7.2: Reading- Networks and Telecommunications
Introduction
One of the fastest growing technology areas is that of telecommunications (often referred to as telecoms). Organizations have realized that stand-alone computers present many problems: fragmentation of data, lack of control, insufficient integration and limited opportunity for teamwork. One of the major trends over the last decade has been the move not only to have a personal computer on the desk of virtually every knowledge worker, but to have that computer linked to the other computers in the organization.
This chapter deals with the basic telecommunication devices, the types of computer networks and the telecommunications services available in South Africa. We conclude with a discussion of arguably the most interesting development in information systems of the last decade: the Internet.
Computer Networks
When a numbers of computers are connected together, they form a computer network. There are many ways of classifying computer networks.
Networks according to size
Networks sizes can range from tiny to very large.
- Personal Area Network (PAN): consists of two to five computing devices. This not very common term would apply to the network typically found in the home, and may be based on wireless technology e.g. Bluetooth.
- Local Area Network (LAN): the most common type of network. It consists of from about four up to as many as a couple of hundred of computers linked together with one set of cables, usually within the same building. Most LANs are controlled by a central file server that takes care of network communications, security control and the storage of data files. A student computer laboratory typically constitutes one LAN.
- Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): a network infrastructure linking various local businesses within a large city area. This is now almost completely superseded by the Internet.
- Wide Area Network (WAN): the opposite of the LAN. It links computers over large geographical areas. This network usually makes use of the public telecommunications network. The widely dispersed Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) network of a commercial bank is typically part of the bank’s WAN.
- Value-Added Network (VAN): although not relating to size (but it rhymes with the others!), it refers to the provision of a network infrastructure service to other businesses. The service goes beyond the physical cabling and includes “value-added services” such as limited data and transaction processing or message routing. An example for the banking industry is the provision of an inter-bank Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and clearing service, linking the computers of different commercial banks (and, possibly, retailers) together.
Network Topologies
The network topology refers to the physical and logical way in which the computers in a network are connected together. Although there are a number of proprietary ways, the following three are the main topologies in common use (refer to Figure 1). Note that these topologies usually refer to a LAN configuration.
- The star network is driven by one central computer to and through which all other computers communicate. Although this allows for central co-ordination and control, it requires a very reliable central computer and lots of cables.
- The ring network consists of a continuous loop connecting all computers. Signals travel in a given direction and all computers have equal access to the data. A special version of the ring network is the token ring whereby a special code, the token, is passed around the ring. This token serves as the data holder and computers can send information only after grabbing an available i.e. empty token, adding their data and passing the token back onto the network.
- The bus network is currently the most popular configuration. A central data cable is used, to which each computer (and other devices such as printers and routers) can be attached. Although bottlenecks can occur, its popularity stems from its inherent robustness: devices can be added or removed without affecting the rest of the network. Data clashes (two computers attempting to send information simultaneously) can prevented by a variety of means.
Telecommunication Devices
Regardless of the network topology that has been implemented, the same basic equipment is used to connect the different computers and to ensure error-free data transmission between them.
-
Network cables are the physical wires by which computers are linked together. The most common types are:
- Twisted pair: thin insulated copper wires, combined in one single cable. This is similar to the wire used for voice telephone connections.
- Coaxial cable: (or coax) a thin copper wire inside a tube of insulation material, surrounded by a sheath or mesh of conducting wire, again insulated on the outside. This is similar to the wire used to connect antennas to video or TV equipment. Because there is less possibility of interference, it allows greater volumes of data to be transmitted in a given time – the amount or volume of data that can be transmitted over a network connection is referred to as bandwidth.
- Optical fibre or fibre-optic: a translucent and flexible material through which laser light can travel over long distances. This fibre is much more difficult to work: it requires special connectors as well as lasers and sensors (with electronics-to-light converters) at each terminal. Although this technology is more expensive, laser light can be switched on and off a lot faster than electricity (and it travels ten times faster), resulting again in a much greater bandwidth.
- Wireless: not all computer devices need a physical cable connection. Because of the cabling costs and hassles, engineers have explored many methods of transmitting data without the use of wires. For short distances, infra-red signals work well albeit slowly – the same technology as your VCR remote control. For longer distances and higher bandwidths, radio frequencies or other parts of the electro-magnetic spectrum are used. Satellite technology is increasingly being used for digital data transmissions, especially in conjunction with Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
- Network interface cards (NICs) are necessary when computers are connected directly to other computers by means of digital network cables (as opposed to the situation when two computers are connected to each other via a telephone link). Their primary function is to make sure that there are no transmission conflicts with the other computers linked to the network, since data may be simultaneously sent and received by many different computers all linked to the same network. In addition, the network card usually fulfills an error-checking function, to ensure that uncorrupted data is received at its destination.
- Multiplexers allow a single channel to carry data transmissions simultaneously from many sources, by merging them at one end of the channel and then separating the individual transmissions at the receiving end of the channel.
- Front-end processors (FEP) are used in bigger networks that are centrally controlled by large computers – often mainframes. In order to give the expensive mainframe more “time” to concentrate on application processing, it needs to be relieved from the rather mundane task of network control. FEPs handle all or most communication processing such as error-checking, data conversion, packaging and transmission control.
-
Routers and bridges are computers dedicated to the translation of network protocols and standards between different networks. They are becoming important as more and more organizations are linking their own networks to those of other organizations. They may be using
- different operating systems (Novell, Unix or Windows NT),
- other technologies (coax or fibre-optic),
- or different protocols (proprietary or public standards set for computer communications).
-
Finally, the modem allows a computer to communicate with another computer by means of the public voice telephone network, rather than by using digital cabling.
This requires the conversion of digital computer signals (used inside the computer) into analogue sound signals (that can travel over the voice telephone lines) – this process is called modulation. At the other end of the line, these sound signals are converted back into digital signals – or demodulated. The word modem refers to this modulation/demodulation process. You may have heard this “modulated signal” when listening to a fax machine, which is really a scanner/printer/modem in one. Since the modem replaces the network card, it usually carries out similar error-checking functions to ensure the correct transmission of data.
