1886
The County and the City.
Once in a while
there seems to be a clash between the county and the city in
the matter of paupers, sick and well. The law is perfectly plain
that it is the duty of the county to take care of all the paupers
within its limits, and Dallas county has a poor-house and farm
for the purpose. Yet, many such a case is palmed off on the city
that properly belongs to the county, and per consequence the
city hospital to-day is over-crowded with inmates, and, it is
very probable, will have to get more hospital space. All paupers
living in the city are cared for by the city, either where they
live or in the hospital. This morning an old man asked admission
to the city hospital, and was denied admission because he did
not live in the city, but more properly belonged to the county.
He is an old man, looks pale and emaciated, is very feeble, has
one eye out, and one leg off, and is truly an object of charity
and pity. The county should send him to the poor farm and take
care of him, for he claims Dallas county as his home, and says
he has been working in the country. He certainly is unable to
work now and is penniless. The city has all it can care for.
There are certain blatherskites, little cross roads, stem winding,
selfcocking politicians who delight in trying to raise hostility
among the people in the country against the city, and resort
to all the lowflung and pitiful arts of the demagogue and subterfuges
of ward pot house bummers to do it, and this very question of
the poor farm, and the city hospital is one of their pet schemes.
Certainly every man with a thimble-full of brains knows that
what is to the interest of the city of Dallas is to the interest
of all Dallas county. Dallas secures railroads by subsidies,
not a dollar of which the people in the country pay, and Dallas
city gives the right-of-way for railroads through her streets.
The people in the country are as much, if not more, benefited
by these railroads than the city, yet scores and scores of them
want double the value of their land for right-of-way for a railroad,
every one of which doubles the value of the balance of their
land. Scores and scores, aye hundreds and hundreds of them, under
the inspiration of these little crossroads orator puffs, complain
whenever a pauper is sent to the poor farm, and say the city
ought to take care of them.
- November 20, 1886,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. ??
- o o o -
1889
COMMISSIONERS COURT.
An order
was adopted this morning which provides for the erection of a
new jail on the county poor farm which will be fitted out with
new iron cages.
- February 15, 1889,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 5, col. 2.
- o o o -
COURT PROCEEDINGS.
The county
commissioners adjourned to meet next Saturday when they will
open bridge approaches. Next Friday, they will visit the county
poor farm to investigate the impending necessity for an insane
hospital. Commissioner McAdams says the state is unable to provide
accommodation for the insane of the county, and Dallas county
will endeavor to take care of her unfortunates in this class
by erecting a comfortable building for them.
- November 18, 1889,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 5, col. 2.
- o o o -
1892
NOTICE!
In compliance
with an order passed by the commissioners court, sealed bids
will be received by me until 12 o'clock noon Dec. 12, 1892, from
applicants for the following positions: Superintendent of the
Poor Farm, Poor Farm Physician, County Jail Physician, Drug Prescriptionist
and Janitor for the courthouse. The court reserves the right
to reject any or all bids. Witness my hand and official seal
this 29th day of November, 1892.
LEE H. HUGHES,
County
Clerk
By
W. M. SCOTT,
Deputy.
- December 8, 1892,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 4, col. 6.
- o o o -
1893
FIRE AT POOR FARM.
______
THE BIG BARN AND
ITS CONTENTS
CONSUMED
______
Last Night -- None
of the Prisoners At-
tempted to Escape -- Four Thousand
Bushels of Corn Destroyed -- What Su-
perintendent Burgess Has to Say.
The large
barn at he county farm near Hutchins was consumed by fire last
night. Superintendent Dee Burgess had been held in this city
all day as an attached witness and arrived at home just as the
flames had gone beyond control. He organized a bucket brigade
at once, and after hard work, succeeded in preventing a spread
of the flames to the main buildings. But for the efforts of the
superintendent and the bucket brigade, every building would have
been food for the devouring elements.
The barn contained a large quantity
of hay and between 3500 and 4000 bushels of corn. About 200 bushels
of corn, in a damaged condition, was saved.
The origin of the fire is unknown.
It was at first surmised that the prisoners had planned to escape
by burning the building, but they were at supper and made no
attempt to escape. The loss is heavy. There was no insurance
on the building or contents.
- January 7, 1893,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 1, col. 5.
- o o o -
Added
March 7, 2004:
1894
DOWN ON THE FARM.
______
Hard Times Have
Not Increased Dal-
las County's Stock of Paupers.
Superintendent
Burgess, of the poor farm, in his report to the county commissioners,
submitted yesterday, says he has thirty-six paupers and eleven
prisoners.
The hard times have not increased
the average number of paupers on the farm.
- November 16, 1894,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 6, col. 1.
- o o o -
Added
March 13, 2004:
COUNTY FARM
"GONE TO RACK."
______
THE MACHINERY WORN
OUT.
______
Tools Rusty and
Gapped, and the Mules
Stove-Up and Lame -- That's the Con-
dition the Commissioners Say
They Found Things In.
The County
Commissioners, yesterday, visited the county farm, and took a
general survey, of the premises.
Commissioner Barcus stated to a
TIMES
HERALD
reporter, to-day, that they found the farm in bad shape. While
the buildings and fences are in fair repair, the machinery, implements
and tools are decidedly rusty and worn out. The horses and mules
are stove-up, crippled and in a run down condition, generally.
In regard to these things, the
Commissioners will make an unfavorable report, Commissioner Barcus
says, but they will meet before rendering their report, in order
to agree upon some sort of recommendations, by which the evils
complained of may be remedied.
- December 14, 1894,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 6, col. 3.
- o o o -
1895
Added April 18, 2004:
COUNTY POOR FARM
34 3/4 ACRES SHORT.
______
REPORT THAT BURGESS
HAS IT.
______
The Commissioners
Wondering if the Farm
Has "Shrunk," or What on Earth
is the Matter - Henry
Smith's Theory.
The County
Commissioners have recently had the poor farm surveyed, and they
find that it is 34 3/4 acres short of what it has all along been supposed
to contain.
The Commissioners have looked high
and low for the missing land, and the report is in circulation
at the court house that B. Burgess, the ex-Superintendent of
the poor farm must have got away with it. In fact, it is hinted
that he brought it up to Dallas and divided it with John Bolick,
and that they are about to cut it into town lots and start an
addition.
Henry Smith, however, says that
the 34 3/4 acres the Commissioners are looking for, is a narrow
strip extending the entire length of the north side of the farm,
but that it was never fenced in by the poor farm enclosure. He
says that there was a separate deed for this strip, and in making
the recent survey, the Commissioners tried to find 360 acres
exclusive of this strip. Mr. Smith further says this strip is
claimed by some minor heirs, with whose lands it has long been
fenced. There is even a question, he says, as to whether the
title of the county to the land is not barred by limitation.
