Obrázky stránek
PDF
ePub

within these walls, and that all matters connected with this hospital in the future, as in the past, will be conducted in a strictly business-like way, ever tempered by the teachings of the great Master, who was so mindful of the feeble, the sick, and the distressed. In delivering the keys permit me to say: Let the spirit of kindly care abound towards the unfortunate. Let the generosity of this institution be clad in humility, ever remembering that all it possesses was first bestowed upon it through the charities of others. Let the very air of these halls be freighted with tender consideration, loving kindness, and the rich spirit of Him who sought not to please himself, but to bless all those with whom he came in contact.

Colonel Codman, on accepting the keys of the Hospital, spoke as follows:

We know the work of this committee, and wish to thank you, Mr. Chairman and your associates, for the faithful work you have performed in carefully planning and supervising the erection of these new structures. The work has been no less faithfully done because it has been a labor of love on your part. This Hospital began its active work less than twenty-two years ago in a small hired house in Burroughs Place, which could then only provide a dozen beds. In 1876 a building was completed which is now the central or administrative building. It was erected, at a cost of $76,000, upon land purchased of the city; later the city gave an additional lot extending to Albany Street, and in 1884 a large additional surgical wing, together with other important buildings, were erected at a cost of about $100,000. All these buildings had been erected and sustained at a cost of $330,000, provided entirely from private sources. The only municipal or public aid that it ever received was the gift of the small portion of land. Two years ago we presented our claims for State aid in enlarging our work. The Legislative Committee to whom this was referred visited the Hospital and thoroughly examined the work done here. The result was a unanimous recommendation that $120,000 should be appropriated for still further enlarging our buildings, and the new structures which are open to you this day are the result of this appropriation, expended with the greatest care in every detail. The capacity of the enlarged Hospital is 200 beds for patients. Of these twenty are always devoted to free patients, but no poor person has ever been refused admittance when there has been room in the building. The wants of the Hospital are today greater than ever before; the various rooms and wards remain to be furnished, and the many greatly enlarged expenses are to be met. We are sure, however, that the same generosity which has supplied our necessities in the past will provide for

our wants in the future. It is but fitting to speak of the bountiful gift of the late Mrs. Anna L. Möring, of Cambridge, who left a large portion of her estate to this Hospital. The reception room is furnished with furniture from her former mansion, and there will remain the beautiful marble busts of herself and son. We have now become, in a measure, an institution of the Commonwealth, and we are glad to have trustees upon our Board of Officers appointed by the State. The State thus recognizes the value and importance of homœopathic practice of medicine in the most significant manner. We are glad to have with us to-day, to participate in these exercises, members of the State Legislature, and also His Excellency the Governor of this Commonwealth, who has kindly consented to be present and to give us the congratulations and good wishes of the Commonwealth.

His Excellency Governor Russell then spoke as follows:

Ladies and Gentlemen, - I wish to bring you greeting from the old Commonwealth, and to tell you that she recognizes the great good which this institution has accomplished. With motherly regard she rejoices in your prosperity, and that your hospital is entering upon a still broader field of usefulness. Massachusetts, as a State, reaps the benefit of what is accomplished here, for whatever is done in the name of charity is done for her. We are all proud of the prosperity of our State, but there is something grander and nobler than mere material prosperity. Educational and charitable institutions reflect more credit upon the old Bay State than anything else. It is Massachusetts as a Christian, religious Commonwealth, which places the school-house beside the church, and which sympathizes most strongly with those institutions which bring health and strength to the sick and suffering, and throws the help of a protecting arm around the weak and helpless, that makes her what she is to-day. From such a Commonwealth I am glad to bring the warmest greetings and congratulations to you, assured that your work will go on in keeping with the spirit of the Commonwealth in its lines of benevolence, mercy and scientific advancement.

The exercises were closed by the singing of the doxology, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," in which the audience joined.

THE DISPENSARY. - At 3 o'clock P. M., dedicatory exercises were held in the Dispensary building. The large central hall was filled to its utmost capacity, and many were unable to obtain admission. The President of the Dispensary, Francis A. Dewson, Esq., presided. After an invocation by Rev. W. E. Griffis, D. D., the President gave the following address:

Ladies and Gentlemen, - It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to-day at a formal opening of the building which, at this time, forms the most modest part of the noble group which even in its present, we may hope, not fully developed condition marks an important epoch in the history of homoeopathy, and, may I not claim, in the history of medical science as well. The very infancy of this most important of all steps in the advancement of the art of ministering to the physical needs of mankind, lies well within the memory of some, not even of the oldest, of those present here to-day. Only fifty years ago the practice of homoeopathy in this city and in the whole country was exercised by a mere handful of men, whose devotion to this new phase in the use of medical remedies subjected them to the scorn and persecution of most of their professional brethren, but led them on towards the perfection of experiments whose results have established upon a firm foundation the acknowledged success of a newer and higher school of medical practice than before existed. Many of you, no doubt, have attended this morning the dedication of the new buildings belonging to the hospital, where the full result and benefit of these experimental fifty years may be readily and critically observed, and the efforts toward still higher progress on the part of individuals be collated and confirmed for the mutual good of themselves, their associates, and their paIn the College building, this evening, we may learn something of the patient labor by which so much of success has been attained, and of the methods taken for the competent instruction of a constantly increasing class, whose life work it is to be to minister to the physical needs of a community active in intelligence, and ever pressing forward in a struggle for material development, the constant tendency of which is to induce neglect of the higher physical conditions which are essential to real elevation of life upon any plane. If it be, as many of us regard it, the highest of human uses "to minister to a mind diseased," and lift it into the region of spiritual life and thought, where regard for the welfare of others obscures if not obliterates the sense of personal suffering, surely the effort to guard and consecrate the human body, to repair the ravages of disease, and fit it to express and exercise the desires and activities of the mind and the soul, is worthy of no less than a second place among the noble uses to which humanity may be called. While desiring not to wander from the direct purpose of this meeting, I yet regard such statement to form a necessary introduction to the subject of the uses and needs of that part of the general organization which I have the honor to represent; because in the administration of the dispensary work are found fuller opportunity than anywhere else for introduction into all that

