The Pittsburgh Post from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 19

1 THE PITTSBURG POST'S GREATER PITTSBURG EDITION NEED OF PUBLIC BATHS Few Institutions Established by Phftarithto pists Have Met With Steadily Jn-creasing Patronage MMalFMF J4 vember. S3: December. US: January, 39061 t' 5 III iVU EJUS TILE cleanliness of the human body has an undeniable influence upon the mind, and as great an Influence upon character! It is Impossible to disconnect relation of mind to body, body to mind. Physical uncleanllness reacts upon one's mental condition, tending toward depression and sluggishness. To the physical.

exhausted, the mentally weary, after the strenuous day In office or shop, there is no reatarative so exhilarating as water the rest of the bath. Personal cleanliness increases self-respect, improves health, stimulates mental activity, and tends toward the improvement of morals. The city of Pittsburg has a wide-reaching reputation for its smoke and grime, and in no community has the need of the poorer claEses been greater for the public bath than In this vicinity, yet Pittsburg has been the slowest to recognize such needs, the city's government leaving alt efforts In this direction to philanthropic organizations, or individual benefactors. In 1537 the Clothing and House Furnish, lng Bureau was organized by Mrs. Thompson, wife of Rector Thompson, ot St.

James' Episcapal Church, of Seventeenth street and Penn avenue. To a woman's delicate sense of refinement there Is no condition that Is so repulsive as uncleanliness. It is not, therefore, surprising that It was a woman who gave her best energies to the organization of a club whose object it was to meet the great need of the poor for ways and means of cleanliness. Mrs. Thompson's connection with the Clothing and House Furnishing Bureau, In which charitable work she was assisted by Mrs.

Frank V. Roand. Mrs. S. G.

Douglas end Miss M. Edsall. brought her prominently before the public and secured for her sympathy and assistance that has resulted in the well-appointed bath house at Butler and Thirty-fifth streets, which whs opened about a year ago in connection with the pUUnthropic work of St. James' Episcopal Church. Henry Phlpps became interested in.

the plans for the public wash-house and baths, and offered the board of which Mrs. D. C. Clapp wss president sufficient money for the purchase of a site for the building: half the cost of the building, and half the cost of maintenance for the first year. The offer was accepted; other money raised, the lot at Thirty-fifth and Butler streets bought, and one of the most complete and well-equ'pped buildings for philanthropic work In this country wss erected.

The building, -with Its equipment, cost J.Vl.e'iO. The building is three stories high, facing Butler street, and four on Thirty-fifth street, owing to a depression in the ground. It Is constructed of pressed brick, with stone trimmings, and presents a tasteful appearance. On the first floor is a cloak room for men, the men's public fcath. and the superintendent's office.

On the second floor sre the rooms for the board meetings, reception rooms, women's baths, day nursery and children's bath. The third floor comprises the superintendent's living room, and a large hall, where entertainments are frequently held. The wash-house, on the basement floor, has eight stationary washtubs. ironing boarCs heated by electricity, extensive fumigating machines for clothing and towels, patent clothes dryers. furnaces and boilers.

This we.shr.ouse was the third of -Its kind In America, aad Is the best patronized department of the organization, although its growth In popularity was ot first very slow, as Is shown by the fact that during the first month of Its opening In June. 19T4. it was patronized by only one woman. During July. 15 women patronized the washhouse; during August, September.

27; October. 37; No 124; February, 14S. In the beginning of the enterprise tha baths were more pep lar. During the first six months mXtmWi their opening over 22.000 men. women an children availed, themselves of tbttn privilegea, The Butler street bath and weshtmu Is a chartered organization, with Jars.

IX j. wiapp. presiaeni. ana ice onicers iuj board members Include Mrs. W.

Arundel, Mrs. J. H. Mcllvalne, Mrs. John, B.

Heron, Mrs. TV. A. Lewis. Mrs.

H. B. Birch. Mrs. S.

B. Douglas, Mrs. Frank T. Rowan. Mrs G.

A. M. Thomson, lira. Louis Rott, Mrs. James McCJurg, Mrs.

Columbus Wilson, Miss Edsall. iSUm Smith and a number of others. The Civic club, with Mrs. Alfred Lpiuri more as president of the oommittee." secured the Peoples bath at Penn stvsnus and Sixteenth street through the benevo, lence of Mrs. William Thaw, trected this bathhouse In memory of her; husband.

