The husk mattrasses used on the beds were made by the boys. There are 3 paid assistants in the house and 2 upon the farm. Much of the comfort of the household is due to the wife of the director, who adds good housewifery to complete and perfect its arrangements. The orphanage is about half a mile from the highway, the drive to the house is bordered with cherry trees and affords a view of the New York Infant Asylum, near by. The surroundings are all of a pleasant character. fences and seats are of boys' handiwork. The rustic The farm affords an abundance of fruit and vegetables for table use. The industrial education is an important feature of the institution. Boys are instructed in all varieties of farm work, and gardening, etc. Girls in knitting, sewing, housework and other womanly employ ments. The cemetery is in a cleared spot, prepared in the deep wood, and has in it three graves made within 14 years, the last, that of a descendant of Zwingle, being a recent interment, and the grave still decorated with fresh flowers. Board of managers in behalf of the Deaconess Institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church-Rev. Dr. Passavant, D. D., Mr. F. Schack, Rev. W. Berkemeier, Rev. G. C. Holls. A board of 25 visitors and an executive committee of eight. The Dorcas Society of Peekskill is not incorporated, but has for 15 years accomplished much good work, and is worthy of being included among the charities of the district. Charity organizations, Temperance societies and Young Men's Christian associations each in their own sphere, performing much labor in the cause of charity, and contributing their part in aid of charitable work, are established in many of the villages and cities. Respectfully submitted, " SARAH M. CARPENTER, Commissioner, Second Judicial District. POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y., November 9, 1880. NOTE. The following resolution was adopted by the State Board of Charities, January 13, 1881: Resolved That in the opinion of this Board the establishment of homes under county care for dependent children is opposed to the spirit and reason of chapter 173 of the Laws of 1875, and chapter 404 of the Laws of 1878. REPORT UPON THE CONDITION AND NEEDS OF THE INSANE OF NEW YORK CITY. BY MRS. C. R. LOWELL, COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES. REPORT. To the State Board of Charities: The care of the insane continues to be the subject which requires the most thought and study in that part of the Department of Public Charities and Correction which comes under the supervision of the State Board of Charities simply because it may be said to be the one which receives the least. The proper treatment of the sick is, of course, beyond this in importance, but that subject has the benefit of the consideration of many of the most experienced physicians of the city; the hospitals have the service of trained nurses and the advantage of constant visits from outside organizations who interest themselves in the moral and physical welfare of the patients, and the patients are persons who can speak for themselves and make known their wants and sufferings. With a population of about 3,600, the five hospitals, Bellevue (with its branches), Charity, Homoeopathic, Randall's and Hart's Island Hospitals, have the services of 118 medical men, and the average per capita cost per day for all expenses in these hospitals in the year 1880, was about thirty cents, this being exclusive of any salary to the large number of medical men who serve for the advantage they gain in opportunities to learn and teach. The lunatic asylums, with a population of 3,000, have 37 physicians, and the per capita daily cost for care of insane was not quite twentysix cents. After the want of a system whereby the responsibility for the good management of the institution may be fixed upon the superintendent, which can only be obtained by giving him the right to nominate all his subordinates and to dismiss them for infraction of rules, neglect of duty, incompetence, etc., the second great evil is the need of experienced and adequately paid physicians as assistants, and of trained attendants; the third and almost equally important disadvantage is the overcrowding and want of suitable buildings. This latter need can never be supplied until provision is made elsewhere for a portion of the insane of New York city. There is absolutely not land enough on the islands under the control of the Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction for any new buildings, and the proposition to add a new wing to the Ward's Island Asylum at an expense of $100,000, is, in my opinion, most unwise. Even were all the new buildings now in contemplation by the Commissioners, and for which they have received the appropriations, ready, the very largest number that could be accommodated in them would be 500 patients, while the surplus, without adequate provision, would still be about 500. The probability is, however, that it will be a year or two, judging by the time employed to put up similar structures by the department, before either the second. wing of the Ward's Island Asylum or the fourth pavilion on Hart's Island is finished, and by that time the usual yearly increase of the insane will have brought the surplus number up to 700 or more, and the condition of affairs will be about what it is now. And even were there land enough for new buildings, the number of inmates in each of the asylums is already too large for one superintendent to take charge of. The true policy is for the city to secure a sufficient quantity of land to provide a farm for an insane asylum. The following extracts show some of the advantages which might be hoped for if a farm, with many homelike buildings on it, were secured. [Extract from Report of Trustees of Willard Asylum, for year 1879.] * * * "We invite attention to the products of the farm connected with and belonging to the asylum. There are 792 acres embraced in the farm; of this it is safe to say that 250 acres are unproductive, being occupied as lawns about the various buildings, in roads and walks, or are covered with forests and broken into ravines. The products of what is left, subject to cultivation or in meadows and pastures, from a statement made up with care, based upon the market prices of the locality, amounted to a valuation of $29,969.01. A considerable amount of the labor in the cultivation of the farm and garden has been performed by the insane. It is not attempted, except by moral influences, to enforce labor from patients, but many prefer to work. All those who do work are unquestionably benefited. Of course, they cannot work like intelligent, sane persons, nor are they required to perform difficult or severe labor. It will be seen that the value of the productions of the land is largely in excess of the interest on the land investment. The land does more - it gives healthful and necessary exercise to those in custody here." 66 * [From an article in Archives of Medicine, April 1, 1880.] * * "Dr. Clouston, of Edinburgh, has lately prepared an elaborate plan for the Massachusetts Board of Health, which embodies the views of an experienced alienist of acknowledged ability. From the considerations offered in support of his plan I select a single paragraph, that it may be seen whether a system of pavilions must necessarily fail to meet the wants of a governmental system: "It should be remembered in constructing and furnishing an asylum, that the chief things of which insane patients treated in asylums complain are: a, removal from home; b, being locked up; c, want of employment for which they are paid and in which they take an interest; d, control by attendants; e, monotony of life; f, association with lunatics,' meaning thereby fellow patients worse in some respects than they are. follows that in constructing and furnishing the buildings of an asylum, and arranging its various parts, great care should be taken to provide for liberty, domesticity, classification, employment, amusement and social intercourse between those who will enjoy it. Opportunities must be given for the creation of an artificial home-life, as nearly like the natural as possible." And again," variety in the shape, size and aspect It |