New-York tribune., 1886-02-22
ALLEGED FRAUDS ~ d ST1rE CHARITY
THE SOLDIERS ORPHANS SCHOOLS OF PESNsYL-
NANIA sEvtRELY CRITICISED.

THE SOLDIERS ORPHANS SCHOOLS OF PENNsYL-
vANIA SEVERELY CRITICISED.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 21.-Tke Record to-
morrow will publish a sixcoumn article on the manage
ment Of soldiers orphans schools of Pennsylvania
which alleges not only official discrimination, lie
glect and corruption, but also that syn
dicate is prohtlng at the rate OF $4,000
year in the management OF four OF the schools A
youminous array OF figures taken from the
institution and from those of the Soldiers Orphan De-
partment of the state given to support the alega
tiOns the article says:
Though the war ended twenty-one years ago and
though all the children whose fathers ditd the field
of battle have long since passed their majority, the
s0deTS GrpaSns schools are are st maintained
mainly for the enrichment OF few men whose faces
are well known In the lobby at Harrisburg Strange as
Il may seem, yet nevertheless 1t is true. syndicate
beaded by ex-senator George Wright, OF
6o year pF0a d" 6e the
iour schools located at Mount joy Mercer McAIister
ect and corruption have prevailed in that branch OF the
state Government known as the Department
Genoe 01'a' d'n EaPd that anu the ''fS Chief clerk
OF the Soldiers Orphans Department. James l.. Paul,
and received checks for three In succession
rate OF Sl50Oa year. all Of which were charged up in
the books OF the concern "a LOANS"
Tho state does not manage its schools but pays q
specific amount per week for each child admitted to
require that the children sha be fea clothed in ad
dttion TO their Instruction IN educational and
have been literally dsregarded, the Inspectors
have permitted agrant abuses crop in so that the
children have not received that treatment which the
state plated and for which rOundy paid. When
this fact called to the attention OF the State Super
ntendcDt Of the Soldiers Orphans Schools the Rev f.
L. HIgbee. he exclaimed:
guess they get than they would have received
at home"
OF the syndicate schools children are packed
together In bedrooms and In schoOlrOOms like herring
Fiuy-thrre children were removed last Fall from
good schools single beds ana pleasant surroundings
IN the Northern home to sleep IN foul Chester
spring. AT McAlli-terNille the hOY5' bedding
found to be In disgraceful condition.
At Mercer in consequence OF the penuriOus
methods employed by the management,
OF the boys bathed In pickle barrels boys
each barrel. At Chester Springs some twenty-five
thirty pupils have been deprived OF schooling three
months or more upon some preteNt Twelve children
crowded into hOvel at Mount Joy to seep while
rooms capable Of accommodating sixty children at
Mansfield were vacant But Mount Joy was run by the
In other hands, the Of 81 80 per week per capita
paid FOR feeding the children but when Wright,
Paul aud George f. Pearson the school last June
Wright sad that he and his partners would make their
profit the food.
All regard for the children seems TO have been
subOrdinat"d to a hoartess grab for profit, and
this evil influence has been carried to such extent
that a premium OF 500 head has been paid 10 agents
10 recruit children for various schools. II brcause OF
this cOmpeu ION and because Of the comparative scarcity
OF orphans that tho schools nov half filed
with children whose fathers are living. or the S35OO00
appropriated annually by the state to for feeding,
calculated that nearly 100000 is absorbed In excessive