It was opened in 1SS7 and to -tun under the management of the Civi' club. It is through the efforts of thl; committee that the new Soho bath ana' washhouse will be completed. It was in response to an appeal of th bath committee that the offer of $80,000 for a bath on the Southslde 'Was made by the late Henry W. Oliver, whose death, has somewhat delayed the consummation of the plans. There are also the Peacock public baths in Webster avenue, the gift, of A.

R. Peacock to the city. They ar well appointed and well patronized, The Phlpps gymnasium and batbhirus4 at Rebecca and School streets, represent a combination of inestimable' value to the city. This handsome and; magnanimous gift of Mr. Phlpps jwa' completed two years ago.

and comprises a gymnasium unequaled by anything else of its kind in the two cities, a complete reading room, men and women's baths and a perfectly equipped washhouse. The gymnasium Is used during the day for school children, a competent director of their exercises being furnished free of charge. In connection with the gymnasium the children have a number oc shower baths, and "lockers" for their suits. Two examinations of their physi-j cal condition are made yearly, and thtr exercises directed according to their lsdM vidual requirements. A Monday night class of yyung worsw ing women is also held in the Phlppe' gymnasium, for membership to which the' nominal charge of S3 yearly Is made, Last year the membership Included young women.

The wash house end bath are complete) In their appointment. The sum of cental is charged for the use of the bath. -whlc1. charge includes use of soap and towel. Ten cents is charged for use of wasni house, which privileges those taking' ad-j vantage of same to all of its convenience.

Public baths are as necessary as public schools. 'They have been established and run by the government in foreign countries for years. Experiments In school baths have been an interesting develop-j rr.ent In the public bath movement, and! have met with great success in Boston and New York. This issue of the movement is looked forward to with consider-; able Interest by those connected with and interested in the public baths of Pittsbur. and surely there is no place where there is greater need for the supply of ways and means of cleanliness for the children of the poor than here.

I With a greater citr there will be an increase in demands ir an administration of public affairs that will give the least important citizen his rights and privilege. There Is much good being accomplished by the existing philanthropic Institution, but there Is still an urgent need for -more public baths, a need which should be supplied through the government of the. U'-i-. 1 slsi: km jZ GRIER. Si' $4.

mm will increase Its capacity to 30 beds with three baskets. On leaving the hospital a fw weeks ajro a little girl clung to her nurse and whispered: I wish I could stay here, where I can be clean." Even the children of the lowliest have the soul pensitU'e to the life beautiful, and the tender sympathy for their childish hearts and conscientious care for their neglected little bodies Iraves a lasting Impression upon them after an illness in the children's hospital, which makes them loath to leave Its cleanliness and protection. In 1S31 some Sisters of Charity rented a small house In Forbes street for the reception and care of destitute babes and foundlings. The need of such an asylum was made apparent by the number of friendless and helpless waifs that in a fw months crowded Its walls. Through the eTorts of the sisters and of benevolent people the property at the corner of Cliff and Green streets was secured and the Kosalln Foundling Asylum and Maternity hospital was incorporated Nevember 26.

The home opened for the reception of the putients on Thanksgiving day of that year. The Institution Is a dual one. The foundling department and the maternity department, while sheltered im-dr the same roof and under the same mangement. have distinct medical corps and attendants. The dual staff consists of 12 members and one resident physician, delntled from the internes of the Mercy hospital, each of those internes in rotation serving a term at the Rcsella.

The necessity of a hospital In the neighborhood of the 'mill district" in lower Allegheny led to the opening of St. Johns General hospital in McClure avenue. Dr. W. J.

Langfltt was the moving spirit in this enterprise, who was ahly seconded and supported by the representatives of St. John's Lutheran liome and charitably disposed citizens. Work was bosun on the buildings July 18, K95. and pushed rapidly to completion. Although not sectarian the hospital is in charge of Protestant deaconesses.

