The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-31 00:00:00

E SPA P E
~•, \ -Jo
-4.. A
sole itti 93 2-8; it hag been above 93 in' the tionk('4 z.
quarters that have elapsed since Sep '1" '7*a-Y./:,:7474:';'',
year. Wheat (the average price 565. 1 f..
ter) was dearer than in the san_Ae period
when the price was 525. ld. 'The average, the
l
highest and lowest prices of beef LA Leadenrall an-
Newgate was 5-Id. per lb. ; and Of mutton, 60.
Best potatoes were 115 s. per ton; they were dearer
than they had been at the same time last yrear. The
returns of the Poor-law Commissioners L;re heavy
for the summer quarter. The total number of deaths
in the three months that ended 30th September was
92,225. In the same quarter of 1860 it did not much
exceed 86,000; in that of 1861 it was about 101,000.
The cold summer of this year was less healthy than.
the still colder summer of 1860 ; but it was healthier
than the warmer summer of last year. The annual
rate of mortality in the quarter was 1,797 per cent.
of the populat:on against an average derived frovi
ten summers (1852 61) of 2.020 per cent. In these
ten summers there is but a single example of so low
a death-rate, viz., that furnished by 1860, which
was 1.718. Even in summer, which is She healthiest
season of the year, the mortality of ail England is
seldom so low as 1.9 per cent. A few of the regis-
trars witnessing a reduction of the mortality' with
the distress that prevailed in their district? at
the same time have been tempted to speculate on
the facts, and as those officers in the course of
their duties are in frequent communication with
the labouring classes their opinions may be
quoted. The registrar of Wigan states that more
freedom to breathe the fresh air, inability to in-
dulge in spirituous liquors, and better nursing of
children, are believed to have improved the public
health. The registrar of Little Bolton holds that the
decrease of deaths is mainly due to a greater amount
of domestic superintendence. The registrar of
Hulne th 4 the even temperature of the
weathek -Ided finereased attention paid to young
children have caused the decrease. The Registrar
of Knott Lanes (Ashton) attributes the result to
absence of epidemics, mildness of the weather, out-
door exercise, maternal care ; also to parish relief
and charitable contributions, by means of which
food has been obtained not sufficient for healthput
enough to mitigate distress, and prevent hitherto
an increase of mortality. The Registrar of Preston
sub-district also refers to the good effect of fresh
air, nursing, and mildness of the weather.

ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL.

A special general court of the governors was held on
Tuesday last, at the London-bridge Railways Terminus
Hotel, to read the minutes of the meetings of the grand
committee, held since the last general court, and to take
such measures as may be deemed desirable with a view to
the acquisition of a site for, and the construction of, the
new hospital. There were present Sir John Musgrove,
president, and about forty other governors—a very small
attendance, not more than one-fifth of the body of gover-
nors, considering the importance of the subject. The ab-
sence of many of the governors may, no doubt, be accounted.
for by the circumstance of their having mistaken the
London-bridge Hotel for the London-bridge Railways Ter-
minus Hotel, and finding, upon inquiry, that no meeting
was to be held there, supposed that they had mistaken tho
day.
The PRESIDENT having stated the object of the meeting,
the report of the deputation of four of the governors ap-
pointed to examine the hospitals of France, Belgium, and
Holland, was read and received with great satisfaction.
Mr. Tim; M.P., then rose to propose a motion relative
to the choice and purchase of a site for the new hospital,
the substance of which was to leave the whole question to
the grand committee, subject to the provisions of the Act of
Parliament. He expressed himself very strongly in favour
of acquiring from 30 to 35 acres of land in some salubrious
situation, not more than seven or eight miles south of Lon-
don ; and expressed his conviction that a site in all respects
desirable might he obtained at or near to Wandsworth at a
comparatively small cost. He was desirous, however, that
the grand committee should be left to the exercise of its
own judgment on the question, with the suggestion only
that it was most desirable, now that there was an opportu-
nity of doing so, to combine the requirement and provisions
of an hospital and a sanatorium.
Mr, J. 0. JoirNsoN, treasurer of Bethlehem Hospital,
seconded the motion.
Mr. Deputy ELLIOTT moved an amendment to the effect,
that it was desirable to erect the new hospital within as
short a distance as was practicable from the old one, and
recommending that no action for the acquisition of a new
site should be taken until the eligibility of that of the tem-
porary hospital had been further tested. The hon. gtntle-
man urged a number of very cogent reasons in favour of
the amendment he thus submitted to the court, insisting
chiefly upon the claims which the citizens, of London and
the inhabitants of Southwark had upon the consideration
of the governors, the hospital having been chartered and
endowed with especial reference to their wants, which
would be altogether set at nought if the hospital
were removed to any such distant spot as that which
seemed to be desired by the mover and seconder of the re-
solution.