- March 30, 1895, Dallas
Daily Times Herald, p. 1, col. 2-3.
- o o o -
1899
THE DALLAS COURTS.
_____
Judge Clint Receives
the Grand
Jury Report
Judge Clint
of the criminal district court, received the report of the grand
jury, and wound up his term yesterday. In that report, the grand
jury set forth that they had been in session altogether during
the term seven weeks, and had returned seventy-seven true bills,
of which fifty-two were for felonies and twenty-five for misdemeanors.
They had visited the country farm and found it in good conditions.
The 240 acres of ground in cultivation in 1898 produced $3500
worth of surplus, which fell short of making the farm self-sustaining.
They recommended the expenditure of $75 for repairs on the buildings
of the farm, and the purchase of a wind mill and a tank. They
found that Johnson grass had a footing on the farm, and recommended
that Superintendent Burgess try all kinds of exterminating the
pest. The report was signed by George O. Hambrick, foreman.
- January 1, 1899,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 6, col. 2.
- o o o -
1903
added
December 25, 2005:
GRAND
JURY
ADJOURNED
______
Final
Report of the Body
was Read Yes-
terday.
...
The
grand jury for the January term of court made its final report
late yesterday afternoon to Judge Muse of the criminal district
court. The document was read by T. J. Britton, foreman of the
grand jury. Judge Muse thanked the jurors before finally dismissing
them, and stated that he had found it unnecessary to direct them
in their investigations.
The report follows in full:
To the Honorable District Court
of Dallas County, Texas: The grand jury for the January term
of A. D. 1903, respectfully submit the following report of their
labors during said term:
...
We also visited the county farm,
and were much gratified to find everything there in such excellent
condition. It is generally thought that such institutions are
synonyms of squalor and poverty. But not so with the farm of
Dallas county, for verily, in the language of one of our members,
"It is a veritable palace of the poor." Its building
are commodious and comfortable, and kept neat and clean. Its
surroundings are pleasant; its fields are well cultivated and
verdant with growing grain; its horses, cattle and hogs sleek
and of the best breeds, and, taken altogether, it is an institution
of which Dallas county may well feel proud. Under the chaperonage
of its excellent superintendent, Capt. D. C. Burgess, who has
served the county in that capacity for more than twelve years,
and to whose ability, untiring energy, industry and integrity,
may be ascribed its present splendid condition and capability
for future good. We made a thorough inspection of the entire
property, and we here give an inventory of what we found: Three
hundred and sixty acres of land, of which 120 acres are in wheat,
40 acres in oats, 30 acres for corn,, 25 for cotton, 25 acres
for sorghum, 90 acres in timber, and 30 acres in orchard, garden
lots and yards. Meat raised on the place and in the smoke-house,
40,000 pounds; hay on hand, 60 tons; wheat on hand, 250 bushels;
50 heads of cattle, mostly Red Poll; 86 head of hogs, Berkshire
and Poland-China; 8 head of good mules and 2 head of horses.
The inmates number 51, and all testify to the fact that they
are well cared for by Superintendent Burgess, Mrs. Burgess, the
matron, and Dr. A. W. Carnes, the physician. Of these inmates,
14 are lunatics, 14 paralytics, 4 blind, 4 one-legged, 4 epileptics,
2 with cancer, and one with consumption. Of these, 4 are 85,
one 105, and one, 117 years of age.
...
F. J. BRITTON,
Foreman Grand Jury, January term
A. D. 1903.
- April
5, 1903, Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 9, col. 1-2.
- o o o -
COUNTY
POOR FARM
AND ITS HISTORY
_______
A Model Institution
Where the Unfortunate Poor are Cared
for--Captain Burgess' Work for Fifteen Years.
Needs of the Farm--Its Products.
(Written for The Times
Herald.)
The indifference
of the people of his county to the interest involved in the management
of the Dallas county farm is something scarcely less than criminal.
Owing, however, to official visitations from the last two grand
juries, there has been some awakening on this subject, which,
it is hoped, may prove an earnest of better things to come. Supported
as it is from the revenues raised by taxation, self-interest,
it would seem, if there were no higher motive, should inspired
investigation by those who thus contribute to its maintenance
as to the modes and methods which obtain in its administration,
that malfeasance or misfeasance, either or both, if such there
be, could be ascertained, to the end that the guilty party or
parties might be held to answer before the proper tribunal for
neglect of duty, or worse, willful wrong. Familiar in detail
for three years past with the work here done, and cognizant of
every incident within that time that has transpired, I am constrained,
in view of its importance, to seek through the columns of The
Times Herald, the means of giving to the public the benefit of
my experience and observation, that such an interest may be aroused
as will further the effort to accomplish maximum results.
It is an ideal place--one that
would enthuse the soul of the artist and inspire the poet's sweetest
pastoral. Situated on the table-land of the prairie is the superintendent's
cottage, enclosed within sufficient space that, under the tasty
eyes of the ladies of the family, is adorned with shrubbery of
perennial green variegated with roses of every hue and redolent
with the perfume of the jasmine and the honeysuckle. Within the
general enclosure, there is the well, a never-failing source
of an abundant supply of water, which by means of a windmill,
is pumped into an elevated reservoir and then conveyed by pipes
to the various buildings for domestic purposes, sewerage, irrigation
and, better--as has been demonstrated within the recent past--as
a protection against fire. Two years ago, but for its construction,
the magnificent barn and its contents must have succumbed to
the flames, caught from an adjoining cottage that would have
entailed to the county, a loss of some $10,000. And here, in
addition to the buildings for the patients, granaries, stables
and barns, are many cottages, suited to the differently afflicted,
arranged with just that degree of irregularity as gives relief
to the weariness incident to studied precision and imparts to
the vista, the charm of picturesqueness.
Passing out of the gate to this
general enclosure into a lane that leads down a gentle declivity
across the macadam road to Dallas, nine miles northward, we find
on both side, truck patches, luxuriantly productive in season,
and out of season, too, for the that matter, of all the vegetables
indigenous, not only to the north temperate zone, but to many
that grow close to the equator, in that profusion of production
and delicacy of flavor, than which, of all the lands warmed by
the sun in his diurnal course, there are none that can surpass,
and but few equal, the yield to the husbandman's toil from the
black lands of Texas.
Passing across the road and under
the culvert, over which the railway--the Houston and Texas Central--is
laid, and along whose track, some fifteen or twenty trains daily
fly, we come to and pass through another gate and into another
lane, and reach the initiative point of that part of the "farm"
wherein is cultivated the various crops necessary to provide
sustenance for both man and beast. To the right is the cultivated
acreage. First, this year 100 acres in wheat, 1200 bushels, from
which, is now in the granary, while on the left stand monarchs
of the forest, whose shade refreshes man and beast, and whose
limbs, of large proportions, are typical of the protection of
the Omnipotent One and impresses the lesson, "Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
or turning. The wheat field left behind, we come to a pool, whose
banks are is[sic] no variableness, nether shadow or Bermuda grass,
and in which is staked the thirst of all. Then comes the corn,
oats, millet, cotton, all up to the average this year, and some
of them superior to like neighboring, when we reach the eastern
fences which separates the cultivated portion from the wooded
pasture and enter upon a scene of shadow and shade, beneath which,
luxuriant grasses afford sustenance for a herd of graded cattle
the equal of any in the state.
