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The CHAIRMAN. It might be cheaper to rent the warehouses. Admiral HARRIS. I think we have rented all that they can rent. I am to have a conference with the Assistant Secretary. The plans have just come to-day from New York.

The CHAIRMAN. They have special concrete warehouses?

Admiral HARRIS. They are all crowded and taken. We have rented all we can in the vicinity, and they must put up temporary buildings.

Mr. ROOSEVELT. I am trying to avoid putting up those buildings. We will rent, if it is possible. That is a matter that I am looking into. I feel that we should have the money in case we can not rent. The CHAIRMAN. What else is there, Admiral?

PHILADELPHIA, PA., TEMPORARY SUBMARINE BASE-ADDITIONAL BUILD

INGS.

Admiral HARRIS. We know that we must make some expenditure at Philadelphia for a temporary submarine base.

The CHAIRMAN. How much?

Admiral HARRIS. I have estimated that they will probably want $175.000.

The CHAIRMAN. What have they there now?

Admiral HARRIS. They put a temporary building on what was part of pier D, with the idea of using one side. Admiral Grant says that he must have the other side. The other side is not deep enough and we will have to dredge it. He also wants a number of additional buildings. He has not given me the details as to what he

wants.

The CHAIRMAN. What else?

INCREASING FACILITIES FOR BUILDING SMALL BOATS.

Admiral HARRIS. There is another item that has come up. At the Philadelphia Navy Yard they want some provision for building small boats. They have a boat shop which was adequate for normal needs, but it is impossible to take care of the boats and build them and get them out. There is no place to put them under shelter, and when the sun strikes them they just open up.

Mr. SHERLEY. What kind of small boats are they building? Admiral HARRIS. They are building launches and various small boats, pulling boats, etc.

Mr. SHERLEY. They have always done that?

Admiral HARRIS. Yes, sir; and repairing them, too.

Mr. SHERLEY. You are building in larger quantity than heretofore?

Admiral HARRIS. Yes, sir; we have to. We have a large demand for small boats, not alone for the ships, but for training purposes.

BUILDING, STORAGE, AND REPAIRING.

The CHAIRMAN. You want to increase your facilities at Philadelphia?

Admiral HARRIS. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How much will that cost?

Admiral HARRIS. I do not know. I have estimated it at $185,000. The CHAIRMAN. What are they-sheds or shops or what?

Admiral HARRIS. Our idea was to try to roof the space between the boat shop and the adjacent building-roof those in, close the endsand make arrangements to take care of the expansion in that way. The CHAIRMAN. What would that be for, storage?

Admiral HARRIS. For building, storage, and repairing.
The CHAIRMAN. What else?

ADDITIONAL STORAGE FACILITIES AT VARIOUS YARDS AND STATIONS.

Admiral HARRIS. I have here a general statement of the additional temporary storage facilities to be required at the various yards and

stations.

The CHAIRMAN. How much?

Admiral HARRIS. I have not any account of that.

The CHAIRMAN. How do you get the total?

Admiral HARRIS. I did the best I could by guessing; that is the only explanation I can give.

The CHAIRMAN. That would be $500,000 or $600,000 or more unexpended?

Admiral HARRIS. I think we have expended up to July 1 over $700,000. We must anticipate that things like that are going to keep on. Seven hundred thousand dollars for the quarter, and with four quarters in the year would make $2,800,000. We have four quarters from July 1, and that would make $2,800,000.

The CHAIRMAN. That reasoning will not work out at all, because you have three or four big items, one of $300,000 for a permanent cold-storage plant, and you can not figure that as a constant recurring thing.

Admiral HARRIS. That is the only way to estimate on contingencies.

The CHAIRMAN. You have not estimated this as a contingent item really; what you have done is to bring into this at least one item that is in no sense contingent, but permanent.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1917.

TEMPORARY HOSPITAL CONSTRUCTION.

