CHAPTER XXX. NAVY AND MARINE HOSPITALS.

 1. These institutions are still more important for sailors than for soldiers; as the sailor is more likely to have lost his adaptation to any kind of business on land, and to lose sight of family relations by reason of his long absences to foreign regions. The government very early took this subject in hand and made ample, and extremely comfortable, provision for disabled seamen¹ belonging to its navy.

2. In 1811 an act was passed to establish navy hospitals, for the exclusive use of such seamen as belonged to the navy. This new institution was at first placed under the management of a board of commissioners² known as the commissioners of navy hospitals. This commission consisted of the Secretaries of the Navy, Treasury³, and War. But in 1832 this was changed, and the Secretary of the Navy was made sole trustee of the navy hospital fund, which was made up of $50,000 appropriated by Congress for that purpose, together with twenty cents per month collected from seamen belonging to the navy, and the fines imposed on navy officers, seamen, and marines.

The commissioners were authorized⁵ to purchase or erect⁶ suitable buildings for navy hospitals.

THE MARINE⁴ HOSPITALS.

 

3. These are located near important seaports⁷. At these places seamen depart for, and arrive from their voyages, and are found in the greatest numbers; and here the funds for the support of the marine hospitals are collected, as is the tonnage on ships, viz.: by the collectors of the ports. For this purpose the law authorizes⁸ the collectors of customs to demand and receive the sum of twenty cents per month from the wages of every sailor; and every master of a vessel⁹ is obliged to render to the collector an accurate account of the number of seamen[319] on board his vessel, and of the time they have been employed by him, since his last entry into any port of the United States. These twenty cents the captain must pay the collector, but he is allowed to deduct¹⁰ it from each seaman’s wages. In this manner the funds for the building, furnishing, and support of the marine hospitals are raised. The collectors of the ports pay them into the United States Treasury, and the Treasurer¹¹ disburses¹² them to the directors of the hospitals as they are needed. The directors are appointed by the President. They appropriate the funds, and have the general direction and management of the institutions.

4. These provisions are contained in an act entitled, “An act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen,” passed in 1798. Seamen, whether in the merchant service or in the naval¹³ service of the United States, were indiscriminately taxed for the support of these hospitals; and both have the same rights, privileges and benefits in them. The money thus collected from seamen is called “hospital money,” and the fund is denominated “the marine hospital fund.” In 1864 there were 24 marine hospitals in the United States.

1 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

2 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

6 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

7 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

8 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

9 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

10 deduct   

vt.扣除，减去

参考例句：

• You can deduct the twenty - five cents out of my allowance.你可在我的零用钱里扣去二角五分钱。
• On condition of your signing this contract,I will deduct a percentage.如果你在这份合同上签字，我就会给你减免一个百分比。

11 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

12 disburses   

v.支出，付出( disburse的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Upon SBA approval, the lending institution closes the loan and disburses the funds. 收到SBA的认可之后，放贷机构就会关闭此放贷申请并支付贷款。 来自互联网

13 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。