Articles for sick soldiers Solicited.
--For some weeks I have been acting as agent for the distribution of supplies contributed to the sick of the Northwestern army, and am desirous of bringing to the notice of friends of the sick soldiers the following special wants.
1st. Cotton shirts to be worn next the body are in almost universal demand. The sick, when removed from the camp to the hospital, are generally unable to look after their baggage, and in many cases lose it.
Hundreds of the sick have but one change of linen, and I have seen men in clothes so shockingly filthy that they were disgusting and nauseous to look at. Scarcely anything contributes so much to the recovery of the invalid as nice clean clothes. Send us, then, all the under-clothes you can, be they rough or half worn.
2d. A supply of comforts or quilts for covering. The mere army blanket given to each soldier is not sufficient to protect a healthy man, much less a sick one, from the cold of this mountain climate. Send anything that will keep the chilled and suffering body warm. No matter how rough and ugly it is.
3d. Small pillow-cases. They are best made of half worn prints, as they do not then require such frequent washing. Filled with straw or chaff these are valuable articles in a sick room.
It is such things that my observation has found to be most in demand. Of course many other articles are needed and would be gainfully received. But for a large and immediate supply of the above mentioned I would urgently appeal to all interested, and especially to the ladies, whose sympathies are ever alive to, and whose hands are ever ready to supply, the wants of the destitute and suffering, and particularly when they became so in defence of our common cause.
Hy. L. Hoover. P. S.--Boxes and other contributions may be directed to care Rev. Wm. E. Baker, Staunton.