An order for the purchase of the
"farm" was passed by the commissioners' court in Nov.
1876, but it was not organized until Aug. 1877, when its first
superintendent, Mr. Jerry Brown, was elected. His successors
in the order named, have been Messrs. Kennon, Sims, Kilpatrick,,
Gates, Burgess and Bennett, the latter of whom, after a term
of two years, retired, when the incumbent, Capt. C. D. Burgess,
was again called to the position, and has since been bi-annually
re-elected, virtually without opposition, this making his 15th
years of services in this capacity. The purchase was effected
by a committee appointed by the court, consisting of T. G. Bledsoe
of Hutchins and Hamp Whit of Dallas, the latter of whom, left
the selection of the site to his co-committeeman, Mr. Bledsoe,
who chose the present one, which has proved to have been quite
wise and judicious, no less on account of the fertility of the
soil, than for its most admirable sanitary conditions. It consists
of 360 acres, about 225 of which, are in cultivation, the reminder
being included in the roads, barns, ditches, building rates,
etc., together with the wooded pasture. Up to 1897, it was a
place of penal servitude, with the rescue and hospital feature
as an adjunct, but since that time, owing to the exertions made
in the direction by Hon. Geo. W. Neeley, present president of
the commissioners' court, its purpose as a means of punishment
for violators of the law, has been entirely eliminated, so that
now it is a place of refuge for the destitute, the invalid and
the helpless, pure and simple.
Up to that time, cultivation was
had by convict labor, now the work is done by hired hands, who
are employed by the superintendent and who serve under his control
and direction. How well, let facts within the period of which
I write, tell the story. In the year 1900, there were forty thousand
pounds of flour to the credit of the "farm" at one
of the mills of the county, a part of what had been supply, and
which supplied the institution until the incoming crop of wheat
harvested in 1902, and that, notwithstanding the fact, that in
obedience to the demand for help, which the storm of 1902 made
imperative for desolated Galveston, the commissioners' court
generously inspired, were among the first in the state to contribute,
and did contribute to the destitutes for relief, twenty thousand
pounds of flour. Up to the present time, there has been a sufficiency
of wheat to furnish bread for the institution, with twelve hundred
bushels of this year's harvest in the granary untouched for use
in the future. Three years ago, the last season in which corn
was a sure crop, there was gathered from about eighty acres,
within a fraction of four thousand bushels, while this year,
despite the floods of winter, the parched ground in consequence
thereof, and the draught at seed time, entailing a bad stand,
the corn and forage already gathered and to be gathered, have
evidenced unremitting toil and finest judgment in cultivation.
Hay, however, was saved and cured in abundance, and salted as
ricked, furnished sustaining forage for the cattle during the
past winter's trying weather, and brought them safely through,
without the loss of a single one of their number, and, there
is now on hand approximately thirty tons, with the promise of
an abundant yield from this season's mowing. In the season of
1900-1, there was slaughtered a fraction of over 12,500 pounds
of pork, in that of 1901-2 within a small fraction of 12,000
pounds, in 1902-3, a small fraction over 14,000 pounds, and of
the 40,000 pounds thus slaughtered, only one joint--I mean only
one--was ever tainted. The figures are correct in round numbers,
the exact record having been taken from actual weight, net, by
the writer, and which is now in his possession. There are now
on hand about one hundred head of hogs, from which there is promised
a greater yield of pork for the coming season of slaughter that
was ever before produced in the history of the farm.
After selling off twenty-seven
head of cattle in Feb. 1901, there are now on hand, sixty-five
head, an increase of over 150 per cent in two years and a half,
a herd highly graded, of strong frame, beautifully proportioned
and colored, with butter and milk output scarcely surpassed by
thoroughbreds. There are also eight mules for farm purposes,
fat and sleek, agricultural implements necessary for cultivating
of ever description in god condition, and when not used, well
housed. Vegetables, potatoes, sweet and irish, peas and beans
of different varieties, turnips and cabbage, winter and summer,
okra, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, radishes, roasting ears, etc.,
all in abundance, are here raised, for the benefit of those who
are here to be fed and cared for.
The average number of inmates on
the farm has heretofore been between 45 and 50, but from present
indications, there is a prospect of a large increase, there being
now a larger number cared for than during any former summer.
They may be classified as follows, insane, epileptic (and it
is not a proper place for either), senile, disabled and women
and children, who, though sound in body, are without the means
of support, other than that derived from public activity. This
care, therefore, involves the exercise of the soundest judgment,
and their control, the rarest discretion. There, of course, exists
the murmurings and exactions incident to such conditions, but
wise and beneficent rule, brings fault-finding to its minimum,
and I much doubt if as little obtains in any institution of the
kind anywhere. The present year, so much of it, as is int he
past, has been a trying one to the management, as accommodations
have been taxed to their utmost capacity, indeed they have been
overtaxed, for there has not been sufficient room for the comfortable
shelter of more than three-fourths of the number that have been
here, and yet none are turned away, and as best as could be done,
all have been cared for. Cleanliness of room and bedding, and
healthfulness in the quality and preparation of the food set
before them, is the rule, and nothing contrary is allowed, as
the watchful eye of the superintendent, ever on the alert, is
quick to detect and as quickly corrects any departure from this
rule. Indeed, all his rules are enforced with that degree of
firmness that commands obedience, and yet, with such reason and
beneficience, as always meets with acquiescence. His solicitude
for those trusted to his care amounts to anxiety, and oftentimes,
there are self-imposed duties that need not be performed by him,
as there are others to discharge them, without incurring personal
danger. On one occasion, it is known, that he bathed a small-pox
patient, he not being an immune, and that, too, not farther than
75 yards from his residence, wherein dwelt and, were at that
time, a part of his family, wife and daughter, two grown and
unmarried, and a little girl of tender years. Another instance
of his watchful consideration may be given. Awakening during
the unprecedented snow storm of last winter, severer than any
that has fallen in Texas for years, at one o'clock at night,
himself an invalid, and finding the conditions to be such as
might involved suffering to the aged, infirm and weak-minded
confined in the asylum, he got up, and through the darkness,
the cold and the snow, repaired to where they lodged, and that
too, at the risk of his own life, rebuilt the fires, replenished
their bedding and stayed by and with them until their comfort
was assured. These facts are given, not as exceptions to his
rule of conduct, and I am thus explicit in personality, because
upon those who ought to know better, and whose duty it is to
know better, I would impress the further fact that the county
farm of Dallas county is no black hole of Calcutta, but a blessing
and a benediction. The highest tribute to the work of Capt..
