The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, September 12, 1935, Page 8

= st yan THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1985 . Sister Boniface Writes History of ——_—___——« St. Alexius . Rust Cuts Canadian Crop Beneath 1934 going down in the morning found to| have my amazement that it had all sunk/and into the ground, leaving all the debris and ruined: foodstuff in a pile at the Gives Personal Story of Early Problems Faced Director of Hospital for Last 42 Years Thanks Bismarck and Slope Residents for Generous Support Through Years; Recalls Small Beginnings diseasedgrains. dominion ‘bureau of statistics tal Canadian wheat wheat and 13,267,000 of fall wheat. The total prairie crop is 8,200,000 bushels greater than that of 1934 and z hard struggles for existence and had much sickness, I remember one time an Indian came into the office and surgical departments that would FORMER PRESIDENT WAS MOST FAMOUS PATIENT of Lap UAMIMNRen tetas oF Eicaoite Permanent Recovery ‘ Here, Speaker. Says Theodore Roosevelt Battled for Life Against Pneumonia Attack Within Its Walls; Had First Central Heating Sys- tem, First Telephone in State they Rgrey doctor and they re-; the: seen & . plied that they hadn’t but that they |for diagnosis all wanted operations. I explained quired that they would have to see @ doctor, and after the examination it was found that only one needed hospital!- zation. Had Sitting Bull's Son Once we had Sitting Bull (the son of the famous chief) with us for four months. He had gotten into Nashville, Tenn. Sept. 12—()— Speaker Joe Byrns says “recovery is here—permanent recovery.” He lauded. New Deal legislation, saying nobody could call it “Socialistic when it takes care of the starving, restores prosper- ity, and brings recovery.” tals s0 enable it to furnish’ the best services to the patient. | 5 FOREWORD On numerous occasions, people of Bismarck and outside of Bismarck have asked me to write a history of my work since I came to North Dakota. This being a task which was not easy, and on account of lack of Chaseley—Martin Iverson lies criti- i ing i trouble with the government); oy rs jured in & Harvey hospital, the time, I kept putting it off from day to day. sort was in the city jell until he got |S*®° principal; Loretta, McDonough, | cally inj This being the fiftieth anniversary of St. Alexius sick, when they sent him over to ug|Agnes M. Peck, Evarts J. Stevens,| result of being pinned beneath a Hospital, friends have become even more insistent with a man to guard him: He was a reared, fell over backwards. that I put out a history in connection with the celebra- tion which is being planned by the people of Bismarck on the 19th of September. Not having much material on hand giving dates and events, I have had to spend much time in trying to remember the more important happenings since I became Superior. The following is a rather short outline of the story = of St. Alexius in which I have tried to give the succes- sion of events which happened in years gone by and in which I have endeavored to express a little of the ap- preciation and gratitude which I feel toward the people of Bismarck and all those who have been true and loyal friends to our institution. Sister M. Boniface, 0. S. B. By SISTER M. BONIFACE This year being the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the St. Alexius Hospital, a short history is appropriate. In the year 1884 our Sisters, the Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph, Minnesota, purchased the new building then known as the Lanborn Hotel, which had just been completed by Alexan- der McKenzie and Richard Mellon. At that time a great de- pression set in and they were unable to carry out their plans for the establishment of a hotel. The Sisters took over the building and made immediate preparations for a hospital. The building was remodeled and in May, 1885, the hospital was opened with Sister Alexia as superior. A few years later she was succeeded by Sister Regina, and on August 19, 1892, I took charge. At the time thére were five Benedictine Sisters, five doctors and a daily average of four or five patients. The Coun- ty Poor House had burned down, and the 15 inmates—all men— were taken in by our hospital at the request.of the Commission- ers, at a rate of 45 cents per day. The Lanborn Hospital, as it was then called, was the only hospital in the state and for many years was the only one between here and St. Paul. The first patient to be put on record in the Lanborn Hospital was a man from DeWitt, Michigan, by the name of Isaac McKean. The first baby born in the hospital was to Mr. and Mrs, Sweeney of a eas The first Chaplain was Father Bede of St. John’s bbey. Had First Telephones Installed in North Dakota North Dakota was still very wild and unsettled, and I often recall the great excitement experienced when the first telephone was installed. There was no telephone service in the city, and in fact in the state, and one day when a man came around with six telephones, I bought all six. Telephone service was estab- lished by a wire between the hospital and the drug stores and doctors’ offices. I remember how hard it wasyto get the tele- phones in. All the doctors agreed to have them installed, but one said he would do so only under the condition that we prom- ise not to call him after he had retired at night. This was the main reason why I wanted the telephone service, because this certain doctor lived on the other end of town and it was neces- sary for us to send a messenger whenever there was an emer- gency call. In those days we worked under great difficulties. Water had to be hauled from the river at a cost of 25 cents per barrel. The only method of patient elevation from the first to the fourth floor was the “human elevator.” Small sheet-iron stoves served as heaters, but I took immediate steps for the installation of a heating plant. There were many obstacles to overcome. Having been here only two weeks and knowing very few people, besides be- ing very short of funds, it was hard to know just what to do. Most of our patients were county charges and their bills were paid by the county in war- rants which could be sold for only 85 cents on the dollar, but I did not want to dispose of them at that figure. At last a lady friend of mine (an old timer) said: “Let us go and see the business men.” Loyal Support of People Paid for Heating Plant So we did, and within two hours we had collected $800 and were told to come back if we needed more. I took up $1,000 for 6 