STATEMENT OF REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM C. BRAISTED, SURGEON GENERAL, UNITED STATES NAVY.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is "Hospital construction," $2,200,000?

Dr. BRAISTED. At a former hearing I explained pretty thoroughly the needs of the Medical Department, and at that time I told you that I estimated it would cost about $3,200,000 to build what we needed. As you know, $1,000,000 was allotted for that purpose. We have now under construction and have contracted for and contemplated to do work amounting to $3,115,000, which comes very near to that esti

mate.

The CHAIRMAN. Out of what appropriation?

Dr. BRAISTED. There is now under construction, being contracted for, and contemplated, $3,115,000.

The CHAIRMAN. Out of what appropriation?

Dr. BRAISTED. From the $1,000,000 you gave us. Of course this is not built. We have used up already the $1,000,000 under contract. We have more work which already totals $3,115,000, wnen that work is begun. It is to ask you for the remainder that I am here to-day.

All of this work, as I tried to make clear in the other statement, is on account of the war. It is in places where we have no hospitals or where the hospital facilities have proven to be inadequate, carefully planned and evidently working out just about as we thought it would work out.

The CHAIRMAN. Where are you spending the $1,000,000?

Dr. BRAISTED. It would be pretty hard to separate that, because I do not know just where the contracts have been given out. The CHAIRMAN. You know where the money is to be spent? Dr. BRAISTED. Yes, sir; I know where they are building.

Admiral HARRIS. I will have to insert that. Contracts have been let in excess of the million dollars you appropriated for under the deficiency. We have created an additional deficiency.

NOTE. Construction involving the expenditure of approximately $1,775,000 is in progress on hospitals at the following stations: Newport, $190,000; League Island, $150,000; Norfolk, $200,000; Charleston, $125,000; Pensacola, $150,000; New Orleans, $150,000; Great Lakes, $450,000; Puget Sound, $100,000; Hampton Roads, $200,000; miscellaneous, $60,000.

Plans are under way for additional hospital facilities at Portsmouth, N. H., Chelsea, New York, Annapolis, Key West, Gulfport, Pelham Park, Cape May, and Mare Island. The construction contemplated for these stations will involve an expenditure of the remainder of the $3,200,000 estimated as required for emergency hospital construction.

The CHAIRMAN. You had no right to do that. Congress declined to give you more than a million dollars. You had no right to go ahead.

Dr. BRAISTED. We have work under contract at Portsmouth, N. H. The CHAIRMAN. What is being done?

Dr. BRAISTED. I can tell you in great detail, if you would like to know.

PORTSMOUTH, N. H.

.

The CHAIRMAN. What is being done at Portsmouth?

Dr. BRAISTED. The work at Portsmouth is an expansion to bring up the capacity of the hospital to care for the personnel which will be there nine buildings, consisting of five pavilion wards, with nurses' quarters, hospital corps quarters, a garage, and subsistence building. These buildings have a capacity of approximately 100 beds for patients, an increase of 100 beds for patients.

The CHAIRMAN. In the nine buildings, or in each building?
Dr. BRAISTED. No, sir; the total.

The CHAIRMAN. That work is to cost how much?

Admiral HARRIS. $75,600.

The CHAIRMAN. For the whole work?

Admiral HARRIS. At Portsmouth.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the character of the buildings-what material?

Dr. BRAISTED. I brought some pictures showing the construction. I should be glad to have you see them, if you care to look at them. That picture [indicating] shows the buildings going up at Newport. There are other buildings of the same type. That is the same type that everybody is building, except that hospital construction has to be a little more careful than the ordinary shack of the Army and the barrack quarters.

CHELSEA, MASS.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the next item?

Dr. BRAISTED. At Chelsea, Mass., we are providing for 25 buildings, consisting of a number of pavilion wards, nurses' quarters, hospital corps quarters, buildings for feeding purposes, subsistence building, garage, and other buildings. One of them would probably be a laboratory building, which is very important. The total of that is $225,000, estimated.

