Daily Republican., 1881-08-09
The Ply sic ians and the Hospitals


tors and the Morning News in Relation
to the management or miSmanagemen
of the small poX hospitals, not kDowini
positively which Was right and fearing
we might do injustice to one side or tn
other. The charges OF ilcompetenCE
and criminal negligence have beer
made by the paper in question with
positiveness that seemed to defy sue
cessful controversion, and the usniaI
have been made by the doctors and 9th
ers in charge with equal positiveness.
We could not see for the life of us how
She charges and the denials could both
be true and the CONTROVERSY assumed
such proportions and being upon such :,
serious subject, that We counseled az
investigation by committee of com
petent and dsinterested physicians,
that the truth of the charges made
might be either substantated or dis.
proved.
The business Of the city was suffering
to an unlimited extent. People from a
distance having machinery to order
boats to build or repair or standing in
need of merchandise, gave Wilmington
wide berth, and passed. hastily THROUGH
or around it to other cities. If Viii.
mingtonian happened to 60 into the
country and was there taken sick, the
community was alarmed and the un-
Fortunate person even for slight cold
or bilious attack was almost left with
out friends. The amount Of injury
done to the city is almost beyond calcu-
lation and these magnitied reports of
small pox have been the cause of it,
In accordance with our suggestion a
Number of the prominent and leading
physicians of the city met on Friday
evening last and appointed committee
to proceed to the small pJX hospitals on
Saturday and thoroughly investigate
the management OF the place, and re
port the condition in which they found
every thing. That meeting OF FrilaS
night was composed of DIS. J. =.
Wales, l.. 2. Bush, +. p johnson, A.
II. Grimshaw, W. Il. Bullock, John X
Kane, James a. Draper, +. &. Short
lidge, Howard Ogle, aud Willard
Springer. No one will pretend to say
that this was not a good representative
meeting of the medical fraternity of the
city OF the allopathy practice. It's true
that Drs. Bush, Draper, Ogle and
SpriL ger were in one way or another
somewhat indirectly interested and cf
fected by these injurious repor Is
DOCTORS Ogle and Springer are par
ticularly so-but none of these were
appointed upon the committee to make
tae investigation. That investigation
was made on Saturday morning, and
the full report made was spread before
!Qur readers yesterday. 1t was signe,'
by Urs. Wal5s, Bn'lock. Grimshaw.
johnson, Kane, and Shortlidge. That
report is adverse to the charges
made by the Morning News, and this it
would seem should settle the question
10 far as the condition of the hospitals
at the time Of the investigation and
covering the lapse of time in which
gross criminal carelessness was charged.
The report of these doctors will be ac-
cepted as truthful by the poople. It
Should be accepted Us truthful, for If
a.ck q committee is capable of making
u CARRIED and untruthfnl report then
indeed Is society sadly unhinged. Not
alone have we the words of these doc
tors disproving the charges of incompe'
tency and criminal negligence, but sta
tisticAl figures are presented from the
reports of the hospital physician and
the Secretary of the Beard of Health
proving that more care has been exer
cised over the patients at the hospital
than over those treated at their homes
These statistics show that of so patient
reported and treated at their homes 3:
of them died. OF 15S cases reported
and taken to the hospital about whlcl
SO much complaint has been made ther
have been only II deaths. If there ha
been such gross and criminal careless
ness ut hospitals it is alarming to thinl
of the mismanagement ard careless
ness exercised over those patients treat
ell at their homes.
There is no denying the fact tina
small pox has been unusually severe i
Wilmington for some time past. Th
published statistics show that 23S case
were reported in three months up t
juiy 9th, of which there were &
deaths. But the severity of the diseas
and the injury to the city has been IL
tensiiied by reports picked up and put
li.hed without authority, but ar til
same time having resemblance {
truth. We hear that the language use
by many of thepatients at the hospiia
was correctly reported, bnt we ca
readily conceive how willing and re#,l
the majority OF patients are to comp,at
of ills they imagine to exist but whi'
have no real founda tion.
Now that a committee of compete
and practical physicians have invest
gltM the alleged mismanagemcnt
the hospitals and have reported that !
such state Of affairs exist as complain'
OF, we hope that the excitement caus'