Evening star., 1923-10-16

stated. The corporation owns unin-
numbered real estate assessed at
$4,000, he said, and an equity of
$1,000 in its nurses home. The equip
ment of the hospital is valued at
$4,000.
Against Wall, Says President.
we We're against the wall" Presi-
dent Evan III. Tucker of the board of
directors OF the hospital said today.
'and this was the only way we could
find out. Several elements have cut
into Casualty Hospitals operation
dcring the past few years. One OF
them was the failure of Congress to
appropriate for a deficiency of charity
patients who received attention at
the hospital. This alone amounted to
approximately $1,000.
In addition. there is note for
$4,000 due at bank, which must be
paid next month. These and other
debts formed total of approximately
$4,000"
Daniel A. Edwards, treasurer of the
hospital, gave additional figures. He
declared that $4,000 was outstanding
in commercial accounts which had to
be met If the hospital was to con-
tinue receiving supplies. The pay
roll at the hospital. he said. had
mounted since the beginning of this
year to a total of $4,000 per month.
whereas during the previous year il
had been about $1,000.
$4,000 Indebtedness Revealed.
Audit of the finances of the hos
pital a few months ago revealed to
the members of the board of di-
rectors exactly the serious situation.
This was the first audit by certified
puoIc ACCOUNTANTS in many years.
having been made by the auditing
committee of the board of directors
This audit revealed Indebtedness of
approximately $4,000.
There are twelve patients in Cas-
ualty Hospital today, Mr.. Edwards
said. whereas the monthly pay rolls
have been showing that more than
forty persons were employed at the
hospital to take care of patients. 1T
is expected that the hospital will
patients are in condition to leave.
The last annual report of the hos
pftal issued, for the period ending
June 80. 1922. showed assets totaling
S1o4, ,305.65. against Indebtedness of
S12.0S6.73. The valuation of build
ings estimated in this annual state
ment was placed at 100000. Rec
ords in the tax Office of the District
building show appraised valuation of
the property at $75,754.
Despite this. Mr.. Tucker pointed
out, it would be difficult to turn the
buildings into that amount of cash
readily. unless the purchaser of the
buildings wished to use them for hos
pital purposes or some allied reason.
Debts Accommodating Rapidly.
Mrs. Margaret A. Mays. superin-
tendent of the hospital. today de-
clared that debts had been accumu-
lating during the past six months at
the rate of approximately $500 per
month. The low figure for patients.
the high percentage of emergency
cases treated and the general cut-in
on the operation of the hospital as
linger Hospital were cited as reasons.
sons.
Casualty Hospital had stood on
Capitol Hill for some thirty years,
during which time it has been rem
fn,a dering emergency s service sc @ To- TO wash a;ai
cult but successful operations in the
history of medical and surgical practice
in Washington are recorded on it's books.
Monthly ADULTS Ceased.
During the past six months how
ever, there has been some friction
between certain members of the
board of the hospital and Mrs. Mays
charged, when she refused to be
"catechised," as she expressed it, re-
garding small bills each month. The
audit committee Of the board, headed
by Mr.. Tucker. had been in the habit
og going over each bill with the Su-
perintendent of the hospital each
month. Mr.. Tucker termed 1t a sur
vey of the bills for the purpose of
informing the board exactly how
finances stood. Mrs. Mays referred
to it as ''catechizing." The upshot
OF 1t was that Mrs Mays made an
issue of it and was given a vote of
by the board of directors,
with the result that the monthly
auditS by the audit committee of the
board ceased.
intendent made monthly itemized state
ments to the board. The July and Au-
gust statements were handed to the
public accountants conducting the audit
and there is no statement forthcoming
for September, as yet.