10 ADOBE, BRICK & STEEL
Adobe Hospital
Sutter had established an isolation ward for typhoid patients, but more space had to be found for the desperately ill, so the Brannan store in an old adobe building near the fort was made into a hospital on August 4,1849.7 It was run until 1850 by a Dr. Cragin of Washington, D.C., and a Mr. Abell. A private room cost $16 a day and the ward $10 a day. Surgery was extra. This adobe hospital was also advertised in the San Francisco Alta California for August 4,1849. The publication stated that it had been "thoroughly refitted,” was "spacious, cool, well ventilated,” and contained “a well of most excellent water, lately found on the premises. Good nurses and atten dants and a good cook will be provided,” and "no sick man [sic] will be refused admission because destitute of money.” Dr. Cragin also offered "Drugs and Medicines,” including lime juice (as a prevention for scurvy), in his advertisement.9 The Placer Times described the hospital as "Large, cool, and airy, apart from the noise, dust, and bustle of the city and road, and few, if any, mosquitoes to annoy. The very entrance into the establishment where every attention and conve nience is to be had, is enough to check the disease of an invalid.”9 This building had been erected in the fall of 1845, was of one-story, and measured approximately 30 by 100 feet. It was divided into roughly 14 compartments with a central hallway. As described in The Early Inns of California, 1844-69, it was located:
