Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-10-23

ing IL not appreciated ~ II should DC
by all classes of PERSONS, ana ti'a'' Oh
the large sums of money given every
wear for charitable uses that part
which goes to aid the work when tie
hospitals and suIatOriums are DOING -
disprornrtionatcly small. l have re-
gently talked with the officials OF our
larger hospitals and some of the small
or ones about this matter and l find
that the amounts of money which have
b,.en coming to them from private do
nations and requests are surprisingly
few and small. and together with the
cbb tide Of private benefactions there
has been a sharp advance in the cost
Of supplies-supplies for the commits
sary departments. for heating, and for
most of the requisites Tor the medical
ana surgical work
The general evidence on this point is
that the financial stress is severely felt
in the hospitals. 1t is SO serious that
the trustees of one OF them are cOnsid-
ering with a good deal Of concern what
can be done to obviate serious Grip
ping Of their hospital work and it's
service to the public. The last pub
lished report of one of these hospitals
says:
1--WE are severely handicapped as we
have repeatedly said. on account of
lack of funds. Although we endeavor
TO manage the finances as economically
as possible, we cannot make both ends
meet. and il we should comply with
the ideas and desires expressed by
some. we should show much larger
deficit than we now do. 1T is re-
markahlc that we are given so much
advice and so many general suggestions
pertaining to changes and sO-called
improvements that call for large in
crease in running expenses, and not
even a thought expressed as to where
the revenue is coming from to meet
them
And what is the work done in these
hospitals. and what are the special
needs of hospitals in the larger centers
of population?
In the communities in our common
wealth, as elsewhere. diseases and
physical injuries are continually oc-
curing which can be treated nowhere
else so conveniently and successfully as
In hospital which is properly equipped
with medical and surgical staff, and
with the facilities for the correct de-
termination Of the character Of the
diseased processes or physical injuries,
and with everything required in the
treatment Of these conditions. In con-
sidering how absolutely essential is the
work of our hospitals we must consider
not only classifications of pathologic
conditions. but social conditions and
strata as we'll. Sometimes when dis
case or physical injury strikes the
jewellers in some homes, whether the
unfortunate may or may not be trans
ported to q hospital for treatment is a
question of life or death. In many
homes it is absolutely impossible to Sc
cure pure air, clean surroundings,
special dietaries, trained nursing. and
the medical or surgical treatment and
supervision which are required to in
sure the best, Of even fairly good,
chances Of recovery. Opening the
doors Of the hospitals to such and nurs-
ing them. and nourishing them, and
giving them the advantages OF our
wonderfully improved surgical and
therapeutic processes comes as near as
anything l know to. that best of Sa-
the good book.
And out from the hospitals into
homes where the sick cannot properly
be cared for. the hospitals are now
sending their nurses, who are in homes
of restitution, veritable angels of
mercy. A much wider extension Of this
kind Of work into the outlying districts
is very desirable and in this direction
some Of the hospitals regret their in
ability to extend their work.
Thousands of our needy and not well
to do people have had reason to, and
do. appreciate and bless this beneficent
work: but do those who have an
abundance or 4 superabundance of
worldly goods value this work at its
true worth? If these life saving SER
vices were more generously equipped I
should be more ready to believe that
they do.
And now about our Sanatorium for
consumptives which is a special hospi-
tai for the administration of special
methods of treatment to persons VINO
have met with the serious accident of
infection with a specific pathologic
organism. AT any given time now, and
for many years in the past. there have
been at least five or six thousand
persons thus infected in n degree which
is more than a transitory infection. OF
these L few have recovered under the
conditions. adverse as they We're, which
prevailed in the past: but more than
one thousand have been swept away
every year by consumption that most
terrible pestilence Of civilized life, that
king of the causes of death,-while all
the time that vast army of the infected
have been carried along in their course
to the grave, recruiting their ranks as
they go. That. formerly. pathetic and
disastrous as it was to communities
and to the state. was accepted as one of
the inevitables.
But now every one Of us should know
that tuberculosis is preventable, and
durable. In just those states and cities
where the greatest and the most in
telligent work has been done to prevent
this disease, the death-rate from
tuberculosis has been lowered the most
and under the modern system of
sanatorium treatment it has be. II
shown for these forty years. now IN