Contents

CHAPTER XXIII

DEBARKATION HOSPITAL NO. 3, NEW YORK CITY^a

PROCUREMENT AND ALTERATION OF BUILDINGS

Debarkation Hospital No. 3 comprised the following four properties: The Greenhut Building, on Sixth Avenue, extending from Eighteenth to Nineteenth Streets; the Cluett Building, 19-23 West Eighteenth Street, and 22-28 West Nineteenth Street, adjoining the Greenhut Building; a building occupying 30-32 West Nineteenth Street, adjoining the Cluett Building; and the Trowmart Inn, Twelfth and Hudson Streets.

The Greenhut Building, the main building of the hospital, was leased, effective July 1, 1918, at $300,000 per year. It had been formerly the Siegel Cooper Building, a well-known department store, and occupied the full width of the block between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets on Sixth Avenue, to a depth eastward of 500 feet. It was a six-story, brick and steel structure; and in addition to the six floors and basement, there were subbasements, several large penthouses, a large glass-inclosed conservatory on the roof, and a seventh story at front and rear.

The total floor area was 650,000 square feet. The building was relatively convenient to the transport docks; near by was a Hudson tube entrance; a subway station was in the basement; and elevated and surface lines passed it on Sixth Avenue.

The selection of this property as a hospital gave rise to some surprise and criticism based on the facts that the elevated trains ran by the building and that the locality was generally a noisy one. However, these detractions had been appreciated when the property had been selected, and it was felt that, since it was planned to keep the debarking sick here only sufficiently long (not over 10 days) to properly prepare them for their transfer to the general hospital nearest their homes, where their definitive treatment was to be given and their convalescent period spent, the poor features of the property had no real import.

The Cluett Building, an 11-story brick and steel structure immediately adjoining the Greenhut Building, was leased, effective October 16, 1918, for $76,500 per year. It was used for housing the personnel of Debarkation Hospital No. 3, and the Medical Department personnel necessary for the manning of the hospital trains operating between New York and the various Army hospitals throughout the United States.

^aThe statements of fact appearing herein are based on the "History, Debarkation Hospital No. 3, New York City," by Capt. Henry L. Hayes, M. C., U. S. A., while on duty as a member of the staff of that hospital. The material used by him in the compilation of the history comprised official reports from the various divisions of the hospital. The history is on file in the Historical Division, Surgeon General`s Office, Washington, D. C.-Ed.

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The Trowmart Inn, at Twelfth and Hudson Streets, formerly a hotel for working girls, was leased, effective October 1, 1918, as quarters for the nurses on duty at Debarkation Hospital No. 3 and nurses awaiting embarkation.

FIG. 154.-Debarkation Hospital No. 3, Greenhut Building, New York City

The relatively small building, 30-32 West Nineteenth Street, located in the same block as were the Greenhut and Cluett Buildings, was leased at $1 per year from the Mutual Life Insurance Co. of New York.

The Surgeon General requested the leasing of the Greenhut Building on April 23, 1918; and when the lease was executed in June, 1918, to be effective  

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July 1, the work of planning the necessary alterations was begun. An estimate of cost was prepared, and approval of the necessary funds, $306,400, was requested July 11, 1918. The expenditure of these funds was approved by the Secretary of War on July 31, 1918; and on August 12 the local constructing quartermaster was credited with the allotment, and the alteration work was started. This alteration work was completed on November 23, 82 working days later, the total cost of which was $280,000.

In May and June, 1918, when plans for the alteration of the buildings were being studied, in anticipation of the acquisition of the buildings, it was concluded to divide the floor space into large wards, to utilize and conserve outside light as much as possible and to minimize plumbing and interior partitioning. The use of such large wards was a decided innovation; and against their adoption was the possibility of increased cross-infection, and uncontrollable noise.  In the favor of their adoption was the knowledge that natural light and ventilation would be proportionately greater the more minimized was the partitioning of the floors into small wards; that there would be greater accuracy in the construction of the diet kitchens, utility rooms, toilets, etc., at a few large centers on each floor; and that, in this hospital especially, the stream of patients, in and out, could be made to move more smoothly the larger the groups.

