Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-01-13
aArsE INSANE Mosf1rAL-
ef the Trustees, Resident Oneers
"a Waiting Cemmittses fer 1850.

r.. trusfees and resident officers Of the
400 Insane Hospital have made their an
al reports to the Governor and Council for
49,. year ending November 30. 1880. At the
anenine of the year there we're 4i3 patients
= the hospital and at the close 436-the
largest number at the close Of the year
ever recorded. ,
.oar iss patients have been seceived and
In discharged. The daily average for the
Lar has been 4I2. A few applications for
..dm,ssion have been refused, owing 10 the
.,ovded condition of the wards at the time.
ACCOMMODATIONS.
Under the head of hospital Accommodations
.,s trustees say they found that the appro-
n,;arioo made BY the last Legislature was net
,.,ge enough to erect building such as
- necessary, and therefore decided it was
-, 10 erect none at all until the situation
ss.s nassed upon by the Legislature. The trus-
,a.s are Of the opinion that suitable building
an no erected without spe ciai appropriation.
f-om the income of the hospital, if they are
allowed 10 do the work without restriction
:. N cost. or limit as to time. During the
vear yery extensive repairs have been made
anon the hospital building; lawns have been
lid out. graded and grassed, and a fountain,
Nover beds walks, seats. play grounds and
srbors provided. small greenhouse has
heen erected. Concrete walks, amounting to
le0 ward. of surface have been laid.
IMPROVEMENTS.
In accordance with the suggestion Of the
legislative committee that the number of pa
,;ents in charge of single attendant was too
large. correspondence was opened with the
best regulated hospitals. and it was found that
eleven patients to an attendant was the aver
age number. With few exceptions this pro-
norton existed in the Maine hospital Where
the number exceeded / /, new attendant was
added The other suggestion of the com
mirree that the temperature in some of the
rooms might fall too low at nigl in severely
cold weather was found on investigation to
be ui,founded, but to avoid all risk in this d.
rection it has been arranged to increase the
temperature Of the wards. Improvements
have been made in the bathing rooms and
many desirable modern appliances introduced.
The ventilation has been brought nearer to
perfection. the system Of telephones has
been extended, and l19 mattresses have been
provided. The gas works have been in success
ful operation. AID have furnished an uninter-
rupted supply of good gas. at n net cost of
lighting for one year of 1854 81. The farm
operations have been about the same as in
former years. 4 windmill has been placed
in position north of the hospital. and the sew
erage is pump.d upon the land. Many acres
Of grass ground will be enriched by this ar
rangemeDt
WATER SUPPLY.
Considerable space is devoted to a discus
sion of the water supply and its sufficiency
for sanitary and fire purposes. a full history
of the works is given. During the past sum-
mer the most serious drouth for forty
Years prevailed, continuing from April to
November. From the last of August to the
middle of October there was scarcity of
water: and at intervals this was so severe that
the works provided no water for fire purposes.
During this period 1896 hogsheads Of water
we're hauled from the river. This is equiva-
lent to about two days full supply. The
water of the river Mt that time being lower
than at anv time for 40 years, and receiving
the sewerage of the city of Augusta at point
verv near the hospital, it was deemed best TO
take the water from point equ-distant from
Hallowell and Augusta. The steward was
instructed to provide more storage against
similar emergencies in the future. With
view Of meeting the immediate demands Mr..
Iakin commenced boring for water in the
fiat in the region of the springs. After few
attempts he struck n large vein of water-hear-
ing gravel ut the depth of sixteen feet from
the surface of the ground. Pipe was OBJ
tanned from Boston and put in place Won
gallons Of water were pumped from this
source with the appliances named. when. rain
having fallen. sufficient supply was availa-
BILE from the storage reservoirs. There Is
now storage sufficient for even SUE h a drouth
rs was experienced last summer, and more
than sufficient With the storage already
provided the Hospital can retain ; 10000 900
gallons of water. BY n careful estimate the
consumption il about 90 900 gallons per dav,
or about 80 gallons per capita for the people
supplied. At this rate, and allowing for
rainfall only sufficient to compensate for
evaporation this supply would last from
April 30 when the reservoirs are certain to
be fnlN TO January |. or eight months. All
the reservoirs were full as late as April 30.
last spring. and had they been of their pres
ent capacity there would have been water to
spare throughout the drouth. No year has
been known when the rain fall did not exceed
the evaporation. II is proper to state here
that. one member of this Board. Mrs. Quinhv,
dissents from the opinion of the remainder
Of the Board. regarding the question of
water supply. and is decidedly Of the opinion
that inasmnch as the system proved made
quate last season. il would be wise to make
certain of an inexhaustblc supply againstall
want by taking water directly from the river;
and, further to say. that Mrs. Quinby believes
mand the emplovmcn,s of three physicians.
one OF whom should be woman.
CHANGES.
During the year Mrs. NJ. !. Clough has
been engaged ~ nurse in the female depart
ment. From motives of economy the med
zeal staff of the hospital has been reduced by
dispensing with the assistant physician, pr.
b. I. Neal. The trustees refer in compli-
meniary terms to his work in the hospital
AMI his skill and efficiency.
Tue SrrrRiNTESDHNr's RrPoRT.
Dr. III. NJ. Harlow. the superintendent. re-
ports that there were 40 patients at the be-
ginning of the wear. 2l3 men and POO women.
and there were admitted during the year
iul men and - women. There were dis
charged during the same time So men AMI So
women. OF the discharged. 81 had recover
ca ~ improved !: ~ not improved: SO died.
1.-THE % who recovered. 81 were on the
h'st admissions II on the second: : on the
.oarth; : on the fifth. and | on the sixth.
Inc average age Of those who died was 20
me Youngest % and the oldest 81. One had
oeen In the hospital 80 wears. The causes
wreath were: consumption, 9: chronic in