Morning journal and courier., 1885-12-26
COUNTY TEMPORARY HOMES.

HOme-Am Interest AWaAeheO Ah eAAC !
 Little Waffs.
 The interest awakened in the County | Temporary home at Tyler City by the recent | call for Christmas gifts for the children in l that institution and the inquiries made in regard to it's organization, management and aims, would seem to call for some general statement in regard to these worthy State charities. For @ better understanding of the subject in general it may be stated that the adoption of law establishing County Temporary homes took definite shape at the January, 1883, session of the General Assem- ply, and on May 3d of that year an 'Act to provide homes and care for dependent chil- dren" was passed. The purpose of these homes is quite fully set forth in the first section of the act named, and is as follows:
 stFor the better protection of children be- tween the ages of two and sixteen years of the classes hereinafter described, to wit: Waifs, strays, children who are or may here after be in charge of overseers of the poor, children of prisoners, drunkards or paupers, and others who are may hereafter be com mitted to hospitals. almshouses or work houses, and all children within said ages, deserted neglected, cruelty treated or de- pendent, there shall be provided in each county on or before January 1, 1884, one or more places of refuge, for such chll- dren only' to be e.t5 known hon,as as shail be distant not less than one half mile from any penal or pauper institution; and no pauper or convict shall be permitted to live or labor therein; and they shall not be used as permanent provision or residence for any child, but for it's temporary protec- ton for so long time only as shall be abso, lutely necessary for the placing of the child in @ we'll selected family home. Children demented, idiotic suffering from incurable or contagious diseases are not included in the provisions of this act"
 The act was amended April 8, 1884, and as it now stands upon the statute books, with its several amendments, seems to meet the requirements of it's designers, in that it pro vid for the care of poor and neglected chit dren There are three classes that may be sent to these homes and the law provides
 how the expenses for their support shall be paid Those sent by order of justice courts in towns or city courts in cities are paid for by the State at the rate of g per week for each child so sent. When sent by selectmen of towns the same price is paid, and the same is true when they are sent by parents. The law provides that it shall be unlawful for children to be kept in almshouses be- tween the ages of two and sixteen years for more than one month in each year, and not then unless the parents, who must remain with them, are of good moral character. In most of the towns the law is complied with and children that the law is designed to reach are sent to the various homes. In some cases, | however, the children are sent to orphan asylums by selectmen at the request of pa rents who dislike to have them sent to the 'shomes" from the fact that when they reach 1 these institutions they are indentured out to | families or adopted into homes where they | are lost sight of by the parents. | While this is true, it is also true that the management never lose sight of these chil l dren but keep watchful care over them and | by corresponding and personal visitations see | that they are well cared for in their adopted homes. While there may seem to be some | hardship in law that forcibly separates l children from parents forever, as it were, yet when the fact is considered that these par l ents are incorporate, immoral and wholly l unfit to care for and train their children to 1 become respectable and useful members of society, the sympathy for the parent ceases and centers in tender but earnest interest for I the well-being of the child, who in time l would, like the parent, become burden to society, instead of blessing. So much for
 Temporary homes" in general
 | As regards the ''New Haven county Tenn
 porary Home," which, as is now generally l known, is located at Tyler City on the line of
 the New Haven & Derby railroad, brief de-
 scription may be of interest. This Home
 was opened on January 1, 1884. It is located
 on an elevated plot of ground about quar-
 ter of mile from the depot and commands a
 fine view in every direction. The building was erected for a family residence,
 but misfortune overlook the party who
 erected it and the mortgagee foreclosed
 and took possession of the property.
 The building was vacated and remained
 tions were found necessary to make it habit
 able. As the law was an experiment and the place was only rented for one l year, the board of management were
 not inclined to make any extended l repairs upon it. While the location is un-
 doubtedly healthy one, the management l are of the opinion that the Home should be l located where an abundance of water is ac- cessible, and where it would be easy of ac-
 cess by horse cars. There has been consid- 1 era5le agitation about amending the law so far as it relates to ''county'' homes and in | stead creating one general or ''State" home. The plan was advocated before the Committee on Humane | Institutions last winter, but did not seem to meet with favor and the proposed bill was defeated. County Commissioner Jacobs was l an earnest advocate of the State plan last
 year, and, while he is still of the same opin-
 ion, will not urge the change this winter, as he feels that if the people are in favor of the present plan he will not oppose it, although
 he thinks that there would be large saving to the taxpayers If the State plan was
 
 the county commissioners will ask the rep G. sentatives from this county to make an ap- propriation for the purchase of proper site and the erection of building suited to the purposes of Home, as intended by the franners of the law.
 The present Home is three story buiid- ing, the first floor being used fer living rooms for the large family of twenty nine children, six girls and twenty-one boys. matron, cook, girl of all work and seamstress. The furniture is not by any means extrava- gant, but on the contrary would seem to be a little more scanty than necessary, notwith- standing the fact that it is charitable in stitutlon. A rag carpet on the sewing and sitting room combined and cotton in grain carpet that might have cost twenty-five cents yard make up the sum total of the floor coverings in the entire building There are perhaps two dozen wooden chairs, small wooden rocker, extension dining table, some cheap prints without frames on the walls, small table in the sewing room, which about completes the furnishing of the lower floors outside of the kitchen. In this necessary adjunct to all well reeu- lated families there is good range, but there l IS far from being an overplus of cooking utensils or dishes. The children perform their ablutions in the wash room in the | basement. Here also are some stationary wash tubs which are used for the children l when they need bath, and they are totally | oAtAeSCo AOA O41S uSS 1u6 E1o0plQR rooms | for the smaller children are on the second floor and easy of access from the matron's l room, which is also on the same floor. The chlldren's beds are of iron with woven wire mattresses and plenty of warm blankets l are apparently provided for their covering. | The matron is sometimes awakened eight or | ten times in the course of night by the chil- | dren getting uncovered and crying for | cold, while at other times her rest is un- broken. The sanitary arrangements of | the Home are poor and always have been, and there has not been an ample supply of water, so necessary in an institution of | this kind. Last summer it was necessary to bring water in pails for long distance, and the quantity required in so large fami- ly made the task an arduous one. It would seem that little money expended in the way of furniture for the institution would not be ground of complaint by the taxpay- ers and an early removal to some more con venient locality would seem to be still more desirable.
 The children seem to be, as a rule, healthy and happy. During the six months that Miss Frances Gleason has been in charge as