The isometric plan, Figure 155, shows how a portion of the first floor, with entrance and exit on Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, respectively, was remodeled for receiving and forwarding the sick. On the left and fronting on Sixth Avenue a portion of this floor was turned over to the American Red Cross for a theater and other activities. The mezzanine floor was used for offices, with little alteration. The second floor was altered so as to provide for the general kitchen, diet kitchen, mess halls, and five wards. On the third floor 10 wards were provided. On the fourth floor the surgical operating rooms, facilities for X-ray, dental, ophthalmological, and allied specialties were installed, and eight general surgical wards and the dispensary were provided. The fifth and sixth floors were rearranged for wards solely, 10 on the fifth and 9 on the sixth. The conservatory on the roof was set aside for recreation. A penthouse on the roof was converted into a laboratory for the port of embarkation, and adjoining it was the laboratory animal house. In the basement the refrigeration, light, and power plants were left intact, and facilities for repair, storage, barber shop, hospital exchange, and disinfection were prepared.

The Cluett Building was not greatly altered; an aperture was made in the wall, which separated it from the Greenhut Building, on the kitchen floor of the latter to facilitate food service and intercommunication generally. This building was cleaned, painted, and repaired, lavatories installed, and old partitions removed, each floor being left open, making the living quarters similar to dormitories. The first floor contained a recreation room and gymnasium, with a specially built room for handball and basketball and shower baths. On the second floor was the mess hall, which had a seating capacity for 1,200.

Debarkation Hospital No. 3, when completed, had a bed capacity of 3,500; its largest ward contained 157 beds; and in its kitchen food could be prepared for over 5,000. Its receiving section was so organized as to permit the orderly  

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FIG. 155.-Isometric plan of first floor, Debarkation Hospital No. 3

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FIG. 156

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reception of enough patients in a single day to half fill the hospital, and its forwarding section was designed to effect the discharge of a like number. Furthermore, the design of these sections was such that when necessary they could be combined so that patients could be either received or discharged through them.

FIG. 157.-One of the large wards at Debarkation Hospital No. 3.

ORGANIZATION

On July 18, 1918, two officers from the Hospital Division of the Surgeon General`s Office, together with an officer from the office of the surgeon, port of embarkation, were directed to effect plans for adapting the Greenhut Building to hospital use. Civilian help was employed, and with a few enlisted men of the Medical Department on duty, the building was rapidly cleaned out and construction work begun. On August 2, 1918, General Orders, No. 58, Headquarters, Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, N. J., was issued, officially designating this hospital as United States Army Debarkation Hospital No. 3.

OCCUPATION OF BUILDINGS

On the day of the signing of the armistice, the hospital was ready for patients; the first being received November 23, 1918. During the interval, November 11, 1918, to November 23, 1918, preliminary rehearsing and training, regarding the reception and handling of the patients, were given officers and enlisted personnel.

GENERAL EQUIPMENT

Immediately subsequent to the arrival of the commanding officer of the hospital, July 15, 1918, he caused to be made requisitions for the vast equipment essential for conducting so large an institution as this hospital. Shortly

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thereafter trucks by the hundreds, loaded with supplies, arrived and the work of outfitting the wards was begun. The hospital wards were large and roomy and they were left open to permit of free ventilation and light. Diet kitchen and linen rooms were made parts of each ward; a gas range and a large ice box were installed in each diet kitchen, with the necessary cooking utensils and serving dishes. Ample shelving space was provided in each linen closet. Large, well-lighted toilet rooms were also installed as a part of each ward, in some of which ventilation was provided by means of vent shafts. These vent shafts were about 2 feet square, the forced draft being maintained by means of electrically driven fans on the hospital roof.

PERSONNEL

In December, 1918, after the hospital had been completed, there were over 800 enlisted men on duty. These men were assigned to the following departments of the hospital:

There were 166 nurses on duty at the hospital at this time.

HOSPITAL DEPARTMENTS

SURGICAL SERVICE

The surgical service occupied the second, third, fourth, and sixth floors of the hospital. The function of the hospital being the separation of debarking patients into groups for transfer to inland hospitals for treatment, the work of the surgical service was not as active as the size of the hospital would seem to indicate, and it consisted mainly in placing the patients in the best possible condition to enable them to travel. It was the established policy of the port surgeon to restrict the number of operations to the minimum, preferably transferring operative cases to base or general hospitals. Ward 6, on the fourth floor, was completely equipped for the Carrel-Dakin treatment of infected wounds, and with Balkan frames for the proper treatment of fractures. Operating rooms were established on the fourth floor.

