Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-05
CENTER FOR QUICK AID
Emergency Building for Char
ity Is Recommended.
TO GIVE TEMPORARY CARE
Destitute, Sick, Hurt and 1ntoxi-
Gated to Be Taken In.
THEN SENT TO OTHER PLACES
Report Of Board Of Charities Makes
Other Suggestions to Meet HUI
manitarian Needs Of Capital.
TO GIVE TEMPORARY CARE
THEN SENT TO OTHER PLACES

A central charity building or group OF
buildings. in the downtown section OF
the city. which should serve as clearing
house for persons in distress-those who
are helpless, destitute, intoxicated. sick
or injured-is urged in the annual report
Of the board of charities for the year
ended June 80 1908, submitted to the
District Commissioners, today.
The board also recommends the con-
struction of additional institutional build
ings on the hospital site owned by the
District between Georgia avenue and 18th
street for the care of convalescents. acute
ly insane persons and patients suffering
from chronic ailments; the acquisition OF
of additional land at Blue Plains. near the
site of the Home for the Aged and 1nfirm.
upon which new buildings can be erected
as needed in the future; additional room
at the workhouse and the Washington
Asylum Hospital, and the placing OF the
charitable and penal institutions OF the
District under one control.
The matter of central emergency
building and general clearing house for
persons in distress is taken up In con-
nection with the discussion of the
Emergency Hospital, the site of which
is soon to be condemned and taken over
by the government.
Need Of Central Station.
'In this connection says the report,
I'VE invite attention to the need Of a
central charity building or group of build
ings in which might be combined with
economy and efficiency various services OF
temporary and emergency character.
in addition to that of purely hospital
service.
Attention is invited to the fact that
the municipal lodging house is now housed
in an old and inadequate structure, and
this service might also be combined with
others In a central group of buildings.
Such a central building or buildings
should furnish facilities for the tempo
rary care of all kinds Of helpless or des-
titute persons, pending a preliminary In
vestigation to determine the facts In each
particular case.
at should contain the application offices
of the board Of charities. 1t should have
icated persons and for the emergency
treatment Of the sick and injured. 1t
should afford temporary shelter for
homeless men and women, for lost chill
dren, etc.
To Provide Temporary Care.
Gin short, it should be place where
practically everybody in distress could be
furnished temporary care without the ne
cessity of being in the hands Of the po-
lice All persons picked up on the street
and not charged with crime should be
sent to such a building, unless they can
be sent Immediately to their own homes.
such building or group of buildings
should be located in the heart OF the
downtown section Of the city, so as to be
readily accessible to the cases likely to
= v,ofh n hn y,rrr
pose of such a building to afford perma-
nent care to any class OF persons.
THE various cases should be Investigate
ed as promptly as possible and distribut-
ed according to their needs, some being
sent to their homes, whether in the city
or in other communities. and others being
sent to institutions for more permanent
care, when such Is required.
"Such building might be called the
Emergency building or Reception building
and should serve as clearing house Tor
persons in Distress
Workhouse Extension Urged.
In recommending the erection of ar
additional cell wing at the workhouse
the board Of charities calls attention to
the fact that there are 40 cells now
available for male prisoners. and that
for a considerable portion Of the year the
number of male prisoners has been in
excess of that number. thus necessitatine
the placing of more than one prisoner In
a cell.
The Girls Reform School, the report
says, has been overcrowded for several
years and no proper classification of the
girls for better results has been possible
The board recommends the expenditure
of $50, 600 for an additional building.
The sick poor of the District, says the
report, are cared for in twelve general
and special hospitals. for which there
was an aggregate appropriation last year
Of free patients treated in these twelve
hospitals during the year covered by the
report was 657, an increase of twenty
seven over the preceding year.
The Washington Asylum Hospital is
congested, says the report, and frequently
during the winter months applicants are
turned away because of lack of accom-
modations. These are persons, says the
report, that will not be received at other
hospitals because they are chronic. help
less or otherwise Objectionable patients.
Neglect Of Convalescents.
Attention is also called in the report
to the fact that there is at present no
provision for caring for INDECENT con-
valescents. who are constantly dis
charged from hospitals while recovering
from acute diseases and still in weak
ened physical condition.
ut is impossible at present to deter
mine how many persons are permanent
ly injured by reason of improper care
during convalescence, but there can be
no doubt Of the seriousness Of such a
condition, and reasons Of economy, as
we'll as humanity, demand that provi-
sion should be made for the proper care
of this class of patients" the board says
In its report.
For caring for persons addicted to the
use Of alcohol and drugs the board sug-
gests the use of the old almshouse
building. The report says:
1.-THE old almshouse building might,
with less objection. be used for the habi-
tues of the alcohol and drug habits be-
cause such persons require more or less
legal restraint and they should be at
forded opportunities for useful employ
ment. When 1t Is stated that the aver
age number Of arrests for drunkenness
during the past five years was $685.
per annum the need Of special treat
ment for this class of patients is evil
dent
Among the persons thus arrested the
average number for the past five years
CLASSIFIED by the police as 'habitual
drunkards' was S24 per annum. 1t is
recommended that a law be enacted pro-
of alcohol and drug habitues and that
the old almshouse building be devoted
to that purpose.
"In this connection we invite atten-
ton to a bill introduced at the last
session NJ Congress- nv Senator 70 lJ;,ro,