The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-19
PATIENTS AT THE cir4 HOSPITAL.
AGlimpse of the Inside of the Institution
Where Unfortunate People Are Treated.

veniences superior Co these of the Indianapolis
hospital, and these few in number are more
than counterbalanced by advantages possessed
by the Indianapolis institution. A visit to the
surgery showed it to be supplied with an array
of instruments and appliances of almost limit
less variety, and applicable to the numerous and
diverse calls made upon it by city that fur
nishes, perhaps "a great var ETY. of surgical
eases as any city in the Union. There are at
present seventy patients in the City Hospital,
aud the number WILL as the weather grows
cooler, be increased to ninety or perhaps a
hundred.
On entering the hospital wards the first patient
TO meet the eye of the reporter was Barney Con-
roy, who. by reason of his brief but conspicuous
appearance In the mail service as an appointee
Of Mr. Bynum, is person Of almost national
Importance, as illustrating the s;vil-seryice sys-
tenn. Dir. Conroy was sitting up in bed, while
two young surgeons, with deft fingers. were
putting fresh bandages upon his head. drawing
together cut about six inches long. Mr..
Gonrov's injuries were so numerous and wide
spread that it required considerable time to
attend to all Of them, as besides the CHASTITY
wound upon his head. he had received danger
-ous cuts In the back, upon his arm, and else
where over his anatomy. He had lost great
deal of blood and was pale and weak. He has.
however, the endurance of q stole. and. though
badly hurt. suffers with very small amount of
grooming. He is in a fair way to recover, and
the doctors speak of him as model patient
Another patient is young man brought here
from Kankakee. H., with both legs cut off below
the knee. He is a bright and intelligent Ger
man, speaking English poorly. but with earnest
eyes that appeal for sympathy
An old Irishman is nursing the stump OF his
left leg, amputated just above the ankle. Its
seven weeks ago to-day, Doctor, since it was cut
Of, !" said the patient. ''You remember the day,
do you, JerryP "Indade. an do" was the an
aver mildly resenting the imputatiou that he
could ever forget an event of such magnitude
In describing how he came to be struck by the
cars, Jerry said: II thought I would take a
short cut from Nordyke g. Marmon's, and when
i got on this side by the switch house was so
tired that fell asleep That was the last thing
4 remember until woke up the table here at
the hospital with me foot off," Jerry's descrip-
ton is considered ingenious. but inaccurate
There Is shown a convalescent typhoid fever
patient in another ward, who. in his delirium,
while the nurse was at far corner of the room,
ran to window ana jumped or fell out. He
Rlighted upon platform twenty four feet below,
and from there bounced to the ground about six
feet further The surgeons and attendants
picked him up, expecting to find nearly every
bore In his body broken. Strange as it may ap-
pear. he was not even bruised. and the slight
shock he received is thought to have done him
good and aided IN his recovery.
A colored newsboy. an intelligent lad, about
fourteen years Old, Is recovering from the ampu-
ration OF his right arm, cut off above the elbow.
He lost his arm stealing ride on the cars. The
reporter told him the police were arresting from
five TO ten boys every tive or three days, and
lining them for this offense He had heard
about it. and Flowed they were luckier to get
off that way than ha had been. He is a quiet
accomplishing lad, loved by the nurses and all
who come in contact with him.
In one of the female wards is young girl,
scarcely eighteen, bOodless and white as the
sheet that lies under her thin hand. 1t is the old
story. and she is paying dearly, it may yet be
with her life. for the crime of prenatal infanti
eide was added to her folly. There are during
the year large number of cases of this charac-
ter
There is a little girl, eight years old, suffer
or from st. Ytus's dance. when she was
brought here, three weeks ago." said Superin-
tendent Wishard, I'VE had to put light plaster
dressings on her arms to hold them STILL and
also TO bandage her in the chair. We have taken
them off. She is getting along nicely now and
will be we'll enough to go home in a short time"
The comedy of medicine is shown in the case
of colored girl about seven years old She is
very dark. The eczema has swollen her face to
D great size. An ointment paste of oxide
of zine and bismuth is spread over her head and
heck which gives her very ludicrous appear
ance, something in the line of Humpty Dumpty.
She was sitting on the settee, with her doll by
her side, and seemed quite happy.
One of the wards containing ten beds was fur
nished by the ladies of the Second Presbyterian
Church. The trfining-school nurses intelligent,
beat and orderly. have been great helps in bring
Ing the hospital up to its present high state of
efficiency. This school is under the auspices of
the ladies of the Flower Mission Those who
visit the City Hospital will see that the training
school is not merely an Bsth-tlcal institution,
and that the Flower Mission does something else
than msrely to distribute flowers in sick rooms
The Flower Mission keeps up the training school:
IL works among the poor. and not only dis
kri0utes flowers, but flour. beef, bread. clothing
etc, among the needy. The mission also has n
nurse that goes out over the city wherever sent
by the physicians of the City Dispsnsary. She
teaches, where such information is greatly
needed, facts III regard to ventilating sick rooms
how to make bed. how to make broth, how to
administer medicines, and many other needful
and valuable things Instead of the work of the
Flower Mission being aesthetic it is the plainest
and most practical common sense.
There are a number of rooms for pay patients
These neatly and comfortably furnished
though ether than having greater privacy the
pay patients can have no better attendance and
trearinent than that given the poorest person
brought to the hospital. Thare are eighteen
general wards, and ten private rooms. drug
ro0ms, surgery, seven bathrooms, etc. the
long halls afford admirable ventilation. and are
fine promenades for convalescenrs The halls
that run from east to west in the building are26I
feet long, and those from north to south are I65
feet long. OF course smallpox cases are never
DrOuehI W tuo hospltai, puG otuer contagious
diseases are provided for. There are rooms in
the topmost story, Far away from other wards
where such cases are taken, and provision ia
made so that if at any time any epideicic should
prevail one wing can be entirely cut of iSom
communication with the remainder of the hos
pitRl.
Now and then there is singular case of at
Sempted deception. There is now at the hospital a
ease of feicned paralysis. The patient is an old
woman. She claimed to be paralyzed had no
use of her right side and pretended that she
could not speak. She had to be fed and assisted
Ia every way. After careful examination, Su.
lperintendent Wishard concluded it was feigned
case but that the old woman. VINO was in very
bad condition Of health. had deceived herself
into the belief that she was paralyzed and had
probably seen a patient whose peculiarities she
initiated. He noticed that when she put out her
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