Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-12-03


lowed, he would be permitted to employ
two at $40 a month each. The finances of
the Pententiary would not permit larger
expenditure for the Canal, but the board of
directors determined to prosecute the work
as vigorously as possible, not only for the
purpose of protecting that portion Of it al
ready completed, but also because they
would thus be enabled to give employ
ment to number of hands, who would
otherwise he closely confined in idleness-
result which would have been injurious to
the health of the prisoners and prejudicial
to the discipline of the institution. 1t was
not practicable for the board of directors to
make any expenditures for the purchase of
tools and materials required for the work.
The city council of Columbia offered to make
advances for that purpose, and the board of
directors accepted the offer, it being under
stood that no obligation was incurred for
the repayment of any portion of the sum
so advanced. During the last fiscal year the
amount expended on the Canal by the
board of directors was SS, 402.5S; the amount
advanced by the city council of Columbia,
from May % to October 81, was 81 ,S99.30,
making the total expenditures on the Canal
since the last report $40, ,3O1.SS.
The present manager of the Canal entered
upon the discharge OF his duties on the lst
of March last. The means at his command
were inadequate for the purchase OF the re-
quisite tools and materials, and for the en-
ployment of as many skilled fOremen as
were needed for the proper direction of the
hands employed, but, under the circum-
factory. The daily average of hands of all
classes employed on the Canal during the
year was about 245.
The manager states in his report that, in
his opinion, more than half Of the work
necessary for the completion of the Canal is
already finished.
If the work be even temporarily aban-
doned now, that portion already completed
at heavy cost would be liable to serious in.
jury from freshets in the river, and the
hands engaged on the Canal would be with
out employment. In view of these facts,
as we'll as of the advantages to be derived
from the Canal when completed, l recon-
mend that the acts now in force authorl-
zing the employment of labor on the Canal
be continued, and that such sum be appro-
priated as may be necessary to ensure the
steady progress of the work.
The services of an engineer are needed to
prepare plans and drawings and to inspect
the work as it is finished. These duties, in
my opinion, will not hereafter demand all
of the time of an engineer, and the SER
vices required can therefore be obtained
at lower rate of compensation than that
heretofore allowed.
THE LUNATIC ASYLUM,
At the beginning of the last fiscal year
there were 628 patients in the institution
and fifteen absent on trial. During the
year PIG were admitted, making the whole
number under treatment S59.
At the close of the year there were 6O5
patients present and fifteen absent on trial.
1t will be observed that the number Of
patients was twenty-three less at the end
than at the beginning of the year. This de-
crease has probably never before occurred in
the history of the institution. For the last
seven years there has been an annual in
crease of about forty patients. This reduc-
tion is attributable to two causes: 1st, The
number Of admissions were seventy-seven
less than last year-the result, in great
measure, Of the Act passed at the last ses-
sion of the General Assembly requiring
more rigid examinations for commitment ;
and, 2nd, Seventy of the imbecile class,
who were believed to be harmless, were re-
manded to the care Of their families, or OF
the commissioners of their counties. The
report of the superintendent calls attention
to the difficulty of thus disposing of the
imbecie patients, who invariably accumu-
late in the Asylum because of the made
quate provision for their custody in the
county poorhouses. The large centre build
ing Of the Asylum was completed during
the year, and it is now occupied. 1t is not
probable that the State will ever again be
called on to erect so expensive building
for the use of the insane. The condition
of the finances of the Asylum is highly sat-
isfactory. The increase in the number of
pay patients, the low prices Of some of the
leading supplies, and the exercise of rigid
economy, have resulted in the saving of a
considerable amount from the last appropri-
alton. The whole appropriation asked for
is $39, 900 less than the amount appropra-
ted last year. The result of the work of the
year has been most gratifying. There have
been no epidemic diseases; no case of sui
eide or of homicide has occurred /; the death
rate has been reduced nearly one half; there
has been some increase in the percentage of
recOveries; Il number of permanent i'm
provements have been made, and the in
sttution, in all its departments, has been
kept in thorough repair The liberal ap-
preparations by the General Assembly have
enabled the board Of regents and the officers
of the institution to keep abreast Of all the
advances made in the care and treatment
of the insane, and the present condition of
the Lunatc Asylum, in its appointments
and in its general management, entities it
to rank with the foremost institutions of
it's kind in this country.
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
The annual report of the department of
agriculture for 1855, includes the reports of
the commissioner, the chemist, the special
assistant in the phosphate department and
the superintendent Of fisheries. These re-
ports furnish detailed statements of the op-
erations of the year, showing the varied
and important duties with which the de-
partment is charged.
The regular work Of the department has
been fully equal to that of previous years,
and much of the time of the commissioner
and his assistants has been given to the
States exhibit at the Worlds Industrial
and Cotton Centennial Exposition. This
exhibit was made by direction of the Leg
isature, and represented the natural re-
sources and manufactured products of the
State. The commissioner makes full re-
port, showing the extent and character OF
the exhibition and the results likely to fol-
low from it. He thinks there is a strong
probability of the establishment Of direct
trade relations with Japan, in the exchange
of phosphate rock for ammoniatlng SUBJ
stances, so extensively used by South Caro-
lima manufacturers OF fertilizers; that the
sales of fertilizers manufactured here will
be largely ncleased ; that the agricultural
advantages of the State, as shown by the
products displayed, will attract the better
class of farmers and laborers; that the min
erai resources, rs shown by the specimens
exhibited, will receive the attention OF in
vestors and practical miners; that the splen-
did water power and forestry Of South Car
olina, so thoroughly advertised at the Ex-
position, and now better known than ever
before. will interest capitalists, and that the