The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1911-08-03
THE AIMS
HOUSE QUESTION
Some New Uses For The lnstl'
tuition.
AMARET FIELD ADVOCATED FOR SITE

To The free Lance,
The Council has sold the Aims
+ House property on the hill TO the
Normal School. an act approved by
f the thinking people of the city; IL
has purchased from Mr. ". III. Pc
den "A lot in the upper portion OF the
city. opposite good husband row,
on which To build a new Aims House
and il got the property, too for a
fair price subsequently to this
purchase the Council seems 10 have
determined not to build the Aims
House oH the Peden lot and sought
for the time being to board and
lodge the few inmates Of the Aims
House at the poor house OF either
Stafford or SpOtsylyania counties or
both.
The Stafford authorities want $40
per inmate per month. with a mini
mum number OF 4. and in addition
want the city to provide medicine.
medical attendance. transportation
and possibly other items at city's
expense pretty steep charge for
pauper board. and possibly more
than some of us would like to pay
I for better fare 1t is Stafford's
pleasure. however. to fix her own
charges and ours to accept or re-
ject them.
Spotsylvania has declined to board
and lodge the inmates of our Aims
House at any price. and this. it seem
TO the writer,is the proper and more
/ dignified position to take. for GER
tain il is that every jurisdiction
should take care Of It's own poor. so
far as in its power lies. and equally
certain IL seems that the poor farm
Of SpOtsylyania was not purchased
and provided with the money Of
SpOtsylyania's taxpayers for the pur-
pose of taking care OF the poor Of
some other jurisdiction. and this
apart from either the question Of
accommodation or profit
Deprived OF house by a sale
which iustfies Itself TO thinking peo
pie. and denied abroad by our adj
joining counties. what shall be done
for our poor?
However deserving this charity
may be. or however sOlemnly the
performance of this duty may ap-
peal 10 either the individual or to
+the public conscience. yet it Is a
well recognized fact that no man
living in city wants a poor house
or an aims house, as it is called next
door to or even in close view OF
his house. He sees enough Of pow
erty and Of want. and is supplicatod
enough for aims In his daily life
without having an Aims House fixed
as an institution at his front door
! More than this-he don't want to
pass one on his pleasure drives or
recreating walks and have It's mute
appeal constantly driven home 10 his
thoughts. Is this not true? Well.
how many Of this city's people ever
visited the old Aims House i'm their
drives or walks. and yet the view
from that hill is the finest around
here.
Again, from the necessity of the
case. our authorities have sometimes
used the Aims House as hospital
Tor sick or injured strangers or So
JOurners, who could not be, or would
no be, admitted to the Mary Wash
lngton Hospital and whose condition
/ precluded the possibility of their he
ing sent TO the Jail Time has been
when a smallpox case. that of Jack
banks. was sent TO the Aims House
ior want OF another place to send
the sufferer; and for years an ad-
judged lunatic. Mrs. Jennings. was
an inmate of our Aims House. and
Delhg a pensiOner her pension money
was regularly turned over 10 the citv
70 aid in her maintenance.
Therefore our Aims House. so
called, has been, or will be
/. An Aims House, proper.or place
ior the reception OF and care for the
poor.
2 An infirmary, or emergency
hospital for certain classes
3. pest house, under certain
conditions; and
4. An asylum. or place of dcten-
ton for the mildly insane, or those
suffering from chronic alcoholic de-
mentia; and, il should be
5. A workhouse for those inmates
who are able TO work, but just don't
want to. like Mr.. True, who once
burdened, if not graced, the institu-
tiOn for a short while.
Considering all these uses. and hay
ing i'm mind the fact that no man, or
no neighborhood, wants a poorhouse
or Aims House near him, yet, would
Il not be worth while TO locate this
institution where it would not be oh
jectionable nor too much in public
view, but where sufficient ground
could be procured for the purposes
desired. or the uses made, OF the
institution.
One PECULIARLY available place, it
seems to the writer, is that piece OF
ground, or a portion of 1t, known
as the Amaret Farm. 1t is bounded
on the west by the Fair Grounds,
on the east and north by the public
road around by the Bridgewater
Mills and on the South by a public
road separating Amaret Farm from
the Fitzgerald field, and the build
ings could be placed on the north
portion OF the property where they
could not be observed from either
the Fitzgerald field, the Fair Ground
or the public road. II would afford
ample room and provide space for
yards. gardens, orchards and a
small farm, If desired; it Is perfectly
healthy. is on the outer edge of any
possible development OF the city
northwesterly and has between II
and the river a strip OF land too
, narrow for development.
1t is true this and other property
in 1896 was burdened with an annu-
ity OF 81 ,666 year in the old Thorn
ton-Dunbar deed but this charge has
been apportioned by act OF the land
owners, to which, however, the an
nuitants were not parties, and now
Stafford county bridge commissioners
pay $1,000 OF It, the Bridgewatel
Mills and Rappahannock Electric co
I pays some $500 of 1t and the Agri-
cultural Fair pays the balance OF
about $500. This same old annuity
is contingently chargeable on the
I Knox Bros bone mill property ano
overlaps on a portion OF the Power
Company's new dam and works, ant
the possibility Of ultimate failure o.
those primarily liable to pay the an
nuity has not deferred the sale Of
these properties in the past. The
! fact that this annuity has been paic
! from 1896 down to July /, 1911, ol
Z one hundred and fifteen years, is IN
4 best assurance that 1t will continue
to be paid in the future. The cit,
is, or 1t is thought to be, large