The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-04-10
A HOSPITAL PROJECT.
Mayor Asked to Appoint Committee to
Make Recommendations.

Nh. Editor, Barre Daily Times, Some
time ago ] noticed in your paper an
| appeal to the residents of Barre from
Mayor Barclay in which he gave the
Emergency hospital considerable praise
for the manner in which it was being
conducted and the amount Of good it
was doing in the city, requesting that
| some means might be devised whereby
the hospital might be financed to a
greater extent than at present. am
surprised that no one has thought it
worth their trouble to make any reply
or suggestions to our mayors appeal.
One would have expected there would
have been suggestions from all classes on
matter Of so much Importance TO
our city. But there has been nothing,
not even from the pastors of our
churches, which is more than surprising
when we take into consideration that
we Of the principal duties OF min
ister Of the gospel is to visit the sick
and administer to the poor; surely, iii
we had hospital, IL would make mat.
tiers considerably easier for them to do
so. fitf9
| Although we are fortunate III not hav-
ing very many sick or poor among us,
the few we have ought to have all the
attention that il in our power to give
them. You will remember that the
mayor stated in his letter on the hos
pital question that ''wc have at present
two patients on the city farm who are
getting ell the attention that il il pos
sible to give them, but that they should
be placed in hospital" Is not that
disgrace, for a city the size of ours,
to allow any such conditions to ex.
list! If our ministers have been visit
ing the sick on the city farm (Which
! doubt very much) they have not been
administering to them to much purpose.
They surely could have done something
for these patients, they ought to be
put in the hospital; and If there is no
means of paying the expenses out of
the city funds il surely would be pos
sible to raise as much BY some other
means.
| don't altogether agree with Mr..
Mayor, on raising subscriptions for the
conducting of the hospital that we have
at present, as it is private concern,
run ON q business basis. OF course IL
anyone wants to t.bscribc for it. well
and good; but IL subscriptions are called
for on the scale that our mayor sug.
gestcd the arrangements would require
to be changed; we would require to have
, a board (sueh as our school commits.
sioners), either appointed or elected, to
look after the money and be able to
account OF the same. Ii such plan was
followed, have no doubt but consider.
able money could be collected. not only
in our own city but out of il. and the
city could surely afford to put little
in, 40 that they could be able to put
anyone there that was in need of at
tention and treatment.
But / can't see why we could not af.
ford to have a hospital conducted By
the city, for the good Of the people IN
the city, and surrounding districts. OF
course 1t would take considerable to
equip such an establishment, bnt after
| it was established it would not be all
expense, as most Of the patients would
be able to pay for their treatment,
whereas at present these patients are
carried out Of town, which means extra
expense TO that family or families, and
9 loss of money TO our city. IL would
also be the means OF giving our physi-
clans more experience, having all sorts
of cases treated here, instead OF else
where THAT might be Of considerable
value to ourselves).
We can afford to have tile best equip.
ped FIRE station in the state, the ex-
pense of running for the past year cost
us 81 ,503.4s, that Is for protection of
property. We have school system as
good as any in New England, costing for
the past year s49,5a663--for the eduea.
ton of our families. We have seven up
to.date churches for our spiritual vel
fare, but we have nothing prepared for
the ailments and Affections that the
body is heir to, and we call ourselves
progressive. Is il not time we were
doing something in that line, however
small?
would make the suggestion that our
mayor appoint board or committee Of
capable men to get particulars or run
ming hospital, that Is. the wants and
estimated cost Of running an institution
suitable for our needs, or TO devise some
means whereby wc could get the benefits
Of such an institution, and be able to
report at a future meeting called by
our mayor to see what action the citi-
zens would take on the hospital ques-
ton.
] will finish by repeating what our
mayor said at the end OF his appeal:
Let us hear from some Of the others"
JAS. Mulch.