Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1866-02-27
Report of the superintendent.

6eatlt,,tsn If khs Boayd of Humanitarian n
LAG ,LQuis&ana ,LqSt7tution tar tie Deaf,
Du,hb and mimi:
+ have the honor Of submitting to you q
briat report Of the history of this Institn-
ton since the last published report was
made in 1861, nearly five years ago. 6..
Not long after that period, the unsettled
condition Of tho. country, resulting from
the war,, caused large portion Of the pa
rentSio withdraw their children from the
tnstSation. Aud the exhaustion Of our
funds required the Board of Administra-
tors to dispense with the services OF all
teachers and employees whose employ
nenL was not considered Indispensable to
the ihtefeBts OF the Institution.
For few months, Mr., Pike generously
advanced ms money uut Of his own private
funds. And for several months tho Insti-
tuition was supported nearly entirely from
the proceeds Of the sales from our brush
md broom shop, carried on by oar blind
young men, and from the sales Of vegeta-
bles, cakes, &c, by our mute boys.
Early in 1868, General Anger granted
rationB to the Institution, which have con-
tinued to be supplied up to the present
time.
In 1862, wing of our building was ia
ken for the use OF the Seventh Vermont
Regiment, large number of whom had
been takon sick in the swamps opposite
Vioksbnrg.1 The Federal forces having
vacated this place shortly after, the sick
were withdrawn from our building. Soon
after the second occupation Of Baton
Rouge. portion of our building was ag ain
occupied, January, 1863, for hospital pur-
poses, and necessity has obliged the au-
thorities to enlarge their hospital arrange
ments, till the creator portion Of the build
ing has been applied to hospital purposes.
During all this period, though the regu-
lar exercises Of the school were necessarily
interrupted, yet, from time to time, the
pupils were receiving such instruction IA
our circumstances permitted. Our blind
young ladies made most crcditablo advan-
ces IN their musical attatnments, and our
mute young ladies attaided II more than
ordinary skill in cutting and sewing
dresses and other clothing, and in other
dom ostic plighments, while the other
pupils received such instruction in school
as circumstances permitted.
We en- brRced The first opportunity that
presented for the reorganization of the
school, and presented report of the con
dition and wants Of the Institution,
through Governor Hahn, to the Legisla-
ture of 1864. The passage Of bill appro-
priating $4,000, was secured by our Rep
resentatives. Your Board having been
appointed, such measures have been taken
TO bring the Institution into good working
condition IA the exhausted condition OF
the State Treasury permitted.
1t having been reported that the Mississ-
ipp Institution for Mutes had been burned
during the course Of the war, that the pros
pect of uniting the two States in one insti
tuition was favorable, your Board promptly |
authorized me to proceed to Mississippi, |
while It's Legislature was in session, and |
there make an arrangement for so desira- |
bic union. I was successful in III aking |
the arrangement. The Legislature of Mis- |
sissippi authorized the Board Of Trustees |
Of the Mississippi Institution to make pro- |
vision for the education of mute pupils in |
any Southern State. They accordingly |
selected Baton Rouge, Louisiana, az the |
point, and, in written agreement, stIpu
lated that this State should receive, take |
care Of, and educate her mutes, at the rate
of $3.50 per pupil. In brief trip through |
that State, ! succeeded in bringing in
eleven of the most promising mutes OF the
State, aud also circulated notices, which
have reaehedsmost of the parents of that
clnss am happy to state that the pupils |
who have arrived are much pleased with
our Institution, and are sending off such
fattering accounts as will aeeure the early
attendance oftheir oldschoolmates. There
is reason to hope that, if prompt measures
are taken, the States of Alabama and Ar
kansas might be induced to come into the
same arrangement, during the session Of
their present Legislatures; and that num-
Der, in proportion to the extent and mag
nifcence ofour buildings, may be gathered
together, and an institution of which the
South would be Justly proud, built up.
A few weeks since, DR.. Sheldon, by order
of General Candy, came up, and after
thorough inspection, in spirit of great