Trivial fact: More than 5000 satellites are orbiting the earth and most of them are involved in telecommunications.
SA Public Telecommunications Services
Because telecommunication services are a critical part of any country’s infrastructure, most governments have been very protective towards their telecoms. Paradoxically, this protectionism often resulted in high tariffs (monopolies!), thus reducing the overall competitiveness of local businesses. Recently more and more countries have started to privatize these services and allowed competition to drive prices down. The South African public telecommunication services are controlled by Telkom, although its legal monopoly is being phased out. The following are the main data network services provided by Telkom
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) Services
The oldest data service provided by Telkom is the Datel service, which provides a connection between computers by means of the standard Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)—i.e., the same as the normal voice telephone traffic. This requires the use of built-in or external modem equipment that modulates the digital signal into an analogue audio signal (and demodulates it back at the receiving end). This service is quick and easy to set up since it is available anywhere where there is an ordinary voice telephone point. The main drawbacks are the limited transmission speed, high error rate and the lack of security. Customers may choose between a dial-up or leased line connection.
Diginet
Diginet is a dedicated digital data service from Telkom that provides reliable and efficient point-to-point (i.e. not switched) data connections. It differs from the Datel network in that the transmission path is entirely digital: a combination of fibre-optic, microwave and coaxial cable. Because the signal does not have to be translated into analogue form, no modem is required, resulting in a cost saving. However, its main advantages are the higher transmission rates and a substantial reduction in transmission errors. The standard Diginet service allows for 64 kpbs (kilobits per second) though an enhanced service called Diginet-Plus has been designed to transfer up to 1920 kpbs, which allows slow-scan TV and video conferencing signals to be transmitted in real-time.
Public Switched Data Network (PSDN) Services
Saponet is Telkom’s Public Switched Data Network (PSDN). The Saponet-P service relies on a packet-switching mechanism whereby all data transmissions are broken up into smaller, standard-size units or data packets. Each of these packets is then routed independently to their destination. The path traveled by the packet depends on the available capacity and bottlenecks. At the destination, the original transmission is reassembled out of the constituent packets. A Packet Assembler & Disassembler (PAD) is responsible for the breaking up of a message into packets and the opposite process of reassembling packets into a message at the destination. This PAD can be a separate hardware device or a software program.
X.400 and Telkom400
Telkom400 is a VAN on top of the X.400 infrastructure. It supports electronic message handling and electronic data interchange (EDI). EDI is the automated computer to computer application exchange of structured business data between different organizations. An international standard defines common business documents such as order forms, invoices or electronic funds transfer documents that are exchanged directly between the computers of the respective business partners.
ISDN and ADSL
Now that most of Telkom’s telephone exchanges have become digital, Telkom is able to provide new functions and services. One all-digital connection that has sufficient capacity (bandwidth) to support speech, video conferencing, facsimile, data and image transfer. This connection is called an ISDN line (Integrated Services Digital Network) and is currently available in selected metropolitan areas. Much more popular is the newer Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) which allows a broadband connection (at least several hundred kilobits/second) over your standard telephone line while keeping the line available for voice telephone calls. It is called “asymmetrical” because the standard allows for much greater “download” than “upload” speeds; this reflects the typical home user pattern. Higher volumes and transmission speeds of up to 150 mbs – typically needed by mid-size and larger businesses – are available through Telkom’s ATM Express service.
- Discovering Information Systems Chapter 6.1-6.3. Authored by : Jean-Paul Van Belle, Mike Eccles, and Jane Nash. Located at : https://archive.org/details/ost-computer-science-discoveringinformationsystems . License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
- Smartmodem. Authored by : Michael Pereckas. Located at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modem#/media/File:Hayes_300_Baud_Smartmodem_02.jpg . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Fiber Optic Cables. Authored by : Roshan Nikam. Located at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/31916678@N07/4753800195/ . License : CC BY: Attribution


13.10.2: Thought Questions
Thought Questions
Give at least two reasons today’s astronomers are so interested in the discovery of additional Earth-approaching asteroids.
16.
Suppose you were designing a spacecraft that would match course with an asteroid and follow along its orbit. What sorts of instruments would you put on board to gather data, and what would you like to learn?
17.
Suppose you were designing a spacecraft that would match course with a comet and move with it for a while. What sorts of instruments would you put on board to gather data, and what would you like to learn?
18.
Suppose a comet were discovered approaching the Sun, one whose orbit would cause it to collide with Earth 20 months later, after perihelion passage. (This is approximately the situation described in the science-fiction novel Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.) What could we do? Would there be any way to protect ourselves from a catastrophe?
19.
We believe that chains of comet fragments like Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s have collided not only with the jovian planets, but occasionally with their moons. What sort of features would you look for on the outer planet moons to find evidence of such collisions? (As an extra bonus, can you find any images of such features on a moon like Callisto? You can use an online site of planetary images, such as the Planetary Photojournal , at photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov.)
20.
Why have we found so many objects in the Kuiper belt in the last two decades and not before then?
21.
Why is it hard to give exact diameters for even the larger objects in the Kuiper belt?


