1 32 REPORT OF ALASKA INVESTIGATIONS. 



PHYSICIANS. 



The need for competent physicians on these islands is very definite, and there is the most urgent need 

 for retaining men who are capable and ready to help raise the physical and moral condition of these natives. 

 Their plight in many cases is pitiable, and without visiting the islands it is hard to realize that with only 

 200 inhabitants on St. Paul and with only a few over 100 on St. George there is more work at times than 

 the physicians can attend to, even on the smaller island. From a humane standpoint, as well as because 

 of the need for keeping these men and women well and strong, they deserve every assistance and help from 

 the Government. Until recent instructions were given there was no place outside of the natives' homes 

 where the sick could be treated and kept under the constant observation of the physician. This has been 

 a great handicap many times, not only because the physicians should have had serious cases close enough 

 to care for them, but also because the insanitary and ill-ventilated condition of the patients' homes has 

 worked against their recovery, thus making it doubly difficult for the physician. On St. Paul Island this 

 fall a small, abandoned building was moved close to the physician's quarters, placed on a new foundation, 

 and fixed up as well as it could be with the material at hand, to be used for cases that needed isolation 

 and special care. This so-called hospital should be made larger and fitted out, not expensively, but with 

 the conveniences that would prove highly helpful from every standpoint to both patients and attendants. 

 To-day the physicians — medical-school graduates — receive but $1,500 per annum. They are underpaid 

 and at times overworked. An advance to $2,000 would be wise and desirable. 



HOSPITAL STEWARDS. 



It is urged that as soon as practicable an appropriation be made for a hospital steward for each island, 

 to act as nurse and assistant to the physician in charge. They would not only assist with operations 

 and care for serious cases, but their help in placing and keeping the natives' houses in a sanitary condition 

 would prove of the greatest value. I suggest for them a salary of $1,000. Beyond the facts that the 

 natives are dependent on the Government, which is responsible for them, and that from a humane stand- 

 point, as men and women, they should be looked after, they will be infinitely more valuable to the United 

 States as healthy and strong people than as the sick and puny specimens which many of them are to-day, 



due largely to neglect. 



NEED FOR A TEMPORARY DENTIST. 



There are at present no facilities on either island for having dental work performed. This causes 

 an unnecessary hardship, not only to the natives, but to the Government officials as well. A competent 

 dentist should be sent to the islands each summer for such professional work as might be required. He 

 should be given a temporary appointment and paid from the general appropriation covering miscellaneous 

 expenses incurred in connection with the administration of the Pribilof Islands. 



OFFICERS' QUARTERS. 



The Pribilof Islands are a valuable asset to the United States, being worth millions of dollars. Their 

 value is hard to estimate, as it is increasing rapidly every year. This year's experience has proved the 

 fact that the Government can not afford longer to neglect the islands by not placing them in the hands of the 

 best possible people, and it should provide for them adequate, convenient, and sanitary quarters, such as it 

 would give men in similar posts in the States. Of all the superintendent's houses I have seen at the Gov- 

 ernment hatcheries throughout the United States, and even in Alaska, any one would be splendid accom- 

 modations for the staff on the Pribilof Islands, compared with the quarters now offered employees there. 



The houses occupied by the Government employees on St. Paul Island known as the "Company 

 house" and the "Government house" are in some ways a disgrace. The lack of facilities is most evident. 

 There are no bathrooms, no running water, and both houses are in great need of repair. It should not be 

 asked of any officer of the United States Government to accept the inconvenience or put up with the 

 humiliations imposed on those who go to the Pribilof Islands to-day in the interests of their country. 

 There is practically no privacy, and no conditions that would go to make up a pleasant and attractive 

 home. There is most urgent need for new officers' quarters, with suitable, restricted and private quarters 

 for the various Government officials, so they will not be inconvenienced and embarrassed and made 

 uncomfortable, as under the present conditions. 



