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OF THE

SPECIAL COMMITTEE

OF THE

NINETEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OF THE

STATE OF IOWA,

APPOINTED TO VISIT THE

ASYLUM FOR FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN

LOCATED AT

GLENWOOD.

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

DES MOINES:

F. M. MILLS, STATE PRINTER.

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REPORT.

To the Nineteenth General Assembly:

YOUR Committee appointed to visit the Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children, present the following report:

On the 30th and 31st ultimo we visited the above named institution and made as careful an examination of the buildings, grounds, accounts and general management of the same as time would permit, giving attention to the questions we were required to answer by concurrent resolution of this General Assembly.

We found that, in the opinion of your committee, the appropria- . tions have been wisely and economically expended.

The following table shows the names of all persons employed, the kind of service they severally perform, and the price paid each per month. All of these persons have their board, fuel, lights and washing at the expense of the State. A child of the Superintendent, about four years old, also boards in the institution. Aside from this child, no one not in the employ of the institution is receiving anything, excepting those for whose benefit the institution is maintained.

OFFCERS AND EMPLOYES OF THE IOWA ASYLUM FOR FEEBLE-MINDED

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15.00 per month.

Attendant

15.00 per month.

Night watch.

20.00 per month.

General work

20.00 per month.

Engineer.

30.00 per month.

House fireman

18.00 per month.

Carpenter..

18.00 per month.

Stable and outside man

20.00 per month.

12.00 per month.

15.00 per month.

12.00 per month.

18.00 per month.

15.00 per month.

12.00 per month.

Seamstress.

15.00 per month.

Night watch.

Cook
Ironer
Launderer

......

Seamstress.

Seamstress

These officers and employes all receive board, lights, fuel and such rooms as the asylum affords. They receive nothing else at the expense of the State.

Your committee feel that there is a great work being done by those in the employ of the State at this hospital, each teacher and attendant vieing with the Superintendent and Matron in the work of qualifying, as nearly as possibe, the unfortunate under their care for the battle of life, after reaching that age at which the more fortunate enter the arena of profitable existence.

There is little doubt in our minds that if the State is not too illiberal with this institution it can, in a very few years, be made almost selfsustaining and self-supporting.

One thing, however, is assured in our minds: The facilities for the improvement and accommodation of the children that could be profitably and rapidly made are inadequate.

The children are necessarily crowded almost to the endangerment of health, both in the school-room, at the dining tables, and in the sleeping chambers. These things are caused by a lack of room in each department, and cannot be avoided by the Superintendent, Matron, teachers or attendants, although they do all they can for the comfort of the waifs under their charge.

The above facts bring us to the consideration that more land should be procured, which has been offered the State at a very reasonable figure, and the erection of a separate building for school-rooms, gymnasium exercises and chapel, the present buildings to be used for dining-rooms,

sleeping apartments, and such other purposes as the Trustees may deem necessary.

We cheerfully admit the fact that a farm should be used in connection with the institute, but the pressing necessity for a building and other improvements necessary to the comfort, for which it was founded, and the appeals of other State institutions of equal merit, require us to forego the request of the Superintendent asking for an appropriation for this purpose, although in our judgment it would be a profitable investment for the State, and a great benefit to the male portion of the patients.

We have therefore concluded to request the purchase of twenty-four (24) acres additional, which will make forty acres owned by the State for this Asylum.

On this forty acres about all the vegetables used by the inmates can be raised, a small corral for the cows set off, and a proper road graded leading from the buildings to the nearest public street. It will also furnish a play-ground for the children, of which they are now deprived.

Pure water and cleanliness should always be considered in institutions of this character. The latter cannot possibly be expected without the former; yet we have no complaints to make, from the fact that the water now used is taken from a well the bottom of which is on a level with the Missouri River, and the quicksand frequently obstructs the pipe.

Near the institute is a stream of pure, never-failing water, and from it good water, and an abundant supply, with the aid of an engine, can be procured and forced into a large tank erected for the purpose, adjacent to the main buildings.

We would therefore recommend the amount set forth in the exhibit for this purpose.

A large out-oven, to be used for baking the bread consumed by the inmates, as well as roasting meats, is badly needed, as the profits now paid for bread purchased of a baker, of which they use about four hundred pounds per day, is sufficient to pay the first cost of such an oven within one year after its completion. A new range is also needed in the kitchen, the present one being rendered almost useless by the recent explosion of one of the water-pipes leading into the reservoir.

Your committee would therefore recommend the requests made for these purposes in the schedule to be found on another page of this report.

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