General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

A VISIT TO THE SANITARIUM

[MRS. E. H. WHITNEY has kindly furnished the following account of a very pleasant evening at the Sanitarium. The BULLETIN was not there, but believes the report.] GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.5

The delegates in attendance at the General Conference were invited to visit the Sanitarium, evening after the Sabbath, and responded in numbers sufficient to fill the large gymnasium. Dr. Kellogg and his corps of assistants, physicians and nurses, met them at 7:30, and a program was carried out which kept the assembled company interested till a late hour in the evening. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.6

The program was opened with prayer by the chaplain of the Institution, Elder McCoy. After interesting remarks by Dr. Kellogg, the company was dispatched in groups of thirty or forty, under the guidance of the physicians and nurses, to visit the different departments of the Institution; and while these were forming and passing out at intervals of three to five minutes, those still waiting were entertained by practical instructions and illustrations of what to do in emergencies. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.7

The companies as they left the gymnasium were taken first to the mechanical Swedish room, where all the movements necessary to stir up the dormant energies of the body are administered by machinery. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.8

From this room a tunnel leads underground to the conservatory, and through this the guests were led. A step beyond is the bakery, where during 1894, 100,000 loaves of bread, 160,000 lbs. of crackers, and 150,000 lbs. of granola were manufactured, besides a variety of other foods. Nearly all the work in the bakery is done by machinery, which runs night and day six days in the week. Sample packages of various foods were given to the delegates as they passed through. [To be carried with them.] GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.9

The laundry was the next point, where the work of the large family of 600 is done. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.10

The power house, with eight boilers, each sixty-five horse power, six of which are in constant use, and the dynamos which furnish the light for all the premises came next. Then the creamery, where twelve bbls. of milk are daily sterilized for the table or made into sterilized butter, etc. The Nurses’ Dormitory was the next objective point; it is a four-story building with 120 rooms, occupied by the lady nurses. Here the kitchen, dining-room, chapel, dress department, and the second-floor were inspected. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.11

The next call was made at the hygienic laboratory where the chemical examinations are made of the different fluids of the body, in the effort to detect the causes of and remedy for sickness. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.12

The Hospital was next visited, from the operating room in the fifth floor, where a surgical operation in pantomime was being carried on with a full relay of surgeons, assistants, and nurses, down through the wards, the editorial, recording and business offices, ending at the new cooking-school rooms in the basement. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.13

At this point in the program, teams were waiting to carry the visitors to Dr. Kellogg’s residence where they visited the museum of missionary curiosities and had an opportunity to see a Sloyd class in practice. A glimpse into the literary workshop of the doctor and his worthy wife, and a cup of “digestive coffee,” and then the return trip to the Sanitarium. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.14

The bath rooms were now opened for inspection, and by utilizing some of the nurses as patients, a full line of treatments was apparently going on. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.15

The consulting and treatment offices were next inspected and the audience returned to the gymnasium, where a lecture on dress, illustrated by the stereoptican, was the concluding feature of the evening. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.16

Many expressions of appreciation by the guests were heard of the Sanitarium and the work which it is doing. To those who had never visited it, it was a revelation, and its development was a surprise to many who had known of it in the earlier years of its existence but who had not kept up with its growth. GCB February 25, 1895, page 342.17