NEWPORT, R. I.

At Newport, R. I., we have contracted for and almost completed 13 buildings, consisting of 6 pavilion wards, garage, nurses' quarters, subsistence building, 3 contagious pavilions, hospital corps quarters an increase of 330 patients, at $190,000. You must understand, Mr. Chairman, that at a great many of these places we have no accommodations for nurses or hospital patients or subsistence. Mr. CANNON. You said $190,000, and the item before that was larger with a less expenditure?

Dr. BRAISTED. No; that was for 600 patients.

BROOKLYN, N. Y.

Brooklyn, N. Y., six buildings, consisting of six pavilion wards, hospital corps buildings, subsistence building, and power house to supply heat and steam for sterilizing and disinfection, $600,000. The power house there is not adequate to heat those buildings, and we must put in a power house there. That is the largest item in that plant, and it is large because it must be built according to the fire restrictions of the city, and that makes it expensive construction. The CHAIRMAN. That is permanent construction?

Dr. BRAISTED. No; that is not our permanent construction.
The CHAIRMAN. How many beds do you have there?

Dr. BRAISTED. That will make us

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). How many beds does this $600,000 provide?

Dr. BRAISTED. Of course, you have the power house included in that sum.

The CHAIRMAN. The power house is certainly permanent. How much is that to cost?

Dr. BRAISTED. That will give an increase of about 600 patients. The CHAIRMAN. A hospital in Brooklyn has just increased its capacity to 1,000 beds, and yet you want to increase your facilities?

Dr. BRAISTED. But we can not count on those facilities, because the Army will come in there, and we do not know

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). You do not know who will come in there.

Dr. BRAISTED. We must make provision for taking care of our

own.

The CHAIRMAN. There is no place where the hospital facilities are greater than in the city of New York.

Dr. BRAISTED. We have tried that over there, and your own people in Brooklyn are complaining because we have not made these provisions.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by my people?

Dr. BRAISTED. I mean the people who live in Brooklyn.
The CHAIRMAN. I never heard of those complaints..

Dr. BRAISTED. Well, they come to me. We have tried very carefully to provide for all of this work and we are trying to be sure that we have accommodations enough, and we would be willing to use all of the outside facilities possible; but when the Army comes back all of their people will come to New York, and we must have our own provisions in the Brooklyn hospital to take care of our own people. It is a very serious matter. It is very easy to think that in these cities you can get outside accommodations, but wherever we have tried it it has usually resulted in failure.

The CHAIRMAN. În your statement before the committee you stated that you wanted $350,000 to increase the facilities in Brooklyn, and now you have contracted, you say, for $600,000?

Dr. BRAISTED. We have added additional wards to this, after going over it very carefully.

The CHAIRMAN. You also exceeded the amount of money you were authorized to expend. Now, how much is the power house going to cost?

Admiral HARRIS. This work in Brooklyn has not been started.
The CHAIRMAN. How much is the power house going to cost?
Admiral HARRIS. I can not tell you that offhand.

Dr. BRAISTED. About $175,000 is for the power house, which will be exclusively for the hospital.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there any power house there now?

Dr. BRAISTED. Yes, sir; but it is very old and inadequate; it will not last through the winter.

Admiral HARRIS. It is principally for heating these buildings.

The CHAIRMAN. $175,000 is a lot of money for a plant to heat these buildings.

Admiral HARRIS. We have not started this actual improvement. The CHAIRMAN. Have the contracts been let?

Admiral HARRIS. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you more than enough power in the yard so that you could increase it and give a part of it to heating these buildings?

Admiral HARRIS. No, sir.

Dr. BRAISTED. There are no leads there for heating.

Admiral HARRIS. It is too far a run.

The CHAIRMAN. It is not so far, and the New York Steam Heating

Co. carries live steam all around the city of New York, down town.

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