Burgess is that this farm is so regarded as a novel county farm
throughout the state that he has, at the request of the authorities
of other counties, been sent for and visited their farms, that
they might be benefited by his experience by seeing their sand
then making suggestions as to existing evils and future improvements
in administration, and besides, he is often in receipt of letters
from others seeking to know his modes and methods of management,
and finally, when the first state convention of County Superintendents
was organized, he was unanimously elected without solicitation
or opposition, its president. I would not trench on sacred ground,
but I cannot refrain from recording the fact, that in all those
sweeter and tender services, those which man cannot and woman
only can perform, Mrs. Burgess, assisted as she has been in the
past, by her two noble unmarried daughters, Misses Laura and
Viola, fills out all deficiencies and perfect the management,
their appearance being ever a healing and their ministrations
a benediction.
From the above, I now make the
following suggestion:
In the first place, provision should
be made at the earliest possible moment for more room, for as
the merits of this institution are known, the demand for more
extensive accommodations increased, there being on this account,
twenty-five per cent more in this year's attendance than there
has ever been at any former period, and with increasing population,
this percentage will correspondingly increase.
Second, there should be a local
physician--a house surgeon, as he is known in the hospitals of
the county, and this will involve no greater increase of expenses
than that full compensation will be made therefore, by an enhancement
of the benefit derived from the increase of efficiency in the
medical administration. This addition to the medical staff should
be auxiliary and subordinate to the control of the physician
and surgeon in charge. And, there is many a young man of strong
faith, full of hope and high ambition, who, after four years'
course in college, under the most eminent teachers, fresh from
that wonder of the age, the evolutions of the laboratory, familiar
with the latest inventions of surgical instruments and appliances
and with their use, with experience in the treatment of diseases,
some of which are seldom met with in the general practice, save
in the large cities acquired in his attendance upon the clinics,
a part of his collegiate course, whose services might be secured
to the great benefit of those requiring medical attention. And,
this is submitted as a necessity that each case may be studied,
for instance, that respiration and temperature may be daily taken
and recorded as is done in other hospitals, that heart action
may be watched so that complications that arise in the aged and
in loss of vital force, the suffering incident thereto, may be
at least alleviated.
Third. Here it has been demonstrated
that a school may be maintained, and the little ones may be gathered
together and taught, at least, the elementary branches, and who
knows what thirst for knowledge may thereby be inspired, and
what foundations for useful lives may thereby be laid. It is,
therefore, urged that effort be made, if possible, to secure
the services of a teacher, one who is trained as such, and who
proposes to make it his life work, that the greatest good may
be attained.
Fourth. Here is a field for the
Christian worker, the Kings Daughters, the Westminster and Epworth
Leagues, Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, Young
People's Baptist union, the Home Missionary societies of the
various and all denominations may all here find opportunity for
work on the lines of intellectual development and moral improvement.
This communication would be incomplete
as a record of facts did it now give honor to whom honor is due,
the commissioners' court of Dallas county, for what they have
done for this institution, all noble men whose official conduct,
I can verify, will shine all the brighter for having been subjected
to the fiery oracle of investigation and criticism.
JNO. P.
C. WHITEHEAD.
- September 13, 1903,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 16, col. 1-4.
- o o o -
1906
WILLING GLEANERS
VISIT THE FARM
______
Dallas Ladies Submit
Report to
County Commissioners.
The subjoined
communication from the Willing Gleaners, a charitable organization
of Dallas ladies, addressed to the commissioners' court, was
found by a reporter stuck away in a file, where it had evidently
been since the matter was handed into the court, as Commissioner
Cochran, when asked if they had taken any action on the matter,
replied that he had never seen it before. When he had read the
communication, however, he expressed himself as being ready and
willing to co-operate with the ladies of the Willing Gleaners,
in an effort to do anything that would be of benefit to the poor
unfortunates confined in the county poor farm.
Especially, did he believe that
immediate attention should be given to that part of the communication
wherein the attention of the court is called to the fact that
buildings at the poor farm should be equipped with screens and
stated that he would bring the matter up at the first meeting
of the court. While the report has not been filed as yet, it
will no doubt serve to call the attention of the tax payers to
the fact that Dallas county, the richest county in the state,
was not making proper arrangements to take care of the poor unfortunates
who are forced through misfortune to spend their declining days
at the poor farm.
The Communication.
The communication from the ladies
composing the committee from the Willing Workers, is as follows:
"Dallas, Tex., June 11, 1906.
"Messrs. Cochran, and Gentlemen
of the County Commissioners' Court: We,
a committee of ladies of the Willing Gleaners, have, with your
permission, recently made a visit to the county poor farm. A
visit to a place of that kind, generally, has a tendency to make
one more grateful for the blessings that they enjoy and impresses
one with a desire to do all in their power to relieve the distress
they see there. We found that there were many little things that
we could do, such as getting second-hand clothing, needles, thread,
thimbles, spectacles, magazines and Bibles. But, the most important
need of all is that of screens, as you will no doubt agree. There
are poor old women confined to their beds and the flies eating
them alive. We, therefore, beg of you to give this subject your
kindest consideration. We were surprised to see nine poor insane
people in the gaol. The guard said they had written the state
insane asylum, but were informed that they had no room. It does
not seem very long ago since the daily papers gave an account
of a new insane asylum having been completed, and stated that
Texas had ample room for her insane. We hope you will not think
it presumptuous in us to ask for your sympathy and aid. Respectfully
yours.
"MARY SHERMAN ALLEN,
"MRS. F. A. LYON,
"MRS. BARKSDALE BURGESS,
"MRS. L. V. HOUGHTON,
"MRS. GENE S. HILL,
"Committee on Poor Farm Investigation."
- June 24, 1906, Dallas
Daily Times Herald, Sec. II, p. 4, col. 3.
- o o o -
GRAND JURY ENDS
LABORS SATURDAY
________
MEMBERS OF THE BODY
DISCUSS AFFAIRS
OF THE COUNTY.
_______
General Suggestions
are Made for the Betterment of the System of Government -- Juvenile
Courts are Favored.
The grand
jury adjourned this afternoon, submitting to the court, a long
report.
...
The County Poor Farm.
We visited the county poor farm
and found Mr. W. D. King, a very efficient man for the place,
in charge. There were 44 inmates, 8 of which were demented. There
were 8 in the jail and one girl, about 14 years old, who was
in charge of one of the inmates of the hospital. The others were
composed of old people, who were not able to work, some of them
needing nurses, and were waited on by other inmates.
