The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1912-05-14
MORRIS PLAINS
PROTEST UNHEEDED
FreehOIders Listen 10 Argument
Against Hospital.

board of freeholders on Wednesday
against the location of the tuber-
culosis hospital on the hill back of
the aims house no action was taken
other than to leave the matter with
the committee, Freeholders George
Estler, Harry Prudden, Frank C.
Carle, Frank Oliver and Birmingham
The protest was made by Willard w.
Cutler counsel and the Rev. Felix
O'Neil, of Morris Plains. Judge Cut
Ter, representing the protesting resi-
dents of the Plains, told the free
holders that the necessity of locat-
ing the hospital they realized fell
upon the freeholders and urged them
not to put it at Morris Plains, as he
termed it,
Morris Plains, he asserted, already
has two institutions, the state insane
hospital and the county aims house,
institutions that do not tend to in
crease the valuation of property in
their neighborhood There was a
movement on foot, started two years
ago, to boom the place as resi-
dental neighborhood and the location
of third institution there would, he
said, take away the little impetus
gained.
Father O'Neil told the freeholders
that the location of the hospital near
Morris Plains would bring to that sec
tion many people from the cities who
have consumptives in their families,
making undesirable neighbors.
The Rev. Philemon F. Sturges, rec
tor of st. Peters church, spoke in
behalf of the location as selected by
the committee. He said that people
know just about enough of the
disease to have an insane fear of it
and of institutions where tuberculosis
cases are cared for. Statistics, he
asserted, show that instead of de-
creasing property values the location
of tuberculosis hospitals in a COM
munity has raised the value of prop
erty.
AS to its being a menace to health,
Mr.. Sturges said that anyone who
had suffered from tuberculosis, lived
in an institution for the care of tuber-
culosis patients as he had, we'll knew
the educational value of the hospitals
People are less exposed where the
disease is known and cared for than
town and Morris Plains that are un-
recognized or CLOSED over, quoting
an instance where he had buried four
members of a Morris Plains family
who had died of tuberculosis within
few years.
The hospital must be located, said
Mr.. Sturges, where the cost of main
tenance will not be too high and
where it will be accessible to physi-
clans and friends of the patients. The
location beyond the aims house he
considered a good one.
On motion of Freeholder Owens the
matter was referred to the committee
to report ''if necessary
What raised the ire of the freeholders
was the petition that was handed in.
This paper recited that the under
signed residents of Morris Plains and
vicinity protested against the location
of the hospital, asserting it to be
unjust to the community to burden it
with another public institution and
that it would be a menace to health
and would depreciate very materially
the property values.
Then followed the following state
ment which evidently had been
thought better of, for a faint pencil
line was drawn through it, yet it's
legibility was not destroyed :-"and
We pledge ourselves unanimously to
do all possible to prevent the re-
election and to interfere with the
career of any public officer who per-
lsists in furthering the project of
locating this hospital in the midst of
u.s."
This called forth such exclamations
from the freeholders as "blackmail,' y
covert threat" and ''they can't bluff
me-"