The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1913-04-19
same.... ............. $50 90
Total. ..........S l47S 81

Houghton county next adjoining shows
that the rate for Baraga county is
either very much too high or Houghton
county is obtaining the same service at
an absurdly low rate.
According to the census of 1910 the
population of Holghton county was
SO, 09S and of Baraga county 6, l27, or
about IA to /. The board of supervis-
ors of Houghton county contract with
their county physician at salary of
100000 per year. For this he is
obliged to furnish all medical attend
ance for the Jail, tuberculosis sanitar-
ium, contagious hospital, the county
poor including free calls at his office,
examination of insane, and perform
ance of necessary inquests and surgical
operations.
In addition to this they contract with
the three hospitals at $500 each. In
addition to the regular physicians sal
airy there are few calls from outlay
| ing districts of the county which are
attended usually by some nearby physi-
clan; and also in the case of examina-
tons for insanity the law requires that
there be an additional physician pres
ent. This physician is paid $500 for
his service which is the minimum al
lowed by the statute. The total of
these additional physicians charges, ]
am told, amounts to about $4,000 per
year. There is also an additional eX-
pense for drugs of probably $4,000 per
year as physician furnishes only med
icine to those of the poor making tree
calls to his Office.
The total Of this expense for Hough-
ton county is therefore in the neighbor-
hood of $3900.00 per annum or about
4sc per capita, as compared with per
capita cost for Baraga county for same
services of about 33sc.
The average number OF inmates at
the Baraga county poor farm for the
year ending June 30th, 1910, was but
six as compared with an average Of
sixty-six inmates at the Houghton
4 county institution.
The average number of prisoners in
the Baraga county jail for the We ar
ending June Both. 1910, was five and a
fraction as compared with forty-two
and fraction for Houghton county.
You can therefore readily see that the
county physician for Houghton county
has much more to do for which he re-
, ceiyes about the same amount as is be-
, ing paid out by Baraga county.
A comparison with Marquette county,
likewise. shows to what extremes the
/, p,undering was carried. Marquette
county has population of over 45, OOO
against Baraga's 5000. In the last fis-
cal year she paid her county physician
for contagious diseases salary of 5000
and paid total disbursement on &C.
count of contagious diseases $l442. sc.
For the purpose of relief of the poor
Marquette county is divided into three
districts. The first district com rises
the eastern portion of the county and
contains about $1,000 inhabitants OF
substantially the same class from point
of employment as Baraga county, that
is, agricultural, urban and numbering,
without any mining whatever. This
district, however, has poor farm for
the entire county, il having an average
of al inmates against Baraga's 6. Yet
this district was able to get compe-
tent physician to attend to its poor, in
GLIDING the poor farm, for s720 against
Baraga's 5000.
Owing to the great amount Of detail
necessary to go over, this research was
necessarily slow and tedious.
/ have made record of all orders is
suei on the foregoing but have re-
Trained from tabulating all of it here in
detail. l have summarized it as you
will find hereto attached. Otherwise
it would doubtless be too lengthy and
confusing for your consideration. How
ever, should you care to have same pre-
scented can easily have them gotten
out for you. 1t would, however, be
quite an expensive piece OIL WORK ana
question whether it would be worth
cost to you. / also made memoranda
of several of the bills making up the
large claim of DR.. Won Zelen and if
you wis can furnish you copies of
same.
l was unable to arrive at the cost per
visit of the physician to the county
poor or the Jail. In this connection /
would say that in Hong Iton county the
physician keeps record of the number
at calls made at his Office by the poor
and also the calls which he makes at
the poor farm. 1t is thus very easy to
aace.tain what the county ccst averag-
es for visit.
Yours very truly,
j. +. ToBIN, JR.,