We recommend that some healthy
person be appointed to act as night nurse to give the medicine
to the sick under the direction of the doctor, as there are no
inmates competent to fill such position. We found about 15 milk
cows, 20 hogs and 8 mules, all in good condition. All of the
buildings and outhouses we found seemed to be in good condition
and well kept, under the circumstances. However, the buildings
being constructed entirely of wood, with the exception of the
jail, leaving the inmates helpless in case of fire, we recommend
the construction of substantial fire proof buildings, jail and
hospitals, with sanitary closets, bath room and floors of such
material as can be kept scrubbed clean. Buildings to be similar
to state institutions for similar purposes; buildings to be lighted
with artificial light of approved kind so there will be no danger
of fire. We learn that none of the inmates of the poor farm are
able to do farm work, and that the expense of running the farm
is much greater than the income, and recommend that the three
hundred odd acres, lying east of the Houston and Texas Central
railroad, be sold, and the money used in making permanent improvements
on the thirty odd acres lying west of the Houston and Texas Central
railway, for the poor of Dallas county. We recommend that the
legislature pass a law to establish a court to try the juvenile
criminals separate from the regular criminal court and county
court, which are over crowded with other business. We find that
Mr. King is the right man in the right place, and by doing away
with the extra acreage, he would have time to do more for those
who most need his attention. We also recommend that a suitable
building, with more room, be provided for the superintendent.
...
We especially acknowledge the competent
service of Mr. King, superintendent of the poor farm, and his
good wife, who favored us with a most elaborate dinner made up
from her own garden. The sentiment of the entire jury was voiced
by LeRoy Vendig, son of one of our members, when asked to have
something more, he answered that it would be impossible, as he
had already eaten all he could hold. On retiring from the sumptuous
feast, we were delighted with seeing the most beautiful twins
looking through the window, as though they were in a frame. They
were the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. King. We also acknowledge
the courtesies extended by Mr. Webster in entertaining the jury
at Club Lake on the afternoon of our visit to the county farm.
...
- June 30, 1906, Dallas
Daily Times Herald,
p. 1, col. 1-2; continued on p. 6, col. 1-2.
- o o o -
1925
Commissioner Declares Poor Farm
Will Yield Enough Gravel to Pay
Cost of Addition to Courthouse
Enough
gravel to build a twelve-story courthouse, if an addition of
size is needed, can be dug from the 350 acres of land owned by
the county on the Hutchins road, and which was formerly a part
of the county poor farm, it was said here Saturday by County
Commissioner G. W. Ledbetter.
A preliminary survey was made during
the week by Commissioner Ledbetter and Commissioner J. W. Gill.
The survey showed enough gravel on the farm to make a complete
survey advisable.
The farm has a total of 350 acres,
and since the preliminary survey has been completed, Commissioner
Ledbetter is of the opinion that the entire farm is a rich deposit
of a fine grade of building sand and road gravel.
More than 200 acres of the deposit
have been proved. The commissioners found that the fine grade
of building sand covered 200 acres to a depth of three feet,
and that below this, was a grade of gravel which extended to
a depth of eight feet. The gravel deposit is at least twenty
feet thick, according to the belief of Commissioner Ledbetter,
and the complete survey of the farm will determine this depth.
$1 a Cubic Yard.
The current price for building
sand and gravel ranges from $1 per cubic yard upward, in the
ground.
Commissioner Ledbetter will ask
the County Commissioners court to authorize the survey.
The fact that the old "poor
farm" has developed into a "rich farm," was brought
out by Commissioner Ledbetter when talk of selling the land was
broached recently in commissioners' court. The land was worth
around $200 per acre at that time, and Commissioner Ledbetter
said Saturday that, in his opinion, the land was worth not less
than $500 per acre at this time.
The poor farm adjoins a rich deposit
of gravel on the north, to which a spur line has been built,
and when talk of selling the farm was first raised in the court,
Commissioner Ledbetter expressed belief that the gravel deposit
on the adjoining place, which is one of the richest gravel pits
in the county, extended across the county land.
His preliminary survey has proved
that his theory is partly right.
Commissioner Ledbetter, last week,
suggested that the county might market the gravel and use proceeds
to build an eight-story addition to the present courthouse. His
belief was not shared by other members of the court, but Commissioner
Gill, in whose district the farm lands is situated, helped him
with the preliminary survey and says that there is enough gravel
on the farm to build a twelve-story building, if necessary.
- February 1, 1925,
Dallas Times Herald, Sec. I, p. 6, col. 3-4.
- o o o -
1929
Two Hospital
Sites Offered
______
Parkland and Convales-
cent Home Suggested
for Mental Unit.
______
Tender
of a site for the proposed State Psychopathic Hospital or, the
Convalescent Home at Hutchins, is favored by County Judge F.
H. Alexander and at least two of the four County Commissioners,
they said Wednesday.
The State already has appropriated funds
to build the hospital at Dallas and maintain it for two years.
But, no appropriation was made for purchasing a site. Dallas
must provide this.
Judge Alexander, who presides over
the lunacy court, and who long has favored erection of a psychopathic
hospital here, said he would be glad to vote as a member of the
County Commissioners' Court that the State be offered any site
available on hospital properties partly owned by the county.
If none of these sites is acceptable by the State, the County
Judge thinks that the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, or some other
organization or individuals, should immediately provide a site
that is acceptable.
He thinks that part of the Parkland
Hospital grounds would be suitable for the new institution.
Extensive grounds will not be needed
by the institution, in Judge Alexander's opinion, because persons
afflicted with mental disorders who require large grounds in
which to take physical exercise as part of their treatment would
be sent to asylums. But, the Judge is eager to provide a location
for the hospital that will be wholly acceptable to the State.
County Commissioners J. W. Gill
and George Ledbetter favor the plan to tender a site for the
institution on the grounds of the Hutchins home or Parkland,
they said.
Immediate treatment of mental cases
would, in many instances, obviate the necessity of sending the
patient to an insane asylum, Judge Alexander pointed out. The
psychopathic hospital would provide such treatment.
The Parkland and the Hutchins home
properties are both owned jointly by the city and county, and
the two governments would, of course, have to acquiesce if sites
on these properties are offered for the new hospital.
- June 13, 1929, Dallas
Morning News, Sec. II, p. 1, col. 4.
- o o o -
1931
CROWDED JAIL
PROBLEM WILL
ENGAGE COURT
_______
PLAN TO ESTABLISH
PRISON
FARM TO RELIEVE CON-
DITIONS OFFERED
_______
MOVE HAS OPPOSITION
_______
Sheriff and Jailer
Both Declare
Undertaking Too Costly; En-
largement Urged
Conditions
in the county jail, crowded with more than 200 prisoners over
its capacity and presenting a situation fraught with possibility
of a riot or jailbreak at any time, will engage the attention
of the County Commissioners' court this week.
