Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-09-25
SUITABLE SIZE IS
DIFFICULT 70 FIND
"White Plague" Hospital Sites
So Far Offered Do Not Meet
Requirements
FORTY VISITED; NOT ONE GOOD
Board of Control is Having Hard
Time Finding Location for State
Tuberculosis HospitaI-cownie Tells
Of Requirements and Difficulties y
Lack Of Needs in Present Institutions.
Special to Times-Republican.

Des Moines, Sept. 25.--The state
of trouble finding a site for the pro-
posed new tuberculosis hospital an
institution which, in efend, will have
buildings costing a quarter OF a mill
ion of dollars, and for which q. prelim-
mary appropriation of $4,000 has been
made by the legislature. The board has
had offered, and has visited, about
forty sites, and not one of them is
suited to the purpose or meets the
cided upon as being fundamental.
After having exhausted the list of
those offered, the board is still inves-
tigating with the hope of lighting upon
a proper site for the big institution
which, in it's fight against the white
Plague" is likely to become one of
the most important institutions of the
state.
The requirements set by the board
are that the site shall be within easy
access to an inexhaustible supply Of
good water; that it shall be on high
ground; that it shall be within good
reach of railroad facilities, so that a
switch can be built to the institution
grounds; that there shall be included
in the site at least quarter section
of good farm land; that it shall be
within easy and convenient reach of
the public for visiting their friends or
going to the institution as patients.
The board has frequently been able
to get one or two of these require
ments. Practically every site offered
has at least one of the requirements.
but there has been offered thus far
no site that the board believes an
swers all the requirements. The search
therefore is being continued.
Il can sympathize with the persons
who located the other state institu-
board, today eff they had the same
they had plenty, and they must have
had as much, for there is scarcely an
institution in the state that has all the
requirements. Take Cherokee, for in
stance The state has spent some
thing like $4,000 trying to get good
water supply. Our supply now is not
adequate, and I don't know how much
will be spent before it is. lndepend-
ence is on high ground and it is i'm
possible to get a switch run to the
grounds Everything has to be car
ried to the grounds in wagons. When
you come to consider the enormous
consumption of provisions at one of
these big institutions, this question of
drayage is an enormous one. There
are several of the institutions that
are not on railroads and have no
switches.
"At some of these institutions there
is a consumption Of three barrels of
water to the person daily. That
seems enormous and it is enormous.
Insane patients frequently leaYe the
faucets open and there is considerable
wasted, but aside from that wasted.
the consumption is enormous, includ-
ing that for the horses cattle and
hogs and the steam boilers, and it
takes an enormous amount about such
an institution to keep things clean, so
that the consumption of three barrels
a day is something like reasonable.
But the amount shows how vitality inn
portant is an inexhaustible supply OF
pure water and yet many of the sites
Offered for the tuberculosis asylum
have no supply of water. Some have
the water but no railroad facilities
for reaching the institution either for
passengers or freight The difficulties
in reaching the Council Bluffs school
are very bad. would never consent
to locating an institution as that
one is.
eve would like if possible to locate
the institution on an interurban. Then
there would be a possibility Of both
passengers and freight reaching the In
stitution, but we have failed thus far
in finding such an institution. At
Council Bluffs the only way of reach
ing the institution is by hack. That
costs 81 each way, and it means a
great deal to the public and means
much to the employees. We would like
to have the tuberculosis hospital so
located that it could be reached by
street car or interurban for 10 cents.
There is a good site out at Valley
Junction that has been offered, and in
many ways meets the requirements,
but there is no way of disposing of
the sewage, except to dump it into the
Coon river, but that is above the sup
plv of water for the city of Des
Moines. and would contaminate the
supply for this city"
aaiNEpc IN RAD RIOT