6.4: Photosynthesis and the Importance of Light
This material is not being covered in the BIOL 235 course, but it is included here for those students who are interested.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the function and locations of photosynthetic pigments in eukaryotes and prokaryotes
- Describe the major products of the light-dependent and light-independent reactions
- Describe the reactions that produce glucose in a photosynthetic cell
- Compare and contrast cyclic and noncyclic photophosphorylation
Heterotrophic organisms ranging from E. coli to humans rely on the chemical energy found mainly in carbohydrate molecules. Many of these carbohydrates are produced by photosynthesis, the biochemical process by which phototrophic organisms convert solar energy (sunlight) into chemical energy. Although photosynthesis is most commonly associated with plants, microbial photosynthesis is also a significant supplier of chemical energy, fueling many diverse ecosystems. In this section, we will focus on microbial photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis takes place in two sequential stages: the light-dependent reactions and the light-independent reactions (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). In the light-dependent reaction s , energy from sunlight is absorbed by pigment molecules in photosynthetic membranes and converted into stored chemical energy. In the light-independent reaction s , the chemical ener gy produced by the light-dependent reactions is used to drive the assembly of sugar molecules using CO 2 ; however, these reactions are still light dependent because the products of the light-dependent reactions necessary for driving them are short-lived. The light-dependent reactions produce ATP and either NADPH or NADH to temporarily store energy. These energy carriers are used in the light-independent reactions to drive the energetically unfavorable process of “fixing” inorganic CO 2 in an organic form, sugar.
Photosynthetic Structures in Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes
In all phototrophic eukaryotes, photosynthesis takes place inside a chloroplast, an organelle that arose in eukaryotes by endosymbiosis of a photosynthetic bacterium (see Unique Characteristics of Eukaryotic Cells). These chloroplasts are enclosed by a double membrane with inner and outer layers. Within the chloroplast is a third membrane that forms stacked, disc-shaped photosynthetic structures called thylakoids (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)). A stack of thylakoids is called a granum, and the space surrounding the granum within the chloroplast is called stroma.
Photosynthetic membranes in prokaryotes, by contrast, are not organized into distinct membrane-enclosed organelles; rather, they are infolded regions of the plasma membrane. In cyanobacteria, for example, these infolded regions are also referred to as thylakoids. In either case, embedded within the thylakoid membranes or other photosynthetic bacterial membranes are photosynthetic pigment molecules organized into one or more photosystems, where light energy is actually converted into chemical energy.
Photosynthetic pigments within the photosynthetic membranes are organized into photosystem s , each of which is composed of a light-harvesting (antennae) complex and a reaction center. The light-harvesting complex consists of multiple proteins and associated pigments that each may absorb light energy and, thus, become excited. This energy is transferred from one pigment molecule to another until eventually (after about a millionth of a second) it is delivered to the reaction center. Up to this point, only energy—not electrons—has been transferred between molecules. The reaction center contains a pigment molecule that can undergo oxidation upon excitation, actually giving up an electron. It is at this step in photosynthesis that light energy is converted into an excited electron.
Different kinds of light-harvesting pigments absorb unique patterns of wavelengths (colors) of visible light. Pigments reflect or transmit the wavelengths they cannot absorb, making them appear the corresponding color. Examples of photosynthetic pigments (molecules used to absorb solar energy) are bacteriochlorophylls (green, purple, or red), carotenoids (orange, red, or yellow), chlorophylls (green), phycocyanins (blue), and phycoerythrins (red). By having mixtures of pigments, an organism can absorb energy from more wavelengths. Because photosynthetic bacteria commonly grow in competition for sunlight, each type of photosynthetic bacteria is optimized for harvesting the wavelengths of light to which it is commonly exposed, leading to stratification of microbial communities in aquatic and soil ecosystems by light quality and penetration.
Once the light harvesting complex transfers the energy to the reaction center, the reaction center delivers its high-energy electrons, one by one, to an electron carrier in an electron transport system, and electron transfer through the ETS is initiated. The ETS is similar to that used in cellular respiration and is embedded within the photosynthetic membrane. Ultimately, the electron is used to produce NADH or NADPH. The electrochemical gradient that forms across the photosynthetic membrane is used to generate ATP by chemiosmosis through the process of photophosphorylation, another example of oxidative phosphorylation (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)).
Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)
In a phototrophic eukaryote, where does photosynthesis take place?
Oxygenic and Anoxygenic Photosynthesis
For photosynthesis to continue, the electron lost from the reaction center pigment must be replaced. The source of this electron (H 2 A) differentiates the oxygenic photosynthesis of plants and cyanobacteria from anoxygenic photosynthesis carried out by other types of bacterial phototrophs (Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)). In oxygenic photosynthesis, H 2 O is split and supplies the electron to the reaction center. Because oxygen is generated as a byproduct and is released, this type of photosynthesis is referred to as oxygenic photosynthesis. However, when other reduced compounds serve as the electron donor, oxygen is not generated; these types of photosynthesis are called anoxygenic photosynthesis. Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) or thiosulfate (S2O2−3)(S2O32−) can serve as the electron donor, generating elemental sulfur and sulfate (SO2−4)(SO42−)ions, respectively, as a result.
Photosystems have been classified into two types: photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) (Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\)). Cyanobacteria and plant chloroplasts have both photosystems, whereas anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria use only one of the photosystems. Both photosystems are excited by light energy simultaneously. If the cell requires both ATP and NADPH for biosynthesis, then it will carry out noncyclic photophosphorylation. Upon passing of the PSII reaction center electron to the ETS that connects PSII and PSI, the lost electron from the PSII reaction center is replaced by the splitting of water. The excited PSI reaction center electron is used to reduce NADP + to NADPH and is replaced by the electron exiting the ETS. The flow of electrons in this way is called the Z-scheme.
If a cell’s need for ATP is significantly greater than its need for NADPH, it may bypass the production of reducing power through cyclic photophosphorylation. Only PSI is used during cyclic photophosphorylation; the high-energy electron of the PSI reaction center is passed to an ETS carrier and then ultimately returns to the oxidized PSI reaction center pigment, thereby reducing it.
Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\)
Why would a photosynthetic bacterium have different pigments?
Light-Independent Reactions
After the energy from the sun is converted into chemical energy and temporarily stored in ATP and NADPH molecules (having lifespans of millionths of a second), photoautotrophs have the fuel needed to build multicarbon carbohydrate molecules, which can survive for hundreds of millions of years, for long-term energy storage. The carbon comes from CO 2 , the gas that is a waste product of cellular respiration.
