DOCSLIB.ORG

Cultural and Historical Influences on the Uniforms and Devices of the United States Public Health Service

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cultural and Historical Influences on the Uniforms and Devices of the United States Public Health Service Cultural and Historical Influences on the Uniforms and Devices of the United States Public Health Service By CAPT Steven Hirschfeld, MD PhD LCDR Danny Benbassat, PhD June 2019 Cultural and Historical Influences Table of Contents Of Symbols and Snakes ................................................................................................................... 3 The Fouled Anchor .......................................................................................................................... 5 A General Cultural Paradigm .......................................................................................................... 5 U.S. Government Maritime History: A Brief Overview ................................................................... 6 Forged by Fire ................................................................................................................................. 6 Reorganization and Expansion ........................................................................................................ 8 New Leadership and Symbols ......................................................................................................... 9 New Frontiers................................................................................................................................ 10 Of Uniforms in General ................................................................................................................. 13 Eighteenth & Nineteenth Century Maritime Uniform History ..................................................... 14 First U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations ............................................................................................. 15 Twentieth Century ........................................................................................................................ 19 World War II Era ............................................................................................................................ 21 Twenty-First Century .................................................................................................................... 23 Closing Comment .......................................................................................................................... 23 References .................................................................................................................................... 26 Table of Figures Figure 1. Examples of the Caduceus of Mercury and Rod of Asclepius .......................................... 4 Figure 2. United States Public Health Service 1914 Insignia and Ratings ..................................... 14 Figure 3. Drivers of U.S. Maritime Uniform Styles and Functions ................................................ 15 Figure 4. Service suite-undress uniforms c. 1900 ......................................................................... 18 Page 2 of 31 Cultural and Historical Influences Of Symbols and Snakes It is possible that our story begins more than 5,000 thousand years ago in the mountains and forests of the Eastern Mediterranean and the lands that lay to the East. People had experiences they could not predict, control or understand, so they attributed their experiences to powerful, but emotional, pagan gods that lived in the forests, mountains, waters, and the sky. Every observable phenomenon and every sensation had a god behind it. There were even gods, and messengers to gods, specifically dedicated to travel and commerce. The stories of these gods, their personalities, and roles, were distributed by sea faring merchants. Symbolism, in an era with a limited number of literate people, was critical to impart meaning. For example, the concept of snake, with its flexible body, was used in several ways. The snake represented evil power and chaos in some contexts but also renewal (through the shedding of its skin), healing, and fertility in other contexts. A Sumerian god named Ningishzida, who was worshipped around 5,000 years ago and was associated with vegetation and the underworld, had the symbol of a staff with two snakes intertwined around it. Hermes, the Greek messenger between the gods and humans, carried a winged staff with two snakes that represented harmony and travel. Interwoven snakes, with or without a winged staff, indicated merchants and commerce in many cultures. Commerce is, in principle, a peaceful endeavor, so messengers bearing the snakes were interpreted as coming in peace. The double intertwined snakes on a staff with wings became known as the Caduceus. The Roman name for Hermes is Mercury and the caduceus is commonly referred to as the Caduceus of Mercury. A single snake combined with a single rod was used to indicate the interchangeability between stiff and flexible states for illness and healing. Here is an example from the book of Numbers, Chapter 21: 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses, and said: “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against you; pray unto the LORD, that the LORD takes away the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses: “Make a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he views it, shall live.” 