The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1864-02-02 00:00:00

Somersttshire.

YEOVIL INFIRMARY AND DISPENSARY.

The annual meeting of the subscribers and friends
c.f this institution was held in the Lecture Hell of
the Mutual Improvement Society, Church street, on
I,l„nday, January 25th. The chair was taken by
the vicar, the Hew. It. J. F. Thomas. The following
reports were read by the Hon. Sec., W. Vickery,
sud by the medical oMcer of the institution, Dr.
Warry :
nerose OF YEOVIL INTIRM•RY DISPENSARY.
The close of the year 1863 brings with it the duty
of the Committee of the " Yeovil Infirmary and
Dispensary" of laying before the subscriber* and
fnends of the institution a brief summery of the pro.
reeding' during the above-mentioned period. It,.
a matter of deep thankfulneas they are enabled to
report that so much real good haa bean accomplished
during the year from the very small pecuniary means
placed at their diaPeend ; 97 patients, including Sin.
patients, have been admitted, all having derived
more or less benefit from the skill and humane atten-
tion of the medical officers of the institution. The
in.patients, in addition to regular medical care,
have also been supplied with necessary strengthea•
ing food, and the careful attendance of a resident
o.mpeteat nurse.

14-tim the treasurer's account it will be seen that
the amount of subscriptions received has been
.t. 59 2a. ; donations, £l6, £l5 fis. being the
joint donations of Sir A. A. Hood, Bart.,
and W. G. Langton, Est., the members of Parlia-
ment for the Western Division of the County.
These two SUMP, in accordance with a resolution
a the committee, proved on the 9th January, 1863,
vu placed in the 'Yeovil Savings Rank, the interest
only being applicable to the uses of the chanty.
The Rev. W. Thomas, the vicar of the parish, (who
hu taken • most lively interest in the progress of
the charity,) presented the treasurer with the large
sum of £l3 la. 84., the amount collected in the
pariah church of St. John's, after • thanksgiving
fermon preached by him for the late bountiful
harvest, kl tio. 9d. was also received from the Rev.
W. Dixon, the proceeds of the sermon preached in
the parish church of Chilthorne. The committee
c..n6dently hope that during the present year
c .11ections will he made in Trinity Church, and
th, various chapels in the town,on behalf of the insti-
tution.

i.e present premises are both small and incon-
venient, but the present annual income derived
from subscriptions is altogether inadequate to carry
out efficiently even its existing capabilities.
That the institution has gained the confidence of
the poor invalids, for whose special benefit it was
instituted, is abundantly proved by the numerous
applications made to the matron for information as
to where tickets of admission could be obtained,
and this was painfully evident during the lest
quarter of the year, when the subscribers' tickets
bad become exhausted. To carry on the charity
even in its present limited way required at least an
income of .ClOO a-year ; and surely, ins large and
prosperous manufacturing town like Yeovil,
its populous and immediate locality, there ought to
be persons both ready and willing to contribute
annually so small an amount, to say nothing of the
desirability of having • more extensive infirmary,
with a resident medical officer, efficient nurses,
and at least 20 or 30 beds, ready for the reception of
patients.
That such institutions are a great boon to the
poor, wherever they are established, is an admitted
fact. In extreme cows, the helpless sufferers are
removed for a time from the noise of children,
the injudicious intrusions of neighbours, and the
often almost unbearable foul temperature of the
living room, or the close bedroom; and this privilege
is rendered more valuable where, as has been the
ease in several instances daring the past year, the
patients admitted were diaabled in their limits, or
suffering from acute bodily diseases, superluided to
feeble frames. The medical officers of the institu-
tion have also felt their responsibilities lightened by
having their patients close at hand, and under daily
visitation-

•
The committee would also obeerve that the benefits
of the institution are especially intended for that I
class of persons who are just above the lowest or
pauper chime of poor, persons both honest and
industrious, who are very naturally, and very
properly, desirous of keeping themselves from
applying for parish relief, and who often, when
overtaken by sickness, are not prepared to pay
either for medical attendance or medicine, the loss
of health alone bringing with it sad family distress.
The committee would, therefore, beg to remind
the subscribers that to such persons only should their
tickets be supplied.
The committee in thus briefly laying before the
subscribers and the general public the gratifying
results of their past yeses laboure, pointing out the
value of such an institution to the town and neigh.
bourhood, and the benefite which so many poor
invalids have derived from its existence, can only
aloes their report by expressing an earnest hope
that such a merciful charity will no longer be
cramped in its usefulness for lack of adequate funds,
but rather have its manifest benefits extended, by a
large increase to the list of it. annual subscriber',
reminding thaw who pommies the energy of helping
onwards such an admirable institution of the
admonition of their Divine Master, that "it is
more blessed to give than to receive."