The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-03-09
WILL THE INSTITUTE MOVE
DR.. Allen Lays the Situation Before the
Commercial Club in a Letter.
Statement Of the Scope and Nature of Its
Objections to the Cottage Plan
other Matters Before the Club

The meeting of the directors of the Com
merclal Club yesterday afternoon was n
protraeted one and much business OF inter
est was transacted. The special commit
tee appointed TO CONSIDER the city's inter
est In relation to the Surgical Institute
and its possible removal 10 some other site
made report. inclOsing the following
statement by DR.. Allen. addressed 10 Col. VI.
A. Downing, chairman OF the special COM
mittee, which explains its own purpose:
"Since your special committee called
upon me / am in receipt of your favor of
the 5th INST. IN which You SAY:
The information which you gave the
special committee ought TO he known gen.
orally. It Is not inst TO yOu and II Is really
unjust to the people OF This city that they
should be ignorant of matters which are
really of importance TO them. viii you
kindly prepare a statement embodylng the
information which you gave 10 the commit
tee that called upon you the other day
soon "a you find 1t possible TO do sOi
"ln compliance with your request have
prepared the following statement, which
sets forth the work and objects of the
Surgical Institute. We would not obtrude
these facts upou the public. except for your
request and in view of the fact that the
comments In regard to our late disaster
have indicated that a large portion of the
public Is ignorant of the work the Surgical
Institute has been dong.
by public and private benefcence.
homes for the insane, the feeble-mlnded,
the deaf. the blind and the poor have been
established, but no hospital for the Grip
pied, who OutnumOer Gil the others COM
bined. The conviction came To me that
could successfully devote my life To their
relief and for more than thirty-three
years the endeavor has been cOnsclentiously
made. over forty thousand people from
all the States of the Union. Canada. and
from the other side have received benefit
aud cures from this effort. whose gratitude
and abiding friendship have cOnsOled and
stimulated tired hands and heart.
While / was conducting the Surgical In
stitute in Charleston. Ill, Mr.. Cbauncey
Rose. of Terre Haute. sent rue quite num-
Der of patients. aud made u very close In
vestigatiOn OF my work there. Later be
sent for me To come to Terre Haute, and
showed be O site near the city or Terre
Haute where he proposed TO erect a hos
pital for the treatment of crippled children,
which he would endOw if | would agree 10
take charge of it and operate it at what
was then considered a liberal salary. /
could not at that time see my way clear to
arrange my affairs so that l could accept
his offer. and Mr.. Rose devoted the money
with which he proposed to endOw this hos
pital to the establishment of the Poly tech
mic School. in Tore Haute, and the hos
pital for crippled and deformed In New
York city.
''Soon after the establishment of the Sur
gical Institute In Indianapolis, Mr.. James
NJ. Ray. having heard of Mr.. Roses plan
assisted by such gentlemen as Mr.. William
y. Jackson, Thomas II. Sharp, Simon
Nicholas McCarty, +. b. MartindaIe.
DeIoss Root. w. III. Turner, and many
others. organized a society for the relief of
such cases. and donated some six or seven
thousand dollars TO aid the INDECENT and
helpless crIpples 10 restOration- This
money was entirely expended for board at
the rate of 81 per week. the treatment In
Guiding nurses. mechanical appliances and
lafN fur hot fr.a f.f
charge by the Surgical Institute That
fund supplied the necessary expenses
for about two years. Owing TO
ME. RAYS declining health he could
not carry on the work begun. and lest the
matter might not be understood if appeals
were made by the Surgical Institute for
money for this purpose the charity work
was continued by the Surgical Institute.
unaided by any one. Since that time over
S97, 500 ia money has been expended by the
institute on orphan children or those whose
parents were unable TO pay for treatment
or board. This does not include any COM
pensatIon for time or services. Since the
exhaustion of the societys funds II o reports
have been made. and no aid has been asked
by the institute to help In caring for
charity cases.
cit is not claimed that the Surgical In.
stitute IS a solely charitable institution. 1t
has no endowment support except from
It's proprietOra Most physicians do much
charity practice which is not sent to the
pay the GARD OF clothing bills or pay for
need apparatuses for curing cripples be-
sides the daily care for months and neces-
sary medicines. surgical operations. nurs-
ing. etc. and, as it were. adopt such chill
dren as their own until cnred. When Grip
pied children suffering from pain and de-
formity are shipped to the Surgical lnsti-
tute from distant States. with merely
card upon their clothing to show their de-
sires and destination, or when mother
with o crippled child IN her arms pleads for
help and no other hope seems possible
20 prevent lifelong defOrmIty or death,
none but a cold and stolid heart can
refuse the $50 or Sl00 necessary for the
cure Long years of such giving and the
knowledge of It's circulation among the
defOrmed seems TO have brought q change
In the minds of those who are suffering,
and what was once made as hopeful ap-
peal has now come TO DO considered q
rightful demand. and what was once TO us
an onerous task of bestowing gratis labor
and money has become a pleasant duty.
The institute did most of the surgical work
free of charge To the city. which is now
done by the police surgeon. This work be-
gan in the spring of le69, and continued
until the police surgeon was employed, In
1850 / am informed that the cost to the
city Is now $1,000 per year. Had the pO-
lice surgeon been employ ed during this
twenty years the city would have paid
over $4,000 more than they Lave and the
institute would have saved that amount.
The institute has been in Indianapolis
nearly twepty-tnree years Millions OF peO-
pie have heard of Indianapolis as a great
railroad center. city of pleasant homes,
of her manufacturing enterprises etc., who
probably would never have heard of IL ex-
cept through che statements made by the
Surgical Institute. Hundreds OF thousands
Of visits have been made To the institute
by persons all over this continent and from
abroad. These visitors were the parents
relatives and friends of the afflicted ones.
have spent at very low calculation not
less than $4,000 per year IN our citys
shops. factories. theaters. hotels. etc. The
hotel department In the Surgical Institute
and the treatment department spend more
than this amount annually IN this city so
that not less than S30O,0C0 are brough hit to
and spent In this city every year. OF In the
twenty-three years more than $4,000 have
been left in this city on account of the
Surgical Institute, aside from the fees paid
for treatment.
THE people of Indianapolis quite gen.
orally seem 10 have arrived at AN erroneous
conclusion regards the necessities of the
Surgical Institute. In most lines OF bust
ness 10 Is generally admitted that every
man should know his own business best,
and that the public. OF persons who pay
nothing for the support of a legitimate
business. cannot expect TO dictate its
course. OF demand what they themselves
would not grant. Yet some very unreason-
able demands arc made on the Surgical
Institute.
"First-It is demanded that the insti-
tute shall be erected in the country OF
suburb.
sSecond THAT the buiIdinos shall he SEN