The independent-reporter., 1909-12-23
STATE SCHOOL FOR the
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The Wsrk.

Excellent progress has bean made
IN The State school for Feeble minded
In powusi A large hrick building
which wiii be usea as dofutitofs
for boys ls xsil under ~ay. water
tower hes been erected. and many Re
pairs have been made ln the ! iild-
ings upon the farms bought 20 make
the property of the school aud noa
owned by the State.
There are nov - boys and Rifls
In the rchooi. and Or George :
bliss. the superintendent. says they
re having many applications which
for the present must be refused An
other season the electric power
plant will be built upon ROYAL river
which will furnish lights for all OF
the buildings. and power for the
workshops. The school building will
also be constructed and lighted from
this plant.
During the summer much work
has been done on the farms In wa,
of cutting bushes and clearing the
! land of stones, and in this work the
| boys have assisted materially. DR..
| Bliss, speaking of the children here,
said
I'VE have little or no trouble in
controlling them. and find that they
are willing to work in almost every
case. They need to be taught their
tasks over and over. however and
much patience is needed to properly
guide them. Many of the boys evi-
IDENTIFY were not accustomed to work
before coming here, but they take up
their tasks cheerfully, and we are
careful not to have them do much
work until they become hardened in
muscle, and become accustomed to
their daily routine. They ali want
plenty to eat, and seem to look unoE
quantity rather than quality They
have enormous appetites and | think
it safe to say that some of the boys
here eat more in one day than two
robust men would in two days.
We see that the boys have plenty
of wholesome food, but are very care
full that they will not know the bill
of fare. For instance, If we give
them beef on Wednesday of this
week we take care to furnish some
thing different ON Wednesday of next
week We keep out of their minds
the idea that this day is fish day or
that day is soup day. Some of the
boys are learning to read and wtite
but others will probably never be
able to 90 this.
During this season the boys have
dcne a large amount of work Lnon
the farms, piling rocks, and the
younger and less intelligent of the
boys have cut and piled a big lot OF
wood, containing no one knows how
many cords. Even in work 10 si'h
pie as that the boys need to be super
vised, in order that the" may not
cut themselves or in other ways in
jure themselves
Our plan is to have an excellent
farm here, and we have good st"'t
already. The past season we have
raised a great quantity of vegetables
among other things 600 bushels oi
potatoes We have ten horses uset
for work here, and IA cows, which
produce the milk and butter we re
uuire. | find that the people of the
State are much interested in this
work We have quite a number o
visitors, and | have yet to near any
complaints because the last Legisla
luIt PAVOiVOo WIN "iiiNi
to get this istitution under way. The
board OF trustees, Hartley c. BaX
ter of Brunswick. Cyrus N. Blan
chard of Wilton, Oramandal Smitf
of Litchfield, w. G. Means of Ma
chias, and Mrs. Margaret A. Barker
of Bangor. have made frequent visits
to the institution during the pas
season, and have consulted with mt
In reference to the work.
Gov. Fernald, who is the chairman
of the trustees, is a believer in this
institution and | find that every one
who has had occasion to look into the
work feels a sympathy for it. Mr.
Baxter, who is a level-headed busi
ness man, has made very large
number of visits here, and have
found his advice very helpful. This
place is patterned after the Waver'
ly, Mass, Home, which is considered
model of schools of this kind. The
health of all the inmates has beer
good and | think it can be safely
said that the work thus far done has
hoan xto.y cotiufantnry