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. Page 3 of 31 Cultural and Historical Influences The single rod and snake are also associated with the Greek god Asclepius, a healer, son of Apollo, and grandson of Zeus. A legend is that Asclepius was kind to a snake that consequently taught him healing skills including resurrection from the dead. The wingless rod, narrow on one end and wide on the other with a single snake wrapped around it, became known as the Rod of Asclepius and, subsequently, a symbol for healing in Western culture. As printing became established, through the combination of movable type and alphabet scripts, in Europe over the past five hundred years, publishers began to use symbols to catalog different types of texts. Both the Caduceus of Mercury and the Rod of Asclepius were used in many contexts and manuscripts, sometimes interchangeably, which led to conflation of the two symbols. Figure 1 provides some examples of the double snake Caduceus of Mercury along with the single snake Rod of Asclepius, integrated with other design elements. Caduceus of Mercury Coat of Arms of the city Flag of Chinese customs Roman mint, 74 A.D. of Jyvaskyla, Finland office (note the crossed design) U.S. Army Medical Public Health Service Rod of Asclepius Corps patch device Figure 1. Examples of the Caduceus of Mercury and Rod of Asclepius Page 4 of 31 Cultural and Historical Influences The Fouled Anchor Foul is a nautical term that refers to entangle or entwine; however, a broader definition is that something is wrong or difficult. The term foul, applied to the state of an anchor, means the anchor has become hooked on some impediment or the anchor cable is wound round the stock or flukes. The fouled anchor, as a naval insignia, represents the challenges mariners must face and overcome. The fouled anchor is a common nautical symbol in the western world. It is also rather common in cemeteries. The image on the right depicts a memento mori for a seafaring merchant in Nunhead Cemetery, England (note the use of the double snake design). The fouled anchor was the personal seal of Sir Charles Howard, Baron of Effingham. He was appointed the Lord High Admiral of England by Queen Elizabeth I in 1585 and oversaw the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. During this historical period, it was customary that the personal seal of a great officer of state was adopted as the seal of his office. The fouled anchor still remains the official seal of the Lord High Admiral of Great Britain, an honorary position held by Prince Philip at the time of this publication. Sir Charles Howard is also credited, along with Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins who served as Treasurer of the Navy, of promoting a fund to support disabled seamen who fought in the war against Spain. The fund, financed by deductions from active seamen’s pay in the Royal Navy, began in 1588 with the money deposited in a chest at Chatham Dockyard in Kent. The fund thus became known as the Chatham Chest fund. When a sailor established that he suffered from a disability, the fund would pay relief and maintenance. The Chatham Chest fund continued until 1803, when it was merged with the Greenwich Hospital fund due to irregularities in the maintenance and security of the funds in the chest1,2. The Greenwich Hospital was founded in 1692 as a home, with a medical wing, for retired sailors. A General Cultural Paradigm Maritime customs in the United States were influenced by British Naval customs. Within the United States, the U.S. Navy is the usual driver for the customs and policies of the other maritime services, although occasionally one or more of the other maritime services diverge from or anticipate changes in the Navy. Any consideration of the uniforms and customs of the U.S. Public Health Service should recognize this paradigm. Page 5 of 31 Cultural and Historical Influences U.S. Government Maritime History: A Brief Overview The U.S. Navy, following the American Revolution, was a protective force primarily for U.S. shipping interests and the U.S. economy. The
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections
    BULLETIN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY WASHINGTON. VOL. IV. Containing the Minutes of the Society from the 185th Meeting, October 9, 1880, to the 2020! Meeting, June 11, 1881. PUBLISHED BY THE CO-OPERATION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. WASHINGTON JUDD & DETWEILER, PRINTERS, WASHINGTON, D. C. CONTENTS. PAGE. Constitution of the Philosophical Society of Washington 5 Standing Rules of the Society 7 Standing Rules of the General Committee 11 Rules for the Publication of the Bulletin 13 List of Members of the Society 15 Minutes of the 185th Meeting, October 9th, 1880. —Cleveland Abbe on the Aurora Borealis , 21 Minutes of the 186th Meeting, October 25th, 1880. —Resolutions on the decease of Prof. Benj. Peirce, with remarks thereon by Messrs. Alvord, Elliott, Hilgard, Abbe, Goodfellow, and Newcomb. Lester F. Ward on the Animal Population of the Globe 23 Minutes of the 187th Meeting, November 6th, 1880. —Election of Officers of the Society. Tenth Annual Meeting 29 Minutes of the 188th Meeting, November 20th, 1880. —John Jay Knox on the Distribution of Loans in the Bank of France, the National Banks of the United States, and the Imperial of Bank Germany. J. J. Riddell's Woodward on Binocular Microscope. J. S. Billings on the Work carried on under the direction of the National Board of Health, 30 Minutes of the 189th Meeting, December 4th, 1880. —Annual Address of the retiring President, Simon Newcomb, on the Relation of Scientific Method to Social Progress. J. E. Hilgard on a Model of the Basin of the Gulf of Mexico 39 Minutes of the 190th Meeting, December iSth, 1880.
