Smyrna times., 1925-02-11
OPENING OF KENT HOSPITAL
CAMPAIGN BRINGS GREAT HOPE
INITIAL GIFTS REPORTED BY
COMMITTEE START WITH $25,4O5
Meeting and Supper Held at Peoples
Church Community House and Was
Largely Attended-Teams Work

Largely Attended-leamS Work
The opening gun of the campaign
to raise 100000 for a community
hospital at Dover was fired Tuesday
evening when 166 men and women,
the pick of civic leadership in Kent
County and vicinity held their initial
meeting n the Peoples Church and
supper was served to them by Mrs.
John B. Hutton's Bible Class.
An pandemonium broke loose when
the report of the Initial Gifts Com
mittee, Arley B. Magee, chairman,
was made at the close showing the re
suits of their work to date as $25,405
as a beginning, andw hen previously
Chairman Mayer had called for the
reports of team captains and $4850
was announced as the total subscrip-
tions of the workers themselves, and
when Henry DOrzback who Officiated
at the score board handed to Mr.. May
er a slip showing the grand total of
the initial report as S30,255. lnclud-
ed in this amount were subscriptions
of $25 from Mrs. John B. Hutton's
Bible Glass and $50 from the William
T. Smithers Bible Glass of the PeO-
Piles Church.
This report gave great impetus to
the hand of the illuminated clock by
the Post Office, which will be watched
during this week with intenseSt inter-
est. The Town Council, in the spirit
of the community, agreed to connect
up and furnish the juice for illuminat-
ing this 10-foot dial and the electri-
clans who did the work voiced the
sentiment of the community when
they said that if everybody did their
bit, the juice would be furnished for
making the hand go all the way
around the clock. 1t looks as though
they were right.
In his opening remarks, Chairman
Harry Mayer of the Campaign EXecu
tive Committee said that if he had
ever had any doubts as to the sue
cess of this program, these doubts
were now dispelled as he looked into
the faces of the mne and women who
could be depended upon to do things.
He referred to a recent experience he
had had in the Salisbury hospital,
where one of the little tots in the
Child's Ward had put her chubby lit
tie fingers around his finger and hung
on for dear life. He said "That pull
on my finger was a pull on my heart,
and that is the kind of pull we want
to make the campaign CO. All to-
gether it was a great night in Kent
County as it indicated an awakening
of civic spirit Mayor Wallace Wood
ford was given a rousing reception as
he was introduced for his maiden
speech as a public official. He start
ed the ball rolling we'll by his words
of welcome, closing with poem about
some who said it could not be done,
"but they did it" and $50 will we''
said he, and it looks like it for even
the skeptic are beginning to see il
that way Mr.. WoOdford said this
program was a great challenge to the
community. "They say" said he
"that Dover is lacking in the public
spirit necessary to success in such al
unselfsh undertaking. Now it's uI
to US to prove we are big enough
broad enough, generous enough to g
over the top as in war times; that w
are public spirited enough, and indie
pendent enough to provide for ou
own sick and injured, and the strang
> ers within our gates and stop spong
e ing on others for our hospital serv
u ice.
Il The local Rotary Club was out j
l. force to boost their baby, and unde
q "Pop" Hansen's leadership they di
n it well, putting pep in the entire pre-
. gram. The Wilmington Rotary Gu
i, had a delegation down headed b
l. "Billy" White and Ed. Bardo to wis
Kent County GOdspeed in their gres
> undertaking. Billy White lead IL
community singing and entertaine
- the workers with selections on. Il
y Harmonica. The local Junior Orche
=. ira composed of Masters Jimmy Jacl
u son, Billy Burton, Franklin Wis
Junior Wise, also helped liven thing
up, so there was not a dull mOmel
at any time during the evening.
/, Mr.. Gerrish GassOway, Manager
i, the Wilmington Chamber of Cor
:. merce, who was the principal speak
Vs. Of the evening said that communi
without hospital was a communi
without future. He said there we
in most communities some men W
were assets to themselves, but
liability to the community, becau
. Shey never did their fair share in a
Give undertaking for welfare and b,
terment. He hoped there were noi
or very few, Of these in Kent Coun
1--WE, in Wilmington, are proud
you in your determination to hi
build up the Diamond State, the b,
in the Union if not the biggest,
adding this great humanitarian as