HOSPITALS
Notice is also given that as the Seaman's Hospital is about to be transferred to the Admiralty, no more patients will be received into this institution. The notice is signed by W.S. Adams, M.D., Surgeon-in-Charge.
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I am happy to be able to reply to the query by "Dramaticus" about the original Seamen's Hospital. We see in this transfer the foundation of the present Naval Hospital, and the date when the Admiralty became interested in founding its own institution is thus definitely known. The Seamen's Hospital was opened as long ago as August 1843 and seems to have been on the site of the present Government Civil Hospital, which thus has associations with the earliest years of the Colony. It was opened with fifty beds, under the charge of Dr. Peter Young, and was built from funds partly subscribed by the public (to the extent of $6,000) and partly provided by Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Co., ever to the fore where funds were needed for public enterprise and amenities in the whole course of the Colony's history. The hospital flourished, and in 1848 the first operation under chloroform was performed there! The probably daring surgeon who used what was considered then a great novelty, and not free from risks, was a Dr. Harland. The records of this old Seamen's Hospital suggest that it was actually the only institution of its kind in the Colony for some years, and certainly the first founded in Hongkong. It is shown that the idea of building a hospital had originated in 1841, when a Mr. H. Rustomjee had offered $4,000 for the purpose of building it; but a snag appears to have arisen. A committee (consisting of Messrs. Anderson, James Matheson, and J.R. Morrison) was appointed to set the project on foot, but the chronicle glosses over the subsequent hitch with the remark that "unfortunately the committee neglected to secure payment of the donation." However, as we have seen, money was forthcoming two years later, and the hospital was established.
And this brings me to a necessary correction. Confusion seems to have arisen in the old chronicles as to the site of the Seamen's Hospital, the first real hospital built in Hongkong (see 22-6-33). It was stated in the article published on that date that the site was seemingly where the Government Civil Hospital now stands. Actually, judging from an old map of the island dated 1844, the Seamen's Hospital must have stood on almost the exact spot where the present Naval Hospital is. This explains more clearly the taking over of the old institution by the Navy. The essential dates might be repeated for the benefit of accurate record: the Seamen's Hospital was built in 1842-43, being opened in August 1843. It was taken over by the Admiralty in 1873, just thirty years afterwards. Judging from the old map referred to, the same site was used when the Royal Naval Hospital as we know it to-day was erected.
The reference in yesterday's paper to the new site being prepared for the Government Civil Hospital recalls that the present institution is suffering from the growth of the semi-slum area in the western part of the town. We learn from the old chronicles that the south of the island was already long settled before the British came here, and there was a temporary sojourn of the vessels of Lord Amherst's mission to China, in 1816, in the bay opposite what is now known as Aberdeen and in fact both Stanley and Aberdeen, in the vernacular Chik-chu and Shukpai-wan (see 11-7-33 and 12-7-33) were important places, Chik-chu being the largest village on the island, and...