North Carolina Newspapers

. ........ j", .Ww rrrrTrr. -.-.-...yr t'j&u, 1 v MADISON COUNTY RECORD Established June 28, 1901. FRENCH BROAD! NEWS Established May 16, 1907. Consolidated Noratnbcr 2, 1911 " teat feTha PROGRESSIVE FARMER i.ilni KtT7irc Dcrnnn Ad fin . . 1 i i i iiwuii m i i a a ff . a r- .mm , v i a ' b . ' BOTH A YEAR fUK VOL. XXI FOR THE HOSPITAL i' (Marthall, N. C, March 27, 1929 The News-Record, Marshall, N. C. Dear Mister Editor: , I have read your editorials and most of the correspondence in regard tJ the proposed Madison County Hos pital. I want to say I believe you have been quite fair and seem to have the welfare of the people at heart. At first I could sympathiie with the tax-payer and see why one would naturally oppose anything which meant higher taxes. I have been on the farm and had the same things to contend with. I, and my neighbors were also clamoring for better roads, better schools, and modern conveni ences. It gradually dawned upon us that it was impossible to have tne best advantages without an increase in taxes. The true idea then is not to i. As. aaiav with all . taXeS DUt try """J - - j. where can I get the best returns for what taxes I pay. Madison County is offered the best returns for what she will have to pay of any proposition I have ever heard "'m 11 nt a -man who Stood On Alley ben m - , London Bridge all day long trying to give gold sovereigns away and out of that vast throng of people that a w Via mild nrevau on only two persons to accept the equivalent of five dollar bills. Thii rest of the people thought it was a hoax or that he had an axe to grind. The Duke Commission has no axo to grind except that they are obli gated to administer the ever increas ing foundation left by Mister Duke for the best interests of the. people. It is a county's duty to provide for the sick and helpless who are not able to care for themselves. The Duke Commission steps in and offers to go fifty-fifty in building a hospital, and guarantees it to be a first class i m Ititution, then on top of that offers to help maintain it. Every dollar spent on maintenance only represents the interest on the money, or its equivalent, really given to the county. For instance, a there are ten charity patients on an aver age that would be equivalent of an endowment of sixty thousand eight ...-aa thirtv-threa and one-third dollars. There wiU be ttthw'dwa- tages that -would' MrMro w wwr ate. It does look like some one i try ing to give us not only gold sover eigns but in the end will .amount to thousands and thousands of dollars. Very truly yours, . J. C. Umberger. OPPOSES HOSPITAL Mars Hill, N. C, Mch 20, 1920 To the News-Record, please publish. To the taxpayers of Madison Co. I would like to call your attention to some facts in regard to a certain ,0nitol Those that favor this struc ture have never made any statement as to what a hospital expense wouiu be, daily or monthly. They tell you al about the conveniences of a hospital kf thov have never mentioned the expense. They are just striking like a blind moccassin in aog oay. o ibeen led in by littles until we are burdened about enougn. In regard to some of the expense, t ;n tab ahnnt 4 ianitors. a Dewe ntyhon with a snecial nurse, 4 general nurses, 1 bookkeeper, general supplies, such as X-R&ys and other equipment, water expense, lights, and fuel. - . i--.-' ' , So it looks like the expense is more than, we can put. . Remectfullv. ' " ' G. K. PONDER TRAIN HITS SLIDE; ENGINE AND CARS DROP INTO RIVER Striking a rock slide near Barnard Tuesday elternWon. the locomotive nrf four cars of a freight train, n the Southern Railway turned over several times, finally resting on tne bed of the' French Broad river. . En gineer Ellis and Ms fireman reached safety by Jumping front the gang way of the locomotive. - ' ,. Rounding a sharp curve the engine crew-suddenly saw the rock obstruc tion directly ahead of them; - The ' engineer applied the engine and train brakes and reversed the engine but -could .not avoid striking the rock. '. Traffic on this division was delay ed for several ; hours pending , the clearing of the main line."w' "- .. , .. ' ' ' ' f Fizzle Did you hear that Scotty UacDonald committed suicide T . ' V Footle No, what was the trouble ? . ' FizcleDurinB' a week's stay at a hotel Scotty did all he could to econo-' Also m his eating ana wnen ne jnua his bill he found that the meals were . Included in the price of the room- '. The Pathfinder.: ' s: v.. 