The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-11
SGNIHARlUK on A PERRYBOAT
OLD SOUTHFTELD IS NOW A .TJ'-
BERCULOSIS CAMP.

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Dayp There-fgeA, Bmnx, Sunshine and
Fresh Air the Remedies Administered
Tho Tubercuiosas Day Camp ON Trial.
Ths committee on the p~revention II
t~uberoulosls, which has its once in ths
Charities Building. at 1906 East Twenty
second street, has enlisted the Depart
meut Of Docks and Ferries In its hght e8ainss
the white plague. Moored TO the pier 81
West Sixteenth street and transforxnAd
into q tuberculosis camp lies the old ferry
boat Southfeld, which ran on the Staten
Island line before the city took charge.
After the municipal ferry was started the
Southfield was tied up In the North River
waiting to be sold AZ old junk. Then the
tuberculosis fighters rescued II from this
ignoble end by borrowing It from the De-
partment Of Docks aud Ferries and putting
IL in commission as q sanitarium.
From 0 A. NJ. until r. M. consumptives
sun themselves upon its decks. In the
cabin once reserved for the smokers OF
Staten Island a kitchen range granite
booking pots. and a dishwasher's sink hold
the right OF way. The engine room is
given over to the icebox, and sandwiches
are served where brewers horses oncs
paved the wooden planks.
The crunch of breaking egg shells sLo-
pile. the want Of an orchestra, and milk
flows in abundance. In the upper saloon
the trained nurse. who is the superintendept
Of the sanitarium, has her receiving room.
At a long table she range the details
OF the day. Here new patients are well
cnpnAd fhn,p parda IF admiration Glad and
the notes from their dispensary physicians
examined.
All OF the cases have a chance OF recovery
under this treatment OF fresh air, raw eggs.
pure milk and strict supervision. Patients
In a more advanced stage Of the disease
are sent to mountain sani4ariums. The
Southield's passengers are able to be up
and about and to make the daily trip from
their homes to West Sixteenth street with
out exhaustion; but they are in that stage
where a summer in hot tenements or at
work under unfavorable conditions might
leave them in the fall beyond the help of
medicine or hygiene.
In the upper cabin Miss Smith, the super
intendent. dispenses sputum cups and
paper napkins. Here she instructs the
ewcomer in the mysteries OF the oiled
paper coliapsible drinking cup. Here she
issues commands about cleanliness and
delivers impromptu lectures ON the dangers
Of infection.
No Mede or Persian ruler could exact
more implicit obedience than, does Miss
Smish. Possibly that is why the South
field patients are putting on flesh and why
their daily records show a steady improve
ment. Miss Smith is a cheerful tyrant,
however, and has an apprciative lot OF
subjects.
II she declines to let Mrs. MulIigan eat
ourrants on top Of two glasses Of milk she
puts heart into her after q bad night and
keeps up her spirits during those inevitable
setbaoks which are the fate Of even o
valescent consumptives. II she metes out
justice to Title. caught in the act Of feeding
the fishes with a deepised egg nogg, il does
not prevent her from getting the child's
mother and brothers int a fresh air party.
On arrival each morning the patients are
weighed 10 a little Once. once the retreat OF
d~eckhands, now a library, a store room for
supplies and a telephone booth in N
Together with their pulse, their tempera-
ture, their general condition and the amount
Of eggs and milk they consume, their weight
is recorded on their char r., which are
brought up for inspection when the visiting
physicians make their weekly round.
The Southfield would put to shame the
average boarding house. There In no stint
TO the number OF raw eg gs and glasses OF
milk which a patient may consume daily.
Indeed. he is given to understand that the
more he can make away with the better
pleased will the committee be.
As it is now twenty-five dozen eggs and
seventy-five quarts of milk are delivered
| each morning at the Southfield gangplank.
! And these are the best the market can offer,
At 10 A. NJ. and at 4 p. M. these anti-tuber,
cular foods are dispensed.
some patients gulp down one egg and n
few swallows OF milk at each round with
heroic difficulty. Others have worked their
speed up TO half a dozen doses without a
vince. The patients share the expense
Of a not Dime at noon with the anage
ment, the inevitable eggs and milk. tea
and coffee and bread and bitter being all
that is s'pplie| by the boat. Whatever
else the patients have they bring from
home.
This materially reduces the running ex-
penses, which at present amount to 30
cents a day per capita. In Boston, where
the tuberculosis sr osn da{ b. camp originated: the
plete dinner and constant medical super
vision are supplied.
If as the committee earnestly hopes, the
funds can be secured to increase the num-
Der of patients to $50, the per capita rate
will be decreased. 1t estimates that s. 100
will cover the total expense OF equipment
and running from the date Of opening until
October l. This, Of course, is a small frac-
ton Of the usual sanitarium cost.
you see" said a member OF the commit
tee, lit only cost US 500 10 ht up the old
Southfield. We had to clean her up. do some
plumbing and put in a kitchen and get
cots n steamer chairs.
Some time ago when we first considered
the possibility OF a day camp several sites
in the city were kindly offered US by prop
erty owners, but all Of them on examination
proved impracticable. Some were too far
from the homes of the patients, others re-
quired more outlay than our small fund
could spare. but the worst objection OF all
was that we could secure no definite time
grant. All the property was on the market.
and might be sold at any moment, entailing
our eviction.
Quite by accident We appealed to Com
missioner Bensel. and his prompt and will
ing cooperation has given substance TO our
air castles. There are any number OF old
boats that could be used in the same way,
and no better site could be found than the
North River, with it's bracing air and burn
ing sun"
The patients on the Southield are a varied
lot. Children and old men, young girls
and portly grandmothers come daily TO
the Sixteenth street pier. There 10 dis
tinction of neither race nor nationality.
Negroes and Japanese, German. Irish and
Hebrews mingle freely on the broad decks,
Some of them with the vigor Of returning
health fish gayly for cells where once the
feet Of hurried commuters trod necessarily.
Some find sufficient amusement in Watching
tha nnarafiopa ~ the tipv kiffap IT n fho