The Calvin-Benson cycle (named for Melvin Calvin [1911–1997] and Andrew Benson [1917–2015]), the biochemical pathway used for fixation of CO 2 , is located within the cytoplasm of photosynthetic bacteria and in the stroma of eukaryotic chloroplasts. The light-independent reactions of the Calvin cycle can be organized into three basic stages: fixation, reduction, and regeneration (see Appendix C for a detailed illustration of the Calvin cycle).
- Fixation : The enzyme ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisCO) catalyzes the addition of a CO 2 to ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP). This results in the production of 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PGA).
- Reduction : Six molecules of both ATP and NADPH (from the light-dependent reactions) are used to convert 3-PGA into glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P). Some G3P is then used to build glucose.
- Regeneration : The remaining G3P not used to synthesize glucose is used to regenerate RuBP, enabling the system to continue CO 2 fixation. Three more molecules of ATP are used in these regeneration reactions.
The Calvin cycle is used extensively by plants and photoautotrophic bacteria, and the enzyme RuBisCO is said to be the most plentiful enzyme on earth, composing 30%–50% of the total soluble protein in plant chloroplasts. 1 However, besides its prevalent use in photoautotrophs, the Calvin cycle is also used by many nonphotosynthetic chemoautotrophs to fix CO 2 . Additionally, other bacteria and archaea use alternative systems for CO 2 fixation. Although most bacteria using Calvin cycle alternatives are chemoautotrophic, certain green sulfur photoautotrophic bacteria have been also shown to use an alternative CO 2 fixation pathway.
Exercise \(\PageIndex{3}\)
Describe the three stages of the Calvin cycle.
Key Concepts and Summary
- Heterotrophs depend on the carbohydrates produced by autotrophs, many of which are photosynthetic, converting solar energy into chemical energy.
- Different photosynthetic organisms use different mixtures of photosynthetic pigments , which increase the range of the wavelengths of light an organism can absorb.
- Photosystems (PSI and PSII) each contain a light-harvesting complex , composed of multiple proteins and associated pigments that absorb light energy. The light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis convert solar energy into chemical energy, producing ATP and NADPH or NADH to temporarily store this energy.
- In oxygenic photosynthesis , H 2 O serves as the electron donor to replace the reaction center electron, and oxygen is formed as a byproduct. In anoxygenic photosynthesis , other reduced molecules like H 2 S or thiosulfate may be used as the electron donor; as such, oxygen is not formed as a byproduct.
- Noncyclic photophosphorylation is used in oxygenic photosynthesis when there is a need for both ATP and NADPH production. If a cell’s needs for ATP outweigh its needs for NADPH, then it may carry out cyclic photophosphorylation instead, producing only ATP.
- The light-independent reactions of photosynthesis use the ATP and NADPH from the light-dependent reactions to fix CO 2 into organic sugar molecules.
Multiple Choice
During the light-dependent reactions, which molecule loses an electron?
A. a light-harvesting pigment molecule
B. a reaction center pigment molecule
C. NADPH
D. 3-phosphoglycerate
B
In prokaryotes, in which direction are hydrogen ions pumped by the electron transport system of photosynthetic membranes?
A. to the outside of the plasma membrane
B. to the inside (cytoplasm) of the cell
C. to the stroma
D. to the intermembrane space of the chloroplast
A
Which of the following does not occur during cyclic photophosphorylation in cyanobacteria?
A. electron transport through an ETS
B. photosystem I use
C. ATP synthesis
D. NADPH formation
D
Which are two products of the light-dependent reactions are ________.
A. glucose and NADPH
B. NADPH and ATP
C. glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and CO
2
D. glucose and oxygen
B
True/False
Photosynthesis always results in the formation of oxygen.
False
Fill in the Blank
The enzyme responsible for CO 2 fixation during the Calvin cycle is called ________.
ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisCO)
The types of pigment molecules found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria are ________ and ________.
chlorophylls and carotenoids
Short Answer
Why would an organism perform cyclic phosphorylation instead of noncyclic phosphorylation?
What is the function of photosynthetic pigments in the light-harvesting complex?
Critical Thinking
Is life dependent on the carbon fixation that occurs during the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis? Explain.
Footnotes
- 1 A. Dhingra et al. “Enhanced Translation of a Chloroplast-Expressed Rbc S Gene Restores Small Subunit Levels and Photosynthesis in Nuclear Rbc S Antisense Plants.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101 no. 16 (2004):6315–6320.
Contributors and Attributions
-
Nina Parker, (Shenandoah University), Mark Schneegurt (Wichita State University), Anh-Hue Thi Tu (Georgia Southwestern State University), Philip Lister (Central New Mexico Community College), and Brian M. Forster (Saint Joseph’s University) with many contributing authors. Original content via Openstax (CC BY 4.0; Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/microbiology/pages/1-introduction )


1.8: “We sure did get tired-” Letter from a Volunteer Nurse, October 17, 1918
“We sure did get tired:” Letter from a Volunteer Nurse, October 17, 1918
By Lutiant Lavoye
Introduction:
Lutiant Lavoye was a Chippewa girl from Minnesota who graduated from the Haskell Indian School in Kansas and, at age 19, volunteered to help nurse soldiers in Camp Humphreys near Washington, D.C during the Influenza epidemic in October of 1918. This is a letter she wrote to her friend at the school. After only a week or so, staff at the camp hospital sent Lutiant home because the patients were so sick and she was too inexperienced.
Unfortunately, the Haskell school officials read her letter to Louise and she was reprimanded for her remark about Head Matron Katherine Keck and cooking teacher Mae McCauley. Miss Keck was very unpopular with the Indian girls in the dormitory and was later transferred from the school.
To read more about Lutiant and the school, see the articles listed at the end of this reading.
