Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-11

an escort. Wind and waves obeyed his voice.
Fire, at his pleasure, undid the mischief which
1t had done, so that bread which had been burnt
to cinder In the oven drawn out white
and soft by his interference. His barre.-cap
was cure for all diseases of the head"
THE HOSPITAL POOR ONE.
But notwithstanding the supernatural powers
OF Padre Anchieta his hospital was very poor
one, having neither drainage Tor ventilation
and directly overlooking the old city burial
ground, Of which patients In their beds had
perpetual view and needed no further momento
rnori suggestions from their spiritual advisers.
Its accommodations being totally inadequate
the directors, early in the present century, de
te-1nined to remove the cemetery to Ponta da
CAIN and to build a new hospital on Its site.
The corner stone of the present magnificent
editce was laid in 1870 but 1t took thirty years
to build 1t and four million milreis. 1t Is Of
granite and brick, two stories high, forming
rectangular parallelogram and covering an area
or 10000 square meters. Nothing less than an
especial visi, cen give one an adequate idea Of
1ts magnitude and completeness. The floors
are OF native woods. polished and oiled the
.wninscoating of gay-colored tiles. There Is a
splendid marble paved entrance hall, still
more splendid reception room and q gorgeous
Saloon of the Emperor" where business meet
lnss are held. The dispensary and chemical
laboratory form very large department. as a
daily average Of 500 people, not including the
hospital patients, and supplied, gratis,
With medicine and advice. There is an
operating room. with an amphitheater of
seats for attending medical students, an instru-
ment room. a chapel, dissec:ing vaults, q dead
house and of course the usual complement Of
store rooms, kitchens, reception rooms private
apartments for the officers, nurses, 30, and
everywhere the most scrupulous cleanliness Il
apparent, as well as the most perfect order and
discipline. The vast building seems to be all
halls and doors ard windows, as Il necessary in
so hota climate. Some Of the patients. living
in their beds. can look out upon the beautiful
flower gardens and waving palms Of the inner
court yards. and others have incompatible
views of the loveliest bay in the world and the
dim peaks beyond The total capacity of the
building is l. 200 patients, and its statistics
show that II receives from $4,000 to IL, 900 every
year. Besides the twenty-five wards, each Of
which contain thirty-two beds, there are .
great many private rooms for the reception of
those patients Who are able 10 pay for special
attendance. For such the exceedingly mod
crate price is $3.50 per day for private room.
medicine, constant attendance Of skilled nurses
and gratuitous services of the best physicians
in the city
Doors OPEN NIGHT AND DAY.
The doors Of "Santa Casa are open day and
night for the reception Of the distressed, and
the most wretched need not seek influence or
recommendation to be admitted. There are
VIRUS Tor women and children, as well as for
men, and black and white, Christian, heather
and hereto receive alike the very best assist
ance within the power Of its managers to bestow.
Few nations of the earth are not represented
among its patients, and especially numerous are
American and English seamen. No sort of dis
tinction IS made beyond that Of sex and stage Of
disease, and one sees black faces and white,
yellow 70 >es and brown, lying side by side.
The internal supervision Of the Misericordia
Is In the capable hands of q mother superior
and her flock of SISTERS" Each nun has
charge of a certain work or portion Of q ward.
Most OF them are old, wrinkled and care-worn,
some coarse and hard-fea.ured, a few younger
and more attrsctive-yet all are beautiful to see
In their womanly devotion to the helpless their
lives Of unreduited toll for the good Of
strangers 1 am sorry to say that the hospital
statistics show that about one in seven OF all
who enter here debut that Is not large
average considering the deadhness Of the
climate to foreigners, and the fact that we're 1t
not for the "Holy House" the other six would
probably find graves at Caju. Yellow fever, the
frightfui scourge OF Rio, resembles the cholera
In India In this respect-that you may be per-
fectly veil one day and not only dead but
buried The next. In bad seasons the death rate
Is not considered unusually high at 200 per day;
and in favorable times at least two-thirds of all
who are attacked with 1t recover. Since its
first appearance here, nearly half . century ago,
1t has not missed summer Wait Tho drier
the summer the worse the fever; and in very
dry years 1t always takes an epidemic form.
Naturally foreigners suffer from 1t much worse
than the natives, but the latter make up for
their comparative exemption by suffering tar
rl6Iy from SMALLPOX, leprosy, elsphantiasis and
oIher terrible diseases.