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EYE, EAR, NOSE, AND THROAT 

The eye department of the hospital was organized on December 1, 1918. It was located on the fourth floor, or main surgical floor, of the hospital, and occupied one room of sufficient size to permit doing refraction and other work connected with the eye. The equipment was sufficient for general clinical work on the eye.

The ear, nose, and throat department was likewise organized on December 1, 1918, and was adequately equipped to permit doing general clinical work on the ear, nose and throat.

X-RAY DEPARTMENT

The X-ray department included 14 rooms on the fourth floor, with a total floor space of 3,520 square feet. An elaborate equipment was installed, current for the machines being supplied by the Edison Electric Co.

The commissioned personnel of the X-ray department consisted of 2 medical officers; in addition there were 5 enlisted men and 1 civilian, a stenographer.

DENTAL DEPARTMENT

The dental department was first represented by two officers of the Dental Corps, who reported for duty on November 23, 1918. They were assigned an operating room, 13 by 24 feet, on the fourth floor, for which there was a northern exposure. In addition, a small office and supply room, 10 by 12 feet, and directly across a corridor from the larger room, was given to this department. The first two weeks subsequent to their arrival these two officers occupied themselves with the installation of equipment comprising two base dental outfits and one laboratory equipment. The first great influx of patients occurred the latter part of November, during which time a chief of the dental service was assigned, November 25. Under the supervision of the chief of dental service, March 13, 1919, one additional base dental outfit was installed in the main office. An auxiliary office, on the sixth floor of the hospital, was established at the same time, its equipment comprising two base dental outfits. With five operators and five outfits, the activities of the dental service increased materially and was able to cope with the large numbers presented for treatment. On April 3, 1919, oral examination was begun of every patient received in the hospital, this constituting a part of the routine physical examination upon admission. All cases were classified, and in each instance were recorded on an auxiliary form-Form 55 M. D. Patients requiring emergency treatment were given immediate attention; others were given appointment for work to be done later, when necessary.

The greatest handicap noted in the treatment of cases was their short stay at the hospital, which was unavoidable under the circumstances, but nevertheless in many instances patients were transferred before much dental work could be accomplished. The mouths of 22,560 patients were examined by the officers of this department; the number of officers and enlisted men treated was 2,677, necessitating 4,101 sittings; and others treated number 168, for whom 236 sittings were given.  

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MEDICAL SERVICE

The fifth floor of the hospital was given over to the medical service, for which there were 11 wards, the total bed capacity of which was 788. Of these 11 wards, 4 were special wards assigned respectively to cases of tuberculosis, pneumonia, diphtheria, and influenza; the remainder being for general medical cases. It was found to be neither desirable nor possible to classify the patients according to diseases in a manner practiced in a base hospital, where wards were smaller and where patients were ordinarily kept for considerable periods for observation and treatment. In Debarkation Hospital No. 3 it was possible to segregate the contagious from the noncontagious only, and practically only four classes of communicable diseases were handled: Tuberculosis, pneumonia, diphtheria, and influenza. Other cases of contagious diseases, especially mumps, scarlet fever, and measles, appeared spasmodically, but they were promptly removed to other hospitals where isolation could be more effectively carried out.

SICK AND WOUNDED DEPARTMENT

The sick and wounded department concerned itself with the maintenance of an accurate record of all patients in the hospital, as well as a medical record of the personnel on duty. The work of the department dovetailed, in many instances, that of other administrative departments, particularly the personnel office, the office of the detachment of patients, the receiving office, as well as the medical and surgical wards; for, whenever information was required concerning either the medical or personal status of a patient, it was necessary first for the sick and wounded department to ascertain whether the patient concerned was at the time, or any other time, in the hospital. It was, therefore, the purpose of this department to keep an accurate directory in which was given the exact location of each patient in hospital. This was made possible by using a filing system composed of cards, 3 by 5 inches, on which were recorded the name, rank, and hospital location of separate patients. Subsequent to the transfer of a patient from the hospital this card was placed in a "dead file." The cards were made immediately after the admission of a patient to hospital and contained pertinent abstracts from the clinical brief, or Form 55a, Medical Department, the first sheet of the patient`s clinical record. A carbon copy of Form 55a was kept on file, in this department, for each patient in hospital. At the end of the day, after the patients, who had been admitted, had had cards made, a nominal list of their names was prepared. This list showed, in addition to the names, the rank and organization, location in hospital, and the name of the transport from which the patients had been received. Copies of the nominal list were distributed to the following officers: Two copies to the sick and wounded department, headquarters, Port of Embarkation, Hoboken; one copy to the post office of Debarkation Hospital No. 3; one copy to the personnel officer; one copy to the hospital representative of the Red Cross; one copy to the hospital newspaper, Home Again; one copy to the patients` property office; and one copy filed with retained records.