'v. u ". ? .; FOR SALE CHEAP -;- Bmiww 4-room bvogalowi U-niU front MaasmU-CoIWr, mmd Mara Hill Hifh School. Small ash paynMat- BaUae eaay tem. Writ ' ; . C R. EDNEY . v,', '' 4 1 k5rs 11UU N. C '. "i THE ONLY Reported Sent To Jail 132 Times b or Being Intoxicated Police authorities at Milwaukee, Wis., say Mrs. Jacobina Rautenberg (above) holds what is probably a rec ord for arrests among women. Her release the other day from the Milwaukee House of Correction, they claim, marked her 132nd arrest for drunkenness. RED CROSS CHAPTER RED CROSS CHAPTER FOR MADISON COUNTY , Miss Myers, one of the State field ;Worke ' of the American National Red Cross, has been in Marshall this week for the purpose of re-organizing the Red Cross Chapter of this county. The temporary, executive committee met late Wednesday P. M. and officers for the year were elect ed, with Mr. J. H. Sprinkle for Chair man. Various phases of the work were discussed and it is hoped much may be accomplished during the ensuing year. ., .. FOR HOSPITAL DR. ROBERTS WRITES ABOUT THE DUKE ENDOWMENT HOS PITAL FOR MADISON COUNTY. The hospital section-of : thfr Duke Endowment is interested in the con struction and maintenance of ade quate hospital facilities in the Caro linas, because the hospital is in all probability the largest Jactot in in fluencing and maintaining the proper supply and distribution . pi well train ed physicians and nurses fn the rural or country districts. There are at present eleven-physicians in Madison County with a population of 20,083; one doctor for every 1,812 people; 39 square miles of territory for each doctor, and but one located on the west side' of the French Broad river. The average age of these eleven doe tors is over 65 years; Four of these have practically retired owing to age and bad health, leaving but seven active physicians in the county; In the last ten years 27 doctors have either died or moved away from the county and only 8 have moved in and stayed. Now how can we expect to keep what we have or induce oth ers to come unless we have aproper ly equipped hospital. AH the recent graduates ' In medicine are taught the use and the necessity of well e quipped laboratories, X-Ray machines etc., and won't and should not prac tice without them. So that if we ex pect - to keep well trained physicians andnurses and increase as needed we must give them a place to take their operative obstetrical and very sick patients, where well trained nurses and adequate' equipment are to be had. At least one half of our people are sot financially able to defray the expense of- a long sojourn in a hos pital. Now who is to look after all cf these charity - patients? - Surely the burden should: not fall on the doc tors in the county." . -v , The Duke Endowment report of 1927 shows that the 44 hospitals operated without loss to the taxpay ers. On page S3, of this report we have this statement, "In the 44 hos pitals supported by . Duke : Endow? ment full pay patients had 88.3 days of care, but they paid for 62.1 per cent of the total cost, so that in ad-, dition to the Duke full pay and part pay patients the hospital patients are self supporting." If tills is true for the whole state what-is hej.mstter with Madison? AA'.-T.-Wi't-14:-$ V I am in favor of and also most all of the people that I have talked to of having four Duke holtal units ofj 30 beds each for tlad.so County; 1 1 jit Vy ' i NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN MADISON MARSHALL, N. C, FRIDAY, :THE PUBUSIIERCOLUMN ' ABOUTgARMJS M 1TEKS FARM AND HOME DEMONSTRATION WORK IN SOUTH CAROLINA " ; The legislature of South CaroUna recently passed legislation mak ing it compulsory for every countyln the state to have both farm and home demonstration agents. UUf that time only two or three coun- ties in the state were without such agents. In our sister state there are only 46 counties and the matter of improved methods in agriculture and home condition is being more and more stressed. This act of the South Carolina legislature takes this matter out of politics and makes these offices an established fact. Simil legislation has been proposed for North Carolina, but up to the present time it has not been passed. 4?H THE TOWN ELECTION DRAWINcI NEAR And now, before we can finishrie flection, another is coming right on. This matter of the hospital-election is claiming the attention oi the people of the county while te people of Marshall can begin to look forward to the town election. In, the last twelve months we have hart enough to last for awhile. Honestly, this writer is tired of them. Pol itics, politics, where will it end?? When can we have a rest? i1 "O " 1 MORE ABOUT THE HOSPITAL The one issue which means most for the people of Madison County today is the question of the county hospital. We have tried to give you the facts as best we could get them. We have not given you all the facts for that would be impossible. No man can know what the future of any business or undertaking will be. If we could foretell the facts in any business our fortune would be made and we would not have to worry with a newspaper for a living.' We can only judge the future by the past and hope for the best. If we waited to know everything about any undertaking before we ventured, we would never venture. A tamT hv nr rents a farm, buys fertilizer, seed, team, farming lm- plements, and so forth and sows ready for harvest, .and even then get the benefits from it. W is impossible to say Deiorenanu now ma.., pay patients or how manyharity patients would be brought to the county hospital, and the matter of whether or not it will be self-sustain- ing depends upon the ratio of these two classes of patients. The board of trustees or directors could