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they should in the first place be sent here (Deptford), from the
other hospitals, and transferred to Darenth on the following day.
The first convalescents were received here on May 12th, and from
that day till August 31st the total numbers received from the various
hospitals were as follows :—
From Homerton 1,031
„ Fulham 509
„ Stockwell 50
Total 1,590
In addition to these transfers, 810 Deptford Hospital convalescents were
sent to Darenth. The total number transferred to Darenth was
therefore 2,400."
The patients were taken to Darenth (distant 18 miles) in fourin-hand
ambulances constructed to cany ten inside, a commissionaire
being placed in charge of each coach, and an attendant
who rode inside with the patients. All persons connected with
the transfer of the patients lived in the hospital. The patients
breakfasted at 5.30 a.m., and started at 6, arriving at 9 o'clock.
One stoppage was allowed in an unfrequented spot at a brook by the
roadside to water the horses, the patients, however, not being
allowed to leave the vehicle. The empty coaches returned to
Deptford in the afternoon. In all 113 journeys with 240 loads
were made, the average number of patients being 20 per journey.
No accident or hitch of any kind occurred in the transfer of this
large number of patients. The opinion of Dr. MacCombie, as
Medical Superintendent of a great hospital, as to the "two-fold
advantages of the Darenth Camp," may be cited:—
"While it afforded patients convalescing from an acute disease three or four
weeks residence in the country, from which they were certain to derive
great benefit as regards their restoration to health and strength, it
enabled the managers, by drafting off the convalescent cases from the
hospitals in town, to accommodate cases which otherwise could not
have been admitted. It can hardly be doubted that the accommodation
thus provided checked in a marked manner the spread of
small-pox in London last summer."
Dr. Gayton's Report is dated August 31st, 1881. He describes
the site of the camp as being on the top of a hill, two miles from
the Thames, about 200 feet above the sea-level, the most elevated
and breezy spot of the grounds (170 acres) of the Darenth Asylum
and Schools for Imbeciles, the landscape being picturesque and