The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-01-06
STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES
ANNUAL REPORT PRESENTER TO
 THE GOVERNOR.

nine Institutions With Which the
 Board Has to Deal in Addition to
 Visited Give Evidence of Efficient
 Management, Good Order and Com-
 fort.
 The annual report of the state board of charities for the fiscal year 1905 has just been presented to the governor. According to the custom of the board in years when there is no session of the legislature, the report is presented in typewriter form and will be print ed with the report of next year for presentation to the general assembly of 1907.
 The report reviews the conditions ex- isting ill the ninety-nine institutions with which the board has to deal, in addition to the almshouses or other pro- vision made for the care of the poor in the 16S towns and cities of the state and brief summary is given of the legislation of 1905 In the department of charities and correction. Almost all of the institutions visited, it is said, give evidence of efficient management, good order and comfort, but recommenda- tions for improvements are made in certain instances.
 The expense to the state for the maintenance and supervision of the in- stitutions mentioned is shown to be $71,972, as compared with $72S, 152 de- voted to similar purposes in 1904, The chief increases noticed are said to be due to the increased number of in- mates cared for in certain institutions and to the addition to the list of state and state-aided institutions of the Nor wich Hospital for the Insane and the MiddleseX hospital in Middletown. The amount expended by the state for build ngs, etc. was $164,947 Gas compared with $2O7,494 so expended in 19O4), of which the largest part was devoted to the Norwich Hospital for the Insane and new general hospital in the town of Greenwich.
 The total expense for maintenance and buildings s936, ,919-is the largest recorded for the last thirteen years, but it is believed that, as whole, the ap- propriations are we'll administered and that an annual increase in this direc- tion is almost inevitable if the state is to keep pace with other progressive commonwealths.
 The state prison, 1t is said continues to maintain the high reputation which it has earned, under the direction of it's present warden, as one Of the best man. aged institutions of it's kind in the country. In regard to the operation of the indeterminate sentence law of 1901, the report declares that the intervals between the minimum and maximum limits of the sentences now imposed by the courts must be made longer if the principle of indeterminate sentences is ever to be fairly tested as a reformatory measure in this state.
 Mention is made of the report of the commission on the state reformatory, which was presented to the last legisla- ture and the hope is expressed that the effort to establish such an institution, or at least a small reformatory for women, may not utterly fail in the next general assembly. The probation ser vice established in 1903 is said to be achieving satisfactory results and to be amply iustifying itself as a preventive and reformatory measure in the lives of many misdemeanants, especially Juve- nile offenders.
 Little change is noted In the general condition of the county jails, which. in most cases, is marked by fair degree of cleanliness and good order. Recom- mendation Is renewed for the construc- ton in New London county of one modern institution to replace the two ancient structures now in use, and the suggestion is renewed that all of the county jails ought to be placed under the control of a state commission on prisons.
 At the School for Boys in Meriden the work of the manual training classes is especially commended, and 1t is urged that similarl occupations should be still further extended to replace, in large part, the chair-caning industry. The number of boys committed to the school during the year and the number on the rolls at it's close are the largest record ed for the past four years.
 The industrial school for girls in, Middletown has been carried on in it's usual successful manner during the year, and some special Improvements, long needed, have been made possible by an appropriation for the purpose from the last legislature. The increas- ed allowance from $3 to $350 per week for the support of girlR in the school will be found useful in enabling the school to maintain it's high standards of work in all departments.
 The number of inmates present dur ing the year at the hospital for the in- sane at Middletown, 2,417, breaks all records in the history of institutions, but, in spite of it's crowded condition the hospital presents an appearance of good order and ceanly comfort when ever visited. Mention is made of the new structures in process of eonstruc- tion at the Norwich hospital under an appropriation of $420,0OO from the last general assembly, wlllch are part of a comprehensive plan for an institution to accommodate thousand inmates. It is expected that tn, new hospital will take it's place in the near future as one of the representa- i've institutions of the state The number of private sanitaria for mental and nervous dis eases in the state has been reduced from twelveto eleven by the closing of