    [Show full text]
  • Statement of ADM John O
    Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Energy and Commerce United States House of Representatives “Continuing Ethics and Management Concerns at the National Institutes of Health and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps” Statement of ADM John O. Agwunobi, M.D., M.P.H. Assistant Secretary for Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services For Release on Delivery Expected at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 13, 2006 Introduction Chairman Whitfield and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify at today’s hearing on management and disciplinary procedures of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. My name is John Agwunobi, and I am the Assistant Secretary for Health with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH), I serve as the Secretary's primary advisor on matters involving the nation's public health and oversee the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) for the Secretary. The PHS is comprised of agency divisions of HHS and the Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service of more than 6,000 active duty health professionals who serve at HHS and other federal agencies, including the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The mission of the Commissioned Corps is: “Protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of the Nation.” I am the highest ranking member of the Commissioned Corps; I am a Regular Corps officer and hold the rank of Admiral. The Public Health Service The origins of the Public Health Service (PHS), one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, may be traced to the passage of an act in 1798 that provided for the care and relief of sick and injured merchant seamen.
    [Show full text]
  • THE SURGEON GENERAL and the BULLY PULPIT Michael Stobbe a Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the University of North Carol
    THE SURGEON GENERAL AND THE BULLY PULPIT Michael Stobbe A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by: Ned Brooks Jonathan Oberlander Tom Ricketts Karl Stark Bryan Weiner ABSTRACT MIKE STOBBE: The Surgeon General and the Bully Pulpit (Under the direction of Ned Brooks) This project looks at the role of the U.S. Surgeon General in influencing public opinion and public health policy. I examined historical changes in the administrative powers of the Surgeon General, to explain what factors affect how a Surgeon General utilizes the office’s “bully pulpit,” and assess changes in the political environment and in who oversees the Surgeon General that may affect the Surgeon General’s future ability to influence public opinion and health. This research involved collecting and analyzing the opinions of journalists and key informants such as current and former government health officials. I also studied public documents, transcripts of earlier interviews and other materials. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................1 Background/Overview .........................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • Biodefense and Constitutional Constraints
    Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2011 Biodefense and Constitutional Constraints Laura K. Donohue Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] Georgetown Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No. 11-96 This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/677 http://ssrn.com/abstract=1882506 4 Nat'l Security & Armed Conflict L. Rev. 82-206 (2014) This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Military, War, and Peace Commons BIODEFENSE AND CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS Laura K. Donohue* I. INTRODUCTION"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" & II. STATE POLICE POWERS AND THE FEDERALIZATION OF U.S. QUARANTINE LAW """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 2 A. Early Colonial Quarantine Provisions""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 3 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 4 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""&)
    [Show full text]
  • THE SURGEON GENERAL and the BULLY PULPIT Michael Stobbe a Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the University of North Carol
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Carolina Digital Repository THE SURGEON GENERAL AND THE BULLY PULPIT Michael Stobbe A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by: Ned Brooks Jonathan Oberlander Tom Ricketts Karl Stark Bryan Weiner ABSTRACT MIKE STOBBE: The Surgeon General and the Bully Pulpit (Under the direction of Ned Brooks) This project looks at the role of the U.S. Surgeon General in influencing public opinion and public health policy. I examined historical changes in the administrative powers of the Surgeon General, to explain what factors affect how a Surgeon General utilizes the office’s “bully pulpit,” and assess changes in the political environment and in who oversees the Surgeon General that may affect the Surgeon General’s future ability to influence public opinion and health. This research involved collecting and analyzing the opinions of journalists and key informants such as current and former government health officials. I also studied public documents, transcripts of earlier interviews and other materials. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • University of California
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara The United States and the Barbary Pirates: Adventures in Sexuality, State-Building, and Nationalism, 1784-1815 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Jason Raphael Zeledon Committee in charge: Professor Patricia Cohen, co-chair Professor John Majewski, co-chair Professor Salim Yaqub Professor Mhoze Chikowero June 2016 The dissertation of Jason Raphael Zeledon is approved ______________________________________________ Mhoze Chikowero ______________________________________________ Salim Yaqub ______________________________________________ Patricia Cohen, Committee Co-Chair ______________________________________________ John Majewski, Committee Co-Chair June 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my eleventh-grade American History teacher, Peggy Ormsby. If I had not taken her AP class, my life probably would have gone in a different direction! At that time math was my favorite subject, but her class got me hooked on studying American History. Thanks, too, to the excellent teachers and mentors in graduate school who shaped and challenged my thinking. At American University (where I earned my M.A.), I’d like to thank Max Friedman, Andrew Lewis, Kate Haulman, and Eileen Findlay. I transferred to UCSB to finish my Ph.D. and have thoroughly enjoyed working with Pat Cohen, John Majewski, Salim Yaqub, and Mhoze Chikowero. I’d especially like to thank Pat, who provided insightful feedback on early drafts of my chapter about the Mellimelli mission (which has been published in Diplomatic History). Additionally, I’d like to thank UCSB’s History, Writing, and English Departments for providing Teaching Assistantships and the staffs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room, and the Huntington Library for their help and friendliness.
