New-York tribune., 1897-12-30
DEATH RATE AMONG BABIES.
TT rs ~ PER CENT YEAR ON RANDALr;s ISLAND
REPORT on VARIOUS CHARITIES.


TT rs ~ PER CENT YEAR ON RANDALr's ISLAND
REPORT on VARIOUS CHARITIES
The twenty-ffth annual report o. the New-York
County Visiting Committee. issued Tuesday gives
an interesting accoun, OF the condition OF municipal
charities for the last year. This committee is .
branch OF the State Charities Aid Association,
composed OF large number OF volunteer visitors
who visit regularly some department OF the public
hospitals almshouses or institutions for children
on Randalrs Island. The results o. these invest!-
cations are reported 70 the Commissioners OF Char
tiles from month to month A brief history OF the
year as a whole is given TO the public In this re-
port.
The greatest improvements Of the year have bsen
the erection OF a number OF buildings, and
extensive repairs and alterations TO buildings that
had long been allowed to fall into diapidaton and
TO be seriously overcrowded Under a law passed
in May. 1896. SIX dorm!tory buildings have
been erected at the almshouse which. year
ago some two thousand nine hundred people were
crowded into quarters intended for 1900. modern
kitchen and laundry building have been erected.
and the Amshouse Barracks. two great stone build
ngs half century old. have been newly plastered
and provided with steam-heating apparatus. and~
water towers containing lavatories bathrooms and
closets heretofore there has been neither hot nor
cold water IN these buildings. The capacity Of the
dining rooms has been doubled. and many other
improvements have been made. At the City Hos
pital two water towers have been built. which viii
provide bathrooms and closets outside OF the wards.
At Bellevue Hospital there have been erected IN
isoating pavilion erysipelas pavilion and q new
laundry and boiler-house Plans have been adopted
and contracts about to be let for the erection
OF several other structures
The nursing OF the sick. except in the amshouss
hospitals and In the hospitals for children on
Randalrs Island. is highly commended. No progress
to have been made however. In decreasing
the death rate In the Infants hospitals Randails
Island where out OF S6 babies under six months
old admitted without their mothers In 1896. only
twelve remained alive on April Is. is97-a death rate
OF 81 per cent. The aged and feeble inmates Of
the almshouse hospitals. many OF them IN the last
stages Of disease and particularly in need OF con.
siderate and thoughtful well OF intelli-
gent nursing. the report says. are cared for by an
entirely inadequate number OF unskiled attendants,
who are in no true sense nurses. Four facts are
said to account for the failure provide proper
nursing In these hosptals-,ow salaries. inadequate
accommoda tions. absence o. expert organization
and supervision, ard undue Interference by oicias
having special knowledge Of nursing
The City Lodging House. with Its compulsory
bathing dsinfect,on Of clothing. medical examina-
tion clean beds and bedding and staY Of invest.
eating officers is a welcome substitute for the old
police station lodgings and the former lodging
rooms in the basement OF Bellevue Hospital In
which hundreds OF men slept a floor laid directly
upon the moist dirt
A few OF the present needs OF the departments
are summed up as follows:
In every branch of its work the Department Of
Charities should be managed without regard to
political considerations.
proper system OF nursing tho infants and sick
children (nearly one thousand In number) on RAN
dals Island.
reorganization OF the nursing In the Almshouso
hospitals which contain between three and four
hundred patients. many OF them In the last stages
OF disease
There should he paid stan Of permanent resi-
rent phy sicians IN such OF the hospitals on Ran.
dalrs Island as devoted 70 cases or ophthal.
mia.
the three reception hospitals (Gouyerneur Harlem
and Fordhaml
A. the Almshouse much better food should b.
provided In the hospitals. grea ter variety OF food
should be provided In the Aims house proper. and
the inmates should be classified the basis OF
their present physical condition and their previous
character and surround'ngs
The substitution Of paid help for Workhouse help
In the wards OF the hospitals should he completed
without delay.
provided at once. -
CATION should be made OF applicants for admission
10 the Aimshouse and other Institutions OF the de-
partments.
The officers OF the New-York County Visiting
Committee are: Dr. George G. Wheelock presi.
dent; Mrs william II. Morse. vice president; Mise
Gertrude I. Hoyt. treasurer and Mrs. Couper SEQ.
retary.
The members Of the committee have legal right
OF entrance to all the institutions under q special
statute Tho expenses OF the committee anioun..
ing to about 81 200 every year. are met entirely by
Voluntary contributions which may be sent to Misa
Gertrude L. Hoyt. treasurer. No. 100 East Twenty.
second-st