History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 30

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206

USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions > Part 30

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In April we find that H. M. Vesey, Clerk, issued to H. M. Vesey, Auditor, three thousand blank county licenses, under Act of April 17, 1858, which is noteworthy only as one of the many absurdities that grew out of the combination of these two offices, another one of which is that the County Clerk files his official bond with the Auditor, and that officer his with the County Clerk, both being the same party.

At the first meeting in June, 1858, the matter of the Contra Costa County debt came up for action. In April previous the Legislature approved a bill appointing B. C. Whitman, of Solano County, John H. Livingston, of Contra Costa County, and J. W. Dougherty, of Alameda County, a committee to adjust and certify the amount of the debt; the same Act also fixed the time of paying the claim, viz .: March I, 1859, and 1860, one-half at each date. The amount found to be due was three thousand nine hundred and forty-four dollars and sixty-six cents, and a special tax of five cents was levied to meet the first payment. In the month of August the Santa Clara indebted- ness was finally settled by an order of the Board instructing the Auditor to issue a warrant for eight hundred and eighty-two dollars and forty-seven cents, that being the amount found to be yet due thereon by Commissioners Melone and Dougherty. The general election for this year took place on September 21st, but there is no record of the returns ever having been canvassed. The Supervisors elected were F. K. Shattuck, for Oakland; Jonathan Mayhew, for Washington; J. A. Griffin, for Eden; S. M. Davis, for Alameda and Brooklyn; and Charles Duerr, for Murray. Mr. Shattuck was chosen Chairman, he being also the only member of the outgoing Board . returned.

1859 .- The new guardians of the public weal, following the proverb of the "new broom," made a clean sweep of all former county legislation on the subject of indigent sick, by repealing the same; they also examined the jail and reported alterations and improvements affecting its safety and sanitary condition; and gave the printing of their proceedings to the Gazette at six dollars per column. They also adopted an order of business and twelve rules for the government of their deliberations. Supervisor Mayhew at this time developed a talent for architecture,

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

and profited thereby to the extent of ten dollars, that same having been allowed him for executing plans and specifications for an out-house. On February 9th, one Miguel Marquis petitioned for the refunding to him of one hundred and fifty dollars paid by him under protest for violating the Sunday Law, the same having been declared unconstitutional. Here we see the "little cloud no bigger than a man's hand " that was destined to spread over our entire political sky in the years to come, and prove a veritable Pandora's box to opposing parties. On the 28th of the same month the annual tax levy was made. A grant for a wharf at Fleming's Point was made by the Board on the 17th of May under provisions of the Act of April 8, 1858, while at the same session no less a sum than seven hundred dollars was allowed to Dr. Cole for medical care of an indigent.

The care of sick and afflicted persons was a matter that had to be dealt with from the very organization of the State and legislative provisions relative thereto were enacted as rapidly as observation dictated the method or financial ability permitted their consummation. The first Legislature that assembled wisely foresaw that great suffering would necessarily follow unless legal provision should be made for the care and maintenance in sickness of the thousands who were flocking to the shores of the Pacific in their " sacred hunger for gold." The character of the early immigration to California differs widely from that to any other of the new States of the Union. The pioneer of Illinois brought with him his wife and children; his sturdy arm at once laid low the mighty oaks of the primeval forest; his cabin was soon built; and cheered and encouraged by the presence of those he held most dear he entered at once upon the enjoyments-rude though they were-of an established home.

Not so, however, with the "forty-niner" of California. He bade adieu to the loved ones at home and started forth upon his perilous journey over thousands of miles of trackless waste, beset with dangers on all sides, in pursuit of the land of gold. His journey accomplished, he at once sought the mines, and in rain and in sunshine, through night and day, "from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve," he toiled with his pick and pan for the acquisition of the fortune that alas too often eluded his grasp. Finally, worn out by his excessive and unnatural toil, his physical vigor gave way and he lay upon a bed of sickness in his rude miner's hut. No loving wife nor mother to minister to his necessities and cheer and soothe him with her presence, but he was forced to combat with the Angel of Death single-handed, with only such help as could be expected from his associates, whose kindly hearts could not supply skill and proper care. As a consequence, his life was either cut off, or he rose from his bed ruined in fortune and so shattered in health as to become at once a burden and an object of charity.

