THE DUNEDIN HOSPITAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 568, 18 October 1862, Page 3

THE DUNEDIN HOSPITAL.

. (from the daily rrirßS, oot. !:).) This institution, cstal.ljOic] for tlip rp] ! i<f and anu'lio;.iii..-i ni' •r 1 R l ..; T )_r )rvn tuity -f-r f c rei (•( p.'ion of the ,)i,U!r d .-in 1 v ,«» VI, t|i? ,'it k, tl c imVcilo, and the i:,.a;ie— is situated sit th • juiic- , tion of the Ota-.'ou with r^uw.-ut .street. The buildings are creejod on si --it<» compii-huj about four acres of ground, enclose*! by an u'i^u'>fa!a t iHal and vickety-looltMiHj fence. The greater portion of fchcsrronnd U lii-jh anddry.c.v.nm.iiulmg rather an cxro;.--ivj ;;„ 1 r'eisimt view, whdo llio remainder h on tuk-fiivi'v, anl dip-5 in the direction of George-street. It is at the bottom of this decline, adjoining It a clump of buildings, and clo.-,e to a etssp wl, oir'^s'ive alike to smell and si lit, t'nt the iu'.v nuiiiii.? ins baon erected. When TJr. Yi^.s, the u'lideni-sm^ton, remaiked that tin 'Va-'{.0..l «;;, •,i >jrc;u u,t, a 'ice, a i.l canned cor.?; loss' bio ruMovtinoe at times to thepatients in tho inw buildi'ig," he spoke whaf- no one v.-ould gainsay ; hut when lie added time "it conid not.je helped " he at once laid himself open to be doubted. A cesspool, although on an \\ojoinin;.-; pioporly, at the -,uy door of a hospital, is an abomination tlio* ca:i be helped and must, b-> holpcd, at all hazards. A cesspool may be a vc,tcd right, but. either tli.it or the hospital" will have to be removed. The buildings which ompriso tho hospital nro in thrje distinct pints, built ac three iiiJercit period,?. Tho centra) SuwLurc is the oM li(,s!)ital, and is built of a 0011,4 '■) noivt-j of iiru'.'c, t't r.ie' mojlar, piaster, and wo") I. It 13 .i.-sno 80 f.'ct lo'iv' altogether, and about 20 feel wide. It includes the suurciy, waking roomj, and ths doctors quarter's, a=i also four rather sm ill war Is, tiro for lunati-s and two for female paticite under m^duv.l treatment i-,r tiu ord'h-nvv disease-; to whie'i fle-h is heir U Lun uicj u-o, 'us ni wbo s.i;ipo,«l, oktremelv violent and ur.-\uio::s at timo-3, wh'wh can scarcely be looked upon as conducive to the recovery and convalesce ico of pros!- ate an I delicate women, who a.c the inmates in wards where every viol.mt e-vpre^ioa, even' stni!?4l(« and nuni.icd rp-isfam-cof tho i;r,ino nil be distineriy heard. 1),-. Yatos does not ap'p '.ir to see SlO3 thinrr particularly ohjcetioniblc ii the arranccnunl-ot'pl.ioiirj hmatte men atoiu'iidc of sick women. •• Wlia-i Hu-y,'' (the hi-ia^), s:nri Or. \&t(x, " nro very viol-»nr, v/o send them ofi'lo the gaol. T!icrc 13 no other place for clux'erons lunatic 3 to as prtsoiH." At tiio momc'-it the doctor w«s yivi.i^ (his cxijlatiitt-Ki in liiq surgery, there v.-as iicard a wild s'uLV and a loud halloo, when a madman who had escar^d fro-u his room nuhud throu-h tlie mssage folio >vod by the wardsmm. Tlie do'-toi- dosed hi-s doJr hastily, and wi,;i 0 mlOm 10 , jlood BM; , n . lted 5u r , m veins ol the writer of this, liebhnddcml to think what must be tho eulvl of such an outbreak on fc-m;tle invalid, wlicn many a woman in full health and with good nerves, would luve h-mw thrown into hysterics. '• Arc paiicnl^, not lunatic, placed with those who are?" was the ciues^i^)l^ a-ked of the surgeon. " Yes, sometimes— 1 think there a^c tv.o now in the ward we have just lci'r.' This was the reply, and it seemed to inijdy them could be nothing wruii->- in sue!) an aivaugvmcnr, as the doctor afterwards showed a large enptv ward which would liave maintainod a^cemnlefe separation of the wme from the insine, lial such been considered necessary. Tills portion or (' c building will jwommodatuabout ei^hteoa patients. Alongside the old hosp.la! which hi^ just been noticed, is a larire ward making up fiffoea b-als. It is substantially b.dlt of stone, vitii is, slate roof and was adde-l suhsa.fuontlv to the completion of the original b-.iildinir. It is the best warl in ths hospital, but is not occupied, although, in tho event of a fire, if, is the only part of the building likely to est-ipa destruction. There are, near to the stone ward, four other rooms, each lioUinjr sixteen hods. These arc of weatherboard, lii'ied— tyro vonns and two above. The uppar 100 ms are .i^oachod by sreps amending from the outside. Tlic TTf^^sbiiildin^ U a lar^o three-storied crecti'n, built thr^i^tUoiit with wood. It consists of si^c wards, besides t«oVirtht\ie small room? fot' the isolation of patie-ilj ret^fS^nS^eparate iii'iitmen^. It ill contain about scvcn^^MjetK There is no provision made against th- tlrea!Si^[>tiiigency of fire— noL even a tank of water on^Qi roof with a ho.-»c attached. Khonld a fire oi-ciip-during the ni^ht, and break out in any volume, it is much mo.