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of this boon, irrespective of hygienic considerations, will be more readily appreciated. The bathroom is large and airy, supplied with a number of tub and shower-baths, and is under the supervision of a head nurse with two assistant nurses. To the energy and earnest co-operation of the staff in charge of the Floating Hospital is due without doubt much of its conspicuous success, and a visitor cannot watch their labors without being deeply impressed by the fact that their hearts are altogether in their work. The doctor, matrons, and nurses may be said to be busy from the time they leave their starting point, at eight in the morning, until the time they reach home, at six in the evening. The care and responsibility of 1,600 children, infants, and mothers, the majority of whom belong to the lowest strata of society, many of them sick, and with the thermometer standing above 90° in the shade will give some idea of the difficulties with which they have to contend. The staff consists of Superintendent, Mr. Richards; Captain Cobb, Dr. McCauley, physician in charge; Mrs. Chase, matron; Mrs. Thomas, assistant matron; Miss Walton, head nurse, assisted by Miss Palmer and four others; Miss Manter and two assistants in charge of the bathroom; Miss Nevill in charge of the milk for children; Mrs. Ward, storeroom superintendent, with ten assistants. Space fails or we might expa tiate on the size and equipment of the kitchens, on the good work being done by Mrs. Thomas in endeavoring to implant habits of thrift in the minds of the children and on several other features deserving of mention.

On arriving abreast of New Dorp the ship is moored about a mile out and upon being sighted from the shore a launch is sent off in which those patients who have received admittance tickets are conveyed to the Seaside Hospital. The situation of this hospital is an ideal one; it is placed at a distance of about 200 yards from the sea, well sheltered at the sides and back, standing amidst picturesque surroundings, and having at the rear ten acres of ground.

It is a long, two-storied building, of single depth, containing two large wards, with separate wards, operating room, dispensary, and offices. The large wards are of equal size, each capable of holding eighty patients. The cots are placed at the sides, and above each cot at the foot swings a cradle at such a height from the bed that it can be easily reached—a

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capital arrangement, as the mother can lie in bed and rock the cradle without rising. The lighting and ventilation of these wards is excellent, as there are windows on either side, and on the front, facing the sea, are wide piazzas, in which in the day time, when fine, the babies cradles are swung.

Behind the main building and running at right angles to it is the annex, containing the public dining room, kitchen, and the rooms devoted to use of the staff of management. The laundry and electric plant are situated in a separate building. One feature in connection with the Seaside Hospital is the special attention given to the preparation of the infant food. A room is set apart for this purpose, furnished with the latest machinery for modifying and sterilizing milk after the most approved methods. The rational treatment of sick babies by judicious diet and fresh air is here followed out thoroughly.

As in the hospital ship, the beneficial effects resulting from bathing is well recognized, and the bathroom at the Seaside Hospital is naturally on a much larger and more elaborate scale. There are eleven spray baths, each one being contained in a separate compartment. Hot and cold water is supplied, and a thermometer is so placed that the exact temperature of the water going to the sprays can be observed and regulated by an attendant. Dressing rooms are also provided for the mothers and larger children. The catering for the mothers and those children who are well enough to enjoy good food is on a generous scale, and the site of the large dining room at meal time filled with these poor tenement dwellers is one to touch the hearts and to loosen the purse strings of those more fortunate beings who have never felt the bitter sting of poverty. In fact the hospital is thoroughly equipped in every respect and is a model of what such a place should be, the only fault is that it is not large enough for its needs. Owing to the excessively hot weather of this summer all the available space has been occupied and many deserving cases have been refused admission for lack of room. From its inauguration in 1881 the Seaside Hospital has fully demonstrated its value, both as a convalescent home and as a means of saving infant life, the rate of mortality among this class being much less than in city hospitals, and the experience of its medical staff during its existence of eighteen years has added further emphatic testimony to the great superiority of breast-feeding to artificial

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nourishment. The Seaside Hospital has a large medical and nursing staff, in addition to the able resident physicians, Dr. De Hart and Dr. Pyle. Several well known New York specialists on the diseases of children make frequent visits. The institution is under the competent control of the Superintendent, Mr. Harroun, assisted by the matron, Mrs. Harroun.

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feature in connection with the work of St. John's Guild should

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especially commend it to the notice of philantrophists is that its charity is extended to all, irrespective of creed or nationality, and it may also be mentioned that the cost of naming a crib or cot on the Floating Hospital is $500 and in the Seaside Hospital $100. Before concluding this article, a few remarks on the beneficial effect of fresh air and change of scene on the complaints of children and infants from a medical standpoint may not be out of place. By some it is argued that the good effected by a day's trip on the Floating Hospital or even by a week or two weeks' stay at the seaside is at the best but tem

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