Arizona republican., 1907-06-30
WHITE SHIP OF MERCY
 NEW FLOATING HOSPITAL
4 Plan for the Treatment of Sick Babies Which Is Being Considered in Many Cities.

Boston. June 22.-(Special Corres- pondence of The Republican, This concern has the back fire escape beat A mile. as a. place for sick child of hot night" said a grateful mother as she received her afflicted little one in improved health from the Boston Floating hospital. the White ship or Mercy" as it has been poetios4lY- called.
 The same sentiment has been vari- ously expressed great many times in the last few years. No charity any where. it Is probable. is more highly appreciated than this unique Boston en- terprise which has attracted tho atten- ton of practical sociologists through out the world. No sight. furthermore, along the waterfront of the New Eng land capital. not even the historical old Ironsides herself. as she lies off Uncle Sans navy yard. proves more interesting to the hundreds of thous- ands of visitors during the sImmer months than that of the twin-screw steamer whose landing place is at the North End recreation pier. Equipped for taking three hundred sick children. day or night out where the sea breeZ- es blow uncontaminated with the city's dust. she typIfies a form of philanthro- py that is almost certain. sooner or later. to be followed in every large city which has access to the sea or to a navigable lake or river.
 The present season will be nota- ble one in the history of this charity. because it will be the first in which the new and specially designed ship of the Floating hospital will have been in use throughout the hot weather. equipped with refrigerating apparatus for keeping the temperature Cf come of it's wards at about 72 degrees what ever the torridity outside The old boat with which many thousands of Americans are familiar. craft remod- elled and furnished as well as could be for hospital purposes but not originally designed for such service. has now be- come a memory.
 Take the sick child out to sea and you greatly increase the chance of his recovering So directly and evidently useful is this charity that it has not only become well organized in Boston. but inquiries show that the system Is ! Already great interest in the plan has been aroused in England. Already the New York Floating hospital and it's allied seaside hospital are carrying on a similar beneficent work. although the metropolitan steamship receives thus far day patients only. Explaining how the details of the hospital that goes to sea are arranged the 18th an nual report of the institution has lately been published. in connection with the advent of the new season. and at the same time to other persons who may be interested in a briefer statement an illustrated folder has been sent out from the Floating hospital hea1quart- CTS at 54 Devonshire street.
 One of the earliest floating hospitals is said to have been developed in the nearby city of Lowell. Mass. where pr. Thomas F. Harrington. local phy sician who has given considerable at tention to the study of infant mortality among the poor. and who also origin partment to flood the streets in the tenement district on very hot days. about 1891 devised plan of sending sick children in charge of a nurse up the Merrimack in steamboat, to escape the terrific heats of the city. The work in Boston began about 1894 when five experimental day trips were made on a hired barge with only vol unteer service. The next year under