Evening star., 1898-08-03
LEASE OF A HOSPITAL
Communication to Secretary Bliss
Concerning Freedmen's.
BUILDING FOR NURSES PROPOSED
Review of the Controversy With
Howard University.
E s INNATE OF VALU ES

| The District Commissioners today ad-
dressed a communica ton to the Secretary
| OF the Interior relative to a renewal of the
| lease of the Freedmen's Hospital grounds
| and buildings, recommending the erection
of a building for a home for the nurses.
| The letter of the Commissioners, which re-
| views at length the controversy between
Howard University and the hospital au-
| thorities, is follows:
The Commissioners of the District of
| Columbia duly received the report and
recommendation of the board of visitors
to the Freedmen's Hospital and Asylum
| appointed May II, 1898, which contains a
| recommendation substantially as follows
| That the Secretary of the Interior ask the
| District Commissioners to provide in a new
| lease that Howard University be wholly
| excluded from participation in the use of
| any part of the demised premises or that
| the lease provide for the immediate sur
| render by the university of the two rooms
| on the first floor of the brick building now
| used as dental parlors and the transfer of
the dental establishment from all the
| buildings used by the hospital; and that
| the lease contain a condition that on or
| about January !, 1899, the university va
cate all rooms now used by it en- the leased
| Pre- rcnliSes.'
This recommendation is reinforced by a
| letter from the surgeon-in-chief of the hos
| rital, addressed to the Commissioners,
| dated July Is, 1898, which alleges that
there is a necessity for an examining
rcom for patients, instead of which there
| l.; now only a bench in a hallway exposed
| to the public saze; and that there is also
| necessity for a pathological room and
| for an office for the surgeon-in-chief
Makes a Statement.
| hr1f fair
to submit formally the report of the boari
of visitors to the president of the universi
| ty, who, in a communication addressed ID
the Commissioners, dated July u, 1898,
| copy of which is herewith respectfully
| transmitted, states, in effect, that the
| building in question was erected expressly
for medical purposes, and not intended
| to be residence or a hospital bu'ldirg,
| that it is under the exclusive control of the
| trustees of the university, who may lease or
not lease. as they may choose; that. in reply
| TO the charge or the allegation that OF
twenty-nine rooms the medical department
| occupies seventeen, five of those rooms
| have been created by the trustees of the
| university and have been devoted to the
| free use of the hospital during the past four
years without increase of rental, and that,
in addition thereto, a room has been fitted
UP for visiting patients in the basement;
| that the space allotted to the hospital is
| substantially the same as when the original
| lease was executed; that the original rental
of $1,000 was reduced to 81 900: that the
| amphitheater was fitted up at the expense
| of the university of more than $4,000.
| which benefits the hospital as well as the
! medical department.; that the rooms used
4 as dental parlorS We're received by the uni
versfty in exchange for two others required
| for the school of nurses, but that the rooms
used for dental parlors can be and will be
| vacated by the university June l. 1899; that
4 the announcement for the next school wear
was made upon the basis of the continued
use for that year of the dental parlors of
| the university.
1.-The Commissioners referred the uues-
| ton involved in this controversy to the su-
perintendent of charities who submitted a
| report. copy of which is herewith trans
| mitted.
| Importance Recognized.
| 1.-The Commissioners recognize the import
ance Of securing to the Freedmens Hos
| p!tal and Asylum every convenience
| requisite for the execution of the import
| ant trust which dsvolves upon it, and they
| are especially desirous of carrying out our
wishes in the premises, but they have
| deemed it proper, before giving to the trus-
| tees of the university a final answer in the
| premises. to submit to you the decination
| of the university to comply at present with
the terms prescribed by the board of visit
| ors and their alternative proposition in
| the hope that some adjustment may be
made satisfactory to you and to the trus-
| tees Of the university.
Having that end in view one of the board
! of Commissioners inspected the premises
| in question and was convinced that the
hospital is not fully accommodated in the
| building referred to. The quartering of the
| nurses on the second floor, occupying four
rooms, and the occupation of four rooms
| on the same floor by the surgeon-in-chief
and his family render it difficult to find
on ha 6p Hsnv- Gov
| chief
"One solution of the difficulty which has
been suggested is the proposed erection of a
small addition to the present nurses home
large enough to accommodate the nurses
now quartered upon the second floor of the
| hospital building. 1t is believed that a
| frame addition u by 26 feet, two stories
high, estimated to cost 5000 would be en-
| tirely satisfactory to the hospital authori-
ties. 1t certainly would be more convenient
| to have all the nurses Quartered in the same
building. This solution of the question has
| been suggested to one of the trustees of the
university, but, in the absence of the Presi-
dent, it is difficult to ascertain whether the
| university would agree to make the erec-
| tion suggested. 1t would only be fair, in
! that event, to add to the rental to be paid
| by the hospital about 500 per annum as a
| fair interest on the investment.
Value of Property.
1.-The Commissioners have asked the board
| of assistant assessors to give their estimate
| of the values of the grounds and improve
! ments now rented to the Freedmen's Hos
pital by the university. They as fol-
lows:
Estimated value of lands.............. S05, ,624
Estimated value of improvements. $1,000
Total. .S1Ss, ,924
while this fact of itself ought not to de-
termine the value Of the rental to be paid
by the hospital, irasnuch the university
received this property from the general
government, it is thought to be not wholly
irrelevant as a factor in the attempted So
luton of the controversy.
Having submitted to you these facts the
Commissioners respectfully await any fur
ther suggestions in the premises which you
may deem pertinent under all the facts and
circumstances