Special Mention by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 6, 1916

Special Mention

By F. M. W.

The Madison Sanitarium

It was our privilege during the recent medical convention held in Madison, Wis., to visit the Madison Sanitarium, and share in the generous hospitality it provided for the delegates on that occasion. Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, is a city of thirty thousand inhabitants. It has been justly called the Athens of America, not alone on account of the educational atmosphere which pervades the place, but as well on account of the beautiful outlook which greets one at every turn. Four lakes surround the city, affording unparalleled conveniences in the way of bathing, boating, etc.

On one of these lakes, Lake Monona, the sanitarium is situated. The State Capitol and business portion of the city are situated directly across the lake from the institution, which is reached by a trolley line and by beautiful carriage drives. There are few if any of our other medical institutions possessing so beautiful a situation as does this sanitarium. It has its own boats for the benefit of its guests and nurses.

The institution is well equipped in all its departments. It contains thirty-eight guestrooms, and at the time of our visit was well filled, so much so that it was necessary to secure rooms among the citizens of the town for the accommodation of the delegates to the medical convention. The guests were of an excellent class, and we judge from our association with them that they possessed a spirit of contentment and satisfaction with the care they were receiving.

Twenty-five excellent young men and women are in the nurses’ training school. Dr. W. T. Lindsay is medical superintendent. Associated with him is Dr. F. C. Dean, who completed his medical course last year in the George Washington University. In addition to his medical practice in the institution, Dr. Lindsay carries on a city practice in the community, and has an excellent standing as a man and as a physician. The Lord has abundantly blessed his work in connection with this institution.

Brother P. L. Larson has been connected with the sanitarium for several years as business manager. Under his careful and judicious management a very substantial reduction has been made in the indebtedness of the institution, from about fifty thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars, we believe. During our visit we met several business men in the city who spoke in the highest terms of the excellent financial credit which the institution possesses. We believe that with the blessing of the Lord which is attending the work, this institution, the same as others among us, will swing free from indebtedness. This surely is a condition to be desired by every institution connected with this movement.

Nothing else brings such thralldom and depression as does indebtedness, both to individuals and to institutions. We do not believe that the Lord wants us to labor under this heavy burden. He desires his children to be free,—free from the worry and embarrassment which such obligation brings: free to devote their full energies to the prosecution of the work: free to devote the earnings of the institutions to the furtherance of their aims. This is the determined purpose of those connected with the Madison Sanitarium, and we hope is the purpose now possessing the managers of every institution in this denomination.

We were pleased to meet here Elder L. E. Wellman, who is acting as chaplain of the sanitarium. The guests showed a commendable interest in the religious exercises of the institution, and the Lord is blessing Brother Wellman’s work to their good.

It was gratifying to learn that the Madison Sanitarium has the hearty and united support of the Wisconsin Conference. Without such support it is difficult for any institution to succeed. The Lord can bless poor plans carried forward by a united effort, while the best plans which can be laid fail if there is division and lack of harmony. We earnestly hope that our people throughout the Wisconsin Conference will do all in their power to assist this worthy enterprise by recommending it to their friends and neighbors, and by upholding in their prayers the hands of the institutional workers.

There is no class of workers in this denomination today who have greater need of help than do those who day after day are shut up within four walls, whose work in the very nature of the case tends toward a monotonous routine. Such work is not only wearing on one’s nerves, but he must also have a constant supply of spiritual grace to enable him to maintain a fresh, living experience. It is one thing to go out and circulate our literature and labor from house to house in the ministry, receiving the encouragement which such work brings, and quite another thing to deal with nervous, irritable patients and listen day after day to their tale of woe and sorrow and suffering.

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The Madison Sanitarium

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Let our sanitarium workers everywhere be remembered by our brethren and sisters.

It was our privilege during our visit at Madison to spend three days at the Wisconsin camp meeting, which had convened at this place, and to speak to our brethren and sisters three times during our stay. We found this year the same earnest spirit to seek God which was present on the encampment last year at Stevens Point. The Lord blessed abundantly during the early part of the meeting, and we were pleased to learn that in the closing days even more abundant showers of blessing descended upon the worshipers. May God bless the work of our brethren and sisters in the great State of Wisconsin. F. M. W.