La Junta tribune., 1909-11-27

and painters finished their wnrik aI4
removed the rubbish until the .thai1at
was badly damaged by fire. con me.
cember l6, 1884. the result uff - a.
fective fire place flue. The. fire ~.
stroyed all but the executive. IpSfttoQ,
which was then utilized for ;all IparT-
poses until repairs could bee Inaiie.
The old hospital did not enjoy the
luxury OF an operating room, nndl WAS
without many of the modern ocunven-
fences.
The first officers were G. NJ. H,ath-
burn, division superintendent; "A. "A.
Robinson, general manager off tthe
road; DR.. j, c. Lay, first surgeon in
charge. DR.. Lay was relieved the
first of the following June, being sue
ceeded by Dr. George w. Mitl, rnow
OF Denver. J. II. Randall wass first
ward master, and Mrs. w. w. IBuah
also assisted in the care of. pxiiteiits.
Jas, Burns was the first. patient
OF the Santa Fe Hospital, w,ilo was
sent to the medical shops" for vac
cination. The early records off the
institution show that nearly dll oof
the first patients were there fbIr the
purpose Of vaccination, the1e evident
ly having been a smallpox snrTe at
that time.
The first house patient Was UienTBo
NJ. Wilson. machinist In the llucal
shops. and VIM. Jameson, night yard
master at La Junta, had tho ltlnuor
OF being the first injury rpattant,
having suffered crushed fingMy. and
essary.
On September %, 1907, thee ccnrnsr
stone was laid for. the new, axQ. 600
hospital, and July "a, 1905. ss<sw tthe
opening OF the finest and mos,t rnidri-
ern of any hospital In this seuitinn odf
the country.
The building contains a rrfspttnn
room, business office preliminary
dressing room. operating room, wartis
that will accommodate forty-fiive Ipar
tients. dining room for officers and
another for those who are underr their
care. kitchen. cold storage depart
ment, bath rooms. and all nntlarn
equipment, everything hing nIrun3ed
for convenience and the proper care
OF patients. The Santa Fe Hospital
maintains its own arfesian water sys-
TEN, and is heated by the hutt wutsr
plan. The red light call sysiam has
replaced the electric bell, and I'M in
cline stairway enables PATIENTS to
be conveyed from floor to fIosnr con
a rubber tire truck,
The local officers of the iinsiitiI-
tion are DR.. Frank Finney, wliln has
been surgeon in charge since 1857: I:
DR.. o. j. Whitcomb, house srI.srenu;
Mrs. Dir. Whitcomb. maimn;. William
Mckennan. steward; Miss Bessie Fox
head nurse. Miss Zuma Steele. nurse.
and Vim. McSmiih and Frank N!alxh
male nurses. Seven others iare cam-
ployed In various capacities.
The hospital takes cars, off dll iaf-
flicted or Injured empIoyes. .and IL
maintained by general taxaiimn ID
members. There have beenn nn an
average twenty-five PATIENTS lin this
institution daily since the first IN
June. and 1t will average twansy Ipa-
tients daily the year around. Iisttisnts
are sent To the La Jun,a Santa ife
Hospital from all points In. IA ttarfi-
tory extending from NewiuI!. Kan.
TO Ration. n. NJ. and. frnm nssnvsT
TO La Junta.
After the local hospital wiY3 lbliii
similar institutions were ereritxii ~
Las Vegas, n. NJ. Ottawa, Kan. nj.
Madison, Iowa. and Topeka, Kun. hun
the La Junta Hospital is thee finest
OF any OF them.