The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-05-08

Il
Le gislature On May u viii adjourn 70
| plant corn, harvest and attend to farm
work and rsturnin the fall 10 finish the
| business. Representative Hazell to-day
introduced bill to fix the, salary cs the
Sheriff Of NewsCastle county.
Under the new law the sheriff Is to re.
ceive q salary Of 5000 year in lieu Of 81 !
fees. The fees are e be turned into the
county treasury. The Levy Court Is to
| provide and pay all deputies, and the jail
commissioners are to make contracts for
| furnishing food and clothing to the in
mates Of the jail.
The Senate this afternoon passed the
House bill to allow the national guard an
appropriation Of $1,000 year.
The charter Of the Dover and Bay Shore
Electric Railway Company was passed
Edwin r. Cochran, Augustus Hushe-
beck and others want to operate the Dia-
mond State Lumber Company.
The Senate bill appointing q woman as
inspector Of the factories, except cannerles
in New Castle was considered.
The legislative committee that ihvesti.
gated tho condition of affairs at Farnhurst
presented the following report:
ITO the Senate and House Of Representa-
tives of the State of Delaware.
"Gentlemenl Your committee appoint
ed to investigate the needs of and to ex-
anime the accounts of the Delaware State
Hospital for the Insane, having perform
ed that duty, would beg leave to offer the
following as their report concerning that
institution:
I'VE visited the hospital on Friday, April
80, and were shown through the entire
building by DIR. Hancker and his assistant,
DR.. Hammond. We found the wards
somewhat crowded, but with the compile.
tion of the new annex. now about finished,
this trouble will be obviated. We found
the place scrupulously clean, the inmates
comfortably clothed and apparently well
taken care of, some OF the more rational
ones speaking in the highest terms Of their
superintendent.
There are at present 1876 male and 1O5 fe.
male patients in the institution. The to-
tai number of employees, exclusive Of the
superintendent and his assistant. are thir-
tysix, the male attendants in the wards
receiving $40 per month, and the female
attendants GA per month. The average
cost per day for each patient is about AZ
cents.
All supplies are received by printed con-
tracts, renewed every four months The
900 appropriated by the Legislature
during the present session, on account of
the biennial appropriation for the institu-
ton, about expended. and quarterly bills
due May 6, amounting to nearly 5000,
Referring to the increased appropria-
ton asked for at this time, by the board of
trustees, we would say that this is largely
accounted for by the fact that tho large
annex will make it necessary to employ
from twelve to fourteen extra attendants,
and the extra lighting, heating, etc. will
necessarily entail moro expense, SO that i'll
our judgment the amount asked for,
namely, SOC, OOJ is not excessive
Your committee would recommend that
some of the weak minded patients there
should be returned to the almshouses of
the counties of which they were residents,
as it would be less expensive to provide for
them in that way than 1t is at the insane
hospital, and also, if it were possible, to
provide seperate place for the insane
children, who at present from necessity,
are confined with the adult patients.
We would also suggest that the State
should purchase an adjacent tract OF land,
thirty-siY acres, which we understand can
be purchased at very reasonable figure.
The land could be used to raise vegetables
for the use Of tho hospital, and in our
opinion the State would save the price
paid for it in a very few years. No extra
help would be required, as there arc plen-
ty of able-bodied patients who could work
il and ut the same time benefit themselves
by keeping their minds occupied.
I'VE examined the hooks Of the institu
ton and found everything correct and &C.
counted for by proper vouchers, which are
always compared with the contracts before
any bills are paid bat as additional infor-
nation we would recommend the printing
in their biennial report Of IN tented
statement OF the amount to whom paid,
and for what purpose paid, Of all checks.
the same to be numbered serially. Also
that the fund known rs tho supsrnten-
dents fund should be under the direct
control Of the board Of trustees and paid
out on the attestation Of the president and
secretary of the board.
We would further recommend the en-
ploymont Of some suitable person as stew
ard, at n salary not to exceed $500 per an
nun, whose duty it shall be TO purchase
all supplies and distribute same through
the institution and keep an account Of
same, also to have charge Of the grounds
connected with the hospital, etc.
The small greenhouse connected with
tho institution is very inexpensive and is
used for growing n few pOtted plants to
decorate the lawn and corridor and seems
to be Il source Of pleasure to the unfortu-
nate inmates In conclusion, we would
recommend that a certain amount of the
appropriation be set aside for the purpose
Of rCturnishIng the supcrintendents house
which is sadly in need OF it, us in its pres
ent condition it is not any credit to the
State, some of the rooms being without
carpet and The window shades worn out
The question has been raised ~ to
whether or not the hospital would need an
assistant superintendent, II the state
should decide to employ a steward, as, in
the opinion Of some, DE-. HancRer would
then have ample time to attend to the
professional duties connected with the in
stitutoE. However, the committee de.
cided to leave that question to the General
Assembly. We would also recommend
aboiishing the monthly reports, rs al
present madn by ward attendants Very
respectfully,
JOIN PYLE,
GEORGE f. PRICE,
THOMAS JOHNSON,
&c. &, DEMPSEY,