Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-02-20
OUR BOSTON LETTER.
ABOUT THE FREE SURGICAL HOS
PITAL FOR WOMEN.

PITAL FOR WOMEN.
Charity which Calls for Every Woman's
Helpful decentralization Week at
Time-Honored Boston School.
BosroN, Feb 12, 1891.
1t could not have been much more than
year ago that an appeal was published in
many of the papers in New England for help
TO establish and carry on free surgical hos
pital for women. The responses came
quickly and generously, and the hospital
was opened Now, at the end of its first
year, it comes forward with the story Of
achievement, aud with still another appeal
for help. And the work that has been done
clearly proves the right of the hospital to
exist, and makes it almost the duty of ev-
ery woman to. respond To the call for as
sistance.
Perhaps you know, but possibly you may
not, that the idea of the hospital originated
with the beloved president Of the Charity
club, Mrs. Julia X Dyer, who is also the
president of the Ladies Aid association,
which has for its object the maintenance Of
the Massachusetts, soldiers home.
The Charity club is a comparatively new
organization, but it is making itself felt
| vitality. When the large fair was held in
aid Of the building fund of the home for
iutemperate women, there was a large and
enthusiastic committee of interested wom-
en-. After the fair was over and the new
| home an assured success this committee,
that had worked so well together, hated To
| grow apart, and so it resolved itself into
the Charity club and began to cast about
for some special work to do 1t was not
long in finding it. The Murdock free hos
| pita, which had helped so many women.
was closed and there was nothing TO take
its place. The other surgical hospital that
was still left was full to overfiowing and
there was a hopelessly long waiting list. 1t
was Mrs Dyer's thought that the Charity
club should take up this work At first the
members were startled at the boldness of
| the proposition. 1t was all very well to
start hospital, but what was to start it
! Where was the money And even if the
money was found to make the beginning
| where was the means coming from to sup
port 1t The beginning was the very least
| portion Of the task. II was the keeping
on that would he the perpexing part. But
! Mrs. Dyer talked, and she succeeded in i'm
buing others with her own interest and en-
thusasm and it was decided to take up the
task that seemed set to their hands. And
no sooner had the decision been made than
it seemed as though everybody arose and
came forward to the support of it. Dr.
Ernest Cushing, one of the finest of the
younger Boston surgeons, offered his ser
vices free Of charge His father Mr.
Thomas Gushing, who was for many years
at the head of the famous Chauncey Hall
school, became responsible for the interest
on the mortgage of the building they should
purchase for two years and possibly long
er, and he made a generous gift besides
Other friends sent money in sums large
and small, and finally the beautiful house,
! No. IS Chester square, was bought. The
owner sold it for $1,000 less than he had of
fered it for, and contributed to the fund as
well
In the year there have been ninety-two
patients received, every one of whom has
had to undergo surgical treatment, and of
these over eighty have been discharged per
fectly cured while all are doing well Isn't
that years work to be proud of All of
these women were from the middle ranks,
women of intelligence and education, but
women who could not have afforded the
money to pay for an operation which costs
from $500 to $1,000, according to the sever
| ity of the case. The women who have
been treated have been farmers wives.
clergymens wives, teachers, salesw omen,
sewing girls, all a superior class, whom it is
at once a privilege and pleasure to help.
And now COMES again the need for mon
ey So it has been decided to hold fair
in the Music hall during the last week in
February The fair is to open on the even
ing of the 23d with a Martha Washington
reception and tea. This will be followed by
a dance which will last until twelve. The
next day the sale will open and continue
through the remainder of the week
One of the features Of the fair will be
the working girls table This table is pro
vided by the working women of Boston.
who have taken hold of the matter with
good zest. Mrs. Dyer has addressed the
girls in the leading stores and has gained
their hearty cooperation Every girl in
the large stores of Jordan x Marsh, r. H.
White, Shepard Il Norwell, Hovey, and
Stearns, has promised to give something if
it is but two cents, and to use all her inhu-
ence TO make the table a success. | think
myself this table will be one of the most
III Tue Nllblc ldlIs anu dlll SUI Z
it will make a good bit of money for this
hospital. Certainly it ought to. Not only
are the girls going to contribute to it, but
they are going to be in attendance, rep
resentative from each store so you see
they are brought right into the work, and
it will seem very uear to them, as anything
does that we work for and care for.
wish | could make all of you take lit
tie interest in this fair, for the work of the
hospital is not confined to Boston and its
immediate vicinity, but it takes patients
from all over New England No woman
knocks at its doors in vain, no matter what
her station may he or what place she may
call home. The fact that she is a woman,
and in need of help, is the open sesame for
her.
One of the annual events Of Boston life
take place this week. This is the exhibi
tion Of the Chauncey hall school. How
long this school has been IAN institution
you may see when tell you that this exhi-
bition is the sixty-third This school was
one Of the very first to open its doors tc
girls. Yesterday morning at rehearsal in
Music hall, | stood by the side of the prin
cipal, Mr. William H. Ladd, as the hundred
and fifty girls came marching on to the
, stage. Look at that, said he. The first
year in which We opened the school 10 girls
there were two pupils, and one was my
daughter"
The experiment which was tried with
fear and trembling has proved a brilliant
success. Both the principals at the time
Mr., Gushing and Mr.. Ladd, were ardent
believers in co-education, but it was a ques
tion whether the public was ready to share
the belief. They had the courage of theiI
convictions, however, and they took the
J step, one which could never be retaken
! for reforms never go backward, and stood
= fully committed TO the new movement
They have never regretted the step, and
that co education is practicable one sees by
watching the work at this school, Honor,
I are divided, girls and boys sharing about
alike aud the rivalry in scholarship makes
pleasant friendships and sets on one sid,
the sentimental attitude which young peo
pie Of different sexes so often assume
towards one another. One sees this in the
daily life of the school and finds it reflected
in its exhibitions
SALLIE JOY WHITE.
The defacation at Aver, Mass, amounts
to S24 600, and the loss falls entirely upoI
the national bank the savings bank viii