Extensive repairs are needed in the building formerly used for laundry purposes. The floors of the main building and wings require renewal in several places, and the oven in the bakery will have to be replaced. The roofs will also need considerable attention. The above sum is the smallest amount, in my judgment, that will be sufficient to keep the buildings and machinery of the institution in proper repairs. For the improvement of grounds, the sum of $500 per annum will be needed. For the purchase of the forty acres of ground to which previous reference has been made, the sum of $6,000 will be required. For the erection of a hospital building, the sum of $7,500 is as low as a substantial building, in keeping with the main building, can be built for. ORDINARY EXPENSES. During the coming two years it is expected that the average number of inmates will exceed 325; at the date of this report we have already 317. Accepting the estimate of the State Board of Charities of $200 per capita, we have, as the annual appropriation, required— Three hundred and twenty-five inmates, at $200 per capita. $65,000 Less estimated receipts from reimbursements on account of clothing and sale of stock, etc. Annual ordinary ex. app..... ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 6,500 $58,500 On behalf of our children, I desire to thank the many friends of the institution who contributed in various ways to the Christmas entertainment of last year. We are also indebted to friends for newspapers, books and pictures sent to the children. And to the officials of the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company for courtesies rendered the officers of the institution. In closing this report I desire to express my sense of obligation to the officers and employés of the institution for their efficient cooperation and cheerful performance of duties during the past year. My grateful acknowledgments are also due to the members of the Board of Trustees for their kindly counsel and manifestations of confidence and regard. The future of our work we commend to the kind Providence which has watched over it in the past, and to the warm hearts of the people of this great State. Respectfully submitted, WM. B. FISH, M. D. CONCERNING THE ILLINOIS INFORMATION ASYLUM FOR FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN, AND METHOD OF ADMISSION. The Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children was established in 1865, and is one of the permanent charitable institutions of the State. It is located at Lincoln, Logan county, and is accessible by the Chicago and Alton, Peoria, Decatur and Evansville Railroads, and the Havana and Sidney division of the Wabash Railroad. The object of the institution is to furnish such training and education to the feeble-minded children of the State as they are capable of receiving, and to fit them so far as possible for future useful ness. Children between the age of eight and eighteen who are feeble minded, or so deficient as to be incapable of being educated at an ordinary school, and who are not epileptic, insane, paralyzed, extremely helpless, or afflicted with contagious disease, may be admitted, upon receiving certificate of admission from the Superintendent. Children from Illinois are supported free of charge; board, tuition and washing are furnished by the State. Applications from Illinois are SO numerous that children from other States can not be admitted. All children will be received upon trial, and will be expected to come to the institution provided with a supply of neat and substantial clothing. A bond will be required in all cases (excepting children who are county charges) with sureties, to insure the removal of the child when required by the Superintendent, free of charge to the institution, its officers or agent, and to provide comfortable and suitable clothing, or to pay for such as may be furnished by the institution during the continuance of the child in its care. This bond should be accompanied by a certificate of the county clerk that the sureties are responsible. The following act in relation to indigent cases was passed by the General Assembly in April, 1875: "In all cases where persons sent to the Institution for the Blind, the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, or the Institution for Feeble-Minded Children, are too poor to furnish themselves with sufficient clothing, and pay the expense of transportation to and from the institution, the judge of the county court of the county where any such person resides, upon the application of any relative or friend of such person, or of any officer of his town or county, (ten days' notice of which application shall be given to the county clerk) may, if he shall deem such person to be a proper subject for the care of either of said institutions, make an order to that effect, which shall be certified by the clerk of the Circuit Court, to the Principal or Superintendent of such institution, who shall provide the necessary clothing and transportation at the expense of the county, and upon his rendering his proper accounts semi-annually, the county board shall allow and pay the same out of the county treasury." Parties making application for the admission of children to the institution, will be provided with application blanks, which are to be filled out and returned to the Superintendent. Printed blanks of the bond, and the certificates of the county clerk, can be had free of charge upon application to the Superintendent. Any further information regarding the institution may be obtained by addressing the Superintendent. Logan County. WM. B. FISH, M. D. Lincoln, Ill. |