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VIII.—THE COTTAGE HOSPITAL, MIDDLESBRO'.
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MiDi>iiES33iio', now one of tlie largest...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
( 54 )
( 54 )
Viii.—The Cottage Hospital, Middlesbro'.
VIII . —THE COTTAGE HOSPITAL , MIDDLESBRO ' .
Midi>Iies33iio', Now One Of Tlie Largest...
MiDi > iiES 33 iio ' , now one of tlie largest and most important towns In the as is North generall Riding y found " of at Yorkshire the mouth _^ s stands of rivers on ; a and flat thoug alluvial h the pl Cleveland ain , such
hills are within sight , it would "be difficult to imagine a more deplorable or uninteresting situationthan this singularly bare and desolate
, region . Fancy a Pandemonium of puddling sheds ; pale-faced giants , creaking wheels and clanking chains , a desert of rubbish and
blasting furnaces , a _sj _3 ot where all that is not black is red-hot , a place enjoying neither the verdure of the fieldnor the freshness of the
, sea , and you have fancied Middlesbro' ! Twenty years agoa traveller ( for there were travellers in those
, days ) would have found a few scattered farm-houses upon the muddy banks of the Tees ; but the capabilities of a spot at the
mouth of a navigable river , placed midway between hills which yield iron ore , and the lime and coal district of Durham , was not long
likely to escape the observation of mercantile and enterprising men ; accordinglyas hy magicwithin the last quarter of a century there
has arisen a , town , which , already contains above 17 , 000 inhabitants , a population composed almost exclusively of artizans devoted to the
arts of Vulcan . The masters of these men , the great proprietors and creators of all this wealth and workresideas would naturally be
, , supposed , in villas some five or six miles up the country—as far removed as possible from the blackening smoke of the chimneys and
the clashing clang of the yards ; a circumstance which need create no surprise when we remember the filthiness and dreariness of this
most detestable place . It will readily be imagined , where such a trade as the
manufacture of iron is carried on—involving , as it does , the removal of heavy weightsroaring furnacesthe complications of steam
machi-, , nery , and the ramifications of innumerable tramways , —that accidents , and thosetooof a very serious characterare of frequent
, , , occurrence . But this is not all ; not only are accidents of frequent occurrence , but in consequence of the rapid growth of the place
the relief required by the sufferers is totally inadequate to the demand . Struck by the very hopelessness and helplessness of the
locale , a lady possessing but a very limited income , determined , with the assistance of a few subscriptions from her friendsto
, engage three cottages adjoining her own to form a hospital—a small hospital to contain only twelve beds—wisely judging that
more attention could be bestowed upon special cases , and a higher ' moral influence exercised over a few patients , than could possibly
be the case in a large establishment . On the 7 th of March 1859 the good deed was commenced
, , , and a large body of men employed in the various works voluntarily stepped forth and offered to subscribe weekly for the _sirjyport of
the hosj ) ital— -the men from one firm alone contributing at the rate
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 1, 1861, page 54, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01031861/page/54/
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