The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-24


Trustees of the Reform School for Girls.
for the fiscal year ending June 30, were
made to the Attorney General yesterday.
Colonel Clays report states that there
were 2G6 boys in the school at the be-
ginning of the year and 103 received. 81 Le-
ing committed by the Police Court, 2 Ivy
the District Supreme Court, IA by United
States courts outside of the District, and
3 by the president of the board of trus-
tees. There was total of 500 boys at
the school during the year, as against
313 for the preceding year. During the
year SO were discharged by the trustees:
II by expiration of sentence, by pardon
by President Mckinley, while 5 escaped
and are still absent. leaving 1872 in the
school June so. There were no deaths
during the year and the general health
of the inmates was and is good.
Speaking OF the estimates already sub-
mitted for the next fiscal year, the re-
port says: The amount appropriated for
salaries for the present fiscal year was
SIG, ASP. The amount OF the present
estimate for salaries is the same.
The amount estimated as necessary
for the support of the inmates is
the same as was appropriated for the
present fiscal year. and has been appro-
priated for number of years past The
estimate of $4,000 for an additional boiler,
including all expenses Of installation,
foundation. brick work, connections. etc,
is for the purpose of SO increasing tie
heating and power plant as to render the
school independent of accident The pres
ent boiler capacity barely suffices for the
needs of the school and is taxed to its
utmost capacity during cold winter
weather, and should an accident. or any
other cause, prevent the use OF one of the
persent boilers there would not be left
enough to do the work required. The put
ting in of this additional boiler is simply
a matter of wise economy, which is rec
commended as a sensible business propo-
sition
Congress at it's last session passed an
act changing the age of admission to the
school from under sixteen years to under
seventeen years, and authorizing the
board of trustees to grant temporary or
conditional discharges, thereby making it
possible for the board to exercise super
vision over the boys after discharge, and
to return to the school those who, after
discharge on parole, lapsed into vicious
ways. This legislation ought to reduce
the number of commitments of boys to the
Jail and workhouse. where they are fire.
quently sent now because their parents
prefer short sentence there TO the posi-
bility of long stay at the reform school.
The New Assembly Hall.
Congress at its last session made an
additional appropriation for an assembly
hall at the school. the appropriation made
at the previous session having turned out
to be too small because of the rise in the
cost of building material. etc. A contract
for the erection of the building was made
and work begun on it September II. and
at the date of this report the BRICK work
of the lower story has been completed and
the rafters are now being put in place
upon the superstructure. 1t is expected
that the building will be under roof before
bad weather sets in and completed for use
by the middle Of the winter.
During the year the necessary repairs
for the proper care and preservation of
the buildings and personal property be-
longing to the school have been made. in
Guiding those to the workshops, family
buildings barns, stables, fencing, sewers,
roadway, steam plant, etc, in all of which
work the boys have been employed when
ever practicable. The boiler house and
coal vaults were thoroughly overhauled.
the walls repaired, and the vaults lined
with cement to exclude dampness. The
Il
and are now in excellent condition. The
use of the old bathing pools, one OF which
was located in each family building, HIS
been discontinued and their place has
been taken by shower baths. thus avoiding
the necessity of number of boys bathing
in the same water, a measure conducive
to good health and cleanliness. The char
acter of the work in the schoolrOom. the
manual training school, and the instruc-
ton given in the various shops as well as
in the outdoor work. has perhaps been
better than usual. Owing to the season
the farm crops were not as good as usual.
Facilities for Fighting Fire.
''On the day before the date of this re-
port fire broke out in the lower story of
the principal shop building, which de-
stroyed some hundreds of dollars worth
livery. and injured the building to the
amount of possibly 5000. The fire was
controlled by the school authorities with
out assistance from the District Fire De-
partment The school is supplied with
water By steam pump located at the
power house. There is a brick water
tower in which are two 1900 gallon
wrought iron tank, the base of the lower
tank being sixty feet above the ground
level. There is a system of pipes run
ming through the grounds connected with
the tanks ia the water tower and with
fire plugs located at points best suited
for use. There are two hose reels, suit
ably housed, and hook and ladder truck
all ready for immediate service. The
height of the water tank makes it possible
to throw a stream upon the roof of any
of the buildings by gravity alone. With
al fa.. hn
employees of the school to handle the
fire without outside assistance and TO con-
fine ii to the room in which it started.
The conditions are such as to reduce the
danger to the boys and other inmates of
tho school from fire to a minimum.
An extract from the report of the SUI
perin:endcn., which accompanies this as
an exhibit. suggests the erection of an
other family building.
Tho present MAXIMUM capacity Of the
school is go boys. II the number of white
and colored boys is such as 10 utilize the
provision made for each. In 1898 the aver
age number in the school during the year
was &c; in 1893. 22i. and in the year Gov
cred by this report. 191. In the eleven
years from 1887 10 1888 ;he average num-
her Of boys increased from l57 to 236.
There IRE a number of reasons FOR the fall
ing oil in the las two years. One of these
is the tendency TO the multiplication OF
agencies for the care OF boys The Board
OF Children's Guardians would seem to be
intended primarily for charitable work, but
it is a question whether ii does not obtain
through the courts control OF many boys
who shouli perhaps more properly be sent
10 the Reform School. the reasons for their
being based upon acts commit
ted or general condition OF behavior call
ing for reformation rather than for chart
table support. the object of the school being
the reformation and a supplemental carry
ing out of control where parents are no