rule that only pay patients be admitted, in which case it would undoubtedly; pay its way and leave a surplus to reduce the cost to such patients the next year, but such a ruling would cause the hospital to miss its purpose. It is true that it would be a convenience and saving in many ways to the people of Madison County, even if the rates charged pay patients were the same as other hospitals, but the saving of lives of those not able to pay is the prime need of the hospital. Mercy is the motive and not profitr i ? , ',. To the average person who has had hospital experience either in , wdergoing operations oxjH&iiigW W1 af terwardi' usually, ;the im- pression is made that it is an expensive luxury. The total expense is a big item, and whether is is hospital expense or doctor's fees for pro- fessional services 'the average person does not stop to consider. But we should get the difference. The hospital items are one charge and the charge for professional services is another. And the fellow who pays has to pay enough to offset the loss from charity patients in either One writer makeB much of the fact that the rates charged at the Haywood County hospital are about the same they are in Asheville. No one has tried to make the impression that there will be much differ- ence in the charges to pay patients whether taken to Asheville or Waynesville or Marshall. The rates must, be enough to meet the ex- penses after figuring losses from charity patients. For instance, if the rates to pay patients were cut too low, all charity cases would have to be excluded in order to make the hospital meet expenses. This Duke hospital donation is but a step toward what ought to be the rule, and that is to let the well take care of the sick. It is misfor- tune enough to he sick and not able to work, and then to have to meet the bills under such circumstances is too much. We believe that doctors ought to be paid from public funds and required to keep people well as nearly as possible instead of living on the misfortunes of the sick and unfortunate. However, accidents occur and there are many cases that need medical attention that cannot be foretold or prevented. And for that reason, hospitals will always be a necessity. . o- ' ' HEAR DR. RANKIN NEXT WEEK ; ' In this issue as well as in the last, we give some speaking dates for Dr. Rankin, director of the Duke Endowment. Whether you favor the hospital or not, it might pay you to hear him. As Rev, Mr. Umberger says in this issue, people are not accustomed to having something for nothing, and if you were to stand on the street and pass out five-dollar bills to people passing by, you would doubtless be called on to stop and explain. Consequently, Dr. Rankin moat explain why they are giving away money. , ' 0 WRITE US ABOUT YOUR PAPER BEFORE IT STOPS ' You people who have been warned that your News-Record will stop if arrangements are not made at onee should not get the idea that we are wilf ally stopping your paper because you do not have the cash on hand at once to pay op 'in full. If: you have reason ot believe you can and will pay some Very soon, just let us hear from you. We need yon on our list of subscrfbers and you need this paper, so write us and let's get together.- We did not say we were going to stop your paper if you did not pay up in full, but we did say we would stop it if we do not bear fom you, 1VRITE US SOMETHING! for Hot Springs, Mart HOI and Mar shalUDuke aid has already been given the Laurel hospital at White Rock. Some demagogues state that Mar shall has a corrupt -political Ring. This is said of every county seat in the United States, Every office seek er from constable to senator has his own pet theory for saving the tax payers money, and Cursing some im maginary ring, but there are no peo ple in Madison County who will work harder for these three hospitals than the citizens of Marshall. This dema gogic advance guard of mis-information states all over the county that the doctors will make a f ortuno out of the little hospital. At the last meet ing of the Madison County Medical Society we agreed not to charge for any charity case, either to the coun ty or to the patient, and there ia not a physician in the county that wants a vote cast for this hospital from friend or foe, feeling that they are doing so for the benefit of any phy sician, individually or collectively. MARCH 29, 1929 his seed and works his crop till it is a storm may destroy it before he can If the people don't want the hos pital and they feel that it is not a rood thine for our neonle then thev should bv all means vote against it. but why accuse the doctors of having a selfish interest in it Who stopped the ravages; of typhoid fever, diph theria and small pox in our county? THE DOCTORS.. These are the dis eases that demand such a heavy toll in life and money. The physician re duced the bigger part of his own sal ary, . bo give him soma .credit and praise and a little less cursing. A great majority, like the Ministers, are poorly paid, " "V '' Asheville now has three hospitals receiving Duke aid and the French Broad hospital