792 



SERVICE, UNITED STATES MARINE HOSPITAL. 



three dollars per week, and a total cost of 

 $4,877.43. At Pensacola but 17 patients have 

 been reported to be relieved, at an average 

 cost of $3.50 per week, and a total of $156. . . . 

 There is a necessity for a different system of 

 legislation for such objects." 



In this report a comparison is made between 

 the cost of maintaining the patients under the 

 contract system and in regular marine hospi- 

 tals, as follows : " Cost by contract, each man, 

 per week: Bridgeton, N. J., $1.50; Cincin- 

 nati, $5; New York, $4; Portsmouth, $2; 

 Middletown, $2; and at Machias, Waldoboro, 

 Kennebunk, Belfast, Presque Isle, and Sackett's 

 Harbor, each $2.50. Cost in marine hospitals, 

 each man, per week: Cleveland, $4.84; Nor- 

 folk, $5.09; Chicago, $5.77; Chelsea, $6.11; 

 New Orleans, $6.31; San Francisco, $6.62; 

 Louisville, $7.21; Mobile, $8.19; Key West, 

 $8.47; Pittsburgh, $10.71; Paducah, $16.10; 

 Ocracoke, $18.20 ; Napoleon, $25.41 ; Natchez, 

 $70.70." This comparison, besides giving only 

 partial data, was obviously unfair, as those 

 hospitals showing the highest average cost 

 were altogether unnecessary, as is shown by 

 Mr. Cobb himself. He states of the Burling- 

 ton marine hospital, that there was small ne- 

 cessity for it in the first place. It was origi- 

 nally built at a cost of $39,111.27, which the 

 Collector of that port characterizes as a use- 

 less and extravagant expenditure. He estimates 

 $250 per annum as a reasonable estimate for 

 future disbursements; and even this estimate 

 has proved excessive, as the report for the 

 fiscal year 1873 showed an expenditure of 

 $147.25; for 1874, $104.41; and for 1875, 

 $129.28. The great advantage of regular hos- 

 pitals over those conducted by contract could 

 not be seen when there was but a single hos- 

 pital with a resident surgeon, when the hos- 

 pitals were never inspected except at long in- 

 tervals, when there was but little if any ac- 

 countability on the part of the persons having 

 them in charge, and when there were no statis- 

 tics showing the duration of treatment. Wher- 

 ever seamen are cared for at a per-diern rate, 

 and their discharge from hospital not under 

 control, the duration of treatment will be great, 

 and the expense necessarily large. 



At the breaking out of the war of secession, 

 there were marine hospitals belonging to the 

 United States at the following ports : Burling- 

 ton, Vt. ; Burlington, Iowa; Chelsea, Mass.; 

 Cincinnati, Ohio ; Charleston, S. 0. ; Chicago, 

 111. ; Cleveland, Ohio ; Detroit, Mich. ; Evans- 

 ville, Ind.; Galena, 111.; Key West, Fla. ; 

 Louisville, Ky. ; Mobile, Ala. ; Natchez, Miss. ; 

 Napoleon, Ark. ; Norfolk, Va. ; Ocracoke, 

 N. C. ; Paducah, Ky. ; Pittsburgh, Pa. ; Port- 

 land, Me. ; St. Louis, Mo. ; St. Marks, Fla. ; 

 San Francisco, Cal. ; and Wilmington, N. 0. 

 All of these in the seceded States, with the 

 exception of those at St. Marks and Key West, 

 were taken possession of by the Confederate 

 forces, and held until reoccupied by the nation- 

 al authorities. 



On March 1, 1862, Congress, in appropriat- 

 ing .$200,000 for the marine hospital fund, 

 authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to 

 rent either of the several marine hospitals to 

 the proper authorities of the cjties or towns- 

 where they were located, and to contract with 

 the authorities for the relief of the sick and 

 disabled seamen ; and further authorized the 

 Secretary to sell the hospital at Burlington, 

 Iowa, or to retain the title and use it for the 

 relief of sick and wounded soldiers of the 

 United States, or to discharge all the officers 

 and servants of the Government connected 

 with it, and to close the hospital, should he 

 deem it more expedient. 



Owing to the damages inflicted on American 

 shipping during the war, many American ves- 

 sels were transferred and sold abroad. This 

 affected the receipts from the marine hospital 

 tax to a considerable extent. In order to guard 

 against this loss, it was enacted by Congress, 

 April 29, 1864, that, in case of the sale or 

 transfer of any vessel of the United States in 

 a foreign port, the consul or other agent of the 

 United States should collect from the master 

 or owner of the vessel all hospital money that 

 had become due at the time of the sale ; and, 

 in default of payment of such dues, the sale or 

 transfer of the vessel was declared void. 



On June 20, 1864, the Secretary was author- 

 ized to sell the marine hospital and grounds at 

 Chicago, and purchase a site and erect a new 

 hospital at that place. The report of the Su- 

 pervising Architect for 1864 recommends that 

 Congress be asked for authority to sell the ma- 

 rine hospital property at Burlington, Vt., " as 

 there never was any demand for a hospital at 

 that point." The hospitals at Cincinnati, Bur- 

 lington, Vt., and Charleston, S. C., were sold by 

 public auction during the year 1866. Attempts 

 were also made to dispose of the marine hos< 

 pital at Ocracoke, N. C., and Napoleon, Ark., 

 but without success, the prices offered having 

 been merely nominal. The marine hospital at 

 Cincinnati, which cost $216,833, and which 

 was completed in 1860, had been used during 

 the war for the reception of wounded soldiers. 

 Although it was nearly new, and in a most 

 eligible situation, it was sold for $70,500. The 

 marine hospital at Charleston, S. C., which 

 had been nearly destroyed during the siege of 

 that city, was sold to the Commissioners for 

 the relief of freedmen for $9,500. Its original 

 cost was $49,235. During the year 1867 the 

 hospitals at Burlington, Iowa, and Evansville, 

 Ind., and the hospital grounds at Paducah, Ky. 

 (the building having been destroyed by fire 

 during the war), were sold. The marine hos- 

 pital at St. Marks, Fla., was transferred to the 

 War Department. The site for the new marine 

 hospital at Chicago was purchased at a cost 

 of $10,000. The building now stands on the 

 site then purchased, six miles from the custom- 

 house, on a barren sand-bank, exposed to the 

 violent winds which prevail in that region in 

 winter. In 1868 the hospital at Napoleon, 



