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Show . . . . . , 14 BEPORT OF THE COMMI~SIONER OF INDIAN 'AFFAIRS. efforts~byth e unhygienio surroundings of their patients, the lack of proper food, and the impossibilitytof devoting proper time and atten- . , tion to each patient on account of the number of Indians dnd the extent . of the.reservations under their oversight. With incompetent nursks to ~ . care for the patients in absence of the physioiin, it is next to impossible to have any instructions, however simple, properly ca,rried out. Many of the difficulties encountered would be obviated if a hospital .-. : were constructed at each agency for the treatment of cases requiring the constant attention of the physician and the care of trained nurses. Small buildings suitable fof the purpose could be erected at comparq ' tively slight wst to begin with, and should the necessities of the serv-ice increase, the hospital facilities could be gradually enlarged to meet the requirements. But few additional employes would be required in consequence of t h e establishment of such hospitals. For each hospital a steward, a ma-tron,,, oue or two nurses, with a cook, a laundress, and a servant would . be sufficient. Intelligent Indians who have attended the various train- ., . ing &chools can be found at nearly all the agencies and could be utilized , for the positions mentioned, as they would be under the constant super- , . vision and direction of the physician,md being accnstomed to obey . orders would in most cases follow his instructions. The salary list would be quite small considering the benefit that would be derived from such expenditure. In this connection I believe it wonld result in great good .to the Indi-ans if instrnction in the art of nursing were given in the Indian training schools, as it would impress upon the youth who attend those iustitn- ' . tions the beneficial results obtained from the rational care of the sick . as contrasted with the methods of the medicine men. ~. - Wherever hospitals have been established they have, so far as I am . . . ihformed, been fruitful of good results, and I am firmly convinced that by jodicions management a small hospital at e a h of the agencies can . be made an important factor in furthering the work of civilization : : among the Indians. ALLOTMENTS OF LAND IN SEVERALTY. Since the pnblication of the last annual roport the work of making tlllotments on the Winnebago Reservation, in Nebraska, and the Grande . Ronde reservation, in Oregon, under the mt of February 8,1887 (24 Stat., 388), has been completed by Special Agents Fletcher and Collins, respectively. The schednles of the allotments on the first named res-ervation wlll be transmitted to the Department as soon as the necessary clerical work can be completed. Before acting upon the allotments at Grande Ronde it will be necessary to await the reoeipt of the plats and field-notes of cerbin additional surveys made in the field. Allotment work was wntinued on the Grow Fieservation, in Montana, I by Speaial Agent Howard, until the weather put a stop to further oper- |