The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-11-21
NEw YoEx. October lst. 1868.

NEw YoEx. October lst. 1868
Prominent among the institutions Of New York,
are those that are under the management OF the
.. Commissioners OF Charities and Correction" 7"
Tbev cost our tax payers n million dollars per
year,-perhaps the only million dollars Of public
money that is honestly spent in this city
These institutions are divided into four classes
I. Work House, Temporary Prisons, and Pen
itsntiary.
Asylum.
IN. Hospitals, ten in number.
" Nurseries foF Children.
The visitors tour OF these institutions j. full Of
interest but the inside views OF thern,-the mys-
tsries, romance, and horrors, It you choose, Of
these great commuuities,-are FAR more interest,"
ing and are known only 20 the initiated Let
BEGIN our observations at Bellevue Hospital.
At the foot Of squalid street We discover n
broad ami open gateway near the East Rive (: the
gate-kecper will not challenge you, unless you
curry a suspicious parcel IN your hand, and you
enter with tine students that already making
their way toward the Operating-TOom Of the hos
pital- Bot a. you pass into the gnrden, filled
with flowers, that lies within the gate, you see
that Other visitors have como 10 grief at the
porters lodge. Visitors with packages OF pies
visitors with bottles Of whisky in their pockets,
with bItclS necSs visibly eminent from their
tails-vissors who thought To console patient,
their frienfs, Win uulcet OF tlrt5,
or the bottled elystum of strong waters But the
liquor Law and the pastry law are in full force
the gates Of Bellevue Hospital. It was source OF
great disgust 70 certain romantic ladies, during
the war, when soldiers treated here, that
they prevented from bringing cIkes ad h6lfl1s
% eorsumptIve lieUtenants aud give TO festive
c1rporals-
Leaving the bearers Of gifts to argue their case
in vain with the gate-kecper, we pass up the
broad graveIed walks, and enter the hospital,
running up stOUp that faces toward the East
River. IL is Saturday afternoon, and companies
OF young Sawbones, seedy but intellectual
crowd, hurry into the hall and pass up the stair
ways that lend 20 the operating thcateT. What
crowds OF students come The hungrier-lOOking
ones pause n moment ut the dining-rOOm door,
which stands ajar at the foot Of the staircase,
and sniff st the OdOrs Of the hot lunch which the
hospital staff are devouring. Such numbers ut
students that you fancy they must find their
way upwards into some vast and cayernOus
eeptacle Of the upper aiT,-nOt into Paradise,
however, for their aspect Is
~Not TOO bright or good-
for entertainment the nth hOo-, at the highest.
Let US follow this hirsutc company OF youth up
the hundred steps which lead u the top floOr Of
the hospital.
We ind Ourselves at the door Of a circular
theatre, whence issues q mystic OdOr--a yarIOusly
Compounded perfume, in which your cultivated
nose will recognize the smell Of ehlOrOfOrm, of
dIsiniectants, and that peculiar aroma which
elings to the eleanest hOspital-wOrds. The conf
cal pit Of the theatre Is already filed to overflow
ing with company OF profcssiOuals,-yOunS
Galens and older medical men, who have cOme IN
from the country 10 brighten up their rusty
giel Iure- Among them you n few lady
students, members Of the NOmen's Medical Col
lege. They jealous any. and sit IN the
front seats notebooks IN hand At fret they
noe treated very politely by Sawbones but
their quiet and studiOus demeanor soon won the
respect Cf the roughest ehiyalTy in the hospital.
An inner ring OF chairs - occupied by visitors,
surgeons from some French fTIgAte lying IN the
bay, solid-helded Englishmeu VINO declare
themselves - curious TO see what the Americans
are doing IN tais line, you know" There Is an
alr OF solemn expectancy about the place you
feel "a II you about 10 witness an execution.
THIS impression - heightened by the sspulchral
mtnner vi the ItteudInts, who hurry IN and out,
graye-hced, bearing pbtsters, lisItures, eases OF
Instruments, Plus, DrcePd, towels, buckets OF
water. and ali the OnIinous IarIphernalia Of
bloodshsd. Tie central areI Of ghe pat is Occu-
pied by tLe operating tl5ls- IL - pallet cover
ell with black OIl-cl0th It reyOlves freely upon
central pigOt for the greater convenience Of the
surgeon, who has already begun his lecture upon
tine case IN hand, giving q rapid outline OF ITS
history and peculiar features.
Mcanwhils the patient is being prepared, in an
ad;Oinlng rOOm, tor tire Opsntt.Jn. Placed upon
q couch, q mixture Of calOrOEOFm and ether Is
administered 10 him by means of an inhaling
apparatus. His face reddens; in a minute he
begins to talk rapidly, To gesticulate, To struggle
with violence. He strives to pull away the
inhaler from his face, his rawlings and cDutOrtiOus
seem terful to the bystandcrs. Ii the patient is
4 muscular nan, the effJrts Of four or i've attend
ants are often necessary to hold him. But the
anesthetic Is steadily applied; its benumbing
influence creep5 into his BRAIN and all this temp
est Of excitement subsidies The arms fall. The
cuntOrtions of the body cease the tongue is stled
the eyes are closed. Inc breathing becomes deep
81,
and unconsciOusness Is soon complete. The pa
tent lies at the mercy of the world. No danger
can alarm him now, no pain awake or annoy him.
Ihe nerves Of sense and Of motion have lost their
ol1ce- Within half an hour this patient shall
receive the wound Of great surgical operation,
aad awake from his trance with nothing more
than the uneasiness of headache to suggest the
grave experience through which he has passed.
Stout attendants raise the patient, mat
rass and all he lies, and bear him to the CEN
ire OF the theatre. They place him upon the 70
tary table. The surgeon who Is to operate stops
ms speech and sets 70 work. The assistants,
members Of the hospital staff, fly around briskIy.
one has the care Of the Instruments, and passes
Them IN the required succession to the operator,
taxing care to present the right instrument ut
tIe right second Of time. Another continues to
administer the chloroform and ether; another
watches the breathing and the pulse of the pa
uenti fourth controls the bleeding, by pressing
upon the main artery with finger or tOurniquet
le anu saw make quick work with the Tissues
VI the human body The sight OF capital
operation' il appalling to a novice. / have seen
SS Suients iaInt at first witnessing nmputaton.
Inc severed limb drops into the bucket placed to
Isesive it, and Is carried away with the remnants
~ Ihe dl-sectingroOm for burial in the '' Potters
.eh' or public graveyard. The bleeding ves-
1s are hgatured. Bandagss dexterously aI-
aieu % tue wound A round Of applause greet5
e popular operator at the close Of his task. IL
= 'ne arst sound that strikes upon the patients
s1 az aS ne returns 70 consciousness lie is borne
way with its elangor ringing cunflsedly in his
n, nm, 70 hIs bed in the hospital wards.
.,. low Oh We know that he has really been un-
'ose'ous, all this time, Of the pain of the opera