Dear friend Louise:
So everybody has the “Flu” at Haskell? I wish to goodness Miss Keck and Mrs. McK. would get it and die with it. Really, it would be such a good riddance, and not much lost either! As many as 90 people die every day here with the “Flu.” Soldiers too, are dying by the dozens. So far, Felicity, C. Zane, and I are the only ones of the Indian girls who have not had it. We certainly consider ourselves lucky too, believe me. Katherine and I just returned last Sunday evening from Camp Humphreys “Somewhere in Virginia” where we volunteered to help nurse soldiers sick with the Influenza. … All nurses were required to work twelve hours a day–we worked from seven in the morning until seven at night, with only a short time for luncheon and dinner.
Believe me, we were always glad when night came because we sure did get tired. We had the actual Practical nursing to do–just like the other nurses had, and were given a certain number of wards with three or four patients in each of them to look after. Our chief duties were to give medicines to the patients, take temperatures, fix ice packs, feed them at “eating time”, rub their back or chest with camphorated sweet oil, make egg-nogs, and a whole string of other things I can’t begin to name. I liked the work just fine, but it was too hard, not being used to it. When I was in the Officer’s barracks, four of the officers of whom I had charge, died. Two of them were married and called for their wife nearly all the time. It was sure pitiful to see them die. I was right in the wards alone with them each time, and Oh! The first one that died sure unnerved me–I had to go to the nurses’ quarters and cry it out. The other three were not so bad. Really, Louise, Orderlies carried the dead soldiers out on stretchers at the rate of two every three hours for the first two days they were there. Two German spies, posing as doctors, were caught giving these Influenza germs to the soldiers and they were shot last Saturday at sunrise. It is such a horrible thing, it is hard to believe, and yet such things happen almost every day in Washington.
Emergency hospital in Camp Funston, Kansas, in the midst of the influenza epidemic.
"Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic" by National Museum of Health and Medicine is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Repeated calls come from the Red Cross for nurses to do district work right here in D. C. I volunteered again, but as yet I have not been called and am waiting. Really, they are certainly “hard up” for nurses–even me can volunteer as a nurse in a camp or in Washington. There are about 800 soldiers stationed at Potomac Park right here in D. C. just a short distance from the Interior building where I work, and this morning’s paper said that the deaths at this Park were increasing, so if fortune favors me, I may find myself there before the week is ended. I have a very dear soldier friend who is stationed there--Lt. Cantril by name. ‘Twas so funny how we first met. I was completely lost in St. Louis at the Union station (on my way to D.C.) and simply had no idea where I was going--just wandering around the station to pass away my 3 ½ hrs. there waiting for my train. Finally, I thought of sending Odile a telegram so she could be at the station to meet me. I went to the Postal office right there in the Station and this soldier was standing there waiting to send a telegram too I waited, waitied, and waited and could not get in to send one, so I picked up my suit case and traveling bag and started toward the Ladies’ Waiting room. Instead of taking my own traveling bag, I left mine and picked up this soldier’s bag. They were as much alike as two peas, and I was so tired I never took special notice, but I thought I had my own bag. When I opened it to get out my comb and powder--behold! There was a kit-bag fully equiped and a knitted sweater in it, plus a few other trinkets. I knew then, whose bag I had, so checked my suit case and started to look for this soldier and exchange bags, as I thought he had mine. After walking around 45 minutes I began to despair of ever finding him and started back to the Ladies room and I came upon him sitting in one corner. I recognized my bag right away and went to exchange. He was simply so tickled to get his bag back he almost squeezed the life out of my hand when he shook it. I had my card and destination tacked on the handle of my bag, so he found out where I was going without telling him--and as fate would have it--he was going to D.C. too, so we traveled the rest of the way together. He is a perfect gentleman, and sure treated me nice on the way. Since I am located here, he has been down to our house twice to see me since I came back from Camp Humphreys, and he sure wants me to come down to Potomac Park as a nurse. He is not what one would call “handsome” but he is certainly good-looking , and on top of all that--he is CATHOLIC. Sure like it for myself too. All the girls have soldiers–Indian girls also. Some of the girls have soldiers and sailors too.  They tell us that the Indian girls are not so “easy” as the white girls, so I guess maybe that’s their reason.
"Lutiant Lavoye"
by
National Archives at Kansas City
is in the
Public Domain
Washington is certainly a beautiful place. There is so much to be said in favor of it, that if I started, I don’t believe I should ever get through. Odile and I have to pass by the Capitol, the Union Station, the War Department, the Pension Bldg., and through the noted Lincoln park every morning to our way to work. The Washington Monument (555ft. high) is within walking distance of the Interior Department (where we work) and we walked there last evening after work. It certainly is high and we are planning to go up in the elevator some time to look over the city. We were going last evening, but the place is closed temporarily, on account of this “Flu”.
The Aviation field is another very interesting place here. Air-plaines fly over the cit at all hours of the day now, and sometimes so low that one can hear the noise of the machine.
Besides Aviators, we have hundreds of soldiers, sailors, Marines, French “Blue Devils ” and even the National band of Italy here in Washington. Douglas Fairbanks and Geraldine Farrar are here also on the fourth Liberty Loan campaign and I was privileged to take a chance to peep at them. Just yesterday, Bouglas sold ONE MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF BONDS FOR WASHINGTON. It was rumoured that Washington was going to fail to reach its quota in Liberty Bonds on account of having so many deaths and sick people in the city, but the way “Doug” is selling ‘em, it doesn’t seem as if it will. A lot of girls from the Office here go out to sell bonds but some of them don’t make much of a success. One of the Indian girls, named Cathryne Welch, went out last week to sell bonds and seh sold so many that she got recused from the Office for the rest of this week to do nothing but sell bonds. She is a very pretty girl--a high school graduate and one year normal. She has two brothers in the army--one is a Captain and the other a Sergeant. Maybe you remember seeing Capt. Gus Welch’s picture in the K. C. Star--well that is her brother and he is “over there” now.