While patients were in hospital a sick and wounded register was kept which consisted of a card for each patient. When patients were transferred from the hospital, a list, similar to the nominal list of admissions, was  

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compiled containing the names of all patients evacuated during the day. Copies of this list were distributed in exactly the same manner as were those showing admissions, and the files of the department were adjusted to accord with the changes. On the completion of each case, the clinical record, which had been in the keeping of the ward surgeon, was completed and filed in the sick and wounded department. This clinical record was frequently referred to to obtain information regarding a patient`s condition even after he had left hospital. Field medical records, which accompanied the patients from overseas, were also handled in this department, when patients, for whom they had been prepared, were transferred.

The administrative details, connected with the transfer of patients with communicable diseases from Debarkation Hospital No. 3 to an isolation hospital of the port, were effected by this department, as were those concerning the transfer of patients from ward to ward within the hospital.

A regular numerical morning report of the patients in hospital was compiled each morning, copies thereof being transmitted to the news officer, the Red Cross representative, the chief nurse, and the adjutant. A weekly report was made every Friday morning for the information of the surgeon of the port. This weekly report included data regarding the number of personnel of the hospital taken sick during the week concerned, grouped by diseases. The monthly sick and wounded report, consisting of a separate card for each patient treated during the previous month, was made and forwarded to the Surgeon General not later than the 5th of the month.

The work of the sick and wounded department required the constant services of 12 enlisted men and 4 civilian typists.

The total number of admissions recorded is 36,880, of which 35,850 were patients received from overseas. The largest number of admissions, on any one day, was 2,235 on March 24, 1919, received from one transport, steamship Artigan. The largest number of evacuations in one day was on March 25, 1919, when 1,458 patients were transferred to inland hospitals.

PROCESS OF ADMISSION

Usually, when patients were received at the hospital, they came in large numbers from the debarkation piers in ambulances. The ambulatory patients were met at the front door of the hospital by orderlies who carried the patients` hand luggage, and who escorted the patients to chairs and benches located in the rotunda on the main floor of the hospital. On these occasions members of the American National Red Cross were requested to assist in seating the patients pending their admission to hospital. In the routine of admission, the patient was conducted by an orderly to the first room of the receiving ward, where Form 55 A, Medical Department, was prepared in triplicate, as well as an evacuation card. At this point, each patient was requested to deposit any valuables, in his possession, with an officer especially detailed to receive them, a receipt being furnished for any valuables so deposited. In the event a patient had valuables, which he did not desire to deposit for safekeeping, he was required to sign a statement showing he had been given the opportunity, the advantage of which he refused to take. From this room, the patient passed into another, fitted with benches, where he removed all his clothing, being assisted in this by an orderly when it was necessary; and passed into an adjoining  

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room, in which he was submitted to an inspection by medical officers, the purpose of which was to determine the nature of his injury or illness and the possible existence of vermin infestation and communicable disease. In this room his assignment to a ward of the hospital was made, a notation of the ward to which he had been assigned being made on his Form 55 A. His clothing was examined, and if found to be louse infested, was subjected to a delousing process; likewise, if the patient was found to be louse infested, he was deloused in a room provided especially for this purpose. The clothing was checked and, after being deloused, was placed in specially constructed bins in the patients` property room, the patient retaining a duplicate check. When the patient was not found to be vermin infested, his clothing was checked and sent to the sterilizing plant in the basement, whence it was returned, as soon as possible, to the clothing bins, there to be left until needed. From the physical inspection room, the patient passed to the shower-bath room, where he was required to bathe, attendants being present to afford assistance when necessary. Following his bath, the patient was given slippers, a clean suit of pajamas, a pair of socks, and a bathrobe, after which he passed out into a main corridor through the only possible exit, where a throat culture was obtained by one of the laboratory staff, and where a dental officer made a mouth inspection to determine the necessity of immediate dental treatment. From this point an orderly conducted the patient to one of the many elevators and to the ward to which he had been assigned. Arriving at the ward, the patient was again examined by the ward surgeon. The patient`s evacuation card, which he had brought with him from the admission room, was then completed and sent to the evacuation office.

