The number of prisoners in jail on the 1st day of November, 1868, was 144. The number committed during the year is 1,199. Aggregate number of prisoners, 1,343, of whom 1,188 were males and 155 females. The offenses charged against those committed since November 1, 1868, are as follows:

Of the above there have been convicted by the courts 269, for the following offenses:

Of whom there were sentenced to Albany penitentiary, 67; released during the year, 1,262; remaining in jail October 31, 1869, 81.

The highest number in jail at one time during the year is 176; the general daily average number of prisoners, 118. The District of Columbia needs a new jail. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. J. D. Cox,

Secretary of the Interior.

JOHN S. CROCKER,

Warden.

WARDEN'S OFFICE, UNITED STATES JAIL,
Washington, D. C., September 30, 1869.

SIR: I have the honor to report as usual in regard to the health of the prisoners during the past year.

We have had the usual number of cases of delirium tremens and other disturbances of the nervous system incident to the habits of those newly committed.

Some wounds and other injuries arising from brawls occurring prior to commitment, in the same class of subjects; and rather more than usual of venereal cases, always more abundant than any other form of disease. Some cases of intermittent fever have occurred, and one very severe case of typhoid fever; this last appearing within a day or two after commitment of the subject, and was evidently owing to causes originating elsewhere. But one death has occurred.

I am happy to say that the most efficient aid has been given me in the discharge of my duties by the excellent arrangement of the guards for the purpose, and the cheerfulness with which each has performed his duty.

The character of the food, its mode of preparation, the regularity of hours, and interest in duty in preserving cleanliness throughout, may be assigned as a chief cause of the healthiness of the prison.

I am, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

General JOHN S. CROCKER,

N. YOUNG, M. D., Physician United States Jail.

Warden United States Jail, D. C.

REPORT OF THE HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN.

WAR DEPARTMENT, SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, October 2, 1869.

SIR: By resolution of the board of directors of the Columbia Hospital for Women I have been designated to solicit the attention of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior to the operations of this most excellent charity during the past year, as exhibited in the inclosed report of the surgeon in charge.

The circular letter inclosed herewith will explain as concisely as practicable the origin and purposes of this institution; but the most lengthy report would fail to convey a proper idea of the amount of good accomplished by, and the urgent necessity for the continuance of, this hospital. A large number of the 706 patients admitted to the free beds during the year were wives, widows, or daughters of men who were dis

abled or lost their lives during the war, in the army or navy, overtaken by sickness while seeking information or prosecuting claims in this city. In a few instances, rest and food and shelter only were needed; but in the majority of cases professional skill, careful nursing, and all the appliances of a well conducted hospital, not otherwise obtainable, were demanded for the preservation of life.

A former estimate by the Hon. Secretary of the Interior for $60,000 for the erection of a building of suitable capacity was not favorably considered in committee; but there is little doubt that your recommendation to a similar effect, supported, as it is, by the evidence of another year of continued and increasing usefulness, will receive favorable action during the approaching session of Congress.

The inclosed estimate for current expenses is based upon the experience of the past, and will be barely sufficient to meet the absolutely necessary expenditure.

Trusting that the Columbia Hospital for Women may receive your sympathy and assistance, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. J. D. Cox,

Secretary of the Interior.

J. K. BARNES.

CIRCULAR.

COLUMBIA HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN,
Washington City, 1868.

The board of directors of the Columbia Hospital for Women have the honor to solicit your attention to the following statement of the operations of this institution:

The object of the act of incorporation, approved June 1, 1866, was “to found in the city of Washington a hospital and dispensary for the treatment of diseases peculiar women, and a lying-in asylum, in which those unable to pay therefor shall be furnished with board, lodging, medicines, and medical attendance gratuitously." A building having been procured, the hospital was at once organized, and opened for the reception of patients. Fifty free beds were established, of which twenty were set apart for the wives, widows, and daughters of soldiers and sailors, who are admitted upon orders from the Surgeon General Ünited States Army, and the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery United States Navy; the remaining thirty being for such patients as are unable to pay anything toward their support, and who are admitted upon the orders of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior.

So far as the size of the building occupied would admit of it, private rooms and beds for such patients as could pay from six to ten dollars per week, were provided; but owing to the want of sufficient accommodations this most important and desirable feature has not been fully developed, and the greatest usefulness of the institution thus far has been the gratuitous relief afforded to a number of worthy and industrious women who otherwise must have perished for want of proper care and attendance. Since the opening of the Columbia Hospital in March, 1866, 1,096 patients have been received and treated gratuitously, upon the orders of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior, the Surgeon General, and the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Seventythree private patients, paying from six to ten dollars per week for board, but furnished with medicines and medical attendance free of charge, have been admitted during the same period. The proceeds from this source ($4,311) have been turned into the general fund. In 1866 an appropriation of $10,000, in 1867 an appropriation of $10,000, and in 1868 an appropriation of $15,000, was made by Congress for the support of the free beds, of which a balance of $4,249 09 remained on hand December 1, 1868.