All the schools, churches, theaters, dancing halls, etc. are closed here also. There is a bill in the Senate today authorizing all the war-workers to be released from work for the duration of this epidemic. It has not passed the house yet, but I can’t help but hope it does. If it does, Lutiant can find plenty of things at home to busy herself with, or she might accidentally take a trip to Potomac Park. Ha! Ha!
It is perfectly alright about the sweater. I don’t expect you to be able to get it while you are quarantined, but will still be glad to have it if you can send it as soon as you are out of quarantine. It is rather cold in Washington, but not cold enough to wear winter coats yet, and my suit coat is a little too thin, so I figured out that a sweater would be the thing to have. Sometimes it is cold enough to wear a wrap while working, but of course, it is out of the question to work in a heavy winter coat. However, send it whenever you find it convenient to do so, and I will settle with you as promptly as possible.
Well Louise, if you are not dead tired reading this letter, I’ll write another like it some other time. There is still a lot I could tell you about D.C., but it’s nearing lunch time and I want to be right there on the dot, as I always am--to be sure.
Write again whenever you find it convenient to do so--always glad to hear the Kaskell news from you.
Sincerely your friend,
Lutiant
Glossary:
- Kit-bag - another name for a duffle bag.
- “one year normal” - normal school is one that trains high school graduates to become teachers.
Questions:
- What duties is Lutiant responsible for as a volunteer nurse? What kind of toll did performing those duties take on her and other volunteers?
- What similarities do you see between what’s happening in Washington, DC, due to the flu and how cities and states are reacting to the current epidemic?
Sources:
“Hidden Treasures from the Stacks Kindness: Not Always Contagious .” National Archives at Kansas City , Aug. 2011, p. 3, www.archives.gov/files/kansas-city/press/2011/2011-august.pdf .
Loofbourow, Lili. “This Funny, Mordant Letter From the 1918 Pandemic Says It All.” Slate Magazine , Slate, 1 May 2020, slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/1918-flu-pandemic-nurse-letter.html.
Lutiant Van Wert to “Louise” (10/17/1918). Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75. National Archives Identifier: 2641556. National Archives at Kansas City, Kansas City, MO. Available via National Archives ( https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/records/volunteer-nurse-letter.pdf ).
This work (Lutiant Van Wert to “Louise” (10/17/1918), by Unknown ) is free of known copyright restrictions.


1.7: John Locke — Excerpts from A Letter on Toleration, 1989
John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher and political theorist. During his lifetime, he was involved in colonial ventures, politics, commerce, and medicine. A Letter Concerning Toleration and the Two Treatises of Government offered ideas and concepts that became central to political liberalism and were referenced by many involved in the revolution of the North American colonies from England.
…The commonwealth seems to me to be a society of men constituted only for the procuring, preserving, and advancing their own civil interests.
Civil interests I call life, liberty, health, and indolency of body; and the possession of outward things, such as money, lands, houses, furniture, and the like.
It is the duty of the civil magistrate, by the impartial execution of equal laws, to secure unto all the people in general and to every one of his subjects in particular the just possession of these things belonging to this life. If anyone presume to violate the laws of public justice and equity, established for the preservation of those things, his presumption is to be checked by the fear of punishment, consisting of the deprivation or diminution of those civil interests, or goods, which otherwise he might and ought to enjoy. But seeing no man does willingly suffer himself to be punished by the deprivation of any part of his goods, and much less of his liberty or life, therefore, is the magistrate armed with the force and strength of all his subjects, in order to the punishment of those that violate any other man’s rights.
Now that the whole jurisdiction of the magistrate reaches only to these civil concernments, and that all civil power, right and dominion, is bounded and confined to the only care of promoting these things; and that it neither can nor ought in any manner to be extended to the salvation of souls, these following considerations seem unto me abundantly to demonstrate.
First, because the care of souls is not committed to the civil magistrate, any more than to other men. It is not committed unto him, I say, by God; because it appears not that God has ever given any such authority to one man over another as to compel anyone to his religion. Nor can any such power be vested in the magistrate by the consent of the people, because no man can so far abandon the care of his own salvation as blindly to leave to the choice of any other, whether prince or subject, to prescribe to him what faith or worship he shall embrace. For no man can, if he would, conform his faith to the dictates of another. All the life and power of true religion consist in the inward and full persuasion of the mind; and faith is not faith without believing. Whatever profession we make, to whatever outward worship we conform, if we are not fully satisfied in our own mind that the one is true and the other well pleasing unto God, such profession and such practice, far from being any furtherance, are indeed great obstacles to our salvation. For in this manner, instead of expiating other sins by the exercise of religion, I say, in offering thus unto God Almighty such a worship as we esteem to be displeasing unto Him, we add unto the number of our other sins those also of hypocrisy and contempt of His Divine Majesty.
In the second place, the care of souls cannot belong to the civil magistrate, because his power consists only in outward force; but true and saving religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind, without which nothing can be acceptable to God. And such is the nature of the understanding, that it cannot be compelled to the belief of anything by outward force. Confiscation of estate, imprisonment, torments, nothing of that nature can have any such efficacy as to make men change the inward judgement that they have framed of things.
It may indeed be alleged that the magistrate may make use of arguments, and, thereby; draw the heterodox into the way of truth, and procure their salvation. I grant it; but this is common to him with other men. In teaching, instructing, and redressing the erroneous by reason, he may certainly do what becomes any good man to do. Magistracy does not oblige him to put off either humanity or Christianity; but it is one thing to persuade, another to command; one thing to press with arguments, another with penalties. This civil power alone has a right to do; to the other, goodwill is authority enough. Every man has commission to admonish, exhort, convince another of error, and, by reasoning, to draw him into truth; but to give laws, receive obedience, and compel with the sword, belongs to none but the magistrate. And, upon this ground, I affirm that the magistrate’s power extends not to the establishing of any articles of faith, or forms of worship, by the force of his laws. For laws are of no force at all without penalties, and penalties in this case are absolutely impertinent, because they are not proper to convince the mind. Neither the profession of any articles of faith, nor the conformity to any outward form of worship (as has been already said), can be available to the salvation of souls, unless the truth of the one and the acceptableness of the other unto God be thoroughly believed by those that so profess and practise. But penalties are no way capable to produce such belief. It is only light and evidence that can work a change in men’s opinions; which light can in no manner proceed from corporal sufferings, or any other outward penalties.
