Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1854-04-07
For the Journal.

Hospital for Wilmington-H Hospital Fund Of The Co.
rernment-C Comparative Expenditure for the WeSt
and The atlantic Sea d-COmmeJce Of NJ
n,inetOn-Seameql'S Friend Society,"
MEssRs. EDITORS Il stated IN my Report our
need of more funds not only for the establishment
of a Home and Bethel but because we should be I'M
der the necessity OF providing for large proportion
of all the Seamen connected with the comme;ce OF
Wilmington This will be obvious from the follow
inc facts: l. We have no Hospital al all for the
Port of Wilmington If we had Hospital. but
a small portion of seamen are entitled to HOSpI-
tai relief s. There is no probability that we shall
obtain Il Hospital soon, and until we DO, seamen en-
titled to Hospital relief must go to the Home OF the
Society, or to houses Of low character There Is
a general impression abroad that we have Hospl-
tall and therefore we should state that there is not
one more convenient than Charleston. u, or Nor
folk Va There is Hospital in distant part of
North Carolina, but not accessible 10 our seamen -
There never has been, and probably never will be
sailor sent there from Wilmington. 1t was designed
for the commerce of New Berne, Washington, and
other comm ercial towns in the Eastern part of the
State but so ncOnvenenty located as not to be OF
much benefit to them And our position Is such that
il is more convenient for u.s. and better IN the opinion
of the Government, to be in state OF yassaage to
South Carolina or Virginia. But do we need Hos
ptal Are we entitled 20 it Have proper efforts
been made 10 So cure it? And why we destitute
of it Before answering these questions it is i'm
portant to make brief statement as to the gengrai
Hospital Fund of the Government, the expenditures
fer the relief of sick and disabled seamen, number
and cost of Hospitals. &c. We derive our infOrma-
ton from the Report of the Secretary OF the Ireasu-
ry for 1923.
The receipts commenced in 1882 and there
paid that year $l09954 sc. The amount paid for
! the year ending Goth June, 1852, S132573 90. The
whole amount collected from Seamen SOC IA.
Amount expended for Hospitals S929, 80 2O Amount
received for an old Hospital $l2,875. Balance as
cost of Hospitals s9l6.444 20. Payments from the
Treasury for the relief of to the goth June,
1852 So 891 229 SO. Deduct for cost of Hospitals
which are the permanent property OF the Govern
ment, and it will leave unexpended balance IN the
Treasury, or the Seamens Savings Bank OF the Uni
ted States of 234,72l Ia The balance reported is
S3O7 ,638 78. This, however, must include APP
preparation from Congress. OF the amount expend-
ell to establish Hospitals there has been received for
the sea board of the Atlantic. from Key West to
Maine, S1O8, O35 for Mobile S49,830; for New Or
leans $l34 $685. and for San Francisco $l8OOOO hut
for Hospitals for the called employed in
navigating the Western Rivers and Lakes the enor-
nous and unequal sum OF S456, 1873 20. The amount
for Hospitals at Napoleon, Paducah and Chicago
alone is S133,587 90, while Charleston Key West,
Norfolk and Ocracoke have received only S76S35.-
We would also state that the Hospital for OcracOke,
n c. was secured in 1912, at the time that Hospi-
tails were obtained for Cleaveand, Pitsburg, Louis
Vile, Paducah St. Louis, Napoleon and NacheZ,
which cost the sum of 1891 45 co. 1t was under
these circumstances that the of $40 600, the first
and last appropriation since the organization OF the
Government was log-rolled out of the Treasury OF
the United States for the benefit of the seagraveyar
of our storm beaten coast, and $4,000 for Mobile
thus making $25, 900 that year for the whole
board of America. These statistics are from the
statement of the amount of marine Hospital money
collected annually from seamen under the act OF July
l6, 1913, and of he appropriations by Congress for
Marine Hospitals" &c, commencing in 1880, and
ending 1st July, 1852:
There are States that have established Hospitals
in of their principal sea ports, and in others,
suitable accommodations have been provided through
private munifcence and aid from the municipal au
thorities, and arrangements frequently made by
the Government with these institutions take care
of the sick Such arrangements exist al
New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and other points.
This will account for there being no U. S. Marine
Hospitals of the large ports of the coun-
try. But we have neither a Hospital, Pest house,
/ Town, State or Charitable Institution for seamen nor
even respectable boarding house where such an
arrangement be made at The present rates of COM
pensation allowed by the Government
! To appreciate the character of our claim for a
hospital it is necessary also to considerhe
OF Wilmington. We can only select few of the
leading articles. Our extracts from the Journal
There were exported for the year ending 3lst De-
cember, 1853: 115,174 barrels Sriris Turpentine
1922 do. Crude Turpentine; 38O,459 do. Ros"
26,130 do Tar; 1923 do Pitch 483 do Rosin Oil
1,l15,798 feet P Timber; 38l67,95O feet Lum-
Der 69,8ll bushels Pea Nuts 1915 bales Cotton
1876! casks Rice 1O2,9l7 bushels Rough Rice.
These articles alone amount to nearly four mil
lion of doars.' From this estimate the aggregate a
mount cannot be much less than five millions The
duties on imports from 1st January, 1853 are $685.
O6565 Wilmington is not only much the larges
sea port in N. c., but in point of trade inferior tt
but few on the Southern coast There only fou
ports South of the Delaware. that have large mum
Der of vessels connected with Foreign commerce.
The number Of vessels, and American tonnage i,
, Foreign trade being greater than from Savannah
nearly equal to both Norfolk and Richmond, and ex
ceeding that OF ali the CONNIE rcal ports of North
Carolina.
= shall give hereafter. extracts from Official Re
ports to establish these statements.
y VIM. I. LANGDON Agent.
For the Journal.
I Democratic Meeting in EenansvIlie,
a large and resnectahle nnaatinr Of the Darnocrac