-c then probable that all t'lo patients would be bu.ned to death. The out-ofH^os of the hospital are numerous and simply sufficient for all the requirements of the institution. There are Ivith*, wa3udiou<=es, store-rooms, k->hens, and sheds, the "ivalor number of which have lntely been orecL-.1, but all of wood of a highly hflnnmablc nat-ire. Ti;e rule for patients to obtain admission to the bowifiil, v.-i-.eth.M- as inuoor or outdoor patients is to make ! i,, ! .li,ation at tho Rnpj-rintenJent's ofuce, when v; on a pi Una facie ciso of sickness beinor shown, an order is at once grank-d. It' a patient makes a statement tint he is wit! out moans, he is received into one or other of the wards m ithout fee or charure, whore he receives such medical attendance, diet, and attention, as the hospital oilers. If the applicant be ml in indigent circumstances, he is required to pay tw\> shillings a day while he remain.} an in-nuficnt— little enough, in all reason, ibv medical advice, boird, lo Idng, and attendance. There are at this present time about one hundred and twenty innnfes in the hospital, cHit of whom are funaks, two of these bnimr lunatic. Tho chitt diseases are rheumat s-n," neuralpic afieotions, and bronchitis. Th?r.- are but Hsree aceidenc cases— a broken arm— a lesr, and a hip joint. The dietary wale consi<,t3 of low diet, milk diet, and full diet ; ro it was understood from the statement of Dr Yates, but this gentleman is anything but ommiinicfltivo rcspcctinc: the pivfeut nianauemcnt of the hospital. lla\iny briefly described Ihe buildiu'is. it would have been well to have given surne inibrniation respecting the internal economy of the hospital but the canse already alluded to makes such a thing all but impossible. The first impression made upon an observer in walking through the several wards and clormito:ics is— dht. Everywhere dirt. The floota dirty, the patients dirty, the he-Is dirty. This may not he so ; heds and patients may be clean enough in reality, ii n ,t there is the appearance of soil, stain and dirt about everything. A frowsy smell pervades most of the ill- ventilated rooms slightly subdued by the fumes of tobacco smoke, which all the inmates appear to indulge in with impunity, excepting only those to whom in sickness it U disagreeable. Card playiup, innocent enough in itself and in its place, is" also indulged in freely ; men with dirty pucks of cards, on dirty looking coverlets, are allowed to merge from sickness into convalescence us they list. This may be ritrht enough, but it is not what one in accustomed to find in well managed and ably conducted hospitals. It must be something "worse than disagreeable to patients too ill to play or smoke. Why not put apart a room specially for patients to amuse themselves in ? There is no committee of iranagcmeat in this institution, and no visiting 1 members. The writer of this notice has inspected most of the hospitals and medical asylums in the Australian colonies ; and it is with deep pain and siucero regret that he pronounces tho Dunedin Hospital to be, to all appearance.the worst managed institution he ever visited. These remarks nre not intended as a censure on Dr. Yates. With one hundred and twenty resident patients, and possibly as many outdoor, it is not to be expected that he can take the supervision of details Avhich should be confided to an efficient house steward and an experienced matron, assisted by a sufficient staff of subordinates ; and these desiderata the hospital does not possess at present. Raw llidb.— How few persons know the Talne of raw lnde . It seems almost strange to see them sell all their " deacon " skins for the small sum of thirty or forty cents. Take a strip of well tanned raw hide an inch wide, ami a horse can hardly break it by pulling it back. Two of them he cannot break anyway. Gut into narrow strips and shave the hair off with a sharp knife, to use for basr strings : the strings will outlast two seta of bn<^>. "Farmers know how perplexing it is to lead hngs and have them returned minus stnnfis. It will outlast hocp-iron (common) m any shape, and 13 sponger. It i s K ood to wrap around a broken thill— better than iron. Two sets o^ raw hide halters v ill ln<t a man's life lime (if he doufc lye too lonur). In some places the Spaniards use raw hide long chains to work cattle with, cut into narrowstrips and twisted toother, hawser fnahion. • It can be tanned, so it will be soft and pliable like harness leather. Save a cow and " deacon pelt." and try it. — American Paper. WoKKrtra to;e Soil Abound Frbtt Trees. — Tho cureless gardener strikes Ids slnrp spade sheer down among the roots, cutting off the fibres, aad doing vastly moro hurt than good. If the roots near the top of the ground arc cut off other roots are caused to stride down into the coM subsoil. Hence come late succulent growths of branches, which are sura to be winter killed. Instead of this rough treatment keep the surface loose with a hoe, aud mulch it ia winter wxth coawe manure. % "