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Show INFIRMARY MUTES SUBJECT TO DANGER Lives cf County's Dependents Depend-ents Constantly Menaced Through Neglect. HOLOCAUST IMMINENT New Commission Expected to Remedy Evils Growing Out of Politics. Approximately 2)) ill and infirm per-.-.ns iiifiiiy of them ngrd, are. lodged itt tin: county ho-fital and infirmary. If tmi build'mj-s worn to burn, it is ron ceded that many of these depend-r;.t:; depend-r;.t:; uoidd be incinerated. That tlifi-i is a grave menac of firo dUa-der itt the institution v. ill be one of the dNen erie-i of the new buurd of lom-miiiifi-s of Suit Lake county, according accord-ing to thue who are r- qua in toil with rotidit ions. Indeed, the stain of affairs that ii said to make of tho infirmary ami hospital hos-pital h death trap ready for springing has already been called to the attention of t he cumin is.-d oners-elect. Tho deliberations of tlio board of county commissioners for the past two ea rs have been characterized by such erbiil wrestling with problems of administrations ad-ministrations as have provoked columns of newspaper coin men t. Little cognisance cogni-sance wim given, however, to tho need of" betterment of conditions at the coun-tv coun-tv hospital. Recently admitting that he expected to take charge of the department of roads and bridges after tho first of the ypflr, '. 1? fttillman, the holdover commissioner, com-missioner, deplored the fact that he has boon helpless to better conditions iu the, department of health and charity bofore leaving it. Foresees Betterment. "The possibility of effective handling han-dling of tlio problems that have been ignored for tho past two years and more tempts mo to stay with the department, de-partment, of which I have been nominally nomi-nally tho head," said Commissioner Stillman yesterday. "But the satisfactory satisfac-tory thing is that, conditions which have been crying for betterment will not now be forced mto the background by lack of working harmony in the board." In the matter of firefighting the county hospital is much in the situation situa-tion of the man who endeavors to lift himself by his boot straps, according to those, who have gone carefully over the ground. The pressure for the water wa-ter supply system of tho institution is obtainoa from supply tanks in the attic of the main building into which the water is pumped. Tins pressure would ho negligible on the upper floors of the brrUding and nothing at all in the attic. nd on the roof should occasion ever arise to turn the water into the lines of hose that are in wall racks, where thoy have remained undisturbed, and in some instances without nozzles, for years past. This all becomes significant when it is realized that tho city fire department depart-ment could not respond to a. fire call from the county institution, since it is beyond the city limits. Patients Climb Ladder. Complaints have frequently been made by public-spirited citizens concerning con-cerning conditions at tho county hospi-tnl hospi-tnl and infirmary, "but they have given way in the interest of the dominant clement of tho board of county commissioners com-missioners to consideration of other things. While patients of the tubercular tubercu-lar ward, established in a sun parlor en the roof, have continued to climb a t ire escape or be carried up on the backs of attendants to gain access to tho ward, the attention of the county administrators lias been directed to improvement im-provement of roads in response to requests re-quests from county constituents. If a man died in the tubercular ward it was possible to rot him down the narrow, nar-row, winding ladder only by strapping the body to the back of an attendant. The need of an elevator to the roof as a means of access to the tubercular tubercu-lar ward was a matter of consideration by r he present board of commissioners nt one time during the past year. But it was lost sight of after the life had been shocked out of the plan by the it sun I voltage of contention and disagreement. dis-agreement. The patients still climb the ladder or submit to being carried. Condition Is Unsafe. These conditions are admitted by rotmnissioner St ill man, who said yesterday yes-terday that he has repeatedly averted many of them without avail during his two years of office holding and voting alone. No regular niht watch is maintained at tho institution. Xo watchman makes regular rounds to insure that all is well n all parts of the extensive plant. Kiro d rills are unknown and unheard of. according to the inmates of the place. They havo never been given any intimation as to what they would be expected t o do for the safety of themselves and their fellows iu case of tire. On the grounds there are fire plugs that in die a to water pressure for fire tiht iug. The pressure is not there. The water system of which they are a part has been extended from time to time to supply residences in the vicinity of the county hospital. Last summer a delegation of householders of the locality waited upon the board of county com mission -e rs with a pica that t h ey order all usevs of water under the system to discontinue dis-continue sprinkling lawns so that the pressure would be sufficient to insure water in their houses for culinary purposes. pur-poses. City Affords Help. SomeTh i tin of a latent improvement in i he j-;.t-:.'it'.on was effected recently. When additional water supnlv was obtained ob-tained from th" Voresr Pale system a connectinn was effected with a six-inch city waur main at Sixth Kast street. TkN was a provision allowed by the city as a po-iblo protection in case of tire. But the connection is closed with a alvo that would of necessity h:i e to be opened in case of fire before be-fore any city pressure could be had 3T the tire rings on the hospital ir rounds. Tho valve is located six 1 m k cat of the hospital. YVhi ie The wTer problem at the county hospital has been recognised a difficult one. it is argued by those those who are acquainted witli conditions condi-tions that it is but one of the problems that need speedy solution at the institution. insti-tution. It is pointed out by those whose concern has been aroused that conditions as they obtain at the hospital hos-pital and infirmary maintained by Suit Lake county are so possible of improvement improve-ment that the new board of commissioners commis-sioners need not delay long in getting into harness once the work of organization organiza-tion has been effected. "It is up to the new board, ' " said one citizen. 'Tf conditions are as they are reported, only early and effective correction of them can vindicate the newly elected commissioners and the one remaining in ofrice, who a re expected ex-pected to work in harmony for the best administration of the county 's af-! af-! fairs.''. |