To meet this state of affairs we find among the statutes of 1850 one establishing a Marine Hospital at San Francisco, to which the sick of that city could be admitted upon proper application. Further legislation in 1851 located State Hospitals at Sac- ramento and Stockton, and in the month of April following two thousand dollars per annum was allowed to the city of San Diego for the care of indigent sick arriving at that port. In May, 1853, a General Law was passed establishing a State "Indigent Sick Fund" providing means for its maintenance and prescribing the manner of its

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POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY.

distribution to the organized counties of the State. This law was amended and its scope enlarged by the Act approved April 11, 1855, which, among other matters, delegated the care of indigent sick to the' Boards of Supervisors of the respective counties, giving them power to appoint physicians, to erect hospital buildings, to levy a tax and to draw from the State Hospital Fund the amount apportioned to their county quarterly.

Under this Act we find the first record of the county of Alameda in this matter, bearing date May 1, 1855, at which time the Board of Supervisors appointed Doctors D. C. Porter of Oakland, A. W. Powers of Eden, H. C. Sill of Washington, and William Wilworth of Clinton, County Physicians, who were allowed two dollars per visit and one dollar per mile traveling expenses, and in July following the first requisition was made for the amount of Hospital Fund due. The first bill allowed on this fund was to W. J. Wentworth for medical attendance, etc., on Frederick Campbell, one hundred and eighty-three dollars.

The Board of Physicians was continued, with various changes and one removed, until January 1, 1856, at which time they were all discharged, the Supervisors prob- ably fearing that the bills resulting from their former order might prove a serious matter. Up to this time the indigent sick, though possessing a "name" in law, had no "local habitation." Their care was delegated to citizens, and it must have been a pleasure in those days to a poor sick person, if the comforts offered them were at all in proportion to the magnitude of the bills therefor that were audited and paid. The matter continued in this condition until the following August, when it was decided to procure a suitable place and means of providing for the indigent sick; accordingly a contract was made with Orrin Hamlin to that end, at the per capita allowance of twelve dollars a week. This arrangement continued but a short time, and on April 4, 1857, an order appears abolishing the County Hospital, from date, and again com- mitting to the care of the Supervisors the sick of their respective districts. This was retrograde legislation, and merely serves to show that, in the face of what were more important matters, this very momentous one had not had bestowed upon it the thought and study that it deserved. However, a silent yet impressive influence was constantly being exerted in its favor, as bills poured in, and had to be disposed of; and in November, 1858, it was decided to ascertain at what expense the indigent sick could be cared for in hospital at San Francisco; also to advertise for sealed proposals for their care, and then to clear away all obstacles in the way of future legislation -- all orders, rules, or resolutions appearing on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors relating to the care or attendance of indigent sick were repealed, and Supervisors were clothed with the authority of hospital stewards. This legislation seemed to affect the sanitary condition of the county unfavorably, as bills for medical attendance, nursing, etc., appeared in increased volume. As an instance, in June, 1859, the bill of Dr. Thomas Payne for attendance on indigent sick, five hundred dollars, was allowed, as was also that of Dr. Cole, mentioned above, for seven hundred dollars for one man. These bills were closely examined by the Finance Committee, and their payment recommended.

We can easily imagine the feeling of relief that was experienced when, in Feb- ruary, 1860, a proposition was received from St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco,

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

offering to take charge of the indigent sick of the county, at a per diem charge of one dollar and twenty-five cents per capita. Without hesitation the offer was accepted, and presumably all who could be safely moved were at once transferred thither, and yet we find among allowances shortly after, one of one hundred and forty-six dollars and twenty-five cents to the hospital, and an aggregate to others for the same purpose of four hundred and eighty-eight dollars and thirty cents, from which it may be inferred that either the hospital was unable to attend to all the indigent sick in Ala- meda County or, that the private citizens found county nursing far too profitable a source of revenue to be tamely surrendered; preponderance of evidence is found to sustain the latter view, for, up to February 2, 1861, forty-five per cent of all allowances on account of Indigent Sick Fund were made to parties other that the hospital. This was observed, in all probability, by the Supervisors, for, on the day last named, it was decided to advertise for sealed proposals for the care of the indigent sick of the county.

