Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-06
TAKEN BY SURPRISE.
The Legislative Commission Swoops
Down Unheralded Upon the
MOUNT JOY ORPHANS SCHOOL.
Representative Kaufman Gives His Views
on the Institution.
NOT ENOUGH TOWELS TO go AROUND.
The Boys Are 0vercrowded in Bed and TOOthbrushes
Are Common Property.


visit to the syndicate school at Mount
Joy. Representative Kaufman finds con-
siderable room there for improvement, and
is not averse to saying so. A scarcity OF
towels and overcrowding is held to be re-
sronsible for sore eyes and cutaneous affeo-
tions The other syndicate schools are yet
to beinvestigated.
MOUNT joy, July 5.-The syndicate
soldiers orphans school here was taken
completely by surprise this afternoon. The
commission appointed in pursuance Of the
action of the Legislature started out on an
investigating tour this morning and
swooped down upon the institution just as
the officials were about to take dinner.
TSrmalities were at once dispensed with
and the management postponed its meals.
The commission ransacked the place from
top to bottom.
Representative C. C. Kaufman, of Ian
caster, gave his impressions of the visit in
these words: 1.-THE occasion for my particular
activity in pursuing the investigation in
this school is the fact that it being in my
representative district, 1 was especially de-
sirous of showing that it is not the intention
that this investigation shall be
A wHITEwAsHING INQUIRY.
"The purpose of this inspection is to get
down to the exact condition of all the
schools. While we are deslrous of having
q school in our section, we do not want the
the present one to be continued if it does
not compare favorably with the others.
don't know in what condition the others
are: whether they are better or worse. Our
visit to-day shows there is room for much
improvement here. The building is great
ly in need Of repairs, the ventilation is
poor and in some of the DOR
once. The health of some of the children is
imperiled thereby. They need more run
ming water. This could be cheaply reme-
died. 1t is q wonder that there is not more
sickness. The outhouses are outrageously
small considering the number of children,
and until more improved methods Can be
introduced, disinfectants should be literally
used. Another source of danger is the in
adequate conveniences in the boys wash
room. Think of it, only half dozen towels
for 100 boys and four hair brushes. The
talk of a tooth brush being provided for
each boy is q farce. Scarcely any of them
have their own tooth brushes. The girls
fare better in this particular.
A SOLEMN MYSTERY.
''It is q mystery to me how anybody could
hope to keep a lot of boys in good health
with them tumbling in two in y bed with
out any night shirts, all wearing the calico
shirts worn during the day. To this and
the neglect TO provide towels we must
largely attribute the fact that so many of
the boys have been troubled with sore eyes.
The commission should at once adopt q rule
requiring separate towels to be provided Tor
exch of the children.
at is due TO the management of the
school to say that the girls department
makes better showing; that they are gen.
orally bright lot Of children; that the food
was fair, and that the girls clothing, as tar
as we could judge from a hasty examina-
tion, was in pretty good condition. The
commission found much that will demand
serious attention In the work of reforming
the institution if it shall be decided to con-
tinue this instead of others. OF course we
must see them all before we can determine
that question"