Daily national Democrat., 1860-12-27
9allp NationaI 1entutrat
ANIMAL Report of the Trustees of the
State Reform School.

submit. the following report:
According to see. I'd of said Att, the under
signed were elected Trustees by the Leeisla
ture on the - day Of 1850 SIM,
which time, for the satisfaction of vour Ex.
cellency and for all whom it NAV concern w,
wish to give an account of the course nnr.
sued by usand the reasons therefor: also a
Financial Statement showing what disnosi-
uon we have made of the 100000 appronria.
ton ihede in said Act.
TheStirst thing of Importance that we wero
called upon to consider, was the adontion ot
flan and Specifications by said Act. This
we found was not a small task. The onlv
portion okthe Act that guided us in the above
considerations, was that part of sec. . of said
Act which says thea"Trustees shall be au-
thorized and Empowered to erect or cause to
he erected Building suitable for the accom-
modatioh@ of not less than eighty bows. and
foball necessary offices for Teachers and As
slstants" We found That we could not erect
n building of the above dimensions-with all
the necessary rooms for Workshops for the
boys, kitchen, etc, with that portion of the
appropriation which we could put in the
Building, say $25, ,0OO,-the balance of s, 5000
being necessary forsincidental expenses. We
therefore came to the conclusion that it was
not the intention of the Legislature that the
present appropriation should be used to finish
building that would cost lust $4,000 or
there abouts, as said sum would not finish
building of the size required by the Act. but
That they had in contemplation the COM
meneement of building that, when finished.
would answer the purposes for whichsa. IRE
i9rm School" was intended for years ID eome
Consequently, we adopted a Plan thatSwill.
wfeh hpished, accommodate some 200 bows
npd Valse have oil the room necessary for
teachersf ptficers and visitors, also workshops
for the D9Ys, and all other rooms required
about suclfa buildingA
The Building, if erected according to the
plan adopted, will be of N&ick, 2lS feet long
ny oil deep-with two wings, each stories
high. One of the wings is 43 by 81 feet
the other is $50 by ~ feet. Part of the main
building is tlese stories high, and part four
We have contracted with J. A. Steele to
put up the mainsbuilding and one of the
wings for the sum of $4,000. lie is to put
on the roof, put in the joists, put in all the
door and window frames the granite door
sllls, all partitions both of brick and stud
ding,-also all down pipe and water troughs
Tor conveying water from the building, and
Is to finish all the cornice both of brick and
wood,-alsO all anchors and irom work, &c.
&c, as required by the Plans and Specitica-
lions The contractor is to have the main
building, 2lS by 81 feet, done by the lst of
February, 1861 and the wing is to be done
by the lst of July. 1861. The contractor has
delivered on the ground one million of good
bricks and all the ioists for the building
The door and window frames are all done
ready to be set in the walls also the most of
the lime and sand has been delivered on the
ground to complete the first contract. The
operation of laying the brick would have
been commenced on the 18th of the present
month but for the rainy weather, but on that
account was delayed until the 24th.~ The
contractor has commenced the, brick work in
good earnest, and has sufficient force en-
ployed to lay some 10000 bricks per day,
and IT we have fair weather during the
month of January, he will get his first con-
tract done within contract time, viz :sthe lst
of February, 1861.
We now come to n portion of this report
which wadid hope we would not be called
upon to spenk of; but as there has been a
report put in circulation that the present To-
cation of the Reform School is not a healthy
one, we think It is our duty to give You a
full statement of all the facts in connection
herewith.
In the first place, the Legislature of 1859
appointed three Commissioners to select a
location somewhere in this State on which to
erect building for State Refocm School
Said Commissioners selected point on the
left bank of Feather river" in the county of
Yuba some six miles northerly of the city of
Marysville. The city of Marysvile on the
part of the State" purchased one hundred
acres of land including this point some time
last winter. The act passed on the 18th of
April, 1850, above referred to, which ap-
pointed the undersigned Trustees, required
them to put the building on said 100 acres of
land Now, it appears plain to us, that all
that We had to do was to make location at
some point on said land which we consider
ed the most available and we were satisfied
at the time that we did make the best loca-
tion that we could make within our bounda-
ries, and we are still satisfied of the same.
The land owned by the State extends some
3S degrees easterly from the river. The To-
cation that we have made for the building is
some 600 feet from the river. leaving only
about 800 feet that we could move the
building to the easterly and keep it within
our boundaries, giving room for sufficient
area east of the building. From the eastern
line Of land owned by the State to the
Marysville and Oroville road, is some thous-
and feet. The parties who object to our
present location, say that Il we would move
it out to said road, it would be more healthy
They do not consider that the State does not
own the land to the road, nor within 900
feet of it, or else they think we have the
power to put the building on any land we
may see proper.
We made the location in August last, and
then there was not one word said by any
person in regard to its being an unhealthy
ore until after the brick were all made (l00.-
O0O,) all the joists delivered on the ground,
the exca, ating done, and rs per cent. of the
whole paid for. Then came the hue and cry
that the location for the building was not
good one
We took the whole matter under consid-
eFation for several days; we took experience
ed men and physicians who have been prac-
aicing in this county for ten years, and they.
after examining the location and the sur
rounding country tell us, and give it as their
opinion that the location we havemade is 0s
healthy as any that we could make on the
land belonging to the State for, said they,
the building is so situated that the wind
from the North or from the South, which is
almost the constant wind in this part of the
eountrY, passes ever no ponds, marshes nor
any other cause of disease, consequently the
location in point of health is free from OBJ
aeetion when the wind is from either of those
din ectons, and in fact from any point of the
compass except from the West, which is a
rare exception, and then a wind that would
convey the masma from the river to the
building would carry it to any part OF the
land owned by the School. Consequently
from the above and other facts. we come 10
the conclusion not to move the material, but
TO build upon the first location, and in doing