    [Show full text]
  • The 1812 Streets of Cambridgeport
    The 1812 Streets of Cambridgeport The Last Battle of the Revolution Less than a quarter of a century after the close of the American Revolution, Great Britain and the United States were again in conflict. Britain and her allies were engaged in a long war with Napoleonic France. The shipping-related industries of the neutral United States benefited hugely, conducting trade with both sides. Hundreds of ships, built in yards on America’s Atlantic coast and manned by American sailors, carried goods, including foodstuffs and raw materials, to Europe and the West Indies. Merchants and farmers alike reaped the profits. In Cambridge, men made plans to profit from this brisk trade. “[T]he soaring hopes of expansionist-minded promoters and speculators in Cambridge were based solidly on the assumption that the economic future of Cambridge rested on its potential as a shipping center.” The very name, Cambridgeport, reflected “the expectation that several miles of waterfront could be developed into a port with an intricate system of canals.” In January 1805, Congress designated Cambridge as a “port of delivery” and “canal dredging began [and] prices of dock lots soared." [1] Judge Francis Dana, a lawyer, diplomat, and Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, was one of the primary investors in the development of Cambridgeport. He and his large family lived in a handsome mansion on what is now Dana Hill. Dana lost heavily when Jefferson declared an embargo in 1807. Britain and France objected to America’s commercial relationship with their respective enemies and took steps to curtail trade with the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • The Best Musical in Recent History Seniors Come Together at Cape
    The WALRUS The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. - Lewis Carroll Vol LXVIII No. 2 St. Sebastian’s School November 2014 The Best Musical in Recent History By Pat McGowan ‘15 is the leader of a Christian Mission being tipped off about the crap game Band that travels around New York which would end with his arrest for il- HEAD WRITER City looking for sinners to convert to legal underground gambling. Eventu- The St. Sebastian’s Drama Christianity by the Word of God, so ally, Nathan could no longer juggle all Club presented the musical Guys and it would be hard for Sky to woo her these things and his fiancé Adelaide Dolls for the annual fall play this year. into going to Cuba with him so he discovered he was still formulating Led by faculty members Mr. Rogers, could win the bet. Well, Sky worked secret crap games and vowed to never Mrs. Stansfield, and Mr. Grohmann, his magic and convinced Miss Sarah talk to him ever again. Guys and Dolls was a big hit this to accompany him to Havana. At first, At the end of the crap game, year. Auditions were set for late May Sky figured this would just be another in order to save his relationship with because the cast members wanted to girl but the more time he spent with Sarah, Sky Masterson offers each one get a head start on learning the dif- her the more he fell in love with her; of the gamblers a bet that says if he ficult music the play consists of.
    [Show full text]
  • Minnesota Service Cooperatives Knowledge Bowl - HS Pristine #377 HS 1 Land Features in General, What Causes Anthropogenic Features on Earth's Surface?
