THE BROOKLYN MEDICAL JOURNAL PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE COUNTY OF KINGS. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: JOSEPH H. RAYMOND, M. D., ALEX. HUTCHINS, M. D., JOSEPH H. HUNT, M. D., GLENTWORTH R. BUTLER, M. D., FRED. D. BAILEY, M. D. VOL. IV. No. 6. BROOKLYN, N. Y.. JUNE, 1890. Single copies 25 cents. $2 a year, in advance. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. THE SISTERS OF THE POOR OF ST. FRANCIS: THE NEW ST. PETER'S HOSPITAL IN BROOKLYN. BY HENRY CONKLING, M.D. The principal square in the German city of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) is called the Münster-Platz. From this square there radiate seven short streets, connecting it with the busy thoroughfares beyond. The narrowest of these streets is called the Kleinmaschier. In it, about one hundred yards from the square, is the unassuming entrance of an old convent. Indeed, the door is so placed that it might easily be passed without being noticed. This door opens into a long and narrow corridor, at the end of which there is a small waiting-room for visitors. The windows of this room look out into an old garden, which is in the form of a quadrangle. To the left are seen the cloisters; to the right and in front are the different wings of the convent; in the distance one can see the many gables of the Münster of Charlemagne, from which the clang of the Cathedral bell may be heard. Everything about this convent bears the stamp of age. The pictures in the cloisters are imperfect; their color is blurred; the pillars are covered with ivy and moss; and the very garden-flowers that wave in the summer wind seem to belong to a time long ago. When the guide takes the traveler to the "Lousberg" and shows the wonderful landscape which opens for miles around, one can, by searching for the Münster Tower, see close to the old Cathedral the Convent of St. Clara, in the very midst of a busy city, yet so situated as to be removed from its noise and bustle. The choice of the convent building for the work it does seems most fitting. Its age gives it the dignity which a "Parent House" should possess, for this is the head of an order, young in years, yet marvelous in growth and development. It is the pulsating heart from which streams of energy and action go out to cities far away. It is the centre of a wonderful working order. It organizes and controls the destinies of institutions in two lands, for in this old convent the members of a hospital order receive their first instruction in their life's work. In the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, about fifty years ago, there occurred an epidemic of cholera. In order to work among the sick and the poor, a wealthy young lady, Francisca Schervier, associating with her at number of her friends and securing a small house, commenced her hospital work. In this work she spent her entire private fortune. In time the attention of the government was directed to the hospital and its aid secured. When the epidemic ceased she still continued her hospital, and in about five years she founded the "Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis." Its object was to care for the poor and the sick. The Convent of St. Clara was secured as the "Parent House." The Reverend Mother of the order died in 1876, but so well had she worked in Germany and this country, and so unceasing had been her efforts, that to-day, forty-five years after she founded the order, on its books are found the names of thirty-four hospitals in Germany and fourteen in this country. Her conception of her work has been followed. Her little band of followers has been multiplied many times. In the convent are one hundred and fifty Sisters, who are sent from time to time to the various hospitals. It is a great order-a perfect unit. The Sisters are changed from place to place; none knows when a summons may come calling her to some distant city. But the work every where is the same. It matters little where it is carried on. There is a Provincial House in Cincinnati, which directs the American branch. In 1864 the order established a hospital in Brooklyn, where for twenty-six years its work has been carried on. Twelve years ago the idea of having larger accommodations arose, and in January of this year the first patient entered the New St. Peter's Hospital. The fact of its having accommodations for three hundred patients at once tells its size. The visitor will be impressed by the huge dimensions which tell how large was the thought that made the plans. The hospital is situated in Henry Street, taking one-half of the It square bounded by Henry, Hicks, Congress, and Warren Streets. has a frontage of 220 feet. From either end there is a wing of 92 feet. In the centre, opening directly off the main corridor, is the extension serving for the chapel and the home for the Sisters. The building proper consists of four stories, a basement, cellar, and attic. A flight of ten stone steps leads to the main entrance. The doors are of antique oak, and bear a sign reading: "Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis." On either side are windows. These doors open at once into a commodious apartment, half vestibule, half room. The floor here is of tiling. Beyond this are other doors and a short flight of steps leading to the main corridor, which runs the entire length of the building, having a width of about ten feet. To the left are offices, waiting-rooms, the drug department, and the male operating-room, a large, commodious apartment, lighted from above; an anæsthetic-room adjoins. At the end of the building are the physicians' and surgeons' suite of rooms and the analytical room. To the right of the entrance are the private rooms, large and handsome, being finished in antique oak. The corridor is lighted by gas-jets placed at intervals of about twenty-five feet. At either end of the building, running from basement to attic, are a series of bow-windows, being the end of the corridors and the landing of the stair-cases. In the basement are four strong rooms, about nine feet square, with padded walls. All ambulance cases are admitted at the Warren Street gate. A corridor leads from this entrance to the elevator, situated conveniently near. The dead-house contains two rooms. The floors are tiled; the ceilings lofty; ventilation and light come from above. A reference to the diagram will show that the dead-house is not connected with the main building. The furnaces are four in number. They consume about three tons of coal daily. Arrangements have been made for completely changing the air of the entire hospital at any time and to any extent. This changed air is simply fresh air, heated or not, as occasion may demand. Two cold-air boxes enter a depressed room, under the main entrance. Here are two stacks of heating-irons, having 3,000 c. feet of surface. Below them are two twelve-foot fans, the revolutions of which drive the air into a huge pipe of galvanized iron, covered with asbestos board, felt, and canvas. This pipe runs in a tunnel through the entire length At stated intervals are branches which lead to other pipes, carrying the new air to all parts of the house. The building is heated by steam. of the building. The laundries have mechanical apparatus for cleaning clothes, and a steam-heated drying-room. The kitchen is in the basement. In the centre of the room is a long table for keeping cooked articles of food warm. The food, after cooking, is sent in separate dishes to the diet-kitchens. Here it is dished and sent to the wards. On each floor are two diet-kitchens-one for the female and one for the male wards. These rooms contain refrigerator, warming-table, china-closet, and basin. Through the diet -North Wing 92:0 |