The Critic and record., 1891-04-24
SANITARIUM NEEDED.
OPINIONS or FOUR DISTINGUISHED
PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.

for H.
Thousands of people PASS through
Washington every year On route for Bal
umorc, Philadelphia and New York in
search of medical treatment. Most Of
these are under the impression that in
those cities only can they find properly
equipped sanitarium and the most scicn-
tiic treatment II occurred to TuE CRIrIc
that It might be we'll to dissipate this i'm
preston and set forth some of the adyan-
tagos of Washington in the premises. Ac-
cordingly, reporter called upon some of
our leading physicians and specialists
with the result given below, It will
be seen that Washington is much
better provided in respect Of pri-
vatc medical establishments and dis
tinguished specialists than the outside
world imagines. With the finest climate
in the world, a perfect sanitary admins
tfation and with as fine surgeons and ply
siCans as are to be found In the world,
why should not Washington ofer as
many attractions as Baltimore, Philadel-
phia or New York; Why, indeed, should
we not establish here great national
sanitarium where all may resort and
where every malady may be treated by
the most experienced and. accomplished
scientists?
EX-sURGEoN-GENEBAL WILLIAM 4. HAMMOND,
the owner one Of of the best equipped sani-
tarium in the world, located az Mount
| Pleasant, takes strong grounds in favor of
the establishment of a sanitarum for the
| treatment of grave diseases. DR.. Ham
mond only treats special cases and ne has
| his hands full. Patients come TO him
| from all parts of the United States and
| often times foreigners cross the ocean to
| he treated by the famous American
| aiouist. He said to TnE Critic reporter:
Washington is so favorably situated
and the climate is so equabe and moder-
| ate, both in winter and summer, that 10 is
! the place to establish a sanitarium. Of
course wouldn't put such an institution
down in asphalt streets. ! would locate
| IL on some one of the heights contiguous
| TO the city where the air is always fresh
and cool and where it is not excessively
cold even in winter found last summer
| from actual observation that the temper
! aturc at my sanitarium was ten degrees
! lower than il was in the middle of the
city. In fact, it was open all summer,
| and was full of patients and there was not
one complaint of the heat
There is another point and that is the
extensive facilities for mental diversion
| the beautiful drives in the immediate
| vicinity. Arlington, the Soldiers Home,
Park, that are to be- the Monument, the
Capitol the White House are all things
| the Americans especially want to see aud
which to person who has been broken
down by worry or mental cXertion, af-
ford Just that sort of mental stimulus that
the mind requires. | think that Wash
| ington would be q most admirable place
to build a large sanitarum in which u
treat all kinds of disease both i'm men and
| vomen. You put such places in small
| towns or on q amOuntan or the seashore and
the patients soon get tired where there is
nothing to relieve the monotony and eX-
istence almost becomes unbearable. Bat
| here in Washington there is constant
change and the effect is therefore bound
to be all that could be desired. | found
during my residence in New York that
certain classes of ailments of the nervous
system could not be treated successfully
in that city, owing to the constant noise
and great excitement that existed. The
continued rumbling of vehicles, night and
day, kept such patients from getting
sleep, and had to send those of them
who consulted me to Orange, n. j., or
some other neighboring place to enable
them to get sleep at night. Yes, Wash
ingtOn is the very best place in the cOun-
try for sanitarium."
DIR. IRVING c. RossE,
famous MS a specialist in brain and ner-
vous diseases, when asked about the mat
ter, said:
.'The establishment in Washington of
sanitarium, particularly for nervous
diseases among people of modest means,
is q consummation devoutly to be wished.
For number of years have tried to
bring this matter TO the attention of the
local profession and some of my capital
lists friends but they have either been
Indifferent or opposed to the project.
| 10 al m gg-
ment to me to be obliged to send patients
suffering from nervous or mental disease
to other places for treatment owing to
the lack Of facilities in or near the Dis
trict, and well-informed person tells me
that numerous cases of the kind from
the South and the West, who would pre-
fer Washington, annually go to other
cities for what they cannot get here.
Even mild cases of nervous diseases are
refused admission into the local hospitals.
Only few weeks ago a medical man
from a Western city brought to me for
treatment lady who for some time had
been melancholy and had a suicidal inn
pulse, or more correctly speaking, the
fear Of an impulse. Yet was unable to
find her place in any hospital in Wash
: ington, and had to send her to an adioin-
: "As rule pay patients are not taken
into the Government Hospital for the In
} sane, and unless one happens to belong to
r the Army, The Navy, the Revenue Marine
. Service or to be classed among the INDECENT
insane admission to that institution is
} denied. There is besides decided obiec-
ton to sending any but chronic cases 10 a
large institution, and popular prejudice
J ON this point is reflected by growing and
: influential physicians. The mere assOcia'
tion of an insane person with others OF
his class, with scarcely the least contact
! with people of sound mind, is in oppos
! ton to enlightened common'sense and
=. the progress of modern medicine.
D "A suitable ward for the treatment o
+ such cases could be established, either in
the Garfield or Providence Hospitals, anc
put in charge of a competent neurologist
and il might be kept up ON some Of the
money that has for years been spent on {
r collection of worthless books in the Army
Medical Museum that nobody ever reads
= Indeed this library is of such questionable
, importance that the late Professor Henry
speaking to the Philosophical Society, re
i marked that 1t would be all the better for
= medicine and original research and con
y sequently, for mankind, If some Cali
= Omar would apply the torch and wipe ou
u the whole collection.
i ut is only a matter of time, however
when the Wane OF progress Will wasl
away the quintesenCe Of old fogyism il
= such matters as | have been speaking o
> and convert the reactionary of to-day int
\ a fossil
u sURGEoN-GENERAL HAMILTON
Of the Marine Hospital Service said,
"Ihe establishment of general sani
tarium i'm the District would be n desra
, BILE addition tothe resources of the Capita
u for the benefit and convenience Of thos
j. resoning here. Hundreds of person
every year go TO Southern sanitarums, an
j. pass through the city going South an
g, pens in winter with inyalids from tn
Northern regions. Even if such a sani
], iarium were TO be used as a tempOrar
Z, resting place for these migratory inyalids