In the third place, the care of the salvation of men’s souls cannot belong to the magistrate; because, though the rigour of laws and the force of penalties were capable to convince and change men’s minds, yet would not that help at all to the salvation of their souls. For there being but one truth, one way to heaven, what hope is there that more men would be led into it if they had no rule but the religion of the court and were put under the necessity to quit the light of their own reason, and oppose the dictates of their own consciences, and blindly to resign themselves up to the will of their governors and to the religion which either ignorance, ambition, or superstition had chanced to establish in the countries where they were born? In the variety and contradiction of opinions in religion, wherein the princes of the world are as much divided as in their secular interests, the narrow way would be much straitened; one country alone would be in the right, and all the rest of the world put under an obligation of following their princes in the ways that lead to destruction; and that which heightens the absurdity, and very ill suits the notion of a Deity, men would owe their eternal happiness or misery to the places of their nativity.
These considerations, to omit many others that might have been urged to the same purpose, seem unto me sufficient to conclude that all the power of civil government relates only to men’s civil interests, is confined to the care of the things of this world, and hath nothing to do with the world to come.
Let us now consider what a church is. A church, then, I take to be a voluntary society of men, joining themselves together of their own accord in order to the public worshipping of God in such manner as they judge acceptable to Him, and effectual to the salvation of their souls.
I say it is a free and voluntary society. Nobody is born a member of any church; otherwise the religion of parents would descend unto children by the same right of inheritance as their temporal estates, and everyone would hold his faith by the same tenure he does his lands, than which nothing can be imagined more absurd. Thus, therefore, that matter stands. No man by nature is bound unto any particular church or sect, but everyone joins himself voluntarily to that society in which he believes he has found that profession and worship which is truly acceptable to God. The hope of salvation, as it was the only cause of his entrance into that communion, so it can be the only reason of his stay there. For if afterwards he discover anything either erroneous in the doctrine or incongruous in the worship of that society to which he has joined himself, why should it not be as free for him to go out as it was to enter? No member of a religious society can be tied with any other bonds but what proceed from the certain expectation of eternal life. A church, then, is a society of members voluntarily uniting to that end.
It follows now that we consider what is the power of this church and unto what laws it is subject.
Forasmuch as no society, how free soever, or upon whatsoever slight occasion instituted, whether of philosophers for learning, of merchants for commerce, or of men of leisure for mutual conversation and discourse, no church or company, I say, can in the least subsist and hold together, but will presently dissolve and break in pieces, unless it be regulated by some laws, and the members all consent to observe some order. Place and time of meeting must be agreed on; rules for admitting and excluding members must be established; distinction of officers, and putting things into a regular course, and suchlike, cannot be omitted. But since the joining together of several members into this church-society, as has already been demonstrated, is absolutely free and spontaneous, it necessarily follows that the right of making its laws can belong to none but the society itself; or, at least (which is the same thing), to those whom the society by common consent has authorised thereunto.
Some, perhaps, may object that no such society can be said to be a true church unless it have in it a bishop or presbyter, with ruling authority derived from the very apostles, and continued down to the present times by an uninterrupted succession.
To these I answer: In the first place, let them show me the edict by which Christ has imposed that law upon His Church. And let not any man think me impertinent, if in a thing of this consequence I require that the terms of that edict be very express and positive; for the promise He has made us, [6] that “wheresoever two or three are gathered together” in His name, He will be in the midst of them, seems to imply the contrary. Whether such an assembly want anything necessary to a true church, pray do you consider. Certain I am that nothing can be there wanting unto the salvation of souls, which is sufficient to our purpose.
Next, pray observe how great have always been the divisions amongst even those who lay so much stress upon the Divine institution and continued succession of a certain order of rulers in the Church. Now, their very dissension unavoidably puts us upon a necessity of deliberating and, consequently, allows a liberty of choosing that which upon consideration we prefer.
And, in the last place, I consent that these men have a ruler in their church, established by such a long series of succession as they judge necessary, provided I may have liberty at the same time to join myself to that society in which I am persuaded those things are to be found which are necessary to the salvation of my soul. In this manner ecclesiastical liberty will be preserved on all sides, and no man will have a legislator imposed upon him but whom himself has chosen.
But since men are so solicitous about the true church, I would only ask them here, by the way, if it be not more agreeable to the Church of Christ to make the conditions of her communion consist in such things, and such things only, as the Holy Spirit has in the Holy Scriptures declared, in express words, to be necessary to salvation; I ask, I say, whether this be not more agreeable to the Church of Christ than for men to impose their own inventions and interpretations upon others as if they were of Divine authority, and to establish by ecclesiastical laws, as absolutely necessary to the profession of Christianity, such things as the Holy Scriptures do either not mention, or at least not expressly command? Whosoever requires those things in order to ecclesiastical communion, which Christ does not require in order to life eternal, he may, perhaps, indeed constitute a society accommodated to his own opinion and his own advantage; but how that can be called the Church of Christ which is established upon laws that are not His, and which excludes such persons from its communion as He will one day receive into the Kingdom of Heaven, I understand not. But this being not a proper place to inquire into the marks of the true church, I will only mind those that contend so earnestly for the decrees of their own society, and that cry out continually, “The Church! the Church!” with as much noise, and perhaps upon the same principle, as the Ephesian silversmiths did for their Diana; this, I say, I desire to mind them of, that the Gospel frequently declares that the true disciples of Christ must suffer persecution; but that the Church of Christ should persecute others, and force others by fire and sword to embrace her faith and doctrine, I could never yet find in any of the books of the New Testament.
