Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/675

Rh of Street Cleaning that the clean ashes, which heretofore had been dumped at sea, should be used for the filling of sunken lots without expense to the owners. With this suggestion Dr. Woodbury readily assented. The result has been, not only to prevent the spread of malaria, but to improve the property and save the city the expense of carting and dumping ashes at sea.

At present the city has four hospitals for the reception and care of cases of contagious diseases, all under the supervision of the sanitary superintendent, as follows:

1. Willard Parker Hospital, which is given up largely to the care of diphtheria patients.

2. Riverside Hospital, at North Brother Island, where all smallpox patients are taken, as well as other cases of contagious diseases.

3. The Kingston Avenue Hospital, in Brooklyn, which is used for the care of Brooklyn's cases.

4. The Reception Hospital, at the foot of East Sixteenth Street, which is provided with isolation wards for the observation of all doubtful cases.

Into one of these hospitals are taken all patients who cannot be properly isolated in their own homes, as well as all who are sick with smallpox (Riverside).

When Commissioner Lederle first took charge of the Health Department in January, 1902, he found the hospital and ambulance service of the city totally inadequate. New York's hospitals are away behind those of some foreign cities. For example, London, with a population of 6,408,000, has over 6,500 beds in its contagious-disease hospitals; while New York, with a population of 3,600,000 (June, 1902) has a maximum capacity of 750 beds. In other words, London provides 1 bed to every 1,000 population; New York, 1 bed to approximately every 5,000 population. It was in response, then, to the urgent appeal of the commissioner, made through a body of representative citizens, that the department was last year voted the sum of $500,000 for repairs and additions to the city's hospital service. It is now