DIET KITCHENS.

Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer suggested and introduced the use of the Diet
Kitchen into the hospitals. The Kitchen was used extensively among the
Branch Offices of the West. The design of the Kitchen was, to have
prepared for the men who were under treatment, such articles of food and
delicacies as are grateful to the sick, and at the same time may be
allowed with safety. The ladies who were engaged in this department
performed their labors under the direction of the surgeons, who
appointed their stations and approved their preparations. The process
was very much like that of the house in which the surgeon directs, and
the family provides, the nourishing food that is needed for the patient.

Mrs. Wittenmeyer had the Diet Kitchens under her supervision. She was
the agent of the Commission for the purpose. She operated under
regulations which were approved by the Commission and by the War
Department. These regulations were printed and circulated among the
managers of the Kitchens. So effective were the orders under which the
department was conducted, that not the least difficulty or
misunderstanding occurred, notwithstanding the responsible relations of
the co-operators, part being officials of the army and part under the
direction of a voluntary service. Each of the managers was furnished
with a copy of the rules, which, with the endorsement of the branch
office with which the service was connected, constituted the commission
of the manager.

The Special Diet Kitchens, were first adopted in the Department of the
Cumberland, and in that of the Mississippi, and with results so
unexpectedly beneficial, that Mrs. Wittenmeyer was earnestly solicited
to extend the work to the Army of the Potomac. This she did in the
winter of 1864, and it continued until the close of the war with great
success.

Much of this success was undoubtedly owing to the class of ladies
engaged in the work. Many of them were from the highest circles of
society, educated, refined and accomplished, and each was required to
maintain the life and character of an earnest Christian. They thus
commanded the respect of officers and men, and proved a powerful
instrument of good. As we have seen, the Christian Commission has borne
ample testimony to the value of the efforts of Mrs. Wittenmeyer, and her
associates in this department of hospital service.

Mrs. Wittenmeyer continued actively engaged in the service of the
Christian