The end of a religious society (as has already been said) is the public worship of God and, by means thereof, the acquisition of eternal life. All discipline ought, therefore, to tend to that end, and all ecclesiastical laws to be thereunto confined. Nothing ought nor can be transacted in this society relating to the possession of civil and worldly goods. No force is here to be made use of upon any occasion whatsoever. For force belongs wholly to the civil magistrate, and the possession of all outward goods is subject to his jurisdiction.
But, it may be asked, by what means then shall ecclesiastical laws be established, if they must be thus destitute of all compulsive power? I answer: They must be established by means suitable to the nature of such things, whereof the external profession and observation — if not proceeding from a thorough conviction and approbation of the mind — is altogether useless and unprofitable. The arms by which the members of this society are to be kept within their duty are exhortations, admonitions, and advices. If by these means the offenders will not be reclaimed, and the erroneous convinced, there remains nothing further to be done but that such stubborn and obstinate persons, who give no ground to hope for their reformation, should be cast out and separated from the society. This is the last and utmost force of ecclesiastical authority. No other punishment can thereby be inflicted than that, the relation ceasing between the body and the member which is cut off.
The person so condemned ceases to be a part of that church.
These things being thus determined, let us inquire, in the next place: How far the duty of toleration extends, and what is required from everyone by it?
And, first, I hold that no church is bound, by the duty of toleration, to retain any such person in her bosom as, after admonition, continues obstinately to offend against the laws of the society. For, these being the condition of communion and the bond of the society, if the breach of them were permitted without any animadversion the society would immediately be thereby dissolved. But, nevertheless, in all such cases care is to be taken that the sentence of excommunication, and the execution thereof, carry with it no rough usage of word or action whereby the ejected person may any wise be damnified in body or estate. For all force (as has often been said) belongs only to the magistrate, nor ought any private persons at any time to use force, unless it be in self-defence against unjust violence. Excommunication neither does, nor can, deprive the excommunicated person of any of those civil goods that he formerly possessed. All those things belong to the civil government and are under the magistrate’s protection. The whole force of excommunication consists only in this: that, the resolution of the society in that respect being declared, the union that was between the body and some member comes thereby to be dissolved; and, that relation ceasing, the participation of some certain things which the society communicated to its members, and unto which no man has any civil right, comes also to cease. For there is no civil injury done unto the excommunicated person by the church minister’s refusing him that bread and wine, in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, which was not bought with his but other men’s money.
Secondly, no private person has any right in any manner to prejudice another person in his civil enjoyments because he is of another church or religion. All the rights and franchises that belong to him as a man, or as a denizen, are inviolably to be preserved to him. These are not the business of religion. No violence nor injury is to be offered him, whether he be Christian or Pagan. Nay, we must not content ourselves with the narrow measures of bare justice; charity, bounty, and liberality must be added to it. This the Gospel enjoins, this reason directs, and this that natural fellowship we are born into requires of us. If any man err from the right way, it is his own misfortune, no injury to thee; nor therefore art thou to punish him in the things of this life because thou supposest he will be miserable in that which is to come.
What I say concerning the mutual toleration of private persons differing from one another in religion, I understand also of particular churches which stand, as it were, in the same relation to each other as private persons among themselves: nor has any one of them any manner of jurisdiction over any other; no, not even when the civil magistrate (as it sometimes happens) comes to be of this or the other communion. For the civil government can give no new right to the church, nor the church to the civil government. So that, whether the magistrate join himself to any church, or separate from it, the church remains always as it was before — a free and voluntary society. It neither requires the power of the sword by the magistrate’s coming to it, nor does it lose the right of instruction and excommunication by his going from it. This is the fundamental and immutable right of a spontaneous society — that it has power to remove any of its members who transgress the rules of its institution; but it cannot, by the accession of any new members, acquire any right of jurisdiction over those that are not joined with it. And therefore peace, equity, and friendship are always mutually to be observed by particular churches, in the same manner as by private persons, without any pretence of superiority or jurisdiction over one another.
…Nobody, therefore, in fine, neither single persons nor churches, nay, nor even commonwealths, have any just title to invade the civil rights and worldly goods of each other upon pretence of religion. Those that are of another opinion would do well to consider with themselves how pernicious a seed of discord and war, how powerful a provocation to endless hatreds, rapines, and slaughters they thereby furnish unto mankind. No peace and security, no, not so much as common friendship, can ever be established or preserved amongst men so long as this opinion prevails, that dominion is founded in grace and that religion is to be propagated by force of arms.
In the third place, let us see what the duty of toleration requires from those who are distinguished from the rest of mankind (from the laity, as they please to call us) by some ecclesiastical character and office; whether they be bishops, priests, presbyters, ministers, or however else dignified or distinguished. It is not my business to inquire here into the original of the power or dignity of the clergy. This only I say, that, whencesoever their authority be sprung, since it is ecclesiastical, it ought to be confined within the bounds of the Church, nor can it in any manner be extended to civil affairs, because the Church itself is a thing absolutely separate and distinct from the commonwealth. The boundaries on both sides are fixed and immovable. He jumbles heaven and earth together, the things most remote and opposite, who mixes these two societies, which are in their original, end, business, and in everything perfectly distinct and infinitely different from each other. No man, therefore, with whatsoever ecclesiastical office he be dignified, can deprive another man that is not of his church and faith either of liberty or of any part of his worldly goods upon the account of that difference between them in religion. For whatsoever is not lawful to the whole Church cannot by any ecclesiastical right become lawful to any of its members.
Image Attribution: “John Locke” , Wikimedia Commons is in the Public Domain