Morning journal and courier., 1885-11-14
ANNUAL MEETING.


 ports Are Read.
 The annual meeting of the officers of the New Haven dispensary was held at Dr. last evening, Dr. Lindsley presiding. Dr. Henry Fleischner, the secretary of the asso citation, read his annual report, which was decidedly interesting and was as follows:
 To the president, managers and members of
 the dispensery:
 This the fourteenth annual report of the work of our institution presents very little change in comparison to it's predecessors in the way of improvement in the we'll being of
 the needy and poor who daily apply at our doors for relief and assistance to help them bridge over that period in their lives when sickness disables them from providing the necessities of life for themselves and their families The sick poor of our city, the spe- cial care of this institution, have freely ap- piled and have been iberally assisted by the capable physicians and surgeons to whom IS allotted the practical work of the dispensary. The afflicted ones have been patiently listened to in their many recitals of pain and suffering, and with sk ill and devotion have all medical and surgical means been applied to alleviate their grievances. Our statistical report will show that there has been an increase in the number of patients and consultations as compared with previous years. There have been 542 patients treated than
 There have been 79o more prescriptions filled than There have been 16O more new applications than in the year previous.
 Looking at the grand total of consulta- tions, each of which implies the careful analysis of the complaint for which the pa As &laf orrifA f0 hn nf the remedies proper for such complaint, then comparing this showing of 4,634 pa- tients with the total expense of management of the institution, which in round figures may be said to be $1 800, and we find that the cost for each patient becomes 32 cents. The average cost of each prescription, how ever, is only 5.36 cents, and the average cost
 of medicines supplied to each patient 8. AZ cents. These figures show that of the whole expense of management & little mora than one-fourth is to be credited to the drugs given away, and little less than threefourths is needed for rent, salaries, coal, gas and sun dries. It also shows that if a number of patients far in excess of that at present treated were under dispensary care the only increase of expense we would have to suffer would be the cost of the medicines supplied to this increased
 number and the items for rent, salaries, etc., not being changed, the average expense of tr0arm6QG TOT LQ6 WAOi0 uuAOoE WOulO OC materially reduced. And this leads to the contemplation of the fact that, compared with the standing of dispensaries in other large cities, our institution occupies an anomalous position. In New York, for in stance, the poor sick apply altogether to dis pensaries and outdoor departments of hos pitfalls for whatever medical and surgical at tendance they may need. The institutions applied to have always ready one of nu. merous corps of outdoor attendants to an swer immediately any call in their respective districts, and help is rendered in quick and thorough manner. But the New Haven dis pensary as constituted is enabled tc give relief -enly to those who apply on the premises. And when outside relief is given by the dispensary attendants it is done at great loss of time and money to the attendant, and yet of the :, ,264 prescriptions compounded during the past year, 669 were to patients visited at their homes. The question has been frequently agitated at oul meetings, would it not be conducive to the welfare of the sick poor of the town; would l it not promote the prosperity of the dispen sary, and would it not be an economical measure for the taxpayers of New Haven if the care of all the sick poor of the town was given to the dispensary? The care of the sick as at present conducted is so faulty that the bare recital oi it conveys it's own condemnation. Suppose person at a distance from the City Hall is taken sick on Saturday afternoon at 3:45 o'clock; ere messenger can reach the town agents office it will be found closed, it being past the business hours, 4 o'clock. No town physician is obliged to attend any case with out an order frcm the town agent and the patient must wait for such an order until o'clock Monday morning-forty hours But allowing that town physician does, o1 his own goodness, attend the patient; nc l medicine can be obtained until
 the prescription of the physician has
 been carried back .t.9 to .,.. the City not be done until Monday morning. Would it not then be better for all parties if the dispensary could have sole charge of all the sick poor of the town, and, equipped as it is, there would surely be no delay and no half way measures in it's reply to any call that might be made upon it. This arrangement, if carried into effect, could hardly be called an innovation, It is not many years since the whole charge of the sick poor of the town was committed by the Board of Seleetmen to the New Haven Medical association, and it was not because of dissatisfaction with the work done that the plan of service was changed There can be no doubt that corps of physicians such the medical staff of the dispensary would fulfill the requirements of the work in the most satisfactory and profita-
 ble manner and it is to be hoped that the time is not distant when this plan will be adopted and it's merits tested. It would not be proper to close the report | without making due recognition of the legacy which the dispensary has acquired through | the benevolence of the late W. o. Arm strong, he having devised $500 for the uses of the institution. And we must also again tender our thanks to Messrs. Futile, More ! house 6 Taylor for the gratuitous printing of our last report, and to the daily papers ot the city for inserting free notices and other l favors.
 Mir. w. T. Bartlett, the treasurer, then read his report which was as follows:
 | 1884 For balance on account. -..:$ ss1 s4 | 1885 Fortown of New Haven. 900 % | VI OOnaIlOnS.-. hsol
 Total s1,s4a & 1885 By sundry bills paid from Nov. e1, 1884, :, to Nov. 10, 1885. ..................-.$1 $1, ,2s3 ss Cash on hand d........................$ AIS 91 Dr. Park, of the medical staff, reported | that the number of consultations for the past year were I, ,456, an increase during the year of 183; persons applying this year fol | the first time ,548, new applicants in pre-. ceding year 1 ,47O, an increase of 7S persons 1 diseases treated 1, ,54S
 The report of J. H. Nelson, apothecary, showed that 4,634 patients were treated 1 prescriptions compounded, 7,264; dispensary | open, 307 days stock on hand November 1, 1 1884, $167. .69; amount of drugs bought from 1 1884 to 1885, $47371; amount Of drugs on hand as per inventory November 1, 1885, 1 $214. 79; value of amount consumed, $390. 62; | average cost per prescription, l 36e; average | cost per patient, 8.42c; number of visits | made by dispensary physicians, $40.
 Professor Johnson T. Platt, William T. Bartlett, John ). Crane, Thomas Hooker ] and Dr. c. A. Lindsley, whose term expired this year, were elected members of the
 board of managers The other members of 1 the board are: James E. English, William K. Townsend, Francis Wayland, Edwin s. Wheeler, c. H. Farnam, Justus S. Hotch- l kiss, Eli Whitney, T. Atwater Barnes, w. H. Hotchkiss, Henry B. Sargent and Henry Fleischner.
 The officers voted to hold a meeting of the board of managers in few days.
 Hurt by a Torpedo.
 Andrew McDermott, the eight-year-old son of Stephen McDermott of Rose street,
 found railroad torpedo on the street yester
 day and boy-like began striking it with a
 brick, and the result was that the torpedo exploded and small piece of brick entered
 into the boys kneepan. He was taken into
 the house and the wound dressed.
 The Good Samarftans.
 Professor Simeon E. Baldwin will speak at the Good Samaritans' meeting at Carll's Opera House tomorrow evening. The cho- rus choir of the Summerfeld Mission M. E.