A Flag Over the Sick: Seattle's First General Hospital Opens Its Doors

The Stars and Stripes were unfurled above the Seattle General hospital, at Front and Lake streets, last evening at 8:20 o'clock, and at this signal of the opening of the institution voices from the street below sang a hymn written for the occasion to the tune of "America" by Belle W. Cooke.

Hon. Roger S. Greene, president of the association, then stepped forward and spoke as follows:

"God bless our nation, our state of Washington, our Seattle, and our Seattle General hospital! The hoisting of this flag is a most fitting and auspicious first feature of this important and happy occasion. We open our hospital with an attitude of gratitude and patriotism. We are thankful and glad to be under the constitution and laws of the United States. We exalt its flag as an emblem of those fundamental principles of freedom and humanity with which we are in hearty accord and by which we hope and pray that our new institution may long live, prosper and expand.

"By the things here associated — the flag and the building — I am reminded that the United States itself has done and is doing a great deal of strictly hospital service. My mind runs back more than thirty years to the only personal experiences I myself ever had as a patient in a hospital. First as sick and afterwards as wounded, and under the flag and authority of the United States, I was by its physicians and surgeons — not without the tender auxiliary aid and ministrations of woman — nursed back to health and strength. But my case was only one of hundreds of thousands. Those old-time cases, many of them, have followed us down to the present day, and the pensions paid upon our vast national pension roll are largely expenditures in lieu of actual hospital treatment.

"But carry my past from early manhood to boyhood, to the patriot sufferers of the wars of 1812 and 1776, and let my imagination take a further flight to the war of the Revolution. It may seem like comparing a very great thing with one comparatively very small, yet it is true that on the one hand that war our nation entered upon its life work under circumstances in many respects parallel to those under which this enterprise now emerges from its first struggle for existence. That was an era for our country, as this is an era for us here. Times were then greatly depressed, as we know them to be now. Few in numbers and financially weak and straitened, our nation was strong because, as we trust we are now, in a favoring Providence, in the love and righteousness of its cause, and in the loyalty and character of the friends who had the heart and the courage to undertake in its behalf. This institution will doubtless have its vicissitudes, for everything human has them. Uphill and continued toil awaits us, for life to mortals nothing gives without some labor or cost. It is well that we should understand the future we face. But with clear heads to plan for us, willing hands to do for us, and a right and honorable purpose at heart, we surely may reasonably expect permanent and satisfactory success.

"Thinking of these things, I am impressed that one common principle underlies the life of the nation and that of this institution. It is the principle expressed in the adjective 'humane.' We exist as citizens not for ourselves, but for humanity. For humanity this hospital is founded. If now we conduct it on the line of motives and sympathies which governed the founding of our great republic, we shall have not only an institution well managed, but one in which there will be nothing in principle or practice which the flag of our country may not shelter and one over which always that flag shall with peculiar propriety float."

William D. Wood said that the flag of our country had been mainly significant for protecting the broad needs of humanity, and that the hospital was directly in the line of the thoughts of freedom. The flag had freed the black man and the suffering, and it was the purpose of this association to exemplify those purposes in a free institution.

Joseph Shippen said that the work of building up the institution reminded him of the Seattle spirit, when, at the time of the Johnstown flood, we here had raised a large fund for the flood sufferers and did not keep back a cent of it on account of the great fire, but sent it on to Johnstown.

The crowd then filed into the building, and the dining room and every room downstairs were crowded. A programme lasting an hour opened with a prayer by Rev. Daniel Bagley, followed — the audience sang "I Need Thee Every Hour," and Joseph Shippen, as master of ceremonies, announced the speakers.

The Plan of Organization.

Hon. Roger S. Greene gave a history of the institution from its first inception, and remarked that it was absolutely nonsectarian and nonpartisan, and that anyone could be a member and was eligible to the office of trustee, and all would receive the same benefits of treatment as patients. It is not a stock company and can never become such, and all its profits will go to afford gratuitous treatment to poor patients and to enlarge the service.

He said, "The institution is governed by a board of governors consisting of twenty-five persons, namely, the chairman of the board of county commissioners, the mayor of the city, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, the president of the Y.M.C.A., pastors of churches (no two of the same denomination) elected annually by the board, and these other persons classified and elected for terms of three years. Five — a president, two vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and an executive committee of five — attend to the details of management.

The medical interests of the institution are committed to a medical staff of eminent practitioners, divided into three classes, holding three years each, except that, as I have said, every patient may be attended and treated exclusively by the physician or surgeon of his choice.

The Woman's Auxiliary of the hospital has for its special province the matter of furnishings and supplies and the general comfort of patients. Its membership is divided into life and annual. It has its president, vice presidents, secretary and treasurer, its board of officers, an executive committee of five, and various standing committees. The present condition of this building is a standing testimonial to the quick, energetic and efficient work of the Woman's Auxiliary."

A Woman Runs the Work.

The next speaker was Mrs. W. Thomas, of the Woman's Auxiliary, who made a very appropriate address, frequently interrupted by applause. It was a pleasure at first, she said, to think of the small beginning — the plan was told in the ear of one woman, she told it to another woman, and the latter had, as women will, told it to others, and if we were to behold the result — they had all sorts of doubts, and it had been a hard and uphill task, and some had grown weary. They were determined in their efforts, but to accomplish the result they had to touch the chord that vibrates in every human heart. I desire to thank those who had been so kind in furnishing the building, and to say that nothing which would add to the comfort of the patients was too small to be done with care for the sick of all.

The Donors Are Legion.