To raise the sum of 120. ono. required for the erection and equipment of the hospital at a time when the country was rivsslng through a financial crisis was no small task. While the hospital was somewhat in debt It was able to meet its current expenses from the beginning and has prospered. In the past 10 years the hospitals of Pittsburg and Allegheny have multiplied with great rapidity to meet the demand of a rapidly growing city, there being many others besides those herein mentioned.

The East End hospital, under the care of the Sisters of Charity; the Eye nnd Ear hospital, of Pittsburg; the Presbyterian hospital. In avenue, Allegheny; the Reineman Maternity hospital. In Millwood and the Southslde hospital, the St. Margaret Memorial hospital and the Western Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind and others. The governor's recent action In cutting the appropriation bills, taking millions of dollars off measures for charity In order to keep within the estimated State revenues of $7,5.000.000 for the next two years.

Is a serious blow to the hospitals, and the hospitals of Pittsburg and Allegheny feel a decided discouragement. mm momsm -V WITH constant Increase in population there an even greater increase in disease And physical Buffering, and a consequent greater demand for both private and charitable hospitals for the ill and injured. In the primitive human existence man tilled the soil and lived upon the fruits of nature, free as the animals of the Jungles and, like them, knew little of disease, dying usually of either old age or violence. He multiplied and his children knew the same life close to nature, wlta unhampered physique, and little care. With the rapid increase from generation to generation, his children's children were forced out into etrange lands, forming: nation after nation, and fighting unfavorable climates and unfamiliar modea of living, until terrible epidemics of diseases of various nature brought sore distress.

As the world's population has Increased year after year and century after century, until millions are crowded into one city frequently, the increase of disease has been a natural consequence, and it waa from the suffering of the poor, sick and injured that institutions for their care and treatment were realized to be a pressing necessity, and organized. In the districts of a great city's poor the squalor and filth Is often repulsive, but add to this physical illness particularly that of little children lying neglected and suffering and it becomes fceart-rendlng unendurable. The care for the education of a city's poor Is a noble work; the influence of Its libraries far-reaching; its religious organizations commendable; it3 public baths a progressive 6tride toward the public benefits for the poor, the uplifting of ideals and preventive of disease, but the greatest, grandest work of all is the care of the city's suffering poor when the human body succumbs to disease, and life itself In the balance. The first movement for the care of the elck of Pittsburg was begun in December, 1843. when seven Sisters of Mercy arrived in Pittsburg, through whose untiring efforts and noble patience the Mercy hospital was founded and opened for the reception of the sick in January, 1847, in a building called old Concert hall.

In Penn avenue, near Sixth street, which building was rented for the purpose. Through the active aid of Bishop O'Con-ner and charitable citizens of this early home of refuge for the suffering, the first established in Western Pennsylvania, the Sisters of Mercy were repaid for their great effort by the success of their undertaking. In May, 1S4S, the hospital moved into Its permanent building on Stevenson street. The capacity of the building was 50 beds, though only 25 were at first furnished through lack of funds. The first staff of the Mercy hospital was composed of Drs.

William Addison, Joseph P. Gaz-zam, Daniel McMeal and George D. Bruce. The first resident physician cr interne was Dr. Thomas W.

Shaw. The growth of the hospital from Jts organization has been uninterrupted. Ia lrtS It celfbrated its g-olden Jubilee, as that year witnessed its fiftieth birthday. In ISfS the Ladies' Aid society of the Mercy hospital erected and furnished the diet kitchen, which greatly facilitated the hospital's convenience. The free for the eye, ear, nose and throat waa added about this time -c-J HI t2 i i 7L it utterable sympathy.

The hopelessly demented patients leave both phynlclan and nurse with an insatiable desire to render them service. St. Francis hospital was organised October 30. 1S65. by the Sinters of the Third Order of St.

Francis, who came to Pittsburg from Buffalo. The hospital was lnoorporaUd June SO, IMS, and the flrt patient ws received In a small frame building In Thirty-seventh etret. which was rented for the purpose. In ISfiG property was purchased, the building upon It put in order and opened for the reeeptlon of patients on June IS of that year. The capacity of this building was 50 patients.

In 1871. by funds contributed by Roman Catholic churches, a brick building 125x60 feet-and three stories high, wss erected. In 1SS5 insane female patients were received. In 1S1 a new building for the Insane was completed and patients of both sexes received. This building accommodated 100 patients.