Four bids were presented as follows: Thomas Green, M. D., for board, medical and other cares, one dollar and seventy-five cents per day; Joseph Ralph, for the like offices, one dollar and fifty cents per day; Henry Haile, twelve dollars per week; and Thomas Payne, two dollars per day. The records show that this last-named gentle- man accompanies his bid with a letter of considerable length, in which he states, among other things, that should he be awarded the contract, he will do what he can to make them (the sick) comfortable, cost what it may, and adds, underscored and in quotations, " Liberality is my forte". He also adds a bit of financial history to the effect that county scrip has been as low as seventy-five cents on the dollar since his residence in the county.

In due time thereafter a contract, covering twelve months, was made with Dr. Henry Haile "to board, lodge, take care of and furnish all medicine and medical attendance necessary for the indigent sick at twelve dollars per week for each individ- ual;" his first bill was audited in August following, at two hundred and twenty-one dollars and thirteen cents, and the contract with St. Mary's Hospital was also con- tinued and claims allowed under it, amounting to three thousand seven hundred and fifty-two dollars and twenty-five cents up to May 5, 1862, at which date it was decided "that all patients remaining in said hospital from this county be discharged there- from, from and after this date, and that all contracts express or implied heretofore or now existing with said hospital for the care of the indigent sick are hereby discon - tinued and ended from and after this date." At the same time the contract with Doctor Haile was renewed for one year from May 14, 1862, at ten dollars per week for each person; and was continued with him the following year at seven dollars and twenty-five cents per capita. In May, 1864, the period for making the annual con- tract, time was taken for consideration and Doctor Haile was instructed to continue under his last contract till further orders. The object of this delay is clearly to be seen. While everything had been working smoothly under the contract system, and the monthly reports of the committee appointed to supervise the matter were favora- ble, yet, the necessities of the case were not fully met. Either from lack of room in Doctor Haile's hospital, or from some other cause, numbers of sick were still cared for on the outside and the monthly bills paid on their account aggregated a large

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POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY.

per centage of the total disbursements of the fund. Added to this was the apparent fact that the contract system was a profitable business for at the last opening of bids the lowest one was less than one-half the rate of 1861. It was therefore thought best to establish a County Hospital, the management of which should be directly in the hands of the Board of Supervisors, and it was so decided in August, 1864. A Board of Managers was at once appointed, consisting of Supervisors Shattuck and Cummings and Doctor Edward Gibbons as Hospital Physician. A building was procured of Mrs. Lyon in the city of Oakland, at a monthly rental of thirty-five dollars and the new order of things was inaugurated at once, for we find on the 15th of the same month allow- ances to various parties for supplies for County Hospital, three hundred and fifty dollars, and on the 22d Doctor Haile was paid (presumably) in full under his contract, eight hundred and forty-five dollars and twelve cents.

The hospital Steward, H. T. Burr, filed his quarterly report to date on February II, 1865, and regularly thereafter up to his dismissal in August following.

The first year under the hospital system proved conclusively the wisdom of the arrangement. The total expense, including rent, furniture, pay of employés, and two hundred and seventy-one dollars paid outside for care of a small-pox patient, being only, three thousand six hundred and nine dollars, six cents, which compared with the expenses of preceding years showed a very substantial retrenchment. No charge on account of medical attendance appears against the county during this year, and, on August 14th, a letter from Doctor Newcomb tendering his services in the medical department of the hospital gratuitously for one year was filed. The following year Doctor Van Wyck was Hospital Physician at fifty dollars per month, and Orrin Hamlin, Steward. In May, 1867, Doctor Pinkerton succeeded Dr. Van Wyck and continued in office to the end of the County Hospital period, December 12, 1868. Thus after a struggle of eleven years with this question the solution was finally reached and henceforward there were to be only temporary obstacles to ever come in the pathway-the way itself was clearly defined.

