Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present dayLanaghan, Mrs.
History
Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day
Lanaghan, Mrs.
Antigua -- Description and travel; Antigua -- History
In 1838, the legislature gave a further grant of 500l. currency
to the society, for the purpose of erecting “a separate ward for
the male patients, with ten apartments capable of accommodating
four persons in each,” in that part of the establishment situated
near the rectory, which was finished and opened on the 15th July,
1839. An iron tank, capable of holding 7000 gallons of water, has
been imported from England, and placed in the yard of the same
portion of the institution. In 1840, the title of the society was
changed from that of “The Asylum” to “The Daily Meal Society’s
Infirmary and Lazaretto,” by which latter designation it is now
distinguished.
This establishment is, indeed, the only infirmary and hospital in
the island, (with the exception of the cast-iron hospital at the
Ridge, near English Harbour, for the use of the troops;) and not
only the destitute poor of St. John’s, but the poor from all the
other parishes are admitted into it, as well as distressed and
destitute sailors. The best medical attendance is procured for
them; wine and other strengthening nourishment administered to
the sick; and three wholesome meals allowed to each individual
per day. Bedsteads and bedding are also supplied, there being “in
the female ward six, and in the male ward ten furnished
apartments, ready for the reception of patients at the shortest
notice.”
Nor are these the _only_ accommodations this inestimable charity
affords to the poor and distressed of our species, there being
seven detached houses on the opposite side of the inclosure,
capable of containing two, three, or four persons in each. “In
these separate dwellings infirm persons are distributed, whose
complaints, habits, or tempers, render it expedient that they
should be kept by themselves. One house, fronting the
burial-ground, is reserved for the reception of the dead previous
to interment, and is used for a dissecting room when required.
Eighty inmates can be comfortably accommodated at the infirmary.”
The income for the last year, (1841,) including subscriptions,
donations, legacies, and parochial relief, was 1361l. 0s. 4½d.
currency, the expenditure, 1225l. 4s. 4d.; the latter sum would
have been of greater extent was it not from the kindness of many
of the Antiguan proprietors, in presenting each a barrel or two
of sugar.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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