    Round # 1 Minnesota Service Cooperatives Knowledge Bowl - HS Pristine #377 HS 1 Land Features In general, what causes anthropogenic features on Earth's surface? man (human activities, people) 2 Epitaphs What is the last word in Shakespeare's epitaph? bones 3 Equations If x plus y equals z, and w times x times y equals 0, which number must equal 0? y 4 American Outreach Under what U.S. president was the Peace Corps established? John Kennedy 5 Panhandles What two U.S. states have adjacent panhandles? Texas, Oklahoma Round # 1 Minnesota Service Cooperatives Knowledge Bowl - HS Pristine #377 HS 6 Gubernatorial Powers What power is held by most U.S. governors to eliminate one or more provisions in a legislative bill without rejecting the entire measure? line-item veto (item veto) 7 Ordered Pairs Point (0, 2) is on which axis? y axis 8 Mammals What is the term for a herd or school of marine mammals? pod 9 Presidential Changes When he was on his deathbed, whose wife was sworn in as the Argentine president? Juan Peron's 10 Musical Scales What kind of musical scale has half steps between the third and fourth, and the seventh and eighth intervals? major scale Round # 1 Minnesota Service Cooperatives Knowledge Bowl - HS Pristine #377 HS 11 Allusions Thanks to Samuel Coleridge, someone carrying an exceptional burden is said to have what kind of bird around his neck? albatross 12 Airships Named the enclosed compartment suspended below an airship in which the pilot and passengers ride. gondola 13 Privateers In return for a pardon, the privateer Jean
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA the Role of United States Public Health Service in the Control of Syphilis During the Early 20Th Centu
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Role of United States Public Health Service in the Control of Syphilis during the Early 20th Century A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Public Health by George Sarka 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Role of United States Public Health Service in the Control of Syphilis during the Early 20th Century by George Sarka Doctor of Public Health University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Paul Torrens, Chair Statement of the Problem: To historians, the word syphilis usually evokes images of a bygone era where lapses in moral turpitude led to venereal disease and its eventual sequelae of medical and moral stigmata. It is considered by many, a disease of the past and simply another point of interest in the timeline of medical, military or public health history. However, the relationship of syphilis to the United States Public Health Service is more than just a fleeting moment in time. In fact, the control of syphilis in the United States during the early 20th century remains relatively unknown to most individuals including historians, medical professionals and public health specialists. This dissertation will explore following question: What was the role of the United States Public Health Service in the control of syphilis during the first half of the 20th century? This era was a fertile period to study the control of syphilis due to a plethora of factors including the following: epidemic proportions in the U.S. population and military with syphilis; the ii emergence of tools to define, recognize and treat syphilis; the occurrence of two world wars with a rise in the incidence and prevalence of syphilis, the economic ramifications of the disease; and the emergence of the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Winslows of Boston
    Winslow Family Memorial, Volume IV FAMILY MEMORIAL The Winslows of Boston Isaac Winslow Margaret Catherine Winslow IN FIVE VOLUMES VOLUME IV Boston, Massachusetts 1837?-1873? TRANSCRIBED AND EDITED BY ROBERT NEWSOM UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE 2009-10 Not to be reproduced without permission of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts Winslow Family Memorial, Volume IV Editorial material Copyright © 2010 Robert Walker Newsom ___________________________________ All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this work, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced without permission from the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Not to be reproduced without permission of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts Winslow Family Memorial, Volume IV A NOTE ON MARGARET’S PORTION OF THE MANUSCRIPT AND ITS TRANSCRIPTION AS PREVIOUSLY NOTED (ABOVE, III, 72 n.) MARGARET began her own journal prior to her father’s death and her decision to continue his Memorial. So there is some overlap between their portions. And her first entries in her journal are sparse, interrupted by a period of four years’ invalidism, and somewhat uncertain in their purpose or direction. There is also in these opening pages a great deal of material already treated by her father. But after her father’s death, and presumably after she had not only completed the twenty-four blank leaves that were left in it at his death, she also wrote an additional twenty pages before moving over to the present bound volumes, which I shall refer to as volumes four and five.* She does not paginate her own pages. I have supplied page numbers on the manuscript itself and entered these in outlined text boxes at the tops of the transcribed pages.
    [Show full text]
  • Marine Hospital at Port Townsend, Washington Territory
    47tii Congress, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES. Report Ist Session. l2ll. MARINE HOSPITAL AT PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. May 10, 13=2. —Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be printed , Mr. MeLane, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the fol- lowing REPORT [To accompany bill H. R. 5875. ] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5875) authorizing the purchase of a marine hospital at Port Townsend, Washington Territory, beg leave to report the same to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. This recommendation is based upon the examination and report to the Treasury Department of a board of officers; the favorable views of the Surgeon-General of the Marine Hospital Service; the indorsementof the Secretary'of the Treasury; and especially upon the representation that to build a marine hospital will cost the government much more than to purchase this one, which is substantially new. Treasury Department, February 24, 1882. Sir : •Referring to the communication of your committee of the 21st instant, inclosing bill H. R. 3164, of the present session, “authorizing the purchase of amarine hospital at Port Townsend, Washington Territory,” and requesting a report thereon, -I have to invite your attention to the inclosed copy of letter from tills department to the chair- man of the Committee on Appropriations of the sth of April, 1880, when the subject of the purchase of the hospital was first presented to Congress, containing the ap- proval of the department in regard to the purchase. It will be seen fromthe letter referred to that copies of all papers in the case were transmitted for the consideration of the committee, together with the report of Dr.
    [Show full text]