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41
of the buildings were formally approved by the Local Government
Board in July, 1884, and it was anticipated that by this time the
construction of the hospital would have been well advanced. But
the Board have seen reason for changing their views, and are now
entirely opposed to the scheme for building a permanent hospital,
while willing to sanction the necessary expenditure for the construction
of wooden huts, which they believe to be well suited for
the purpose. The Managers, on the other hand, are still of
opinion that wood is an objectionable material, and as there appears
no immediate prospect of an agreement, the construction of
any hospital will probably be deferred until necessity arises.
Having experience of the rapidity with which temporary
provision can be made for housing patients at Darenth, we may
view with equanimity the present deadlock, knowing that the site
is always available, and that as regards building it is only a
question of money—a good deal of money, indeed, as it has been
shewn that the outlay on the establishment of the last temporary
camp was about one half the amount of the estimated cost of the
proposed permanent hospital. It follows, meanwhile, from what has
been said, that the Ships furnish our only immediately available
hospital accommodation for small-pox patients, and even these a
considerable section of the Managers have endeavoured to close,
in conformity with advice tendered by the Local Government
Board. In the past year the Ships proved adequate to the wants
of the Metropolis, and as the Managers are persevering in their
resolve to remove every small-pox patient out of London, when
removal can be effected with. safety to the patient—and happily
this is usually the case—there is reason to believe that hospital
accommodation in the future will not be necessary to anything
like the amount provided in the epidemics of recent years. The
action of the Local Government Board, nevertheless, is somewhat
difficult to understand, for not only did the Board, as already
mentioned, and so long ago as July, 1884, sanction the erection
of the permanent hospital at Darenth, but they also suggested the
desirability of an endeavour by the Managers to obtain a site
to the west or south-west of the Metropolis which should be
C