Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1883-04-04
Soldiers Hospital and Home.

The Central Home for Disabled Vol
unteer Soldiers is situated about three miles
west of Dayton, Ohio on high ground, be-
yond the far-famed Miami Valley, COM
manding beautiful view of the city and
surrounding country. The grounds are
very extensive, comprising over seven hun
dred acres, nearly all Of which is under the
most careful cultivation. The lawns and
drives are kept in exquisite order, and the
flower gardens and Conservatives are among
the finest in the country. On entering the
grounds visitor would almost suppose he
was approaching small city from the
number of buildings; the barracks, sub
stantial buildings three stories high, are
twenty-eight in number and besides these
are the numerous residences of the officers
the hospital, church, dninghall, hotel, and
restaurant and railroad depot, music hail.
library building, gas-works, water-works,
and shops of all kinds. The buildings are
all furnished with water, lighted by gas,
and heated by steam. There are at pres
ent between four and five thousand inmates
The soldiers who are able and willing to
work can do so and receive wages in addi-
tion to their pensions. All the work, such
as Cos king, washing, cleaning, etc., is per-
formed by the soldiers, and besides there
are great many shops where different
trades are carried on, such as cigarmaking,
printing, knitting, book-binding, black
smthing, Recommending, coopering, shoe
making, etc. The soldiers also do their
own plumbing and gas fitting and run their
four steam engines, There is also an ex-
celent school for the veterans who are able
and DESTROYS of a good education. They
are taught reading, writing, telegraphy, and
tbnpa tphn rapahla rod for
schoolteaching. The library contains about
ten thousand volumes, about half of which
is donated by Ms. Putnam of Msssachu-
sets. The chspel is beautiful building
of stone which cost 100000. The hospi-
tai is acknowledged to be about the finest
and hest ad ,pted to its purpose of any build.
ing of the kind in America. Its cost was
SlS5 900, and it is designed to accommo-
date about three hundred. Another very
interesting feature of the institution is the
dining-hall. This is an immense room en-
tered by nine doors. 1t contains twenty
eight tables, seating over eleven hundred
men at time, and as there are nearly four
thousand men TO be served, the tables are
set three times for each meal, the sick, of
course, being served in the hospital. The
bill of fare is different for each day in the
week, and the soldiers are allowed very
generous rations. Just back Of the dining
hall are the large kitchen and bakery.
Everything in this department is done on a
very large scale. Think of having, as one
OF the cooks told last summer, twenty bush
els of strawberries for supper or of using
one bundled pounds of coffee or forty-fve
pounds of tea for single meal. For din
ner it takes fourteen bushels of potatoes ;
when they have turkey it takes 1,SOO pounds,
and for dessert 1,050 pies are required
Every day they use seventeen barrels of
-four and 700 pounds of meat. Last Eas.
ter it took ~ 900 eggs for breakfast, each
man for that morning being allowed three.
| The veterans are well cared for in every re-
spect, they have good beds, good clothing,
and kind care, while the sick have the best
of medical attention and careful nursing.
They are dying quite rapidly, at the rate of
about two a day. Every soldier is buried
with religious service and military hon.
ors.-New York Observer.