is- trying to get it So we should wake up and realise our needs before it ia too late, and this more than generous offer of the Duke Endowment is denied na, ' ' For on April the 9th, we will not only be voting for Ourselves but for our .children and grand children and future generations. . .: ; . , "COUNTY 8 Pages This Week The only reason I have for writing the above statement made by some enemy of mine, and being circulated through the county that Dr. Roberts is going to make a fortune out of the hospital, or will buy it at some future time when Duke gives it up. This falsehood was started by a man who Anoan't. even oav a noil tax. There are five physicians in Madison Coun- j well-run hospital is supposed to nave, ty that nave been practicing medi-; became too heavy for the town and cine for forty years or longer; more it was decided that unless the plant vears than is allotted to the average could be taken over by the four near ohvsician. Unfortunately I belong to, by rural municipalities it would have one of that five, and were it possible! to close. (A rural mumcipahty in to do so from a financial standpoint, Saskatchewan corresponds to our I have now passed the day to make county in the United States.) a fortune from practicing medicine.. The people dsipatched Mr. Heart I couldn't do this when I was younger well to Regina ,the Provincial capital, much less now. ; to ask for the passage of a law which I already have an interest in two would allow two or more municipalL hospitals and realize that neither ties to form a district with power t can compete with hospitals receiving issue bonds for a hospital building Duke aid. I am perfectly willing to and authority to run it. turn my interest in the French Broad There he was at the big Parliament Hospital to the Duke interest and building, a one-man lobby from ,200 discontinue the little hospital in Mar- miles out in the country in the west shall that has been making some mon- ern part of the Province somewhere, ev if the Duke Endowment hospital The job must have been bewildering is established in Madison County, 'but with help he got his law. It I wonder if the people realize the authorized "union" hospitals, similar number of 'patients in this county to our county hospitals except that that the doctors have prescribed hos- they are supported by several munici nital treatment for in order to save palities (or counties) rather than oy their lives ana receivea tne iuuu's answer, 1 am sorry uut u. haven't got the money, and will have to dothe best I can." Ask your fam ily physician how often this happens.' Now in conclusion, if this hospital is vote4!dowh it will not affect me per sonally or financially, and I dont want a friend of mine to vote for the hospital thinking it will make money for me, as charged. I have been con nected with hospitals for the last 20 years and I think I know the needs "f people in this county, and therefore I will vote for the hospital, not to help anybody financially, but for the com mon good. The auditor states that tha maximum tax that can be levied is 30c on the thousand dollars worth of property. This is less than the price of a dozen eggs. I would like to see some of the leading citizens from each township visit the Duke hos pital at Waynesville, before the elec tion, so they could tell the voters the facts. This will take but a few liours and the Board of Directors willjake pleasure in showing and explaining how they are more than paying ex penses in taking care of all their sick. P FRANK ROBERTS, M. D SUPERIOR COURT THIS WEEK A civil term of Superior Court be gan Monday in Marshall with Judge Michael Schenck presiding. Until Thursday nearly all the week had been taken up with a case Bullman vs Gosnell, in which Bullman is su ing Gosnell for damage to a child burned by gasoline. The plaintiff is represented by Mr. Geo. Pritchard of Asheville and the defendant by Attorneys Guy V. Roberts and J. H. McElroy. Quite a number of people have attended court. This case was concluded Thursday, no damage being given the plaintiff, the cause being an accident. PIONEERS FIND A WAY (An article on Hospitals by Car roll P. Streeter, In "The Farmers Wife" magazine for March, 1929. Out o fa new farming country of the north Saskatchewan, has come a rural hospital plan -whereby farmers can safeguard their health and at the same time protect their pocket books.. Not only do they know that there is a place, nearby, where they may be properly taken' care of when sick, but they know also that they will be able t pay the bill without auc tioning off the livestock or waiting another year to buy the new radio. At first you thought you might not expect such a development in a vir gin prairie country, settled for only a quarter century. The homesteaders, who are still young enough to be ac tive farmers, have had their hands full with making their now lands pro duce their wheat crops and with es tablishing, homes and communities. It seems " strange enough that they sshould even have hospitals, for there are a great many older farming com munities that can not say at mucn. Nearly, half