During 1896 an additional story was added to the main hospital building, an operating room of modern equipment was provided, and a number of private rooms added; at the same time an annex for the accommodation of the sisters was built, leaving the entire hospital building for the use of patients. The building of St. Francis hospital has a beautiful site on the height in Forty-fourth street, between Penn avenue and Butler streets, and is large and well appointed. About 1880 the urgent need of a general hospital in Allegheny was felt, which resulted in steps being taken by prominent citizens to supply it. Its great need wss illustrated from its opening by Its crowded capacity, until at one time the hospital became so crowded that only emergency cases were admitted.

The Allegheny General hojspital moved into its beautiful new home in Stockton avenue, Allegheny, July 1 of last year. The capacity of the new building Is 375 patients. In 1904 36 per cent of the work of the hospital was charity work, and 30 per cent charity. I. ward patients.

At present the nurses are making their homes In private houses, and the hospital stands much in need of a nurses' home. Steps have been taken to start a library In connection with the training school, a plan which, when accomplished, will be of material assistance to the nurses and of general benefit to the hospital. The Homeopathic Medical and Surgical hospital and dispensary. In Second avenue. Is the satisfactory result of the lionjeopatblc school to have a building of Si- their own in which to treat patients.

In 1SS5 Drs. MareeU-'n Cote. J. C. Ptirirher nd H.

Hoffman secured the site In Second avenue where the building no stands. With the assistance of nympa-thizing citizens sufficient funds to Justify a beginning were secured. The hospital opened fir the reception of patient on Ausrunt 7. 1S5. with capacity of 3S beds, since which time repeated Improvements have been effected, one of which was the Addition of the eye, ear and throat dispensary.

During the yesr ending March 31. with the same facilities of 10 years ago the hospital report shows almost double the work. Wards and private rooms were uncomfortably crowded all throusrh the year, yet no patients were neglected, although doctors and nurses were taxed to their utmost endurance. The result of the hospital's taxation to Its fullest capacity was felt particularly in an overcrowded laundry, causing so much complaint In this quarter that it was necessary to build an addition at the cost ot 32. 000.

AminR the important Improvements of 194 nre the slz-ton rfrlgemtltig plant, a donation of John R. Scully: the new electric elevator, the gift of A. R. Teacock; three maller electric elevators, or dumb waiters, having also been Installed, to obtain sufficient power for which a new So-horse-power Weslinghouse jtas engine and generator were secured and placed In a subcellar, excavated for the purpose. The average cost of maintenance for each patient per day Is $1.23 1-10.

this being the approximate cost at all hospitals. With the exception of contagious diseases the Homeopathic hospital and dispensary admits patients without distinction cf race, color or religion. The Pittsburg Hospital for Children is the outgrowth of a children's organization known as the "Shady Cot club." The hospital was Incorporated March 18, 1S7, and the present building opened for patients June 4. 1890. This was ma.de possible largely through the generosity of the late Miss Jnne Holmes, whose endowment still contributes the largest part of Its 6upport.

There is a separate building for contagious diseases. No charge of any kind has ever been made for the care and treatment of the patients. It is expected that the man or woman who has arrived at the age of maturity be capable of an appreciation that "whatever is. Is right." and accept with enduring patience the fires of physical suffering through which he or she must often pass for the refinement of a character's gold, but little children, the majority of those In a charity hospital, the offspring of poor and ignorant parents, enduring blindly a suffering for which they cannot understand a cause, clinging wlt'n appealing touch to doctor and nurse, present a sight which uproots all the tender sympathy and piety of one's nature! in the Tittsburg Hospital for Children the little faces show diversity of race and color, and it Is wonderful how patiently they endure. At present the hospital ia at work on an addition, which rejoin Limited, PITTSBURG'S LEADING Tinware Manufacturers i r-r I -mmc 124 Second Avenue, PITTSBURG, PA.

Miners' Lamps a Specialty. Correspondence Solicited. r3s' was a'iso the laboratory and X-ray apparatus. Since this time the hospital- improvements have been continuous, its capacity at the present time being beds and Its borne well appointed. The Pittsburg Infirmary now the Pass-avant hospital 1 the oldest Protestant hospital In America.