Mr. ADAMS seconded the amendment, and urged that the
site of the temporary hospital seemed in all respects most
admirably fitted to be the site of the new one. It possessed
all the requisites of locality, salubrity, facility of access,
and extent of space for such an institution, and he believed
that they would be doing great wrong and injustice if they
removed it to any other site. After speaking of the interest
with which he had visited and watched the rapid and satis-
factory progress to completion of the present building, he
briefly adverted to the several circumstances which had
already been urged in favour of the locality in which it
stood, especially its being in the midst of a dense growing
population, greatly in want of such an institution, but
which would be cruelly deprived of the great benefits it had
conferred upon that part of the metropolis for more than
300 years, if it were removed some six, seven, or eight miles
into the country. What, too, he asked, would become of
the medical school, for which the hospital had become
fameus, if it were removed to some distant rural spot ?
The museums, libraries, and medical institutions were to
be found only in the metropelis, and students we re in the
habit, as was well known, of going from ono institution to
another in pursuit of their objects. To convert
this great metropolitan hospital into a mere
county hospital, would be, in a great measure,
fatal to these objects, and would deprive it of one of its great
claims to public consideration and respect. Again referrin g
to the site of the temporary hospital, he had, he said, the
testimony of the resident medical officer (Mr. Whitfield)
that it was a great success. (Hear, hear.) Ile had himself
been there as lately as Saturday last, and had found the
number of out-door patients to be larger even than was in
attendance at the old hospital. Would that have been the
ease—was it possible that it should have been so—had the
hospital been carried some miles away from the residence
of these poor people ? As to the eligibility of the spot, in a
sanitary point of view, it seemed to be all that could be de-
sired. The sisters of the wards stated that they had ob-
served a marked favourable difference in the progress of the
patients. What more could be looked for if they were to
remove it some 7or 8 miles further away. In conclusion
ho expressed it to be his conscientious conviction that they
would be guilty of nothing less than a great fraud, if they
removed the hospital beyond an easy distance for the thou-
sands who now, and for se many years had been, enabled
to avail themselves of its great benefits.
Mr. R. A. GRAY, chairman of the City Gas Company,
supported the amendment, and spoke strongly in favour of
the site of the temporary hospital, as ensuring the purposes
intended in the endowment of the original one.

Mr. B. Plannrrs having briefly supported the amend-
ment,
Dr. LEESON shortly opposed the amendment.
ftrhomougAhldenrmot avneCryolodneeclidWednlys,ortin,
whAofteexrparesfseewd hreimmarseklfs,
favour of the original motion,
and doubted whether it could
be properly said they were
the hospital guilty of a fraud, in removing
to such a spot as that indicated by the mover
and seconder of the resolution, a division was taken on the
amendment, which was negatived by a majority of 21 to 16.
Alderman PHILLIPS then moved another amendment,
to the effect that all action towards acquiring a new site
should be for the present suspended. and reurged various
reasons against contemplating the abandonment of the site
they were4now occupying, unless it should turn out to be
destitute of some material requirement of such an institu-
tion as that placed in their charge. Time must be taken to
ascertain that fact, if it existed, and it was therefore de-
sirable that the court should recommend to tho grand com-
mittee that they take no further action for the present.
Mr. ADAMS having seconded the amendment,
The Treasurer, Mr. R. BAGALLAY stated that no site for
the new hospital had been chosen or even discussed by the
grand committee, but expressed it as his own opinion that
from thirty to forty acres of land should be obtained for
the purpose as near to London as they could be had.
The amendment was then put and negatived by a some-
what larger majority than the former amendment had been,
several of the governors ha% ing left the room. Finally,
1
the original motion was put and carried, as was also
another, directing the architect of the hospital to prepare
plans, to be submitted to a future court, and to the medical
officers ; and, after votes of thanks to the deputation and
the President, the court adjourned.

THE WHALE FISHERY.—The Truelove, Captain
Wells, arrived at Hull from Davis' Straits, reports that on
the 20th of July the Abram of Kirkcaldy, and the Alex.
and hence the result attained by the vessels
ander, of Dundee, were lost during gales and thick weather.
The past season has been one of the most severe known for
&lie*. have been comparatively me
many years,
Captain Gray, has left Lerwick
engaged in the ogre.
The Agoluo,
the Straits. for Hull, from