Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1861-1862, 1861-09-28
THE RICHMOND WHIG.
INVERTED PROVIDENCE.
"Immediately a place

Before hse eyes 81 psared, SD noisome, dark,
a 'lszlr house il seemed wherein were laid
Numbers Of all diseased; all malsdies
OF ghss,ly spasm or nckng torture, qualms
OF hearte!ck agony, all feverous kinds.
Convuls:ons, epilepscs, fierce catarrbs
Intestine stone and ulcer, colc psngs,
Demoniac parepzy, mopipg melancholy
And moon struck ma inese, pniug atrcphy,
harasmrs ard wide wasting pestilcnce,
Dsopsies and asthuas and joint racking rheums.
Dire wAs the tossing deep the groapt; despair
Tended the sick bu:iss: from couch to couch;
And over them triumphant Desth his dart
Shook but delayed to strike, though of invoked
With VOWS as their chief good or Anal hope"
such was the Hospital in Htons conception; srci i.
the Hospital OF civilized Europe, with tho honor
able exception Of spait and America has but copied
without improving on tho oia wv,,a'o i.s,i,-y,oDs
The nature OF our provisions for the sick depends
upon the desired result. At present, the South
has surplus population and she needs ker children
fight. TIE measures adopted are then very mpcb op-
posed 10 the end in view tue formidat, mortality Of our
military hospitals proves 1t. The crowding Of the sick
t. these zsr houses is but organized Assassination
bndly and unrt actiugy adopted from the traditional
routine Of countries where asurpus Of population
production rendeed i economic policy to obtain max
imam mortality Of the sick poor who alone thus trea
ted THIS Is indirect method Of execution, By which
society is enabled to dispense with during longer
periods Of tme and which has the advantage Of dserr
mating in the ne!hodicsl employment Of pestenoe,
s the victims Of this sinister ho'pta!ity will be
turay the feebler in physical constitution well the
poorer in purse. This is far from being true however
at Mahassas Rictm,n other points connected with
the seat Of TIE Infection engeDdsred by crosdng
together sick bodies each Of which focus Of morbsc
emanators so intsDte that the strong ovepover
ed in their strength the feeble in their weakness the
blood poison being endowed with force proportional to
the of he blood in which 1t ferments 80 that the
phenomena Of its scion only the more violent In
ratio Of the vital forces perverted to their dssruc.
ton.
Under pretext Of avoiding draughis Of air. and Of
protection om tskicg cold free veutl,on s prevented,
especially ct light, even when tie location and con.
s,rucon Of the wards permits It, while nollog more
rare less ec. o. attention In hospi practice,
than the emp yment of dsnh citing agents Just as fast
poison is c.mira;ed from sck body by the via
sdicatrix na,@ Il is mixed up with thoes proceeding
from other sick bodies and returned By respiration and
ABSORPTION to the blood Of ALL sustaining the primitive
forms OF disease, and engeudsring fresh complications.
Fton this Alone 1t happens almost every year in
Paris that notwil sanding the best and attentions
Of nursing and cleanliness the mortality Of some hos
ptal becomes so scsndsouy large that patients have to
be dispersed and the hospital closed to the public sut
fumigsons and oher modes Of disinfectou have bsen
employed in every part Of It, What Il be, then,
L..
their adaptations to the Of the sck either personal
or material and the best Of which, the General Hos
pita at the Ain shcuse building Of Rchmcnd has been
left without. bath room' prives to the present time
To breathe atmosphere charged with pu.resceu exhs
laons horrible stenches and specific Infections to have
added to their surngs the aspect Of Others which
they cannot relieve seeing ouly gbasy faces hearing
Only groans and coughs offended 10 every sense panied
in every sentiment while their sensbiy is morbdy ir-
tenssd by ilness soldiers lie PROSTATE and crushed
beneath system that ignores the personality Of the it,
divdual whtm j, classes label, and treats Lumber
q 3D. r47-antic;pating the record Of the c,netery.
"Thisis worse than crime &. blunder" for the pay
chologic law impressed by Nau,e Southern societies.
alike in Morocco in Turkey, il spsia, AID in these
s,ets Of the Southern Confedersoy ia the respect c per-
Other peoples faculta,ise, sn class their in
dividusl by functions or accomplishments but Southern
Society subordnaes the phenomenon 10 the substance,
aud character here takes precedence Of faculties.
There is, then, most shocking Inconsistency between
those ptr.ona amenities which soften dispaes Of
social position and the fashion Of dealing With il
droves herds and gangs which we are learning 10 great
hospitals. "Give dog bad name and hang bim,"
s,ith the adsge. Call man. number three, confouDd
him with mass Of sick bodies, and you strike at once
a. the sentiments of personality in the patient, and Of
rspensb ly in the attendants. You forfeit for both
the ministry of tho IDEAL that angel whose hand led Je-
sls over the vaves and which sa 10 the teIr ID pilot
| "Qrid timess C,e'arem vetisl ]"
The abusive convenience we rfproach Is naturally oh
waited BY the came arrangements which guarantee
vacv, quiet, and cleanliness, in diving wards into
numerous separate apartments
Which il most important the economy Of life or econ
ouy of roomg One must be sacrificed 10 The other, ard
we have actually been paying at the rata Of Southern
mans life for every Yankee prisoner that has been os:
ed into the general hospl contrary to the provisions
of the City Couacil Now, tse removal cf many pa
tents ia uecessis ed for the completion Of that bud
ing Which was ks upholstered during the ho. weather.
but which cannot remain So II Il Is TO be comfortably
warmed during the winter Beeides the water has not
vet been introduced but has to bo legged In buckets
and most serious irconveniences result from diverng
to other purposes the rooms intended for baths and
prives and still incomplete in the wings Of the building
No real difficulties exist in the way Of dispensing the pa
tients ard providing for them elsewhere Col Edmund
F,aaine, a. Beaver Dam Depot Central railroad, and
several other families in that neighborhood fitted up
anna weeks ago large house for the tk and conya-
Ie,cent So did our citizens Of Hanover IL miles below,
at Coleman and Jones' Academy, which, with ib GU.
buildings was placed at the service Of the sick and
wounded At both Of these places, and others We could
name tbe greatest solictude was felt and expressed in
behalf Of our sick soldiers The Rev. Horace strngiel
10 spent fortnight IN Richmond making fruess over
lures to our officers Of the medical department. In the
name Of his congregation, who entreated in vain to be
allowed to NUS, the sick and entertain them at their
own cost. For the sick and wounded Of our Western