Evening star., 1896-10-07
ST. EL|ZABETH'S YEAR
Annual Report Of the Condition Of
the Hospital.
LARGEST NUMBER OF PATIENTS KNOWN
Tribute to the Late Doctor Toner,
President of the Board.
PROPOSED NEW CHAPEL

PROPOSED NEW CHAPEL
DR. Godding has submitted to Secretary
Francis fer the board Of visitors to the
Government Hospital for the Insane the
annual report for that institution, which
presents much interesting Information in
regard to the important work undertaken
by DR.. Gcdding and his associates There
were in the hospital June 80. 1885, 1.7::5
patients, of whom 80 were admitted dur
ing the year. OF these inmates $50 are
men and J05 women 73 came from the
army; 10 from the navy; Il from the ma
rine hospital service, and 9O4 from civil
life: 303 are colored.
There were 81 patients discharged dur
ing the year as recovered. 53 as improved
and as unimproved. During the year 1SI
patients Gied. The institution had under
treatment during the entire year 2,J12
cases
The patients from civil life remaining
June 80 1886, are classified as follows: Dis
trict of Columbia, transient. JOG; District
of Columbia, resident Indigent, GSS; United
States convicts and criminals, 1OI; private
patients, 3; total, 9O4
OF the 995s cases that have been treated
by the hospital staff 5,9O2 were native
born and 3, 76s were foreign. with 2ss un-
known. The District has furnished l.l?I
cases. The largest number of foreigners
have come from Ireland, with 1,I26 pa
tients. and Germany comes next with .1S)
The next lowest number is charged to Eng
land. with 229 cases: then follows France
IS; Canada, So; Scotland, SO; Switzerland.
~; Italy, 80; Denmark. 81; Norway, 81;
Sweden, 3S; Poland, IS; Prussia, IL, and
| Russia, -.
1t is interesting to note the results Of
treatment with the patients of the year,
as shown by the following table:
Percentage of cases reeov4ftd f: ssia t 2aaa ssl!
Percentase of cases improved. 1871 1886 1913
Percentage Of cas- unimprov-
Percentage ot cases died. 80. s0.7l 3l.4e s0.s7
| Percentage of cares remaining 1851 1910 H42
100 100 loo
| While the number of admissions last year
was one less than during the previous
| year. the number of patients in the hospi-
| tai every month and during the whole year
| was the largest in the history of st. EliZ-
| abeths. Many of the newcomers are vet
| Grams of the late war. The number of these
| Is increasing rather than dimtnis ming as
| the years pass.
| Anncostin Flats.
| DR. Goddng's yearly word Of caution in
| regard to the Anacostia flats appears as
| usual. couched in temperate and patient
| language. He says:
bers Of men advanced in life, coupled with
\ the insaluhrity Of the adjoining fats of the
| Eastern branch of the Potomac, that the
| higher figures of the mortality are mainly
| due There has been a not:tol, absence OF
| any further government work on these bot
| toms during the past year, and one might
| therefore hope for some subsistence in the
| growth of ague germs. But the mischief
| was done by the previous abortive inter
| ference with nature in throwing up those
| mud bars, which do not fill the flats, bu,
| stop the currents; bars that with the eDt
of each tide rise out of the stagnant pools
| green with a Shiny growth and reekine
| with malaria. creating a land of noiSonle
| odors, out of which come emanations fiji
only for the valley of the shadow of death
! The river and harbor bill IF the last ses
sion of Congress carries $lOO,WU for the i'm
provement of the Potomac river. 1t is per
haps too much to hope that any portion OF
this will be diverted to the Eastern branch
for the healing of AnacoStia and st. EiZ
abeth for the benefit of the dwellers ir
South Washington and its suburbs. In any
event, the deferred completion of the work
undertaken on those flats by the United
States government means increased sick
ness and death in the early autumn amonf
those who have home here; home no
OF their own seeking, nor are they held fol
crime like those whom the same miasn
overtakes at the United States Jail on tn,
opposite shore, but men who fought fol
their country, missing grave on the bat
tlefield only to find it here. The true sol
him IT, in breaking his silence. he shoul,
exclaim. How long, Lord. how long? -
Who May BE Admitted,
There often occurs inquiry as to wha
cases are admissible at St. Elizabeth's
Legislation governing this matter is s.
| scattered through the United States stat
utes that it is not always easy to say VIII
may or may not be admitted. A digest O
the statute provisions shows that insan
| persons are admitted on the order of tn
Secretary of the Interior, :he Secretary O
| War. the Secretary of the Navy, the Secre
tary of the Treasury, the Commissioners O
the District of Columbia, the president c
the board of comm. .ssioners of the Soldiers
Home and the president of the board o
| managers of the National Home for Dis
4 3 bied Volunteer Soldiers respectively. TIL
| patient. are from the army, navy, marin
corps, revenue cutter service. marine hos
pital service. the Soldiers Home, the Ma
tional Home for Disabled Volunteer Sol
diers, resident and nonresident INDECENT in
sane from the District of Columbia, Cnite
States convicts and persons charged wit
crime under United States laws.
1.-The sources of supply are SO varied
says DR.. Godding, that there is probabl
no danger of the hospital ever becoming de
| populated
Independent or pay patients from tn
District were formerly received on paymen
| Of board AID other expenses, nut tn
| buildings have long been overcrowded thi
class is no longer admitted. Under Unite
States Revised Statutes the words ''insan
persons ard 'lunatics'' are held to includ
every idiof, non compos, luratic and insan
| person. Accordingly imbecile and weak
minded persons are often sent to the hos
pital from the District.
Foisted ON the District.
The tramp insane in the hospital, o
whom there are now 1O6 cases, are ther
temporarily, but as their friends canno
he found they are the most permanen
class of inmates. AS to one element il
this class of patients, DR.. Godding say
most practically and justly: THE seat O
government attracts presidential aspirants
crank inventors, persons with a grievance
the great army of the unemployed, wild
eyed fanatics and dusty tramps and it i
only to be expected that quite a numbe
of these will each year find rest under tn
shadows CT ST. Elizabeth. but why shoul'