DOCTOR ON HOLIDAY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 265, 5 August 1931, Page 8

DOCTOR ON HOLIDAY

Widely-travelled Man CONDITIONS IN AMERICA "Of course we regard our hospital system in the United States as being perfect,” said Dr. H. Vreeland, a Los Angeles medical man who arrived from Sydney by the Ulimaroa yesterday. Dr. Vreeland is on a holiday tour, and expects to return to America by the Makura on Tuesday next In America, said Dr. Vreeland to a “Dominion” reporter, private hospitals are undoubtedly popular. The doctors themselves formed companies, constructed fine buildings, ran them, and sent patients to them. Then America had municipal hospitals to which the poorer people went. If a man were knocked down In the street he was taken to a “receiving hospital,” where his wounds were attended to temporarily, and then he had the option of choosing where he would be until he recovered. Fond of Travel. ‘.l ( ■ Dr. Vreeland, who is a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, 111., is 75 years of age, and is still as keen as ever to see a little more of the world. Last year he went on an extensive worldtour, visiting most of the European countries, but his desire for travel is insatiable.

California, he said, had perhaps the most equable climate in the world, and the people there were remarkably healthy. Long Beach, for instance, enjoyed what one might term a perpetual summer. The

State compared most favourably with the South of France and Italy, whose salubrious climates were world-famed. He did not think, however, that a person suffering from chest trouble should live in a climate that was inclined to be humid, as California was. In the southern part of the State there was a large area of desert land, which proved ideal for persons with affected lungs. America Feeling Pinch. When Dr. Vreeland left Los Angeles in June he noticed many visible signs of the general depressed state of things, but it was the same with all other countries he had visited, particularly in Europe. The States in the Middle West were feeling the pineh to a much greater degree than the Pacific Coast States, he said. That was probably due to the fact that those States were so dependant on the products of the land, which had fallen greatly in value. In Chicago alone, 19 banks closed their doors in one day barely two months ago. Dr. Vreeland expects to proceed to the thermal regions this week, and later, if possible, visit some of the glaciers in the South Island.