the counties in the United 'StatesVior. example, have no hospitals But an-idea may be born any anywhere,' and usually where the need for it is the greatest There was plenty -of need for this one in the prairie 'Village of Rosetown where the plan originated. The nearest hospital was 100 miles away, at Saskatoon. - JVf: HartwelL secretary-treasurer of the Rosetown hospital and one of the early settlers, tells how,' years sgOi he hurried an Injured man scores of milea .across country with a team and wagon only to have him die at the hospital door. At another time he helped a young farmer search fran tically for the settlement's only doe tor, who waa out in the country somewhere, and when they finally got back home they found the wife and new born baby both dead. ' - r Incidents like these convinced the homesteaders they seeded a hospital, 1550 where such needless tragedies could be prevented. Rosetown built one, a little place of twenty-one beds, the pride of the surrounding prairie. The Angelican Order of Nursing sent two nurses medical home missionaries, they might have been called, although they did not pose as such. But soon the inevitable deficit, which every ui. Now the people at Rosetown were assured their hospital. But they weren't assured that they could afford to use it. Like a great many farm ers in the United States they didn't know where the money for hospital bills was coming from. It was the problem which has become so famil iar to us: the rich can pay their own way and the county or some charity will pay the poor mans', but there remains the majority of folks, in av erage circumstances, wno nave top much pride to accept charity and too little cash to pay hospital bills. Dr. J. A. Perrin of Rosetown told me that at the time, eight years ago, he knew of twenty-five persons who needed operations but who couldn't pay for them and wouldn't have them free of charge. How the pioneers, who had con quered so many strange obstacles, won over this new difficulty is an in teresting story. They were not boht ered much by the fact that their scheme was illegal at the time- It was not authorized by the Provincial government until eight years later. Nor were they worried because it had. never .been, tried elsewhere, so far as they knew. - Their plan fs to let the four mu nicipalities in the hospital district pay the hospital bills for all farm families and their hired help. Since rural municipalities do not include towns and villages that may be with in their borders, townsfolk do not share the benefits except by special arrangement. Each individual pays his own doctor. To be admitted to the hospital a person must have a written order from a physician. Then when the patient goes home the municipality pays the bill. It will even pay $2.50 a day (the rate in the Rosetown wards) toward cost of treatment in another hospital. Thus, for exam ple, accounts have been paid in Roch ester, Minnesota, in Chicago and in more distant cities. In a recent three-year period the four municipal ities levied $92,000 hospital tax, paid $62,000 of it in Rosetown and the other $30,000 in tuberculosis sanitoria and other non-local institu tions. All of this requires a two-mill tax levy, which amounts to $6.08 on the average quarter-section of land. Most farmers in south-western Sas katchewan have a half section, so their hospital tax is $12.16 a year. But when they , have paid this they have paid every hospital charge, no matter how many members of their families have had to go to the hospi tal, nor for how. long. In other words, these farmers pay a little ev ery year, but insure themselves a gainst paying much any year. To illustrate, a few months ago a farmer had a kidney operation, with a resulting hospital bill of $800. He had Scarcely recovered and gone home before he was fatally injured in a runaway, adding $200 more to his hospital bill before he died. How ever, his municipality paid the total of $1,000, which gave his widow that much more of his savings. He was so grateful that one of his last re quests before his death was that , somebody-tell farmers elsewhere a bout th Rosetown plan. At the time of my visit five rural mothers and their new-born babies were an the hospital, from homes an , average of seventeen miles out. The cost of their care had averaged $52 and one mother's came to more than $100, but all it cost their husbands was the amount of their annual hospi tal tax, which fh these cases came to. an average of $812. ..-., Because there. are no charges any one in the district who needs treat ment may have it. and. have as much ' as is needed. Possibly that explains why ninety per cent of the babies of the whole eonn try-side are born in hte hospital And furthermore, to make sure that . expectant mothers will get there in plenty of time, in spite of storms, gumbo, roads and other unforeseen troubles, they may come to the. hospital seven days be fore the baby is expected. Host wo men take advantage of this provision ; they know then that they are there, no matter what happens. . t- Think what the hospital inesrt ti (CtiCaaW tt firtTrr)