The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1910-02-02
WILL BUILD POOR HOUSE.
C. Commissioners Plan on Establish-
ing Home for Coumty's
INDECENT.

With the maturing of plans now un-
der way by the county commissioners.
home and hospital for the county's
poor and INDECENT will be built this
coming spring. probably at a cost of
$4,000 or $4,000. The reason for
this is that the county is already
caring for about 10 or 20 INDECENT
persons, Is of whom are at st. Eliza
beth's hospital. Heretofore it has
been found more economical to main
tain the few helpless and INDECENT
which the county has cared for, at the
hospital, than to erect home for
them, but the number has now in
creased and this plan must be aban-
doned, especially in view of the fact
that the hospital management has in
creased the charge of maintaining
each county charge from SO cents a
day to $1.00. The cost of living at
hospitals seems to have kept pace
with the cost of living elsewhere.
County Owns Ranch.
When ex-County Treasurer Stair
died several years ago he left to the
county a ranch of 40 acres in the
Ahtanum valley which the commits
sioners have always kept for the pur-
pose of using 1t for county poor
farm. The ranch is about six miles
west of North Yakima on the car line
and has two water rights. Now that
the cost of the county's poor and in
digent has become so great an item
that 1t is no longer feasible to keep
them at the hospital, county poor
farm is deemed a necessity. The
plans as far as outlined call for a COM
bination home and hospital, sanitary
and comfortable. 1t will include an
apartment for the keeper and what
ever help is required. This is the plan
followed in all counties where this
problem has met any satisfactory So
luton.
City Needs Isolation Ward.
With the building of county poor
house, it is more than probable that
the county will enter into some ar
rangement with the city to take over
the isolation and detention hospital
erected a year or two ago just south
of the city. The necessity for a pro-
vision of this kind by the city was
emphasized Monday in the case Of the
Bulge boy. who was hauled all around
cause there was no place to take him
Bulge Case Shows Necessity.
There were some phases of this par
ticular case which illustrate the seri-
BUSINESS of lack of provision of the
contagious sick. While the law pro-
vides that health onicer may con-
denim any building and use it for the
housing of the sick in case of neces-
sity, such action makes the city liza
BILE to an action for damages. And
even though an unused dwelling or
tent is secured, the neighbors, espe-
cially those with children, usually
protest strenuously as they did in the
Bulge case on Monday, against hav-
ing contagion brought into their
midst. Consequently physicians find
1t almost impossible to do without an
isolation hospital where such cases
| may be cared for
While the South Fourth street
neighbors were making protest Mon
day the Bulge patient was kept in
the cold and later when he was re-
moved to the county hospital no pro-
vision had been made for receiving
him. There were no fires the place
had not been cleaned for the recep-
ton of another patient, and that he
did not contract a cold and pneu-
monia in addition to the fever ap-
pears to have been little short Of >
marvel. And this Notwithstanding
the fact that he had sufficient fun6
to pay his way, hire a nurse and pro-
vide the necessary bed. food am
clothing.