Clipped from US, New York, New York, New York Times , December 13, 1912
Show OCR
ENDOW NEIWORKAMONG DEFECTIVESWhen Dr. Schlapp was asked if heWealthy Women at Meeting Raisea Fund for Dr. Schlapp’s Planto Record Mental Delinquents.SURGEONS TO BE EMPLOYEDMrs. W. K. Vanderbilt, Mrs. August%Belmont, Mrs. Hewitt, and Mrs. Se-ligman Among Those Interested# /* -T ‘ 4i 'The new Clearing House for Defectives, which was established in connection withthe Department of Charities since the shooting of Col. Roosevelt at Chicago, was made the beneficiary of a money contribution yesterday which was large enough to insure its permanency andenable it to open all necessary records.and make investigations. ,It is the purpose of those in charge of the Clearing House to give a careful examination to all cranks brought to Its attention and to see that those in need of restraint are sent to the proper institutions, while those who can be relieved without institutional care are to receive immediate medical aid from com-etent specialists. An important part f the work will be the creation for the ’irst time in this country of a systematic ind continuous record of all defectives mown to be at large.The organization of the Clearing Housevas brought about by Dr. Max G.Schlapp, before whom cases of defectivejhildren have been sent by the Children’s^ourt and the Charities Department ofate years. After the shooting of Col.Roosevelt so much public sentiment wascreated in favor of such a clearing house:hat charitable organizations, settlementworkers and women’s clubs united in jiving it the support necessary to makei beginning. 'Until yesterday the work was done by volunteer surgeons associated with Dr. Schlapp in the clinic at the Post-Gradual te Hospital. ....The announcement of the fund to make he Clearing House permanent was made it a meeting of the Women’s Municipal League, at its clubhouse, 46 East Twenty-lintb Street, yesterday morning. Chari-les Commissioner Drummond was there o outline the need that always had ex-_ ^ a a • • f _ A 1ited here for systematic work among theity’s defectives. Dr. Schlapp, who told f the hopes he had for developing his Ians for a clearing house, also addressedle meeting.After Commissioner Drummond and Dr.Inot make public the amount of the contributions or the names of the contributors, but it was said afterward that enough was pledged to assure the success of the undertaking.would say how much had been provided he replied that he was not prepared to make any announcements. Commissionei* |Drummond said he knew of the fund but was not at liberty to give the details.“You can say this much,” said Dr, Schlapp. “We have a fund large enough to guarantee the work and we are going to see our plans through. But the fund is as yet far from complete, and much more than has been offered to us will be needed.“We are not going to stop until we j have made a record of all mentally do-' fective persons and espec’ally of the mentally defective children, in this city, and eventually in the State, with the State’s co-operation.“ It is not our hope to cure manjr .defective children, through gaining early knowledge of their condition. We hopeto protect the community from them. If a child is defective because brain cells have been destroyed there is no known way of helping the child. The cells cannot be restored and the child will remain a defective. But if some secretion in the brain has made an abnormal pressure, then we can bring relief through the restoration of the normal conditions.“One of the things I hope for as a result of the establishment of this Clearing House will be such a thorough and continuous study of defectives on the part of so many surgeons that, perhaps, we will learn mi^ch more than we now know about the causes and the cure.“ The defectives will be received and examined from whatever source they come. Already the Charity Qrganization Society, the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,the Children’s Court, a number of churches, and many settlement workers are referring defectives to us for examination.”Charities Commissioner Drummond explained that under the laws of the State he had general charge of defectives and so had the- authority to establish and maintain the new Clearing House as part of the work of his department. For administrative purposes the Clearing House is in charge of Angus P. Thorne, Superintendent of the Bureau of Dependents. He is working in co-operation with Dr. Schlapp. There were six defectives at the first examination. Commissioner Drummond explained, while yesterday morning forty appeared on references from associations and settlement workers.PLANS 21-STORY HOTELAlexander Smith Cochran to Build Itin West Fifty-ninth Street.Alexander Smith Cochran of this city announced yesterday that he would build9a twenty-one-story apartment hotel in Fifty-ninth Street, twenty-five feet west of the Plaza Hotel. The building will be the highest apartment hotel in the city.The plot to be improved has a frontage of seventy-five feet and is now occupiedby the vacant and partially burned apart-me of those present that money would3 forthcoming for the proposed work.ot all the women there represented the j Women’s Municipal League, as women i ime from several charitable organiza-ons. Among them were Mrs. William [. Vanderbilt, Mrs. Henry Seligman and [rs. August Belmont. Mrs. Hewitt didments known as the Alhambra and theFifth Avenue.The first or ground floor of the new hotel will cover the entire plot, which is 100 feet deep and it will be chiefly devoted to the entrance and store. The twenty stories above this will be fifty-nine feet wide by ninety-two feet in depth, leaving a space on all four sides for light and air, thus providing open rooms on every side of the building. Brick and marble will be used for the facade. The total height of the building will be 276 feet, giving a view over Central Park on the Fifty-ninth Street side. Four elevators will be Installed.
Your clip comment has been saved and pending for approval before it displayed.