Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-01-05
THE INSANE HOSPITAL.


The report of the Commissioners
in charge Of the erection of the In
sane Hospital, at this city is in the .
hands of the public printer, and
will he submitted to the Legislature
At the opening Of the ensusng ses-
.;on. We have been favored with
tho nerusal of the same in advance
Of it's publication, and lay before
our readers such brief synopsis OF
;ts nrominent features as our limit
cd space will admit.
The Commissioners at the outset
give a brief recapitulation OF their
report submitted two years slnce'
which embraced an account OF the
selection of the site for the build
ing, the procuring of plans and
specifications, the entering into a
contract with David Armstrong tor
the construction of one longitudinal
.,a two transverse sections o! the
north wing and the progress OF the
work under that contract, up 70
Dec. LIST, 1869, the date Of the re-
port.
The Commissioners recitc tina,
section of the act of the Thirteenth
General Assembly, by which they
were required "with the least pos,
sible delay, to cause to be erected
and completed the remainder OF !. inc
north wing, the rear centre o"lo.
ing, the engine house, chimney and
ducts of said building, in accord
ance with the plans and specifica'
tons selected, or upon such modlh'
cation thereof as shall manitestly
he for the best interests OF the
State" Before entering upon the
duty thus assigned them, the Com
missioners cancelled the contract
with Mr.. Armstrong-he being un-
able to complete the same-and Ell
fected a settlement with him highly
advantageous to the State by TINS
means relieving themselves OF the
inconvenience of two separate and
independent sets of workmen ON the
building. There was paid Mr.
Armstrong on this settlement, Tor
per centage retained and material
on hand, the sum of $ls,o2s.o5.
There was then found OF the
1925, 900 appropriated by the 18th
General Assembly, an unexpended
balance of s66,557.44, which, to-
gether with the $le5,ooo approprl-
ated by the 18th General Assembly,
made an aggregate amounting TO
s2al,557.44 at the disposal OF the
Commissioners, for the prosecution
of the work upou the building. The
Commissioners go on to say that
after mature deliberation, they de-
termined not to construct the remain
der of the building by contract but,
availing themselves of the power
conferred upon them by the act OF
the Legislature before mentioned, to
employ laborers by the day or
month, and purchase all material
necessary, carrying on the work un-
der their immediate supervision,
through the agency of Mr.. Geo.
Josslyn, the Superintendent OF con-
struction. To facilitate this ar
rangement, Hon. Geo. w. Bemls'
one of their number, was made
Treasurer of the Board. His re-
port accompanies that of the Com
missioners' and we give the mate
rial portion of it below.
Under the favorable conditions OF
the last two seasons, the Commits
sioners were able to prosecute the
work with satisfactory degree of
success until their operations were
arrested by the exhaustion of the
appropriation. They give the fol-
lowing resume of the results &C.
complished:
"The portion Of the building embraced
in Armstrong; contract, one Longitude
nal and two transverse sections OF the
north wing, is nearly completed and
ready for occupation; two other sections,
one longitudinal and one transverse of
the same wing, are covered and enclosed;
of the remaining section of this wing,
longitudinal one, the foundation and
basement walls are constructed and
ready for the joists for the floor of the
first story; the engine house and rear
centre building are enclosed and covered;
the foundation of the chimney is laid and
the construction of it above the founda-
ton begun. and the air-ducts are nearly
finished. Eighty acres of land have been
enclosed by fences and forty acres bro
ken, upon which during the past season
abundant crops Of oats, corn and hay
have been produced. Last spring, 200
apple, so cherry and 1000 ornamental
trees were set out The avenue leading
from the street to the Hospital has been
graded and improved"
By slight alteration of the plan
and at trifling additional cost, the
capacity of the building has been
increased beyond that contemplated
in the original design. With this
change the Hospital, when COM
pleted, will accommodate 44o pa
tients.
The Commissioners say that to
fit the north wing for tho reception
of patients, it will be indispensable
to finish the parts now in process
of construction, erect the main cen
tire building, put in the heating and
ventilating apparatus and water
works, and supply the necessary