The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-08-25
County AImshOuses in Maryland.


m Charles w. Chancellor, a member q
ba baltimore City Council, Secretary of tho
S,,te Board of HEALTH aud physician o
.,tpnsiye practice who was requested b,
Governor Carroll 10 visit and inspect "al
.lo,s institutions in the State, particularly
I'm reference to their sanitary conditions
me treatment Of the inmates, and the number
. n pouper insane who are confined therein at
H be public expense has discharged that
lgty and submitted his report to tho Gov
emOr.
In introducing his report, DIR. Chancel lor
avs .-lt is painful to report the shocking
condition in which many of the public institu.
,,,ns we're found, and il is difficult to con.
WE that anything worse ever existed in a
siized country. There are now, he saws,
yilbn the almshouses and jails of our State
aver FIVE hundred insane and idiotic people
In whom there exists no proper provision,
and who are utterly cast down and neglected,
n XII fed, and CHASTITY in their wretchedness.
The report first takes up the condition and
management of State institutions in the city
nd elsewhere. With one or two exceptions
NM House Of Refuge and Bayyiew Asylum.
mich are oycrcrowded, J the State institutions
are represented as well conducted and discip.
iped. and the Asylum for the Deafand Dumb,
ots,ed at Frederick, is pronounced "mon.
umen, Of public benefeence In the aims.
houses in some of the counties an entirely
j.ferent state of affairs exists, and DR.. Chan.
cellor report represents them to be disgust.
I'M, dens Of filth and immortality too shocking,
dssenng, and disgusting to contemplate.
IN Allegheny county almshouse the sane
.H 4 ..-.., sVnrn foHtaerttnt folv 4
without proper means of separating the sexes.
yos OF the insane were harmless. One
ellOred girl, an epileptic of feeble mind, had
three children with her, two of whom had
een born in the almshouse. The youngest,
an infant Of six months, was undoubtedly the
aha Of white man. In Anne Arundel
county the almshouse is an abode Of misery.
F The keepcr and his family are comfortably
siartercd on the first floor of the main build.
", while the white inmates dwell together
. y,lmiscuously ON the second floor. One in.
,lHe woman, about forty, had borne three
children in the house. These innocents had
tanaiely been sent to an orphan asylum.
there was not in any room of this almshouse
bed or pillow fit for use, and such as were
sai were disgustingly filthy. The negro
laTiers, If possible, were even worse than
hose occupied by the whites. Every room
sl,ina dirty condition, the beds filthy, with.
at sheets or pillows, and in several rooms no
a, The common Jail Of this county is as
hy and Objectionable as the almshouse, n
conscious association Of all classes existing.
10 the Baltimore county almshouso the male
Iartment was SO oyercrowded shat the
Jung room, bath rooms and even the water.
ot,s were used for lodging rooms, The
din this county is pronounced one OF the
# ~ constructed, best managed and cleanest
ihe State. With but two exceptions OF
.i,cts IN construction this is model prison.
The Caroline county almshousc is a mock.
q charity and nursery Of pollution, not
slightest attention being paid 10 the moral
n physical condition Of the pauper and insane
mates. Ono woman was the mother Of
b children and another of six, all said to
ilJe been born within the almshouse. IL
cOloTed department should be compared
hlihy pig sly, II would be an injustice to
FgSy. In one small room were found
u men, FIVE women, two children, any
aatV Of cats and dogs aud other living
Hgs too numerous 10 mention. OF the FIVE
men, one was centenarian, two were
'bers with infants in their arms, and two
r. girls, aged respectively IA and IL years.
Old man was sick, with scarcely the sem.
Aate Of q bed on which to rest his aching
fA'si another, though sitting upright to
rake Of the coarse and badly cooked din.
PCT served him, was too weak to defend
eanly meal against the incursions Of a
f. that quickly gulped il down. Such an
lnsalon OF human misery is rarely seen,
more disreputable place eau scarcely
imagined.
10 Cecil county almshouse, in both build.
y, The departments for males and females
sFarated only by narrow passage, and
evil result Of the free communication be.
m 20 the sexes is manifested in the number
Legitimate children born in the house.
sie are two instances in this nlmshouse in
pa the mother and children were born
sumaiely under its root. One, an idiotic
woman, forty years OF age, herself born
NE amshouse, has given birth to six chil.
N this institution. Another, white
lsn, aged thirty-hye years, insane, whose
aer 'till resides in the house, has borne
children here; and still another insane
I woman is the mother of half negro
born in the institution
Washington county, the almshOuse,
ael IN the suburbs OF Hagerstown, should
Presented as n common nuisance. The
vs. Of It's condition are, If possible, more
Ashs than OF Baltimore county and Cecil.
here are counties in which this shocking
tsgasting state Of affairs does not exist,
aeh order and deeency and civilization
Caroll county the almshouse was found
10 highly commendable condition Of
'Alhess and comfort. The usual aims.
odor was altogether absent. The
management presents the appearance
Ait for the inmates.
Charles county the house was in admir-
order with good management and dis.
Ae prevailing throughout. The ventila'
\ excellent, and | have pleasure in
Hng that the Charles county almshouse
U.s. IN point Of neatness and comfort Of
' mates, second TO none in the State. Tbs
) lumber of INDECENT insane in the State
= county almshouses, jails and hospitals i;
follows -Whites-Male, 3l3; fe
NO. Colored-Male, 80; female, a.
:. insane, 747.
re State institutions are managed by
h aof Trustees, as also the almshouses ia
n Counties Charles and others but In
81 q The counties they are under the con.
be the County Commissioners, who ap
&c ae keepers. No doubt the exposure o
Ne aaneellor, backed by an indignant pub
mon, will lead TO immediate and sweep
.r formation in the county institutions.