On April 18, 1860, the Legislature enacted a law to establish County Infirmaries and amendatory of an Act to provide for the Indigent Sick, etc., approved in 1855. Under the provisions of this Statute the Supervisors of every county in the State, with the exception of seventeen, which are designated by name in section twenty-six, are authorized to establish County Infirmaries whenever in their opinion such a measure will be advantageous; to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of land, or less, and erect thereon suitable buildings, the expense to be defrayed by a tax levy not to exceed one-quarter of one per cent. They were also to act as a Board of Directors and in general to exercise a supervisory care over this as over other county interests. Under the provisions of this Act it was decided, in December, 1868, to establish a County Infirmary. The matter had evidently been unofficially canvassed previous to this time, as the proposition of C. Puff to sell fifty acres of land in Eden Township to the county for this purpose was accepted, and a committee ap- pointed to enter into a contract with him for purchase of the said tract. A County Infirmary tax of fifteen cents on each one hundred dollars' worth of property was levied, and in May, 1869, proposals were invited for erecting a suitable building thirty- six by fifty-six feet in dimensions, the cost not to exceed three thousand dollars. In

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

the meantime the committee had closed the contract for the land with Mr. Puff; in the month of June following the contract was let to Messrs. Taylor & Goodrich at two thousand nine hundred and twenty-five dollars; work was commenced at once, and on July 7th the contractors were allowed their first two payments, nineteen hundred and fifty dollars and six hundred and ninety-one dollars and forty cents, on account of extra work; on August 5th they were allowed one thousand three hundred and seventy-five dollars and fifty-six cents, and Robert Dalziel was granted four hundred and seventy-one dollars for work which, with a subsequent allowance of sixty-five dollars for painting, brought the cost of the building up to. $4,552 96 To which add cost of land, 123100 acres of C. Puff. 1,632 46

F. D. Atherton 3,786 60

$9,972 02

The new Infirmary was occupied about August 15, 1870, this being the date from which Doctor Coleman, the first attending physician, was paid. There is no record of the Board of Directors beyond that contained in the minutes of the Board of Super- visors prior to October 3, 1870, at which date a meeting was called, officers elected, and minutes taken. This was continued up to May 4, 1874, three and two-thirds years. The report of the Hospital Committee for the year ending December 31, 1874, is as follows :-

Number in hospital, January 11, 1874 . 36

Number admitted during the year.

,191

Total . 227

Number discharged during the year

.162

Number of deaths during the year 22 Total .

184

Number of inmates on December 31, 1874

Yearly expense for salaries, supplies, coffins, etc., $13,274.52

Relief granted to persons outside of Infirmary 2,842.49

Total amount of warrants drawn. $16,117.01

Average daily expense per patient during year. 51

Cash accrued during the year. 225.35

Cash accrued during the year expended.

167.85

Balance on hand, December 31, 1874.

$57.50

On April 12, 1875, the Board of Supervisors ordered the erection of four new wards, at a cost not to exceed one thousand dollars, this expense becoming necessary on account of the want felt for increased accommodation. These were reported com- pleted on June 14th, at a cost of eight hundred and eleven dollars and thirty-three cents, but even this extra room proved insufficient, as on May 15, 1876, the Infirmary was reported full, therefore it was thought advisable to make some lasting addition to the building. At the session of the Board on July 6th, the Hospital Committee were instructed to have plans and specifications drawn out for the increase in size of the building, which were duly submitted to the Board, who, August 17th, directed them to advertise for bids for building additions in accordance with submitted plans and specifications on file. September 11th four bids, ranging from five thousand two hundred and sixty to five thousand dollars were offered, and all rejected, while the

Um. Tyson

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POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY.

