STANNINGTON CHILDREN'S SANATORIUM
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] "The first open-air Sanatorium for children ever set up in this country, at Stannington, fourteen miles north of liewcastle—and recently extended, though I think it should be abandoned—on a cruelly cold and bitter and humid coast, perfectly illustrates the blind folly with which we have conducted this matter hitherto."— CRUSADER, in the issue of the Spectator of June 19th.
SIR,—Coeur de Lion, the typical Crusader, was perfectly willing to sell anything—even London—" if he could find a purchaser rich enough," and your " Crusader" would ap- parently go one better, for he proposes apparently not merely to sell, but to scrap the Stannington Sanatorium for con- sumptive children. I am reminded of Bishop Creighton's mot : "No people do so much harm as those who go about doing good."
The Stannington Sanatorium is acknowledged to be one of the most up-to-date and best-equipped institutions in Great Britain, and the most economically run, for so much service is given voluntarily. The Boys' Farm Colony—another branch
of the work of the same admirable Association*—adjoins it, so that pure milk, &c., is supplied at net cost.
Even supposing it were desirable to transplant the whole Institution to the south coast, how could this possibly be done ? Where would the funds come from ? As a late Home Secretary (the first Viscount Ridley) said : "This is not a
mere charity ; it is a national asset."—I am, Sir, &C.,
HOWARD PEASE
(Hon. Treas. Stannington Children's Sanatorium, &c.).
Otterburn Tower, Northumberland.
" MEDICO " writes : "My attention has been drawn to a paragraph in an article entitled 'Sunlight Records' by ' Crusader ' in the Spectator of June 19th. In this the writer indicates the southern coast as the best situation for open
air Sanatoria, and especially makes biting reference to Stann- ington Sanatorium for tuberculous children. Your readers
will know how to judge of the statements of one who character- izes as 'blind folly' the benign effort which seventeen years
ago led to the creation of one of the most beneficent and health giving Institutions among Hospitals, an Institution which has earned the countless blessings of the parents of the thousands of children who have passed through its portals to sound health. The Report for the last year shows the disease to have been arrested in 89.5 per cent, of the children dis- charged, and this is all the more impressive as many of the children who came were in an advanced state of the disease. One cannot go into the complicated subject of climate, and it is really not necessary, for the proof of the pudding is the
* The official title is " The Poor Children's Holiday Association and Rescue Agency, Newcastle-on-Tyne."
eating of it. No climate is suitable for all eases, and no climate is ideal all the year round. Davos, probably the most specific climate in the world, is almost empty during the summer months, as a glance at the visitors' list will show. For all practical purposes the north-east coast suits the North Country child best for the greater part of the year."
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