months on interest, as the material for the plant had to be paid for in advance. One of the great- est difficulties was in getting a steam fitter. No one «was available for this work, and it was necessary to have one come up from St. Cloud, Minnesota. He promised to have the work completed by November 1st, but it was Christ- mas Eve before it was in working order and as I had disposed of all our stoves except one in the men’s lounge and one in each hall, thinking that it would be finished before the cold weather ‘set in, we all suffered very much from the cold. It was with great joy that we saw the work completed at last. has been afforded. the Sisters and Patients in this regard. Speaking of donations, I remember | what joy the Sisters and patients ex- Pperienced when President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson presented us with a large box of American Beauty Roses and other cut flowers on the occasion of their visit to Bismarck. All the Sisters were remembered and each patient received a flower in remem- brance of the visit to our city. This was one of the great events in the earlier days of the hospital. Fire Threatened ital On August 8, 1898, the big fire broke out. It started in the Northern .| Pacific Depot, a frame building, and ‘was caused by the explosion of a kero- Hepes The fire started at 9 p. m., BRRBSEEE atk HI Bismarck) on the Sisters whenever |'Teddy was in town, and we were glad to wear them in his honor. On the occasion of President Roosevelt's visit in'1903, Jimmy. Foley, the North Dakota poet, who lived in Bismarck at that time, caught the spirit of the day and wrote a poem commemorat- ing the president's visit. The poem, which follows, is very appropriate, ‘and expresses the feeling Bismarck had in anticipation of Teddy's visits. THE WEST'S GREETING TO HER FOSTER CHILD He's comin’ back as president— - the man we used to know, As jes’ plain Teddy Roosevelt, nigh twenty years ago, He's comin’ back as president; it don’t seem hardly true, But it’s writ thar in th’ stream- ers of the old red, white and blue; He's comin’ back as. president; a friend to. you an’ me, An’ the head 0’ eighty million 0’ th’ freest-souls thet’s free; He's back in his ol’ stampin’ ground—the land thet loves him best, In th’ fairest, squarest country in this land o’ ourn—th’ West! Why, her. prairies l’arned him , freedom, an’ gave him tan; Her climate gave him stren’th and health, befittin’ ofa man; A’ climin’ of her hills showed him th’ way:thar at San Juan, When he called her rugged sinews into play’to lead her brawn; Who's ‘arned a better right, today, to greet him as her own? Who'll stand, a wall, behind him ef she has t’ stand alone? Th’ West—th’ Nation’s giant West, an’ up thar in th’ blue Is a pledge .o’ the faity an’ hon- esty that never rang untrue. D'ye wonder thet them streamers is a’ floatin’ middlin’ high? D’ye wonder why them flags is piintin’ up thar t’ th’, sky? D’ye mind them cannon boomin’; « y’can almost hear ’em say, In a-voice like rumblin’ thunder; “Teddy's comin’ hyar t’day!” An’ th’ West, his foster-mother, stan’s with tears in her glad eyes, With sunshine in’ her swellin’ heart, lke sunlight in her ‘her - sunshine THE FIRST HOSPITAL BUILDIN Pictured above are the two byild- ings St. Alexius hospital has oc- cupied during its fifty years in Bismarck. At the.top is the hos- pital as it is familiar to visitors today. Below it is the capacious nurses’ home. And at the bot- tom is the building erected more than 50 years ago as a hotel but which was converted into the first St. Alexius hospital. Today it still stands at the intersection of Main avenue and Sixth street. It is known as poe College build- Potatoes, town to buy eatables for breakfast. supply of necessary eatables and we had just done so before. the flood. vegetables and groceries were floating all over the basement— strewn everywhere. It was necessary to send @ messenger to have.the fire bell rung in an endeavor to get help in keeping the water out, and about 25 or 30 men volunteered, but all ef- forts were fruitless and the next morning it was necessary to send to I remember, during the time the water was flooding into the basement, ‘ great singer and often sang so loud that we had to have his guard make him be quiet. In those days there were no rail- roads to speak of. The only rail- road going through Bismarck was the Northern Pacific and that had no branch lines. People came 75 and 100 miles in lumber wagons and I re- member on one occasion a man came about 100 miles, very sick, but when in an effort to save bis life, but noth- ing availed and he passed away that night. That was on Christmas Eve. I asked Dr. Smythe, who was here on a sick call af the time, to go down and try to bring up the chest of tea which I thought I might be able to save. Very much to my amusement, in spite of the seriousness of the situ- ation, he came back carrying a little kitten which he had rescued from the} ly steps. He couldn't get at the tea on account of the water, but he did man- age to rescue the kitten. I was very much afraid that the water would come up to the first floor, and, we| graduation, a class*of 12 in ni didn’t get much sleep that night. Ijand a very fine group of .|Planned to get someone to pump the| women, of whom I have always water out of the basement, but on| proud. In those days they did ganized and in 1918 we had our The Pioneer Banking Institution of Bismarck congratulates The St. Alexius’ Hospi on its 50th Anniversary ° May the next 50 years be bright with expecta- tions realized by every member of its staff and faculty. : " x First National Bank -~ “The Pioneer Bank’ * BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA We tion’s QUAIN FELICITATIONS — -sT. ALEXIUS HOSPITAL _ : “and commend its personnel and organization for the splendid ba = bed Take This Means of _ Extending Our on the Institution’s Golden Anniversary during the institu- cen of service. - and RAMSTAD CLINIC ° Congratulations It has been our good fortune to grow up and prosper with ST. ALEXIUS HOSPITAL (Established 1885) Finney’s Drug Store (Established 1901) 128 Fourth.St. We take pleasure in 500 Broadway Avenue ‘We Extend Congratulations to St. Alexius Hospital on its 50th birthday Cowan’s Drug Store tations to the staff and faculty of the St. Alexius Hospital on its 60th birthday and may the next half century, " bring them continued success, - Lenhart’s Drug Store Phone 102 extending our felici- Telephone 2 ‘ The o Fiftieth Anniversary St Alesius Hospital its = BANK & TRUST C0,