Daily national Democrat., 1859-12-11
To the Public.

for when grand jures-bodies heretofore re
gorded the bulwark of the people. prostitute
their functions to crafty low, personal enml
ty' vindictive private spite, and to attain, by
the basest means, political ends, we may
well conclude that in these latter days human
nature has fallen to depths beyond n paral.
lei.
Never, until l read the report of the said
grand jury, did witness a full exemplifca.
ton of total depravity Tile sacreansss OF
private rights, the honor Of a community, the
sanctity of an oath, no longer restrains vile
ambitious men.
In this communication, shall confne my
self exclusively to the refutation of the base
calumny contained in said report. Hereaf-
ter. if time should serve, may notice the
grave tribunal itself, and also the officious
yet disnterested committee, whose creature
the said jury seems to have been. They saw.
Some OF the patients were not residents OF
Yuba county when they were admitted. con.
sequently are not proper subjects for the
Hospital This is no part of my business
nevertheless their conclusion by no means
follows. Patients are found in the county
sick, disabled and destitute from other States
and counties. What shall be done with
them? Shall they die in the streets unpro
vided for because they have once lived in
another State or county? By strict con-
struction of law in this State, paupers are
residents of the county, or town in which
they are found without reference to time. In
regard to the Utah case, no physician in his
senses could have objected to his admission
under the circumstances, and the fact that he
had been refused admission in Butte county
was no reason why he should not have been
admitted "eUen the first day he arrived in the
county," The person ironically termed the
lazy patient, is case of hypochondriasis,
bordering on insanity, circumstance which
should have been perceived by any person of
the most ordinary perceptive faculties or the
lowest degree Of medical knowledge. The
largely increased immigration, and the des
titution of the immigrants will explain why
so many patients were found in the hospitaI
who had Just arrived in the State by sea
and land" The afidavits appended will
prove concusively the utter falseness of the
following charges: "The bedsteads are full
of bedbugs and have not been cleaned for
eleven months" "The blankets and bed
ding OF some of the patients were lousy
There has been no general washing of blan-
kets within the memory of the oldest occu
pant of the Hospital. There is deficiency
of blankets. DC. If they ask for more to
protect them from the cold, they are told to
provide themselves &c. Many of the mat
trasses ore worn out and unfit for use." That
some of the mattresses are worn is true. but
that any considerable number are unfit for
use, as intimated by the co.lmttee, is untrue
" All the sheets and pillow slips used by the
patients are washed by a Chinaman. The
paupers." This last charge, grave as it is is
not denied Mr. Parhogen, the pauper re.
ferred to, is a confirmed epileptic, having
never less than two or three fits per day; is
utterly incapable of providing for himself;
but so long as he continues under my charge
shall allow him to busy himself in washing
bandages, or at any other light labor about
the Hospital he may feel disposed to engage
in There is no system in changing of
sheets and pillow cases-new patients are not
always given clean sheets, DC. and the sheets
of one of the patients have not been changed
for two months This is utterly false
"The sheets and under clothes Of the pa
tients are washed by themselves &c" No
provision has ever been made for the furnish
ing or the washing of clothes for patients.
nevertheless, have furnished bills of clothes
to them for a considerable amount and have
had their washing. done with other clothes Of
the Hospital. Zone wash dish is provided
for forty five patients to wash in" A wilful
premeditated falsehood, in my opinion
There are now in use at the Hospital not less
than dozen wash dishes. The patients are
served with water regularly by the attend
ants "There are two bath rooms in the
Hospital, but within the memory of the
patients longest in the Hospital no patient
has taken a BATH This is just as destitute
of truth as the last Both We're furnished
every day during the warm season, and are
now used when necessary. The privy
attached to the Hospital was found in filthy
condition. and the patients say it is continu-
IL V So" The patients say no such thing;
(see atfidavits) There is but one covered
stool in the Hospital There are no less
than ten. Not a single nurse is employed
for these forty i've patients" The most bare
faced lie of all; and in the very next sentence
of the report the falsehood is acknowledged
A ward located on the lower floor and Its
furniture the property of the county, Is ap.
propriated to the use of persons who are re-
ceived and treated as private patients, the
contractor or admitting physician receiving
the pay" No such room is used for such
purpose. receive 81 80 per day for all per
sons in the Hospital, the admitting physician
has never received one dime.
"The food, the patients say, is Indifferent
in character and is sparingly supplied" For
the truth of this see htfidavits The butter
used at the Hospital has always been good
frkn butter, the same used on the private
table at the Hospital and in my own family.
"The medical attendance the patients have
had has been given them almost entirely by
an uneducated and irresponsible employee of
the contractor" Mr.. Davis possesses more
education than the whole committee of the
Grand Jury and Physicians combined. He
speaks the spanish language fuently, has a
good knowledge of the French, reads and
writes the English language correctly, and Is
good Latin and Greek scholar, and is bet
ter medical practitioner in my opinion, than
either of the physicians comprising the com
mittee, Notwithstanding he has gone to Phil
adelphia to attend medical lectures.
But the infamous charge that the medical
treatment of patients has been left to Mr.. Da