The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-01
COUNTY ASYLUMS.
A Sanitary Survey Of the Poor Houses Under
Direction of the State Board of Health.

Reports have been received at the State health
Office from eighty-seven out of the ninety-two
counties in the State regarding the sanitary con
dition of the county poor ssylums in answer to
questions propounded by the board. The eoun-
ties not reporting are Allen, Blackford, Lake,
Marshall and Steuben. The matter contained in
the several reports will appear in the annual
report of the health board, the results Of the
county surveys being compiled for that purpose
The heterogeneous addressed to the local health
officers are ffty-three in number and embrace
every point of interest in the sanitary condition
of the county asylums. The showing is not, in
any sense, creditable to the State, and there are
many counties in which radical and immediate
reform is necessary. This is especially true
Of the treatment of insane paupers but 1t
is regarded in extenuation that the
superintendent are doing all in their power
with the means at command. In submitting his
report well-known physician says that the
condition of the INDECENT poor at the so-called
asylum is certainly as lamentable as the report
indicates" II have many reasons he adds,
ito be thoroughly disguised with my connection
with the institution as physician IN
charge, not the least of which is beng
compelled to make report to the health
officer of the character inclosed." DR..
Latta, of Elkhart county, in submitting his
report, says; The buildings are very poor, in
sufficient, Inadequate to the demands, ily-venti-
lated, and, in fact not as good as ordinary cattle
sheds" This, however, is temporary eondl-
ton, due to an unsettled matter concerning
permanent location
The report shows that in seventy-fve cases the
drainage is good, and in seventy seven the
ground is clean; ffty-four of the asylums are
k1Q1 ae1 80 o.,6 Of
wood; twenty FIVE Of the asylums are well yenti-
lated eight are rot well ventilated, and ifty-four
of the reports are silent on this subject.
In twenty-five cases the asylums have
offensive odor, and IN nine asylums the
rooms are not kept clean. In three institutions
as many as ten of the paupers occupy the same
sleeping rooms in FIVE others there are six to
each room, and the average is not less than four
to the apartment, and generally the rooms are
small and have low ceilings. In twelve of the
reported counties the beds are said to be unclean
and wanting in tidiness; in six they are infected
with yermin; in seven asylums the interior OF
the buildings is neither whitewashed nor disin-
fected; in sixty-four cases the water supply
is from wells, in sixteen from cisterns, and in
three from springs; in six cases the water is inn
pure, and in nine not safe from pollution, one
report stating that there is a graveyard in close
proximity to the spring.
The total number of inmates in the counties
reported, 1859, of which 1855 are males and
1854 are females. OF the total number, 633
are under fifteen years of age, and the oldest in
mate is lightweight years of age. In
cluded in the total Of 1850, 61O are
insane, of whom 206 are males and 214
females; 331 areidiots and of them 40 are males
and 161 females About 250 deaths have occurred
in the asylum during the past year. Marion
county has 205 paupers, 81 of whom are insane;
Wayne, SO with IL insane Tipoecanoe Ill with
A insane; Vanderburg, Sc with % insane, and
Vigo, lQ7 with IL insane. In all the asylums,
with four exceptions, the inmates are employed
at manual labor The reports are unanimous in
saying that the insane patients are well treated,
but in fifty-two countless cells are used as means
of restraint In Madison county, restraining
straps are used
In Suggestions made to the board, and which
close the report of each health officer there are
many things of interest to the people Of the
county wherein the evils pointed out are said to
exist. In St Joseph county, for instance, the
washing at the asylum is done in the
basement of the building, and 'sthe steam
and odors permeate all the rooms
and make the walls Of the building
damp" The commissioners should follow
the suggestions of the health officer and erect a
wash house. In Orange county the construction
of the house is said to be bad. ''The sitting
rooms are surrounded by the sleeping-rooms,
and there is, when the doors are closed neither
light nor ventilation. The room often becomes
too hot but the inmates do not know it. The
atmosphere is not pure, for too many remain too
long in the same room.