CHAPTER XVII. 



PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 



The public institutions of Trinidad are numerous, 

 but fortunately only a few are dependent on charita- 

 ble contributions, the majority being supported by 

 the Government. Of these so supported I can only 

 spare space to say a few words about 

 The Colonial Hospital. 



When I came to this colony there were two 

 branches of this noble institution in the colony. I 

 have called it noble, for what can be more noble than 

 an institution solely devoted to the relief of suffering 

 humanity. The chief hospital was in Port-of-Spain 

 with a branch in San Fernando ; there are now six, 

 viz : the two named, and St. Joseph, Tacarigua, Arima 

 and Princestown, with, I believe, a small ward in 

 Mayaro for urgent cases. These are exclusively go- 

 vernment institutions maintained out of the revenue 

 of the colony. 



Port-of-Spain being the chief, I will choose it to 

 illustrate this sketch. When I came to Trinidad it 

 was in full swing, presided over by the Surgeon- 

 General, a Eesident and an Assistant Surgeon • the 

 resident, as the term implies, resided within the pre- 

 cincts, and the assistant, then a married man, for 

 whom no quarters were provided lived outside, about 

 a quarter of a mile away. The hospital was not 



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