Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-02
A WONDERFUL WORK
The Finest Hospital in the State Is to.
Be Erected on the Little Knoll
al MckeespOrt.
SEVEN MEN MAKE A GREAT RECORD
Inside of Nine Months They Raise the
Money, Secure the Site and
Break the Ground.
SEVEN MEN MAKE A GREAT RECORD
BIG CONSERyATORIES IN THE CENTER.
It viii Be Modelled After the Johns Hopkins Institution
Of Baltimore


demonstrated not only what few men can
accomplish in short time, but also how
hospital may be incepted and almost COM
pleted within year when the promoters
are pushers and in earnest.
Last November Attorney Magnus Pflaum
suggested to the Mckeesport Board of
Trade that one of the most pressing wants
o? ahe city was hospital The idea caught,
and the promoters set to work at once to
work it out Now within nine months the
ground has been secured, enough money
donated to make the enterprise go, the
plans made, and ground will be broken in a
few .ssys.
TIE men who started'the movement rea-
soa9d this wav: "We have here city of
25 900 inhabitants, with outlying towns
Of 20, 900 TO Ii, 900 inhabitants in the aggre-
gate, with $4,000 men employed in manu-
factories where accidents are of daily occur
renee and where the victims must be either
inadequatelv treated or taken to Pittsburg,
10 miles, and hauled some distance, patients
often diving of the shock or being perma-
nently crippled before they can be properly
attended to. There is no hospital, except
the one il Connellsville for miners, between
Pittsburg and Cumberland"
HOW THE HUSTLERS WORKED.
The necessity having been demonstrated,
the Board of Trade went about it at once
and methodicalIy, believing that the city
was sufficiently prosperous to make the
project a success. A committee of five was
appointed and authorized to take all the
necessary initiatory steps. This committee
organized at once. and each member was
made a sub committee. An organization
was subsequently effected by creating
Ecard of Trustees consisting of Magnus
PGaum, President. W. J. Sharpless, J. w.
Downcr. ,Jr.. J. Il. Gemmill, II. L. Riggs,
T. L. White, VI. D., and James Evans.
One man was made a committee on law
and organization and his duty was to secure
a charter. another 10 look after the build
ing project and Punishment. another TO
make the necessary provision for mainten-
auce. another or finance and another on
real estate and printing The idea was that
If each man had certain work to do it
would be performed more promptly and IN
q better manner than if several were dele
gated to do the work Jointly, when each
would be liable to wait on his fellows, the
work being done voluntarily and without
pccuniarv reward, and the result proves the
wisdom Of the preliminary arrangement.
JAMES EVANS DONATES THE SITE.
An immense impetus was given the move
ment bv James Evans Esq, one of the
wealthiest and most prominent men of the
citv, donating magnificent site of three
acres Of ground. This donation reused the
population, which at once gave encourage
ment and the charter was obtained. Active
work was then commenced to raise the
necessary money, as well as TO increase the
working force of the organization. One OF
the first steps taken was the mailing of
Il. 800 letters to the people interested an
n5uncing the donation and soliciting finan-
cial aid. The people were also visited at
their homes and made fully acquainted with
the proposed work, its necessity, ad-
vantaCes. etc The First National, Peoples
and NcKeesport Banks were made the
repositories for subscriptions, and subscrip-
tion books were left for those who might
feel Ike helping but did not have the ready
cash. Certificates of contribution were also
left. in which We're acknowledged receipts
Of money paid. Blank reports were also
left with the banks to be issued weekly. to
show the public the progress the work was
making.
when the charter was obtained the COM
nittee became charter members, and as such
trustees Of the organization. AS they were,
with one exception, laymen, and of course
knew little about hospital building and
eqUippiDg, they sent circular to all the
NIcKeesport physicians soliciting them to
form ar advisory board of physicians. These
80 doctors elected Z among the most prOmi-
neut Of their body, and to these was CON-
mitted the charge of looking after all de-
tails OF the building, subject to the control
OF the Board Of Trustees.
VIII RIVAL THE JOHNS HOPKINS
After thorough examination of various in
-hasp r,bH-Sirjarc TO ba
clusion tina; the J shns Hopkins Hospital OF
Baltimore was the model one of the United
States. and a committee went TO Baltimore
10 make an examination. The committee
reported to the trustees, and they decided
10 pattern mainly after that institution,
adding any other improvement that sug
gested itself
Meantime the trustees worked up the
financial end of the project until they felt
justified in ordering the making of plans,
and it is expected that the building will be
commenced within a month
The ground on which the hospital will be
built is a spur of hill running almost at a
right angle with Fifth avenue. 1t is about
200 wards south of Riverton station, on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railway, about IS feet
higher than the street and about go feet
front and $50 feet in depth. Thus it is not
only one of the prettiest locations to be
found in this section, and can be seen from
miles down the river, but possesses unsur-
passed advantages in the matters of pure air
and drainage The building will be three
story administration in front and center
fanked on either side by hospital buildings
each SOx32 feet, and the building proper is
TO cost within S50,0 600.
COMPLETE IN EVERY PARTICULAR.
1t will be fitted up with all improvements
known TO date, and the knoll on which it is
built is finely wooded, so that ample shade
is afforded in summer. In addition to this
conservatory will be placed in the build
iugs, with the double view of purifying the
atmosphere and affording convalescent
patients a winter promenade. This con-
seryatorv is an entirely new feature in hos
pitfalls, at least in the manner in which it is
located.
At the rate at which this matter has been
pushed it looks as though McKeesport peo-
pie had public spirit sufficient to soon pro-
vide within themselves all the needs of a
first-class city. The hospital will have
capacity for the accommodation of so
patients a day, both room and ward
Since the first known hospital was found
ed at C8sarea in the latter part of the fourth
century, medical and surgical skill has so
advanced that we can almost believe that
the time will come when people will gener-
ally die of old age unless killed immediateR
by accident, murder or legal homicide.
The Daughters of Veterans Adjourn.
rsPECIAL TELEGRAM TO TIRE DIsPATCHl
r