Prran, 1 1868.
Shanghai, 16th March, 1868, The Trustees General Hospital, Gexrumwex,—At your request we have enquired carefully into the complaints brought against: tal by H.B.M. Consul, Dr.
finch: " re of rae a they do ils connected with the ati rom neglect of duty on the part of
Dut are mainly referable to a mi sun ing of, and defects in, the. administrative system hitherto followed there.
We have entered fully into all the details requisite for forming an opinion, and beg to offer the following suggestions, which if adopted will greatly increase the efficiency of the Hospital, and at the same time enable its accommodation to be available at more economic rates 1.—The average number of patients per diem, we observe 34, and the staff numbers no les han 27, including 10 Sisters of Charity.
greatly in excess of what is necessary.
ser (Sister); the Lady Superior, ne European ward master watch for the wards; one gateman; and one coolie for every five patients would he amply sufficient.
2,—A resident Medical Superintendent and House Surgeon should be appointed as soon as possible. fie. should devote himself "exclu ively to the duties of the Hospital, conducting the treatment of the patients either on his own responsibility, or und-r the direction of the visiting Surgeons, i.e., of those medical men who send their patients into Hospital, or of a special visiting physician, if such should be appointed.
—The night arrangements of the house, ards both nursing and admit the most defecti possession of the keys, or the hould be made to ring' in the room of the night watching Sister, so that no difficulty or delay should be experienced in gaining admission of any hour of the night.
or more Sisters should be on duty during each night, who should visit each ward, say every two liotrs, the Native night watch To the Editor of the Sm,—1 am much relieved to find from the information furnished by Northern correspondent, that the so-called of the Margary difficulty is clude a stiptintion to the effect business connected with Foreign relations in to be published in the Peking Gazette. This, as your correspondent very sensibly remarks, is one of the mont practical of the concessions madi Hoe might have gone further. It is th only concession that has any real value in its probable influence upon our future relations with the Chinese, and, if carried out in its integrity, it will bring with it as a natural consequence various advantages, not to say rights, which we might have enjoyed for years past, had treaty makers but performed their duties in a lasa perfunctory style. Let us hope that thi ved will not, like pr 1 be po red to become practically valueless, or to fall into through the wiliness of our lends and their foreign partisans, Tay thin, because th capable of even doing away with the Peking Gazette altogether, if they find the stipulation proves irksome or inconvenient in the future.
The innovation might be most fitly inaugurated by the publication in full of the text of the present convention, (which T presume to be a written one,) and I am persuaded that nothing would better serve
China generally, that England has de-to "convince the gentry. and people of manded, and has obtained, satisfaction, than such a measure.
Tenclose my card, and remain Yours faithfully, Shanghai, 13th Sept. doubtedly " very pleassut spot in' summer, and patients would be more comfortable and quieter there than some necessarily confined building our jed- and hemmed in by houses.
From the curious "timing" revel made, it would seem as if the few hundred yards more that the Doctors would have to travel, was the real objection; and in any case of emergency, as we now know keeps the fastest ponies, it would be advisable to send for the one who take 18 minutes ad of 25, After the discussion of yesterday, out would. be apt to ask if the Hospital is to be built for the Doctors or for ti ratiental money, and how comfortable they look la Broughams, this objection would be almost the last that they would bring up.
Suppose, as was suggested, that we vere by' an epidemic of cholera, it quite possible that the Hospital would as well placed in Hongkew as anywhere else, since there are enough people living within a stone's throw to fill it; besides, it case of that sort, every other house and godown would be liable to be turned into s hospital. Again, it is quite within the bounds of possibilities that a man might fracture " limb at one of the numero machine-shops, f-undenes, wharves, in the neighborhood, in which case the building would be quite handy. If, how ever, the fracture to the limb took place the Bubbling Well, it does not matter much if the poor sufferer goes " quarter 'a mile or so further before receiving The real motive of the late growing antagonism to the Trustees and to management, has not been placed before the Ratepayers, nor have the real resay been given which od the feelings of dissatisfaction among a certain for.
We are pleased to think that we lire what we call an enlightened age, and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.