plans were returned to the committee for alteration in consonance with the wishes of the Supervisors, who desired to expend a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars. The plans were again submitted on the 25th of the same month, and bids, etc., once more called for. On the 10th of October ten offers were opened, at sums ranging from five thousand one hundred and fifty to three thousand two hundred and fifty- five dollars, at which latter figure the contract was awarded to J. W. Watson. The building was reported completed, accepted by the Board of Supervisors, warrants ordered to be issued to the contractor for the sum contracted for, and one hundred and ten dollars to J. J. Newsom for services as architect, on December 11, 1876. On November 26, 1877, the Hospital Committee submitted to the Supervisors for their consideration and approval, a set of new rules and regulations intended for the guid- ance of physicians, superintendent, steward, cook, nurses, and other employés, as well as patients, which were adopted, ordered printed in pamphlet form, with County Infirm- ary Law, and also on cards, to be placed in the several wards of the hospital.

On December 17, 1877, a resolution was adopted appointing a committee to inquire into the necessity of purchasing twenty-five or fifty acres of land, convenient to the city of Oakland, suitable for a poor-farm or alms-house, where the old, infirm, poor and homeless, and orphans, could be sent, at the same time making it a self-sustain- ing institution, similar to those in the Eastern States, while the District Attorney was requested to draft a bill for presentation to the Legislature so that such an establish- ment should be placed on a sure foundation. The matter, it would appear, did not find favor in certain quarters, however, for on March 4th, following, appears on the records a resolution protesting against the passage of a bill " to establish a County Hospital in the city of Oakland"; the Board, however, claimed ample power, under existing laws, to provide for the dependent poor and sick of the county, and believed that the division of the Infirmary Fund would be impolitic.

On December 27, 1877, a corporation named the Oakland Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensing Association, founded by the ladies of the county, petitioned the Board of Supervisors for the use of two rooms in the city of Oakland wherein to establish their institution and afford free medical aid to the poor. The petition was denied at the time, but afterwards, on February II, 1878, an allowance of forty dollars per month was voted, under the understanding that the Supervisors should have the priv- ilege of sending patients to their establishment. In March, 1878, a resolution was introduced to farm out the care of the county poor, the contractor to furnish medical attendance, medicine, all necessary help, provisions, and supplies, and to have the use of the Infirmary buildings, grounds, furniture, etc. In accordance with the above, bids were advertised for during the month of April. In due time they were received and found to range from sixty-four to forty-five cents a day per capita, but nothing was done permanently until May 17th, when it was decided to reject all bids and continue the institution under its present management. In July, 1878, it was resolved to select a site in Oakland Township for the Infirmary, the District Attorney being requested to decide the question as to the right of the Board of Supervisors to dis- pose of the present Infirmary grounds and remove the establishment. The decision of that officer was favorable to the scheme, on which the Hospital Committee selected a building site in Fruit Vale-but there the matter would appear to rest. In the follow-

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

ing November the hospital steward presented a plan for an addition to the Infirmary, which was referred to a committee and adopted. Plans and specifications were, under proper directions, advertised for. On presentation these were referred to a Committee of the Whole, a motion to refer to the Hospital Committee having been lost. The plans of S. & J. C. Newsom were duly adopted, and bids for building the same were ordered to be placed in public competition. Ten contractors responded to the call with bids ranging from six thousand five hundred to four thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars, at which latter figure Messrs. Ingerson & Henderson were awarded the contract on January 13, 1879. This addition was reported finished March 24th, and the Board, after visiting and examining, "pronounced it good," and recorded, March 31, 1879, their formal acceptance of the work.

We now append the last report of that institution :----

The Alameda County Hospital was located in Oakland August 16, 1864. From that date to 1869, a period of five years, there were 356 patients admitted for treat- ment; 200 were discharged cured, 91 improved or left voluntarily, and 54 died.

In 1868 the Board of Supervisors purchased 1231/2 acres of land near the foot- hills, two and a half miles from San Leandro and ten and a half miles (not fourteen or sixteen miles, as often stated) from Oakland, for an Infirmary, paying therefor $5,535. In 1869 a building was erected and the hospital closed in Oakland and the Infirmary established at its present location.

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History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 30

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood Number of Pages: 1206

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206