The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1911-03-14
COUNTY TUBERCULOSIS
HOSPITAL URGtN / NEED
FreehO|ders Hear Facts and
Figures Supporting Claim.

st6NtSo OufFestu6 OtVtub
Facts and figures tending to show
the need in Morris county of tuber-
culosis hospital were presented to the
board of freeholders on Wednesday
by representatives of Anti-Tuber-
culosis societies. The board held a
hearing on the proposition of estab
fishing a county hospital for the care
of those in the county suffering from
the white plague" The one hun
dred people in attendance made it
necessary for Director John w. Fan
cher to adjourn the hearing from the
freeholders' room to more spacious
quarters in the court room.
The Rev. Philemon F. Sturges was
the first speaker and he read the act
giving the board of freeholders the
authority to establish such a hos
pital as is desired. Mr.. Sturges as
sumed the role of chairman of those
appearing for the establishing of the
hospital and introduced the Rev.
George F. Mooney, of Madison.
He read letters from the Madison
Anti-Tuberculosis committee asking
for the hospital and told the board
that the committee finds it impossible
to care for cases in that municipality
without danger to the community. He
cited figures showing the number of
cases in Madison of tuberculosis in
1908 to be four, of whom three died,
iii 1909 four died and in 1910 seven
died. The death rate for 1908 was
sixty-four from all causes, in 1909
there were sixty-five deaths and in
1910 fifty-one. These figures, he con-
tended, showed that while the death
rate had decreased there was an in
tuberculosis.
Mr.. Mooney pointed out the right,
under the law, of Madison to send
its cases to the Hudson county hos
pital at the rate of $14 per week each
which the board of freeholders would
have to pay and said that If every
other municipality in the county fol.
lowed the same course the cost to ths
county would be unthinkable. That
the board would be working against
the best interests of the taxpayers
he asserted, was his belief if the hes
pital was not established.
The proposition of locating the
building on the aims house property
Mr.. Mooney thought should be elm
mated, for patients should not be
subjected to such a depressing stu
alton.
Petitions asking for the hospita
were handed to the board by the Rev
Ralph B. Urmy and were from citi
zens in general, the executive com
mittee of the Woman's Town Improve
ment committee, the Morris County
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Children, the boards of health O
Morristown and Norris township anC
the Morristown board of aldermen
all of which showed, Mr.. Urlny TOLD
the freeholders, that there was al
evident sentiment enthusiastic ant
eager for the establishment of the
hospital
Experience shows that there il
only one way to fight this disease
and that is by establishing adequate
facilities for caring for patients" DR.
Livingston Farrand of Boonton tol(
the board. Dr. Farrand is executive
secretary of the National Anti-Tuber
culosis society. "The most effective
means is to care for the advanced
cases. The Glen Gardner hospita
takes only a few incipient cases
There is no place for advanced cases
except in the hospitals of Hudson, Els
sex and Union counties"
Dr. Farrand told of there being
ninety-eight deaths per year from the
disease in this county which showed
according to statistics that there were
500 cases in the county and no place
to put them. The money cost oi
these deaths, he said, mounted uI
into the thousands of dollars. He
asserted that the proper procedure
would be to provide facilities for car
ing for cases numbering at least hall
the number of deaths annually. This,
he said, would take in the majority
of the dying cases, poor people who
cannot be given proper care in their
own homes. He considered the cost
of erection to be $1,000 per bed and
asserted that the maintenance would
be at least 81 per day per patient
That it was a pernicious PROPOSE
ion to locate the building near poor
house property he contended, as ex-
perience shows that the patients
cannot be induced to go to such a
location as they will not submit to the
poor house stigma.
That the need of the hospital was
obvious to every physician in the
county was asserted to be a fact by
DR.. F. w. Flagge, of Rockaway. He
brought up new phase of the PROPOSE
tion in that it is almost impossible