The herald., 1896-01-27
NATIONAL SOLDIERS HOME
Terms Of Admission and the Life of
the Inmate
Improv ements and Additions In Process oi
Construction-0ood Health and Content-
ment the Prevailing Condition

SOLDIERS HOME, Jan. 26.-No fairer spot
in Southern California exists than the
Soldiers Home, located near Santa Monica.
The wisdom of the selection is confirmed
by the low death rate obtained there.
Eighteen hundred men, aged from so to 85
years, live in peace and quiet, with hardly
one death a week to deplete their number.
Owing to the overcrowded condition of
the large barracks, six in number, an addi-
tioDal barrack is just being completed,
which will take from the attics Of the pres
ent barracks some 200 men. Another
addition has been added to the culinary
department.. giving the much needed facil-
tiles for cooking in better and larger guam
titles. The dining room, although large,
has to be reset for each meal to accommo-
date the large number quartered there.
While health prevails generally, yet the
hospital is crowded; many of its inmates
| are blind or too feeble to be cared for in
the quarters. Another building is needed
| where this class of members can be cared
! for without the necessity of keeping them
in the hospital. DR.. Hasse, the surgeon IN
charge, with his corps of assistant physi-
| clans and trained nurses, devote all their
time and skill to the alleviation Of the ills
of the veterans. DR.. Hasse now has, in
| addition to the regular male nurses. two
I motherly women skilled in the care of sick
and feeble patients, whose kndnesses are
greatly appreciated by those under their
care.
All men who served in the Mexican war
| or civil war of 1S6165 as volunteers who
I've on the Pacific coast are eligible to
membership under the following rules:
Application must be endorsed by re-
putable physician. asfncompetent to earn a
IA E. ~ w. L.
by debility. Upon receipt OF this applica-
ton the governor orders transportation
ssnt. On arrival at the home the applicant
is examined by the surgeon in charge who,
il found as asserted in application, orders
admission. The governor then assigns the
bath, clothing consisting of socks. shoes,
underclothing, a hat, a cap, pair of pants,
shirts and blouse are given him. The
man is assigned to one OF the wards where
he is given woven wire cot with good
mattress, two pairs of blankets, sheets and
pillow with case. No duty is demanded of
the member save working as q waiter in
the dining room one week every six months
and the same as a cleaner in the quarters
about as often. For any other work such
as laboring, farming, cooking, clerking or
police duty. he is paid from SO to $12 per
Should he be pensioner he assigns his
pension over to the home. but can draw it
every three months If he desires. There is
an unwritten law at the home that the pen-
sioner shall pay non-pension substitute
the sum of Sl.5O for doing the detail work
required. Now pensioners are furnished
with tobacco free, while the canteen sells
goods OF all kinds at cost
At half past six in the morning, on the
blowing of the whistle, all get up, go to
breakfast, then return, make up their beds,
sweep up, and until o'clock in the even
-1np fl.e.vr MI
For longer time UP to ten days pass is
given. for longer time a furlough is fur
nshed. Some three hundred members are
constantly on furlough, preferring to make
their own living, having the assurance of q
home If they desire. Intoxication at the
home has almost ceased owing to the en-
forced order of dismissal if persisted in
This rule is very gratifying to large ma
jorty and very unpopular with the few.
A Drass pand gives a concert each after
noon and leads all funerals and parades
Many applications have to be refused ow'
ing to the crowded condition of the home
but the governor tries to care for the mosl
needy who came. The members speak In
the highest terms of the food furnished un'
der the supervision of Major Upham, who
as commissary, personally lnspects every
thing, rejecting all goods not up to the
standard.
The governor, Joseph G.. Rowland, a
soldier serving with distinction as maj Dr. OF
the Tenth Illinois infantry, was induced to
take the management of the home, after
proving SO efficient as the governor of the
soldiers home at Quincy, Ill. BY his kind.
ness he has endeared himself to the mem.
bers, all of whom speak in the highest
terms of him.
The governors executive staff consists of
Chief Surveyor Harse, Treasurer Upham,
Adjutant-Captain j. M. Davis. one captain
for each barrack and clerical force.
General breckenridge. the INSPECTOR
general of the United States army, whose
duty calls him here twice a year, com.
mends this as one of the best managed
homes in the union. While some looking
over the members may think that many
are able-bodied and able to earn their own
living, yet every man has just grounds for
being there.