medical practice of the highest order can represent, upon the physical, the mental, or upon the higher spiritual plane. Here alone are all the faculties devoted to alleviation of the ills which bring to poverty its severest natural trials; here may the physician and the student find not only the valued opportunity for obtaining experience in the practice of his art which may lead him to honor and to wealth in later years; but here, also, if he will, may his sympathy with the needs of suffering humanity be awakened and nourished in the exercise of this lower use, and help to elevate him so that he may work in sympathy with and under the guidance of "the Great Physician.' That you may better understand, therefore, the full extent of our aims, purposes and needs, and the degree to which they have been already developed, I will give a concise statement of the history of the Homœopathic Medical Dispensary, from the date of its incorporation in the year 1856, when John H. Wilkins, Charles B. Hall and Jacob Sleeper, of Boston, and their associates, obtained an act of legislation which gave leave to hold real estate not exceeding in value the sum of fifty thousand dollars, later increased to two hundred thousand. At that date a small room in the upper story of the Tremont Temple, opened only one hour a day, afforded all the relief that could then be given, and perhaps fulfilled in some measure the need that was found to be urgent. At a later date the house in Burroughs place, where, also, the hospital was inaugurated, gave a wider scope to its usefulness, and to this was added branches in the Medical-school building, and at the West End, now in the Charity Building on Chardon street. Great economy was needed and exercised in the administration of this work, and it was continued under so great disadvantages and discouragements that in the year 1889 a determined effort to provide an adequate building was made. The case was fully presented to the City Council, and regarded by it with sympathy and full consideration, resulting in the conveyance to this corporation by the city of the fine lot of land upon which we stand, containing 10,597 feet, for a nominal consideration. At the same time an appeal was made to our friends and the general public for the necessary contributions towards the erection of a suitable building, resulting in the payment to the treasury of $43,416.53, to which was added the result obtained from a fair held last summer, amounting to $10,550.23, making a total of $53,966.75. The plans, prepared by Messrs. Allen & Kenway, our architects, intended to provide all that would be needed in a long term of years for the uses of the dispensary, and also for a maternity, which is a much-needed adjunct to our other uses, called for an estimated expenditure of about $125,000. Our contract with the city required that

$25,000, at least, should be at once expended, and we therefore found it essential to proceed with so much of the structure as would measurably fill the present need, the result being the erection of the portion of the building we are able to present to your inspection to-day. This, with its furniture, has involved an expenditure of $61,916.45, leaving us with a deficiency on this account of $7,949.69, which is, of course, a present burden; and a need is already realized for additional contributions or legacies to the extent of at least $60,000 more before our aims can find full fruition. It is proposed eventually to occupy the present structure and a second story for the work of the dispensary, and the two upper stories for the maternity. The reports of the Superintendent show that during the year 1891, 15,108 patients were treated, to whom were made 47,990 prescriptions; 3,389 patients were treated at home, and 14,746 domiciliary visits were made. The whole number of patients treated since the organization of the work is 225,368, and of prescriptions made, 598,636. Until the beginning of this year all prescriptions and services have been practically gratuitous, but it has been thought best to try the plan and practice of other dispensaries, and now a charge of ten cents is made for each prescription, with the probable result of more value attaching to the service in the minds of the patients; for those too indigent to afford even this small fee provision must be made through private charity. During the three months of occupation of this building every encouragement from increased numbers and better appreciation of service has been experienced by the physicians, who have every surety that the value of this use to the poor of the city, and thus to all its citizens, will return many times its cost.

In closing I must not omit to extend to the friends whose noble and generous benefactions have enabled the trustees to so far fulfill the charge placed in their hands our warmest thanks for all that they have been moved to contribute to this use. Among them one to whom we are indebted for so large a sum as to make possible what otherwise it would have been in vain to strive for, has passed beyond the reach of our verbal expressions of gratitude, and his modest retiring nature can no longer be embarrassed or offended by them; it therefore seems quite fitting that I should close this address with a brief tribute to the memory of our noble benefactor, Mr. G. F. T. Reed, to whom we stand indebted for the sum of $20,000. In the hope that in his memory and example may be found active inspiration for similar good uses in the future, I bid you a hearty wel come to our new building, and offer to you for myself and my associates a full share in all its uses and benefits.

Mr. Dewson said that since the city had shown so much in

« PředchozíPokračovat »