Wallingford and Miss Kellogg, the chairman, called on the secretary, Mr. George A. Virtue, to read the list of officers and donors. Mr. Virtue stated that the chairman had underestimated the number of generous people in Seattle when he called for the list of donors to be read in so short a time as allowed, and while it would be of interest to know the names of those by whose generosity they had reached the present condition, it would be wearisome to go over them just now. Mr. Virtue then called special attention to the names on the doors of rooms that had been furnished by kind friends, and then read the following list of officers:

The Officers and Staff.

President, Hon. R. S. Greene; first vice president, Griffith Davies; second vice president, William D. Wood; treasurer, W. R. Ballard; secretary, George A. Virtue; board of governors, ex officio, E. O. Graves, president Chamber of Commerce; Dr. E. C. Kilbourn, president Y.M.C.A.; Fred Gason, president board of county commissioners; ministers, Dr. Alexander Alison, Rev. D. C. Garrett, Rev. George H. Lee, Rev. W. F. Taylor, Rev. W. T. Ford, Rev. Martin L. Larson, Rev. Clark Davis; business men, George B. Adair, Joseph Shippen, J. L. Goldsmith, S. L. Crawford, Charles H. Black, Maj. W. S. Harlan, Andrew Chilberg, H. C. Henry, Willis D. Gordon.

Ladies' auxiliary — President, Mrs. J. M. E. Atkinson; first vice president, Mrs. John Leary; second vice president, Mrs. Nellie Cook; secretary, Mrs. Clark Davis; treasurer, Mrs. F. H. Fehren; executive board, Mrs. R. J. Ely, Mrs. A. Levy, Mrs. S. E. Briggs, Mrs. Charles Black, Mrs. E. W. P. Guye.

Medical staff — Eye, nose and throat, Dr. A. B. Kibbe; nervous diseases, Dr. C. W. Sharpies; diseases of women, Drs. L. R. Dawson and Belle H. Smith; diseases of children, Dr. G. B. McCulloch; surgeons, Drs. J. B. Eagleson and Alfred Raymond; medical, Drs. C. A. Smith and George Newlands; homeopathic, Drs. Sarah Kendall and F. A. Churchill.

Matron, Mrs. R. V. Roe; head nurse and superintendent training department, Miss Angie Graham, of Olympia.

W. R. Ballard, the treasurer, reported that there had already been spent $1,500, of which the association still owed $700, and that he had no detailed report but would give one in the future. The programme was closed by a benediction by Dr. Bagley. The large crowd passed through the rooms and inspected each article of furniture, and refreshments, consisting of ice cream, were served on tables hastily spread in the dining room. The decorations of the building consisted of streamers, flags, potted plants and bouquets. There were fully 500 people present. Among them were: Mayor Byron Phelps, Hon. Roger S. Greene, Joseph Shippen, W. R. Ballard, William D. Wood, W. S. Harlan, Dr. G. W. Price, Dr. J. B. Eagleson, H. N. Connell, Rev. William Carnes, Rev. Daniel Bagley, John Bushell, G. N. Alexander, L. M. Presnall, I. N. Hooper, L. A. Trefren, T. M. Guye, W. W. Ferrigo, I. A. Scott, G. A. Virtue, H. S. Epper, Rev. W. A. Major, D. G. Fenton, J. F. Lord, Alonzo Hull, Griffith Davies, J. N. Wallingford, Rev. G. H. Lee, A. V. Bell, Capt. McWilliams, Mrs. G. W. Stetson, Mrs. W. Thomas, Mrs. E. F. Stevens, Mrs. Emma Taylor, Miss Alice Taylor, Miss Ada McWilliams, Mrs. Roe, Miss Kellogg and Mrs. Wallingford.

Arrangement of the Building.

The Seattle General Hospital is located in a three-story wooden building, fifty by fifty feet, formerly known as the Avon house, on Front street, between Clay street and Bake avenue. It was built in 1891 by Dr. P. B. M. Miller and is still owned by him and can accommodate fifty patients. The society has a two years' lease, with an option of five, on easy terms. On the first floor at the left is the men's reading and smoking room, where all of the newspapers and periodicals of the day will be on file. Next to this is the men's ward, a large airy room where there are five iron bedsteads. On the right of the building is the large dining room adjoined by an office and medical dispensary.

In the rear of the dining room is the pantry and kitchen. In the latter there is a seven-foot range with a tank which will contain 325 gallons of water. In the basement is a laundry, very large and adapted to doing the work of the whole building. On the second floor rooms 1 and 2 are to be used by the matron; room 3 is the reception room; room 4 was furnished by Mrs. S. E. Briggs; room 5 by the ladies of the North Seattle Baptist church; room 11 by Mrs. Emma Webster, Mrs. Jennie Jenkins and Mrs. P. V. Ward, of the First Baptist church; room 12 by the ladies of the First Baptist church; room 13, to be furnished by Council No. 32, A. P. A.; room 14, to be furnished by Court Enterprise, A. O. F. A. In the rear there are four rooms for the nurses and attendants.

On the third floor there are rooms furnished by Mrs. Clough, the ladies of the First M. P. church, Miss Edna Olsson, the Women's Ward of the M. P. church, Mrs. Shanks' Sunday school class in the First Baptist church, the North Seattle Baptist church, Grace M. E. church, and one by the W. C. T. U. for the children's ward. On this floor is the operating room with cement floor and walls, and three windows and a skylight.

On each floor is a porcelain bath with hot and cold water, and water closets. The porches in the rear command a view of the Olympic mountains, the Sound and shipping, West Seattle and Port Blakeley.

The superintendent and matron, Mrs. R. V. Roe, stated that the nurses would be taught and employed from a training school in charge of a trained nurse, Miss Lee, a graduate of the Good Samaritan school of Portland. The force of attendants will consist of a head nurse, an orderly, cook and waiter, and more help when needed.