794 



SERVICE. 



SHERMAN, JOHN. 



of Illinois, who had served with distinction 

 during the war, was appointed to the office of 

 Supervising Surgeon, March 23, 1871. 



By the act of June 10, 1872, Congress placed 

 its disapprobation on the "contract system," 

 by providing that no part of the sum then ap- 

 propriated should be used for the support of 

 seamen in contract hospitals. 



The act of March 3, 1875, directed the Sec- 

 retary of the Treasury to collect the tax by 

 a schedule based on the difference in rig, ton- 

 nage, and kiud of traffic; and by an act of 

 the same date, the title of the " Supervising 

 Surgeon" was changed to Supervising Surgeon- 

 General, and the appointment was directed to 

 be made by the President, by and with the ad- 

 vice and consent of the Senate. 



The operations of the service since 1871 have 

 been published in the reports for tb.3 years 

 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876-77, and 1878-'79. 

 The first board for the examination of medical 

 officers was convened in accordance with the 

 regulations of 1873, since which time no ap- 

 pointments have been made to the service ex- 

 cept such as have passed a thorough and rigid 

 examination into their professional qualifica- 

 tions. Since the reorganization of the service 

 all useless hospitals have been discontinued ; 

 the hospitals at Sun Francisco and Chicago 

 have been completed ; a system of dispensary 

 or out-patient relief has been inaugurated ; and 

 all medicines are purchased in bulk by the 

 Medical Purveyor, who makes such purchases 

 only after a thorough examination into their 

 quality, and they are then distributed to the 

 various hospitals. 



The number of seamen in the United States 

 contributing to this service is estimated at 170,- 

 000. The number of patients actually treated 

 during the year ended June 30, 1879, was 20,- 

 922. The offices of the hospitals are, when- 

 ever practicable, at the custom-houses at the 

 different ports, and seamen requiring prescrip- 

 tions only, who are not sick enough to require 

 being sent to hospital, are furnished medicines 

 at these offices as " out-patients." Nearly 10,- 

 000 seamen were treated as out-patients in 

 1879. Ambulances are furnished at all the 

 principal ports. 



. In June, 1879, the subject of physical ex- 

 amination of seamen, which had been agitated 

 for several years by Dr. King of Staten Island, 

 and Drs. "Woodworth and Bailhache of the 

 Marine Hospital Service, was taken up, and a 

 circular was issued by the writer, with the 

 approval of Secretary Sherman, which pro- 

 vided that on the application of the master, 

 owner, or agent of any vessel of the United 

 States the marine hospital surgeons were re- 

 quired to examine physically any person desir- 

 ing to ship on board any such vessel, in order 

 to determine his seaworthiness. Although the 

 subject had been under discussion for some 

 time, yet the idea that such examinations could 

 be made popular without a compulsory law 

 seems not to have occurred to any one pre- 



viously ; but the leading daily papers of the 

 country republished the circular with general 

 approbation. This has lately been extended 

 by the action of the Board of Supervising In- 

 spectors of the Steamboat Inspection Service, 

 in adopting new pilot rules, which require that 

 no pilot shall be allowed to take out a license 

 until he shall produce a certificate of examina- 

 tion from a medical officer of the Marine Hos- 

 pital Service that he suffers from no defect of 

 vision. 



In August, 1879, the hospital was opened on 

 Bedloe's Island. New York Harbor, the mili- 

 tary having evacuated it ; and while this vol- 

 ume is in press (1880), a steam ambulance is 

 being constructed, to ply between the Battery 

 and the island, and elsewhere about the har- 

 bor, on receiving the proper signal from any 

 American vessel in port. 



The officers of this service consist of a Super- 

 vising Surgeon-General, Medical Purveyor, sur- 

 geons, passed assistant surgeons, and assistant 

 surgeons. These are designated medical offi- 

 cers. At ports where the service is not large 

 enough to warrant the assignment of a regular 

 medical officer, a private physician is designat- 

 ed as acting assistant surgeon, to act instead of 

 a medical officer. Dr. Woodworth, the first Su- 

 pervising Surgeon-General, having died March 

 14, 1879, the writer, at that time a surgeon, 

 was promoted to fill the vacancy. 



It is gratifying to add that the growing im- 

 portance of this service is meeting with the 

 attention its object and character demand at 

 the hands of Congress and commercial interests 

 throughout the country. 



JOHN B. HAMILTON, 



Supervising Surgeon -General. 



SHERMAN, JOHN, Secretary of the Trea- 

 sury, born in Lancaster, Ohio, May 10, 1823. 

 His paternal ancestors came from Essex, Eng- 

 land, in the early days of the colonies, and 

 settled in Massachusetts and Connecticut. His 

 grandfather, Taylor Sherman, was born in Con- 

 necticut. An accomplished scholar and able 

 jurist, he received a seat on the bench. He 

 married Elizabeth Stoddard, a lineal descend- 

 ant of Anthony Stoddard, who emigrated from 

 England to Boston in 1639. Charles Robert, 

 their son (the father of John Sherman), was 

 born in Norwalk, studied law in the office of 

 his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1810. 

 The same year he married Mary Hoyt of Nor- 

 walk, and removed to Lancaster, Ohio. In 

 1823 he was elected Judge of the Supreme 

 Court of that State. His written opinions, pub- 

 lished in Hammond's " Reports of the Supreme 

 Court of Ohio," have since been respected by 

 the bar and courts of Ohio and other States as 

 of the highest authority. He died suddenly, 

 June 24, 1829, leaving a widow with eleven 

 children. Her means being limited, friends 

 came to her assistance, and took charge of the 

 oldest children. Thomas Ewing, a neighbor 

 and friend, adopted the third son, William 