Experience has proven the urgent necessity for a hospital of this character in this city, there being no municipal provision for this class of patients. The amount of good it has accomplished, even with its limited means, is incalculable, and the conviction is forced upon us, that with a comparatively small expenditure it can be made the most efficient and economical of the national charities. The erection of a suitable building, with a capacity of one hundred and fifty beds, of which the private would be in nearer proportion to the free ones, has become essential to the continuance and success of this work. Relieved of the heavy charge for rent, assisted by the number of paying patients who would hasten to avail themselves of the advantages of a first-class

hospital for women, its usefulness would be largely increased, while the necessity for aid from the government would be gradually diminished, until, in a few years, it be came self-sustaining. The estimate of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior for an appropriation for the purchase of a site and the erection of a building is now before Congress, and your earnest co-operation and assistance in securing its adoption is most respectfully solicited by

Your obedient servants,

Appreciating the great need which this community has for a long time experienced for a well-conducted and systematic dispensary, similar to those of other large cities. the board of directors of the Columbia Hospital for Women, acting under a charter from Congress, have established a free dispensary for the proper treatment of the sick who are destitute of the means necessary to procure advice and medicine.

Such an institution will commend itself to every reflecting mind, when it is remembered that the facilities and improved appliances which it affords for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases are beyond any which ward physicians can possibly command: that the system which it employs necessitates the more thorough examination of individual cases; that the classification of the different diseases, assigning to each physician one particular class, will thereby stimulate him to exercise his talents to the utmost, and in accordance with the most advanced scientific attainments of the age: that the results from such a division of labor will be the best possible which can flow from concentrated and focalized research and skill, and that the treatment of cases, being at all times subject to the examination and inspection of the board of consulting physicians and surgeons of the hospital, will be safe and proper, as well as effective and humane.

The board of directors commend this inestimable charity to the public for its assistance and co-operation, and especially to the legislators and guardians of our district. Its objects are to preserve the health of the poor and thereby, indirectly, of the whole metropolis; to arrest disease, and by timely and well-directed aid preserve its subjects to their families and restore them to their labors, rather than allow them, through unalleviated suffering and unchecked disease, to be driven into hospitals and asylums as paupers. Early medical and surgical attention will not only arrest or shorten disease and suffering, but will often entirely prevent it, and change a painful and dependent life into one of health and maintenance.

But, aside from these existing considerations, and many more which might be mentioned, it has always been found that in times of epidemics or other calamities which always threaten a large city, that an organized corps of medical gentlemen, armed with the necessary requirements for immediate and prompt action, is to a city's health what a battalion, organized and equipped, is to its safety and defense in times of hostility and danger. Disease and disaster are always imminent, and a community never feels safe unless it knows that it has at its command a protecting power, which at once inspires trust in its ability and confidence in its efficiency.

Apart from the humane and philanthropic impulses which have induced the medical staff to offer its services gratuitously to establish and carry on this charity-the neces sities of which they fully realize-they will each and all be animated by a landable ambition to excel, and a zeal to advance their professional attainments and to add strength and effectiveness to practical medicine and surgery. We trust that legisla tion and the public will encourage these men who have volunteered so much of their time and talents, for we feel satisfied-if they are supported in proportion as they have zeal, energy, and ability-that this benevolence will redound not only to the great good and prosperity of the district, but bring blessing upon all who give it support and co-operation.

Surely a charity so wide in its behests, proscribing no race, no age, no sex, but seeking to alleviate pain and suffering wherever it is nursed by penury and want, will not fail for the means to prosecute and extend it.

We appeal to every Christian philanthropist and citizen to ask himself or herself,

How much do I owe this benevolent enterprise? And if the response is heeded, our treasurer will be supplied abundantly with means, not only to prosecute the work already begun, but to extend its benefits and enlarge its benevolence.

During the past two years this dispensary has been working unobtrusively, yet to the best of its means, and the good results of its operations have been incalculable. Conducted entirely by the surgeon and assistant surgeon of the hospital, who have spared themselves neither time nor trouble to make it worthy of an extended support, more than one thousand patients have been the recipients of its bounty, and more than eight hundred of these have been destitute women and children. Its operations of late, however, becoming more extended, it has been deemed necessary to organize it more thoroughly, and to add to its medical and surgical staff other practitioners of the district, so that while its aid will be more general, its labors will be so divided as to reach every class of disease. To this end Drs. S. C. Busey, Louis Mackall, L. W. Ritchie, William Lee, and D. W. Prentiss, have been added to the dispensary staff, and, with Drs. J. H. Thompson and F. A. Ashford, (surgeon and assistant surgeon of the hospital,) comprise a corps of gentlemen whom the public already know will perform their parts with credit to themselves and the institution.

The ladies especially, who are always foremost to perform acts of charity, will find here innumerable opportunities for the exercise of benevolence and humanity. Please visit the dispensary, ladies, and you will find a broad field opened up before you, which, while it excites your commiseration, will call for the exercise of your sympathy and charities, and you yourselves will enjoy the privilege and blessing which belong to the one who "giveth even a cup of cold water in my name."

There will be a ward of the hospital set apart for such diseases of children as cannot be treated as out-patients, and preference will be given to such cases as require the aid of orthopedic surgery. This opportunity will be fully appreciated by the medical profession, for all know the difficulties which attend the treatment of hip-joint disease, club-foot and spinal disease in children, at their homes. To the poor it has been impossible to give any satisfactory relief from their inability to procure the necessary apparatus or appliance.

Whenever a case of disease presents itself at the dispensary which seems to require admission into the hospital for its proper treatment, and belongs to the class of diseases treated therein, it will be referred to the surgeon in charge, who will give the order for its admission.

When cases of unusual difficulty or danger shall present themselves, a consultation shall be required of the surgeon in charge of the hospital, who will notify the advisory board, and no capital operation shall be undertaken without its advice and consent

COLUMBIA HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND LYING-IN ASYLUM.

WASHINGTON, D. C., October 1, 1869. GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to submit herewith the annual report of the hospital under my supervision for the year ending June 30, 1869:

Patients under treatment at date of last report.
Patients admitted during the year...

60

679