KNOWING that the readers of the REVIEW are interested in every branch of the work of the third angel's message, and hail with pleasure reports of advance in each part of the great harvest field, the writer thought well to give a brief description of the Fairview Sanitarium, recently opened at Asheville, N. C. The Northern States have had the advantages of well-equipped sanitariums for a long time, and a string of our sanitariums, extending from Massachusetts to California, has provided the people with abundant opportunity to avail themselves, when sick, of the benefits to be derived at these places. But the Southern States have been sadly neglected, and until quite recently entirely unprovided with such opportunity. While for years our splendid sanitariums here and there throughout the North have been as beacon lights to guide the people in the way of healthful living, a generous, noble, and appreciative people in the wide South land have been groping in the dark, languishing for lack of that which it was our duty to give.
To supply in some measure the need for sanitariums in the South, conducted in accordance with the principles which we as a people hold dear, a small institution has been opened in the suburbs of Asheville, the beautiful mountain city of western North Carolina. This sanitarium, called Fairview Sanitarium because of the extensive and delightful view of mountain and valley which its position commands, is built among the pines on the sunny slope of hills overlooking the city, and is a quiet, homelike place. The rooms are large and well ventilated. They are heated with pure, warm air from furnace and open fires, and are lighted with electricity. The suburban location gives pure air, and freedom from dust, noise, and the germs of disease. Copious mountain springs, high above the sanitarium, furnish the place with an abundant supply of purest mountain water.
It is hoped that the beautiful surroundings and the pure, invigorating air of the region, together with correct habits of living and rational measures of treatment, may be the means in the hands of God-fearing workers, of bringing many a weary, disease-burdened soul in closer harmony with the Creator, who giveth life and breath to all creatures. It is the purpose of the management that the sanitarium shall be educational in character, and that all possible shall be done to promulgate the principles of healthful living, not only among the patients who visit the institution, but also among the inhabitants of the hill country round about, to the end that man may be happier and God more honored.
On account of the excellent climate of western North Carolina, thousands of health seekers visit the region every year. They find accommodations at numerous hotels and boarding houses, where but little or no attention is given to matters of hygiene as related to diet, and they are attended by physicians who resort largely to the use of drugs. It is the purpose of the Fairview Sanitarium to provide a thoroughly hygienic diet for its patrons, and to use the same rational measures of treatment that are so successfully employed at Battle Creek.
THE FAIRVIEW SANITARIUM
Nurses from the Battle Creek Sanitarium have charge of well-equipped treatment rooms in Asheville, and will co-operate with the sanitarium for the upbuilding of the work.
The training of other nurses has already been entered upon, and the wide-awake class is receiving daily instruction. One sturdy young man, a native of Carolina who has consecrated his life to medical missionary service, has taken hold of the work with a zeal not surpassed in our Northern sanitariums. An intelligent colored sister has eagerly improved her opportunity to become acquainted with hygienic cookery.
The institution has the good will of the people of Asheville, and of the medical fraternity. There is abundant evidence that the Lord has opened the way for the work, and it is hoped that those connected with it may relate themselves to him in such a way that his blessing may attend their efforts.
Dr. Geo. P. Edwards, who was formerly connected with the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and who spent several years in India with Dr. Place and Elder Robinson, is in charge of the new sanitarium.