The court will have presented to
it a plan devised by Commissioner W. C. Lemmon calling for establishment
of a county farm on a 450-acre tract of land owned by the county
near Hutchins. His idea is to assign prisoners given short jail
terms to this farm, where they could be put to work raising fruit
and garden truck.
Such a county prison farm could
be made self-sustaining, in the opinion of Commissioner Lemmon.
He will propose that county Agricultural Agent A. J. Jolly be
placed in charge and supervise the custody and work of the prisoners.
A jailhouse for the prisoner-workers could be erected on the
farm at a nominal cost, Mr. Lemmon believes.
The sheriff, jailers, district
attorney and most members of the commissioners' court are convinced
that some steps must be taken immediately to relieve the crowded
condition of the county jail.
Jail Too Crowded.
At present, there are 450 prisoners
in the jail. Its capacity is 250 and the overflow makes it necessary
for prisoners to sleep in the runways of the corridors and on
the floor in the "gallows deck" on the top floor.
Captain Jack Gorman, county jailer,
believes the cost of maintaining a county prison farm would be
too great. He pointed to the number of guards that would be required
to keep the prisoners at work and guard against their escape.
"The thing to do, I believe,"
Captain Gorman said, "is to build additional tiers of cells
in the present jail. We have several floors on which these cells
could be built and this would take care of from 200 to 300 additional
prisoners."
Sheriff Hal Hood, too, believes
the best thing to do is to enlarge the cell quarters in the jail.
Quartering of prisoners on a county farm would entail the hiring
of a large corps of extra help, the sheriff pointed out.
Opposes "Chain Gang."
District Attorney William McCraw
said he would oppose any movement to re-establish the road chain
gang. He said the public, in view of current conditions and the
general employment situation, would not tolerate the competition
of prison labor with free labor.
All officials, however, admit the
crowded condition of the county jail is one that demands immediate
attention. With the probability of an increase in crime during
the winter months, and with another federal court term approaching,
jailers in the county jail face the possibility of having to
house 600 prisoners this winter.
Captain Gorman revealed that city
official shave been dickering with him to take care of the prisoners
now at work on the city prison farm. He said city officials are
anxious to abandon the city farm because of the tremendous cost
of maintaining it.
"I don't see how we can take
care of these additional prisoners," Captain Jack said.
"Unless the commissioners' court takes some steps to give
us more cell space, the city and perhaps the federal government,
may have to take care of their own prisoners."
The following statement was issued
by District Attorney William McCraw, in connection with the crowded
condition of the county jail:
"Relief of the crowded condition
of the Dallas county jail cannot be accomplished with any measure
of economy by road work. Convict labor with the necessity of
close guard, transportation or the constant erection of temporary
shelters makes this type of labor too expensive to merit serious
consideration. Of the six hundred men who will likely be confined
in the 250-capacity Dallas county jail this winter, 300 will
be available for work under county direction.
"A large farm offers the best
means of caring for convicts. At a low cost, they may raise a
goodly portion of their food. today, the state penitentiary farms
are raising 76 per cent of what they eat. This could be done
in Dallas county. Chairman Simmons, of the state penitentiary,
has worked out a farm system for state convicts that is amazing
in its simplicity and its effectiveness. The reduction of escapes,
the health of the inmates and their general reform, is amazing.
"A survey of the state systems
and a conference with Mr. Simmons and his associates would be
quite helpful and point the way to a permanent disposition of
convicts that would insure work to employ their minds and energy
with some measure of economy."
- September 13, 1931,
Dallas Daily Times Herald,
Section II, p. 3, col. 4, continued on page 3, col. 4.
- o o o -
1935
PUBLIC HOSPITAL SYSTEM
STEMS FROM
TWO ROOMS AND POOR FARM
______
In Half Century
There Has Grown a Four-Unit
Organization; Expansion Funds Approved
The public hospital
system in Dallas and Dallas County, which now includes four modern
institutions for needy invalids and those suffering from contagious
diseases, had only feeble antecedents in 1885, when The News
began publication here. Only a two-room city hospital and the
county poor farm were available then.
Since 1872, the County Commissioners
had employed a physician to inspect the jail and give medical
attention to prisoners and paupers. Usually this appointment
was given to the lowest bidder, and it paid only $25 to $60 a
month. Early in 1877, the county had bought from William J. Keller
for $4,500 a tract of 339 11-25 acres near Hutchins for use as
a county poor farm.
This farm was used not only for paupers
but also for county prisoners and for people suffering from mental
diseases. In the minutes of the Commissioners' Court for 1883,
the term, "physician to the lunatics" is used with
reference to the doctor who combined many of the duties of the
present county health officer and those of the medical superintendent
of the Convalescent Home, which succeeded the poor farm.
Prisoners Worked the Land.
Prisoners at the farm raised cotton and
cattle, and in some years they were required to work on the construction
and upkeep of county roads. The old section of the negro building
of the Convalescent Home still has bars across the windows, indicating
the cells where prisoners formerly were kept. Dr. W. P. Stone
was county physician when The News published its first issue
here. In February of 1885 there were forty-six prisoners and
a dozen paupers on the poor farm.
The poor farm later became the Convalescent
Home and is now a unit in the City-County Hospital system formed
in 1913. It had a daily average of 322 inmates in 1933-34, and
now has more than 250. Its principal buildings are two three-story
brick structures, men's building, erected in 1914, and a women's
building, constructed the next year. Dr. T. H. McConnell is now
medical superintendent, having succeeded Dr. A. W. Carnes in
1934, and Mrs. Minnie Simmons is house supervisor. The land is
now rented out, except for a garden.
For Tubercular Patients.
Woodlawn Hospital, for tubercular patients,
had its origin in the Tubercular Sanitarium built by the city
and county at Record Crossing in 1913. The original buildings
were all of wood, but substantial brick units were added in later
years, making possible special wards for children and for Negroes.
The hospital now averages about 100 patients. Dr. Roy Goggans
is superintendent.
Union Hospital was established early
in the century, when it was commonly referred to as the pesthouse.
Located on the same grounds with Woodlawn, it is devoted entirely
to smallpox and other serious contagious cases. Mrs. Ruby Brannon
is matron. Following the completion of improvements being made
at Parkland Hospital, it is planned to handle contagious cases
at that institution and close Union as a separate unit. The building
now occupied by Union Hospital may then become a part of Woodlawn
or may be used for bedridden patients now at the Convalescent
Home.
Origin of Parkland.
Parkland Hospital, the largest unit in
the city-county system, is the outgrowth of a tiny city hospital
established at Wood and Houston streets about 1880. A lean-to
had been attached to a one-room cottage, but little attention
was paid to this so-called hospital, and it usually was without
a patient.