The process of admission required 45 minutes for each patient; and, during the admission of a large number, the detail of the following personnel: Thirty officers, 15 typists, 3 clerks, 70 orderlies, 30 clothing checkers, 5 laboratory assistants, and 4 dentists.

Having arrived at his designated ward, the patient was assigned a bed, and, his physical condition having been determined to warrant it, he was given the liberty of the hospital. Within 24 hours after having entered the hospital, the patient`s uniform had been sterilized and reclaimed by him. In the meantime, each ward surgeon had made requisite clinical notations on the patient`s clinical record and field medical card. The ward surgeon, deeming it advisable and the patient`s condition permitting it, the commanding officer, detachment of patients, was authorized to issue passes to patients after their first 24 hours in hospital. These passes permitted patients to leave the hospital between the hours of 10 a. m. and 5 p. m. regularly, an additional pass being required when they desired to leave the hospital in the evening. Before being granted this freedom, however, it was required that each patient going on pass be paid in full. This was accomplished by obtaining the patient`s affidavit, on which was set forth information as to when he embarked overseas, when he was last paid, all deductions for allotments and insurance, and his rate of pay. From these data a pay roll was accomplished and the patient paid in full.

EVACUATION DEPARTMENT

The steps necessary to be taken to effect the transfer of a patient from the hospital to other hospitals were begun, immediately on admission, with the preparation of the evacuation card. On this card were noted a patient`s name,  

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rank and organization, date of admission to this hospital, ward and floor to which assigned, home address of the patient, and a general diagnosis. This card was sent to the evacuation office immediately after a patient reached the ward, and the information it contained was certified to by the president of the physical examining board. In the evacuation office, these evacuation cards were arranged according to the States, as indicated by the home address of the patients, and were so classified that a patient might be transferred to the hospital nearest his home. Numerical and nominal lists of the hospitals designated were then prepared and forwarded to the office of the port surgeon. These lists gave information regarding the number and names of the patients, their respective physical conditions, and the hospital to which they were to be sent. They also contained sufficient data to indicate required professional attention en route, and whether the patients should be assigned upper or lower berths on the hospital train. When the lists were completed, duplicate stubs were prepared on which were noted the names, rank and organization, ward and floor of the hospital to which the patient was assigned, and the destined hospital; the stubs being then filed according to destinations of patients. When the nominal lists were sent to the office of the port surgeon, requests for travel orders or special transportation accompanied them; and when the travel orders were received from the headquarters of the port of embarkation, each patient listed was given a number which was inscribed on one of the stubs described, the stub in turn being tied to a button of the patient`s blouse. The retained stub in the evacuation office was given a similar number. Copies of the travel orders were distributed to the various departments of the hospital; notice of the evacuation being sent to ward surgeons concerned, apprising them the hour when the patients to be transferred should secure breakfast and their valuables. The mess officer was notified to enable him to have breakfast served in ample time prior to the departure of the patients. When the transfer had been consummated, the field medical card, or a transfer card, was forwarded to the hospital for which the patient was destined.

At the hour of evacuation, all patients, selected for transfer to a particular hospital, were placed in the charge of an escort assigned to accompany them. A check of the patients was then made and a receipt for them obtained from the officer in charge of the escort. Evacuation cards of patients who, for one reason or another, failed to depart at the time designated were put aside for reclassification on the next list; the names of the absentees were furnished the adjutant, the commanding officer, detachment of patients, the registrar, and the personnel adjutant.

THE MESS DEPARTMENT

The hospital kitchen and mess hall were located on the second floor of the Greenhut Building, occupying all the space on the east side of the rotunda. The mess hall was adequately lighted by large windows on both the Eighteenth Street and Nineteenth Street sides, and large motor-driven exhaust fans in four of the windows maintained the air of the room in a constantly satisfactory condition.

The mess hall was divided into halves by a central corridor, which extended from the entrance doors at one end to the steam serving tables at the other.  

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The corridor was divided into four aisles, each aisle corresponding to a door at the entrance, the two inner aisles being used for incoming patients and the outer ones for outgoing patients. Midway of the mess hall and adjoining the outer aisles of the central corridor were two dish-washing rooms, each 20 by 20 feet, containing a dish-washing machine. These rooms had two intake windows, one at each end, through which the used dishes were passed by the patients, each of whom carried his table utensils to the dish-washing room as he left the mess hall. Beyond the central corridor, on each side, were the spaces for the dining tables, the tops of which were made of three boards, the middle board being removable to permit their sanitary maintenance. Fixed benches were provided the tables. There were 102 of these tables in the mess hall, each accommodating 16 patients, providing a total seating capacity of 1,632.