In 1S49 Dr. A. Passavant, with the aid of sisters of the Institution of the Protestant Deaconesses, opened a church hospital In Fleming street, Allegheny. The citizens of Allegheny termed this primitive refuge for the sick "The pest house." threatening to burn the building and mob Dr. Passa-vant and the sisters.

At the request of the mayor and council the hospital was removed to Pittsburg a property purchased for the purpose at the corner of Roberts and Reed streets. In September. 1851 the present building was completed and the patients removed from the old to the new house. The earliest printed record (I860) of rho Pittsburg infirmary stated that "An English shilling was the first donation received." It first refuge in Allegheny was extremely primitive, having only two beds, a table, a cooking1 stove and a few chairs. A elck soldier returning from the Mexican war was found by Dr.

Passavant on a boat at the Monongahela wharf, neglected and apparently dying. Removing him to the hospital, its founder washed' with his own hands this first patient, and by the help of Rev. A. H. Waters cared for his Immediate wants.

The little hospital was a refuge for all kinds of sufferers even cholera cases were admitted and cared for. Sister Elizabeth Hupperly. born September 17, 1822, In Hillfarth, Germany, and -who died at the Pittsburg Infirmary October 27. 1S95. was the first directing sister of th hospital and the oldest deaconess in America.

At the dedication of the new home, at the corner of Reed and Roberta streets, was the Rev. Theodore Flicduer with four deaconesses from his famous institution at Kaiserwerth, Germany. During the first 11 months after the removal Into its new home, 470 patients were nursed by the German deaconesses. The Passavant hospital receives all proper and worthy patients without regard to creed, nationality or color, and gives the same conscientious care'to all. Any physician Of good standing- can send patients to be 1 fiimmswiT IX 1 A ELEVATOR CONSTRUCTION CO.

PASSENGER AND FREIGHT ELEVATORS. 6119 Ferguson Block. Phone 2376 Court. PITTSBURG. PA.

I treated either by himself as private patients, or by the staff as hospital or free patients. The hospital, by its noble unselfish work for the sick and afficted of the city is a fitting monument to its founder. The first meeting of the promoters or the Western Pennsylvania hospital was held on March 10, 147. From the time of this meeting until the opening of Its doors for patients In 15553, embraced years of "indefatigable labor on the part of those interested in Its succes. At the time of the meeting of the promoters, party spirit was very bitter, religious anl sectarian topics being harshly discussed as Indicated by the know-nothing riots.

It is therefore interesting to note, in this day of toleration, the following extract from its articles of association adopted April 20, 1S47: "There shall be no discrimination as to religious denominations, and clergymen shall have access to patients of their persuasion, subject to the general rules In "Mission of patient." In ISoe the establishment of a separate hospital for the insane became nec-y Vm cornerstone of Dixmont. the western Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane (so-called in honor of Mies Dorothea D. Dix) wa, laid on July 19. and Jn 1S62 the buildings were ready for the reception of patients. The capacity of the department for the insane of Dix not is 600 patients, with a sta o5 1 aad "iX ho care for the 800 patients, with the addition of a medical superintendent.

four assisting Physicians and a large forj and attendants. A successful training school for nurses is an important adjure! to the medical and surgical department Mental derangements are the most distressing cases possible to both the nurse and physician, but to witness from day to day returning health and the Joy of life and prospect of happiness spring up in their minds; to see the gradual decline and disappearance of the many vagaries of a disordered reason, followed by a healthy, normal, intellectual condition, is a coveted reward for the physician and the devoted nurse. The work among the insane Incites the noblest purposes of mankind toward his fellow man. and the watching of the gradual return of a patient to reason, is a most interesting; Study, and fills one with un BingamanSavage Brass Co. BRASS FOUNDERS AND FINISHERS Manufacturers of and Dealers In Bar, Hotel and Restaurant REPAIR WORK RECEIVES PROMPT ATTENTION.

SPECIAL BRASS CASTINGS AND EXPERIMENTAL WORK. We have a modern, well-equipped foundry and finishing shop, which insures the rapid execution of orders. CATALOGUE MAILED ON REQUEST. 434-436 SECOND AVENUE, PITTSBURG, PA. A.