By the time The News began publication
here, in 1885, a more commodious hospital was in operation. The
city had moved a negro school building from Market street to
a site on Lamar street between Wood and Young streets. This two-story
frame building which originally cost about $1,500, was remodeled,
making two wards of about twenty-five by sixty feet each, and
patients were transferred May 27, 1885. A small cottage on the
lot was used as a kitchen. The hospital had a capacity of twenty-five,
but sometimes thirty patients were crowded into it. Dr. J.L.
Carter, City Health Officer, had the hospital renovated and whitewashed
early in 1885.
Purchase of Grounds.
About three years later, the city bought,
for park purposes, a seven-teen-acre wooded tract at the north
edge of the city and called it Parkland. This land now forms
the grounds of Parkland Hospital. Agitation for more adequate
hospital facilities began soon. In 1890, John E. Owens wrote
a letter to The News, suggesting the need for a better hospital.
He pointed out that the old hospital did not have proper sanitation
or trained nurses, that operations had to be performed in wards
in the presence of other patients, and by the light of a small
hanging lamp, and that the patrol wagon used for an ambulance
jolted like an ox-cart and was equipped with only a primitive
stretcher.
Parkland Hospital, on the present site,
was opened May 19, 1894. This hospital consisted of a group
of wooden buildings built on the pavilion plan, in the manner
of any army cantonment. The city continued to grow, however,
and the original Parkland Hospital soon became inadequate and
out of date. The meningitis epidemic of 1911, during which schools,
churches and theaters were closed, made Dallas citizens aware
of the need for enlarged and improved public hospital facilities.
First Unit Built in 1913.
The first unit of the present modern,
brick Parkland Hospital was built in 1913, the year the city-county
system was formed. Other units were added in 1922 and 1930, increasing
the capacity from 100 in 1914 to 200? at present, including thirty-five
bassinets. Until 1922, the hospital handled only charity patients;
such patients constitute about 95 per cent of the present total.
Dr. J.
H. Stephenson, superintendent of the city-county hospital system,
has had direct supervision of Parkland since 1927, when he succeeded
Dr. C. H. Standifer. Miss Josephine Nichols is superintendent
of the school of nursing, which was established in 1914, and
which graduates about twenty-five a year. The hospital
staff now includes 108 doctors, twenty-two internes, 100 student
nurses and twenty-five graduate nurses. Parkland equipment includes
a clinical laboratory, operating rooms, a maternity department
and electro-therapy equipment.
Expansion Provided For.
The expenditure of $341,256 for further
improvements and equipment at Parkland was approved by city and
county officials in 1934. This expansion will include the
addition of one floor to the nurses' home and two wings at the
back of the hospital. It will provide at least fifty additional
beds for contagious cases and forty for Negroes, as well as quarters
for internes. Space will also be made available for new
operating rooms, a psychopathic ward, kitchen, laundry and delivery
room facilities. The present hospital is valued at about $450,000
and the nurses' home at $80,000.
Expenditures
of the city-county hospital system for the fiscal year ended
Sept. 30, 1934, totaled $326,369.13, including $9,849 for administration,
$229,3309.63 for Parkland, $48.768.44 for Woodlawn, $35,925.80
for Convalescent, and $2,516.26 for Union. Parkland served 9,405
patients during the year and gave 76,042 clinical treatments.
In addition to the four units of the city-county hospital system,
the city maintains a small Emergency Hospital on Commerce street,
near the city hall. Most of its patients are accident victims
who, after emergency treatment, are either discharged, or sent
to one of the larger hospitals.
In 1931,
Dallas was selected as the site for a proposed psychopathic,
pellagra and cancer hospital to be built by the State of Texas
on land to be provided by the city. Appropriations for the construction
of this hospital, however, have not yet been made.
-October 1, 1935, Dallas
Morning News, Anniversary Edition, Section VII, p. 16.
- o o o -
Added
November 1, 2004:
1937
BOARD MEETING
ON PARALYSIS
CASES CALLED
_______
OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS
MEANS
OF STEMMING MALADY
SPREAD
_____
BOYS' HOME IS ISOLATED
______
No Need for Alarm,
Say Health
Chiefs as New Cases in
County Reported
Hoping
to prevent further spread of infantile paralysis in Dallas and
Dallas County, following the latest outbreak in the City-County
Boys' Industrial Home near Hutchins, a meeting of the city health
advisory board will be held Thursday to discuss steps to be taken
against the malady, Dr. J. W. Bass, city health director, announced
Tuesday.
Three boys had been moved from
the industrial home to Parkland Hospital, where it was reported
they were suffering from infantile paralysis.
Two other wards of the industrial
home were in strict isolation, considered to be additional possible
infantile paralysis victims, and the remaining forty-five inmates
were carefully divided into two dormitory groups.
Because no symptoms of infection
had been observed in one dormitory housing twenty-five boys,
and the other dormitory had produced three actual victims and
two cases for observation, they two groups were kept strictly
isolated.
Won't Ask Probe.
Dr. H. E. Duncan, county health
officer, said that it was only two and one-half days after one
of the boys, aged 14 years, had been released from Parkland Hospital,
that he was returned Monday afternoon for infantile paralysis
treatment, accompanied by two other victims from the home, aged
9 and 11 years.
Both Duncan and County Judge Ben
H. Fly denied that they will demand an investigation of the reason
the older boy was released from observation at the hospital,
only to be returned suffering from the disease.
Dr. E. M. Dunstan, head of the
city-county hospital system, declared that the victim did not
have infantile paralysis at the time he was released. "Although,
I did not actually observe the case." Duncan said, "I
studied the charts on it at the time. I have full faith in the
several doctors who observed the boy."
"I am at the mercy of Parkland
Hospital," Duncan said.
Didn't Show Paralysis.
"I don't think that the boy's
premature release from Parkland had anything to do with infection
of the other two boys at the home," declared Fly, who is
county juvenile judge.
"If I had only been able to
observe the case, I wouldn't be in such a position," Duncan
said. "The charts showed that the boy was not an obvious
sufferer from anterior poliomyelitis, which is infantile paralysis.
However, I never heard of the case until I was informed from
the hospital that the boy was under observation there. The next
I heard, was that he had been released."
"One of the three boys is
from a family evidently peculiarly susceptible to the disease,"
Duncan revealed. "A brother of his, who was stricken seven
years ago, is now recovering from an operation for partial removal
of his disabilities. That boy was an inmate of the home for about
five months before he underwent the operation."
No one is allowed to enter or leave
the boys' home, and the two boys under observation are closely
watched, Duncan said. He pointed out that all three paralysis
victims have been at the boys' home for at least several months
each.
"I am not at all alarmed by
the situation in Dallas," said Dr. Bass, "but, in preparation
for the opening of school, I want to confer with the health board
and see that all the necessary precautions are taken."
