical School and says
it is a wonderful course & full of meat- |
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k He thinks they will go abroad before
long, tho. of course they do not
know anything- I met the new
Surgeon General Gen. Kirk and
his assistant Gen. Lull at luncheon
recently- Gen. Ireland & Ruther-
ford were the others and being
old medical officers us talked of
old times- Gen Ireland has
an arthritic knee and is quite
lame but never mentions it-
I will let him see your telegram
and we are both knew to see
Truby's book actually in print-
I have suggested to Truby to ask
Russell ("Who is Russell"?) to review
it for the Military Surgeon. Let me
hear from you before too long- Your friend sincerely
J. R. Kean
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