The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-04-08
FEET TANGLED
IN RED TAPE
Board of Health Holds Windy
Meeting, but Results Are
Attained.
tFrOm Wednesdays Advertiser,

tFrom Wednesdays AdvertiserJ
The board of health held a meeting
yesterday afternoon that lasted an hour
and forty-fve minutes and resembled
nothing so much as a session of the
board of supervisors-unless, possibly,
1t might be little dog chasing his tail.
1t went around and around in a circle
without getting anywhere, until finally
Fred Smith seized the rotating canine
and chucked it bodily into it's kennel.
All that the board did, and all that
it had to do when it started in, was 20
vote funds to the Palama Settlement
for the pay of two district nurses for
the anti-tuberculoSis campaign. But it
took nearly two hours for some one to
discover how this could be DONE AT
last it was done by the simple expedient
of doing it.
The meeting was a special meeting.
called by President Mott-Smith to con.
slider the work of the antituberculosis
campaign. 1t soon developed that there
were many bumps of petty Importance
sticking out and their owners were
afraid that somebody might happen TO
knock against them. This does not
mean that the members of the board of
health have any bumps of Importance,
but they felt themselves obliged to use
great care not to collide with The bumps
of some other people. There was much
talk of responsibility and who was TO
get the credit for certain work-tnat,
at least, is what it amounted to-anl
who should be boss over the district
nurses.
Several others than members of the
board of health attended the meeting,
including j. r. Gait and Superintend
emit Rath of Palama Mission, both pres
| emit as members of the executive COM
mittee of the Antituberculosis League.
Doctor Hobby was present as mem
Der of the board of health and as q
member of the executive committee.
Doctor Brinckerhoff was also present,
as was Doctor Wayson.
j. R. Gait asked the board to turn
over to Palama Settlement two district
nurses, the board having previously
agreed to provide two nurses. But the
two nurses have not even been selected
and nothing along that line has yet
been done by the board of health, al
though the league has six nurses at
work. Mr.. Gait stated that the league
needed the two extra nurses on account
of the fact that the day camp is to be
opened next Thursday and one nurse
must be put in charge of that institu-
ton and one nurse is needed elsewhere.
Then began ring-around-a-rosy dis
cussion. Everybody admitted that the
proposed two nurses should be put to
work, but everybody, or nearly every.
body, had some objection to offer. Mr.
Mott-Smith did not see how the legis
lative appropriation could be used to
pay nurses under the charge of the
Palama Settlement. The board couldn Y
be responsible for their work if it did
not have direct charge of them. Doc
tor Sexton. head of the tuberculosis
bureau, objected to turning over the
ferentially that he was afraid his posi-.
ton was not being properly recognized
! Doctor Brinckerhoff made a speech
in which he said that the question
! was not one of responsibility or who
should boss the nurses, but question
of curing sick people and preventing
other people from getting sick.
4 Doctor Hobby backed him up in this
but proceeded 10 go into such elaDor'
ate detail that the issue was once more
obscured and nobody knew where he
twas at"
Then Doctor WayEon took hand
in the matter and made speech in
which be tried to brush aside all the
red tape and succeeded remarkably
well-until the nxet speaker grabbed
the end and wrapped it around the
= feet of the board again.
| This lasted for an hour and hall
or more, during which time many petty
jealousies peeped out. Fred Smith
who had sat through the long discus
sion with bored look ON his face
finally cut the Gordian knot by max
ing the simple motion that the board
of health turn over to Palama Mission
the funds to pay for the two nurses
The solution was 30 ridiculously sim
Pile that .everybod gasped and few
: tried to discuss the matter some more
or amend the motion. But Smith stuck
to his guns and won ont. The motion
was adopted and the vexed problem
solved.