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41
nient Board, which, to judge from the engineer's description,
should be very well suited for the purpose. But the managers
would appear to be of opinion that the provision of shiphospitals,
and their appurtenances on land, as proposed by the
Board, will not suffice to enable them to carry out the recommendations
of the Hospitals Commission: but that it will be
necessary " to supplement these floating hospitals, &c., by the
establishment of convalescent or other hospitals on land within
a reasonable distance of the Metropolis," a step which the great
success that attended the Darenth experiment would amply
justify. Moreover they have urged upon the Board the " importance
of asking Parliament to confer upon the Managers
compulsory powers, not only for the purchase of wharves, &c.,
but also for the acquirement of additional hospital sites;"meanwhile
having empowered their General Purposes Committee
" to institute inquiries, with the view of ascertaining where
such wharves and sites can be obtained."
[After the above section was in type I had' the satisfaction
of reporting to your Vestry, that the Managers, in taking
active steps to carry out the recommendations, had made preliminary
arrangements* for securing by purchase, with the approval
of the Local Government Board—
1. The "twin-ship" Castalia, as an additional floating
hospital capable of being fitted for the treatment of a
large number of small-pox patients, for the sum of .£5,500.
2. Land to the extent of 8¼ acres at Long Reach, where
the hospital ships are moored, for the sum of £1,000, and
3 The Gore Estate, consisting of 134 acres of land adjoining
the Managers' property at Darenth, for the sum
of £13,175.
It is proposed, should the vessel be purchased, to moor her endon
to the bows of the Endymion, which would then serve as an
administrative ship for both the Atlas and the Castalia.
It is also proposed to establish a Hospital for Convalescent
* These arrangements were subsequently carried into effect.