The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-10
DR., ], H'yRl6R IS DISCUSSED.
,s,cvS As SUPERINTENDENT
mr. TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL.
..,s NJ the "yiclous Capitalization OF
power" In Fiscal supervisor bender
and of Being Associated With Board
trustees VINO Are Only Flgurcheads.

nf
s.x.c LAKE, y. Y, July 9.-ln speak
,.f h,s resignation as resident physician
".s ~, state Hospital for tuberculosis,
nr John H Pryor said: 49,,
=, resioned last March, but no action
rbateyer was taken on my resisna''oh
.,d have now asked to be relieved ifhihe-
a,.,a,v shall leave this institution on
w. ,o,h Of this month and take up my
.os;dence and the practise OF meoic'he III
r' Lake NV reasons for resigning
''' an, tired Vt the shackles involved
Conventional work as 1t Ia at present
!" - ,, in Now York There Is Infinitely
oa4 ,nob rcd tape, which has grown in the
,rse of wears and has been supplied
, 1o nv clerks am tired Of the vicious
t.,a,,a,ion Of power in the hands OF
man such power as is possessed by
o'e s.aal supervisor, H. II. Bender.
w. ,,.od If being associated with board
ai'' .,, NJ a state institution who no
, " lagislate. but merely meet and act
.s soureheads Only Dickens could prop
erlv appreciate the humor presented by
the situation w
81 am disguised and l measure my
cords when say disgusted- the re-
I,. e 1.-Two civil service as administered in
,bis State. The Civil Service Commission.
arra,bar i.s clerks seems able to furnish me
nth eyervthinR do not want and nothing
do want in the wa Y Of assistants. A super
;n,endent is held responsible for the entire
r,o,aoement Of his institution, but all his
a,,n,ovees have to do is to pass an exami-
ra,ion which, so far as it can show their
fitness for the positions they hold, Is COM
nlete farce. do not hesitate in saying that
the time Is past when superintendent OF a
State institution in New York State can feel
that the direction Of the institution Is IN
,eality in his hands and the time is ap-
nroachins rapidly when no physician of any
professional standing will accept position
in a State institution.
1T must be assumed that I was selected
N All the position have held in this institu-
tion on account Of my knowledge OF tuber-
culosis and its treatment, but my work
here has beer work that required peculiar
executive ability rather than medical knowl-
.doe. The building, the State sanitarium
here. is really a barrack. according to the
confession of the men who designed it.
IN
criticized severely by qualified judges who
have visited it from similar institutions
from all the States of the Union Yet it
kadmtted by all authorities on the matter
tia. this sanitarium leads, when its age is
taken into consideration-first. in the num-
her Of durable cases treated. and secondly,
IN the result. obtained.
After short rest 1t is my intention to
of rti :
used in conducting a State sanitarium.
| will give actual facts, and they are GER
tanly such as to astonish the outside public.
These facts must be known. They should
have been exposed by the State Board OF
Charities, but that honorable body in.
dulges principally in garrulity and in liberal
promises that it will DO something some
day. 49,
There should he l2O patients in this
sanitarium, but with the present appropria-
ton the only way in which it is possible to
provide for more than 100 patients Is by
actually reducing the food supply OF each
inmate When | have been required to
take more patients than maintenance was
provided for, | was advised to, as it was
EXPRESSED put the matter up to MIR. Bender
and he would be obliged to allow necessary
expenses, even if they would create deficit
In his department. But Fl. H. Bender had
refused to allow 81 600 that was absolutely
plain that fourteen patients who had not
yet recovered would have to be discharged.
This may be taken as an illustration of the
economy boosted of by Mr.. Bender. At the
present time lis ratients could be accom-
modated here with ample room, and the
only added expense would be the additional
food required and the services of few
more mattresses.
The sanitarium has cost s25o,0oo and it is
given up TO 100 patients. 1t should be
remembered that the cities and counties
from which the patients are sent pay two
thirds Of the cost Of their maintenance in
the institution, so that the added direct
cost to the State for the seventy-five ad
dtional patients would be comparatively
email, and this trifing increase is not al
lowed because, apparently, the present
misery boarding Of needed money re-
meets credit on one man. who Is striving TO
obtain a reputation for economy regard
less Of everything The present manage
ment OF the Ray Brook institution, as adj
ministered at Albany and not at Ray Brook,
"a aughable exhibition. 1t Is only fair to
~ and have pleasure in speaking Of it,
that politics have been connected in no
way with the institution. No politician
has endeavored to inject them here either
BY using influence to place patients in the
house or in any other way. Gov. Higgins
has done his utmost to forward my work,
and my relations with him have been most
pleasant
=, After leaving DR.. Pryor tour OF inspec-
ton OF the institution was made. 1t looks
very much as if cyclone had recently
struck 1t. For furnishings of the nine rooms
occupied by the superintendent there are
one small rug, one bureau and one stand.
Inc State is supposed to provide furnished
sparments. The walls throughout the
house are bare there are no medical books
Mthe library and the very microscope with
which the examination Of sputum is made
Dr; Pryor personal property and has
neen left by him because the institution has
no Other The billiard table and piano
which afford almost the only recreation
possible to the patients, still remain. They
we're obtained by DR., Pryor from friends in