The kitchen was fully equipped with modern labor-saving devices, all of the cooking utensils consisting of heavy aluminum. In addition to the usual tables, chopping blocks, racks, etc., the equipment composed the following articles: Twenty gas ranges, set back to back, in two batteries; two 60-gallon, ull jacketed stock kettles; five 80-gallon, two-thirds jacketed stock kettles; five 35-gallon vegetable boilers; three 3-compartment vegetable steamers and boilers; four 60-gallon coffee urns; one whipped-cream machine with full equipment; one vegetable peeling machine; one meat chopper; one fish bowl; two dish-washing machines; one ice-breaker; one freezer and brine tank; one bread slicing machine; three steam tables, each 12 feet long and having eight containers; one meat slicing machine; one hardening room, with zero temperature, for the ice cream plant; and one cold storage plant for meats, etc., cooled by the refrigerating plant in the hospital basement.

The mess hall was conducted on the cafeteria system, and all able-bodied ambulatory patients were served at the double steam table placed across the upper end of the mess hall. Ambulatory patients who were unable to serve themselves because of physical disability had their meals served them at the mess tables. Bed patients were served in the wards from especially designed mess carts. As the ambulatory patients completed their meals they carried their used eating utensils by the dish-washing rooms, through the intake windows of which they passed them. The cleaned and dried dishes were taken as they emerged from the dish-washing machines, and were passed out a third window onto a hand truck in which they were conveyed back to the steam serving tables; and thus a constant circuit was maintained from the steam tables to the washing room, thence back again to the serving tables.

The cafeteria serving system proved to be so expeditious that, even when the hospital was filled to capacity-4,000 patients-it seldom happened that all the dining tables were required, as there was a constant stream of incoming and outgoing diners, and the same table was used over and over again as separate seats became available. The number of men served at each steam table was about 25 per minute, or 1,500 each hour.

Adjoining the general kitchen was the diet kitchen, wherein there was a trained corps of dietitians, who prepared all the special diets for the hospital, distributing them in the mess carts.  

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In the general kitchen the food for the duty personnel of the hospital was prepared. This was carried to the detachment mess hall, located on the second floor of the adjoining Cluett Building, through the opening made in the intervening wall, and served in a manner similar to that just described.

Adjoining the office of the mess officer, on the mezzanine floor of the Greenhut Building, were the butcher shop, the vegetable and other rooms, fitted with the necessary ice boxes and refrigerating apparatus.

The commissioned personnel of the mess comprised 3 officers, and the enlisted personnel numbered about 204, among whom there were 36 cooks divided into 3 shifts, one working at night, the others alternating in the day work. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919, the mess officer expended $452,444.46 for food. The number of meals served was 2,170,527.

PATIENTS` PROPERTY

The property of all the patients in hospital was cared for by the officer in charge of patients` property, with the exception of valuables which were deposited for safe-keeping in the hospital safe under the care of an especially detailed officer. The patients` property department was made responsible for the issuance of new clothing to patients who desired them. New clothing of an approximate value of $800,000 was thus issued; each transaction was entered on the patients` individual clothing and equipment record and was receipted for by them on Quartermaster Form 165.

HOSPITAL ANNEXES

The post exchange was established November 27, 1918, and equipped with the usual supplies found in a post exchange. Connected with it were a barber shop, containing 11 chairs, a shoe-shining department with 8 chairs, a tailor shop, and a photograph gallery.

Much credit is due the Red Cross for the exceptionally fine morale of the patients in this hospital. A well equipped recreation room was conducted by its representatives for the entertainment of the patients. Each night at 7.15 an entertainment was given in the Red Cross theater, with a seating capacity of 1,600. A recreation bureau was maintained for providing the patients with theater tickets, bus rides, dinner parties, etc. Allied with the Red Cross was the American Library Association, with a well-equipped library of over 20,000 books. The Library Association also distributed books and the various popular magazines to patients who were confined to bed.

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Statistical data, United States Army Debarkation Hospital No. 3, Greenhut Building, New York, N. Y., from August, 1918, to July 15, 1919, inclusive

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