The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-12-31
WARDS OF THE STATE.
HoW POOR AND UNFORTUNATE
 ONES ARE CARED FOR.

Investigates Correctional and Chari-
 table stitutIons-Number Cared for
 and What They Cost the state.
 Hartford, Dec. so-An adance copy Of the twenty-third annual report of the state board of charities for the fs- cal year ending September 90, 1904. has been presented to the governor. The report is a comprehensive one and shows the conditions existing in nine ty-nine charitable and correctional in- stitutions with which the board has to deal, in addition to the alnlshouses, or other care of town poor, in the one hundred and sixty-eight towns of the state. The report states that most of Connecticut's institutions are main tained upon high plane of excellence, but suggestions for improvements are made in certain cases. The following recommendation are made to the in, coming general assembly for legisla- tive action
 That the interdeterminate sentence law of 1901 be amended 50 as to effect it's more liberal application.
 That state reformatory for women be established.
 That commission be appointed to investigate the county jail system of the state with a view to placing all such iails under the control of a state board of prisons.
 That special provision be made in some institution for the care of sane epileptics of any age
 That the state establish d sanatorium for needy persons suffering from pul- monary tuberculosis.
 That means be devised for the care ful investigation of all applications for. the commitment of dependent children to the county temporary homes, and of dependent or defective persons to any institution supported at public ex- pense.
 That a system of district afmshous as be legalized to take the place of the present town alrnshouses.
 The expense to the state for the main-| tenance and supervision of the institu- ! tions is shown to be $723, ,152.67i as com Epared with S6s9 299.6S expended for sim7 liar purposes in 190S
 The general condition of the majority of county jails is said to be one of cleanliness, good order and decent com forts, but it is again suggested that the system of management is illogical and that allce the county jails ought to bs5 placed under the control of q state commission whose members shall be free from political influences and shall be fitted 10 adopt the various features { of modern prison science.
 The addition of d new detached hos pital .is noted Rt the school for boys in Meriden, and it is suggested that a large gymnasium should also be erected. At the Girls Industrial school, in. Middletown. the customary high stan dards of the institution have been well maintained and about the usual mum ber Of girls, two hundred and seventy, !, is reported in attendance.
 The number Of inmates at the state hospital for the insane, at Middletown, at the close of the fiscal year reached the unprecedented total Of 2412. There is shown to be d total of 3.119 registered insane persons in the state, distributed as follows: In the state hospitals for Etne insane, 2,S60; in the Hartford re- treat, 150; in private asylunns, three hundred, and in alnshouses and among town poor, three hundred. The school for irnbeciles at I.akeville had a total of 229 inmates at the close of the fiscal year, the largest number recorded in its history. It IS suggested that a separate department for the care of epileptics of any age might be established in con- nection with the t.akeyi1le school.
 A brief review iS also given of the re cent controversy between the board and the institute for. the blind in Hartford, in regard to the boards right to inspec the institution It is stated that recent events make it adyisable that the high est authority in tne state should deter mine once for all the boards statutory rights in the matter
 Two new institutions have been add ed to the list of hospitals in the state during the year. the Middletown hospi- ! tai, in the city of Mfddletown, and the Gaylord farm sanatorium for ineipient tuberculosis, in the town of Walling- ford. The existing hospitals are said to be doing excellent work in their raspec- 1 tive communities, but in Waterbury and Danbury improved equipment should be provided to meet their urgent needs The soldiers hospital, at Noro- ton. is well filled at all times and is ex- cellently managed.
 The number of dependent and neg lected children com1hitted to the county temporary homes during the year was 3O9, as compared with s51 committed in 1903. The total namber of children cared for during the year was 1903, among whom only three deaths oc- currde. Three hundyed and twenty-one family homes for children were secured, 1 but it is believed thht still greater eff forts should be made in this direction. There is a total of about fourteen hun dred children living out in family homes or with relatives who are still lunder the jurisdiction of the county l homes.
 In regard to almahouses it is said
 that in a majority of them good man kagement and reasonable comfort pre- l vail, but about one -sixth of the whole | ,,5,,@y,