The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1901-10-18
A WF|CURES.
Showing Extravagance
at the lnfirmary.
COMPARISON DRAWN
Between the Records Estab.
iished by Jackson w. Pom
thus and tho Present
Superlnten dent.

The Republican administration or
county affairs has proved to be rather
expensive to the taxpayers, and In no
department has the increase been more
perceptible than at the county inflrm-
ary. During the time that Jackson w.
Pontius was superintendent of the in
firmary. his political enemies took a
great deal of pains to announce to the
public that he was very expensive in
dividual to have at the head of an In
stitution. The charge was made gem
orally. without going into any detail,
and great many persons accepted
these biased statements as true, with
out going to the trouble to make
ANY INVESTIGATION.
Mr.. Pontius, conscious that he was
doing his duty alike to the inmates
and the taxpayers, made no attempt to
controvert these charges. and 1t be-
came generally understood that he
had been rather lavish in the affairs
Of the infirmary. The directors who
kept him in the position so many years
knew better, however, and those who
were conversant with the expenses of
the institution in the years following
his retirement knew that never in the
history of the institution had there
been such economy coupled with the
same care and consideration for the
inmates.
Mr.. Pontius was superintendent of
infirmary for ten years, a period run
ming from 1885 until the close Of 1894
The state board of charities annually
MAKES A REPORT
of every such institution in the state,
giving the average number of inmates
for the year and the total cost Of keep
ing them. This is a matter of statis-
tics and is made up from the official re-
ports made by the officials.
In order that the matter might be
placed in its true light before the peo-
pie of Stark county, reporter has ex-
amined the reports of the state board
of charities and has done little figur-
ing to learn the true situation. The
comparison places the present manage
ment in .r 500
VERY BAD LIGHT,
so far as the expenses connected with
the running of the infirmary are con-
cerned. The figures as Cleaned from
the official reports show the following:
In 1885, when Mr.. Pontius took
charge of the institution first there
were 1876 inmates and they were main
tanned during the year at total cost Of
s11 ,946.96, which was an average of
$61.26 for each inmate for the entire
year. This included the entire ex-
penses, every dollars outlay being
charged up against the cost of keeping
the inmates.
In 1886 the total number of inmates
averaged 1856 daily for the year. The
outlay was $11,9O6.62, making the total
cost for each inmate $64.30.
In 1887 the daily average number of
inmates was 181, maintained at a
total cost of $12, ,888.16, the average for
each individual being ST..
In 1883 there was daily average of
172 inmates, and the cost of keeping
them was $13,90869. The average for
each for this year was $50. the highest
reached any time during Mr.. Pontiuss
career.
In 1889 the average was 1T inmates,
and the total outlay for the year was
$l3, 1858, which was an average of
I STA each.
The year 1890 shows 178 inmates
maintained at a total cost of $13 1880. .13,
average per head of little over SIS.
In 1891, there was an average of 1877
inmates for the year. The outlay was
$13,114.81 an average Of $40 per capita.
In 1892 the average number of in
mates was 1872, and the total cost of
keeping them for the year was $14,-
426.52, which Is an average cost per
inmate of SIS for the year.
In 1893 the average daily number was
214, and they were maintained at q
total cost for the year of Sic, ,936.77, the
average per capita being $40.
! In 1894, the last year that Mr.. Pom
titus was superintendent, the average
daily number was 211, and the cost of
keeping that number for the year was
$13,289.06. The average for this year
was low, being $63 for each inmate
REPUBLICANS STEP IN.
i The next year, the Republicans con-
trolling the board, Mr.. Pontius was
not retained and Daniel Gerwig was
placed in the institution as its superin-
tendent. The first year, which was
1896, he made record. maintaining
220 inmates at total cost of $13, ,039. .36
and an average of $3.50 each.
The next year, 1896, he had an aver.
age of 223 inmates for the year, and
1t cost $17,397.14 to run the institution
which was an average of $7S for each
inmate.
In 1897 there were 232 inmates ant
the cost of maintaining them was &c..
91S.59, the average per capita for tn,
, year being $73.
In 1898. Mr.. Gerwig had 233 inmate.
to care for, which he did at total cos
of $17,642, an average of $75 each.
Tn 1900 ha ron chad bia hi0haat a vor