Twenty-three cases of infantile
paralysis have been reported in Dallas this year, more than any
year since 1927. Dr. Bass estimated that probably sixty cases
could be expected. Ten of the patients found had either come
recently to Dallas, or had been away from the city on extended
visits.
"We quarantine every home
where a case is found," said Dr. Bass, "for a period
of three weeks, and we trace the recent history of every patient,
in an effort to discover the possible source of infection. I
am doing everything I can to hold the disease in check, but perhaps
the health board members will have something else to suggest."
Dr. J. L. Goforth is chairman of
the board.
- August 10, 1937,
Dallas Daily Times Herald, Sec. II, p. 1, col. 5.
- o o o -
1939
CONVALESCENT HOME
HOLDS OPEN HOUSE
ON HOSPITAL DAY
The City-County
Convalescent Home Friday held open house in recognition of National
Hospital Day, and the Willing Workers' Club presented a program.
The Lancaster band, thirty-five
pieces, gave a concert during the morning, and Boy Scout Troop
78 visited all sick wards and sang Scout songs for the 250 inmates
of the home during the afternoon.
Mrs. E. W. Hein, head of the Willing
Workers, was co-hostess with Mrs. O. B. Colquitt, Mrs. Ed Vandervort,
Mrs. M. A. Blecker, Mrs. J. B. Eichlitz and Mrs. L. C. Smith.
Dedication of a cactus bed and
200-tree orchard donated to the Convalescent Home by the Melodie
Club and Willing Workers' Club, respectively, will be held Wednesday,
the same day the Willing Workers will present a May pageant at
Sam Houston School.
- May 14, 1939, Dallas
Daily Times Herald, Sec. I, p. 14, col. 7-8.
- o o o -
1941
Homes of Tuberculars,
Old Folk Need Repairs,
And More Attendants
_____
Woodlawn, Hutchins
Institutions
Operate on Starvation Budgets
BY FELIX R. McKNIGHT.
Editor's Note -- This is
the third, in a series of articles dealing
with the problems confronting the city-county hospital structure.
Out on
the Hutchins road, fifteen miles from its parent, Parkland Hospital,
is the City-County Convalescent Home.
It is a fire-trap.
Remarkably clean for all of its
antiquity, the old institution, once the site of the old county
prison, is badly in need of repair -- not to mention, a general
reconditioning.
Wells provide the water, which
is pumped into an elevated tank near a state of collapse. The
water pressure isn't too strong, and fire-fighting apparatus
is nil.
Fire extinguishers are scattered
throughout the buildings, but there is only one fire escape on
a building where inmates are confined, above the first floor.
Blind, bed-ridden and aged are
on some of those second floors. The institution, itself, is far
outside of a fire protection zone. Dallas County fire equipment
would have a long ride to the Convalescent Home.
One hundred and thirty-eight inmates
are housed at the institution, and you just try not to think
about the possibilities of fire as you roam the old buildings
-- some dating back to 1908.
Tumble-down shacks house some of
the Negro inmates, and some of the white men live in a barn-like
structure.
But, what there is of the Convalescent
Home is well kept, and the administration is excellent. Grounds
are spotless and rooms and equipment are clean.
For the first time in several years,
the Convalescent Home is getting a fresh paint job. The interiors
are being done in a cheery white. The outside of most of the
buildings haven't been touched since construction. Now, there
are fresh daubs of paint.
Most urgent need is for a new water
tower, tank and pumps. One estimated cost set the figure at $12,000.
Only a year ago, William Henry
Walsh, famed hospital consultant, who has since died, made an
exhaustive survey of the grounds and recommended:
"The water system is in a
dangerous condition, and although the wells from which the supply
is secured appear to be adequate, the pumping system and storage
tanks are in very bad condition and should be replaced by new
equipment."
More Help Needed.
The sewage system isn't the best,
operated through a septic tank, but it seems to be functioning
properly at the moment.
Just as everywhere else in the
City-County Hospital System, there is need for more and better
help at Convalescent Home. The salaries paid at the institution
are astoundingly low -- one hitting the basement at $10 per month.
Nevertheless, the morale is good.
Attendants are courteous to the aged, infirmed and crippled,
and do their jobs efficiently. The employees seem attached to
the institution through respect for the administrators.
Recent requests for a frame building
to house Negro inmates were rejected when the city and county
were unable to agree on the $5,000 item. The city and county,
as will be explained later, operate the system on a 50-50 basis.
Woodlawn Hospital Dreary.
Dreariest of all the city-county
hospitals is Woodlawn, on the Harry Hines Boulevard -- the haven
for tuberculosis patients.
One of the board of managers bluntly
said Woodlawn facilities were totally inadequate, and suggested,
that if funds, long sought, could not be obtained for improvements,
that it would almost be better to abandon the institution.
Fire hazards, also, are great at
Woodlawn. The brick building housing women patients has a crumbling
floor. One side of the building wall has pulled outward, and
is temporarily supported by pillars. Cracks are prominent in
the walls.
The wooden structure housing the
men provides an environment that is anything but conducive to
recovery. The shingled roof on the old frame building makes it
a greater fire hazard.
Fire-fighting equipment is badly
out of condition.
Badly in Need of Repair.
Nothing about the place reminds
of modern methods of treating tuberculosis. Walls are badly in
need of paint, some screens are sagging and broken, and the old
buildings, unless completely renovated and reconditioned, have
just about served their usefulness as a housing place for the
sick.
Woodlawn Hospital, although administered
as well as possible under terrific handicaps, is certainly no
show place for the city and county of Dallas.
Dr. Walsh's last survey of the
hospital system commented:
"The medical superintendent
sorely needs an assistant, and we are convinced, that if more
intensive professional attention could be given to these patients,
their stay in the institution would be reduced, and a greater
number of patients cared for."
At present, there are 125 beds
in the hospital.
Tuberculosis in Dallas County is
a serious menace, competing right along with its ugly brother
in disease, venereal diseases, and beds for at least 400 tuberculosis
patients should be provided.
Emergency Relief Needed.
Some day, Dallas, if it does not
tear down Woodlawn and erect a real institution to fight tuberculosis,
should rehabilitate the Woodlawn institution and start with the
erection of a combined infirmary, administration building and
children's ward.
The $1.34 daily allowance per patient
is amazingly, if not disgracefully, low, experts agree. The state
sanitorium has a $2 daily allowance, and that is considered low
for the proper care of tuberculosis patients.
The Woodlawn Hospital is in dire need of emergency relief to
improve its physical equipment. It is a grave matter.
But, once again, you get right
back to the lack of funds that keeps the City-County Hospital
System handcuffed.
- December 17, 1941,
The Dallas Morning News,
Sec. II, p. 1, col. 1-2; continued @ Sec. II, p. 15, col. 7.
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