The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-09-19
STANDARD UIL COMPANY IS
 BEHIND $50, ,OOO, 900 LOAN TO '
 CHINA, ENGINEERED BY YANKEE
CITIZEN OFFERS ARGUMENT FOR A
 NEW ALMSHOUSE

1 Editor of The Farmer, Sir:- D. At a meeting of the State BoarIsof 1 Charities, held at it's office in the Capitol, on Wednesday, November 1st, 1911, Dr. Edwin A. Down x of | Hartford and MT. J. B. HoInaan,sSo Sof l Saybrook, mem bers of the Board, ire ! ported on a visit of inspection which 1 they made. for the Board to the 27th. Their report was substantially. i as follows: d | Prom an inspection of the Fringe l port alInshouse it was evident to tn e 1 visiting committee that the aims house had seen it's best days.t5 A 1 glance at the exterior of the. building believe that the conditions were all that could be desired, but his survey of the lnterior would lead to az.di-. rectly opposite conclusion. This has been the opinion or the State Board of Charities for a number of yearss until now matters have reached such q conclusion as to demand public at ' ltentionaand action in orderz5to place the responsl bilftyr rfoTs the present con . ditions where it justly belongs Upon4 inquiry 1t is found that. the desfra bi l. ity of irnprovfn ing con1itiors s-at the. ll11Sho use remains .unquestioned. AS to the best manner in which this is. to be accomplished, the city must de-s eide for itself. Upon general princi-5 ples, the practice of putting new cloth into an old garment works only disaster for the entire fabric, and our experience with similar instituE. tions in other towns Of the State' Justlfies the assumption that the Bridgeport garment should be re- placed by a modern building on par with those established in cities of the same class in point Of popu- ation and industrial prosP erfty.
 Some of the more striking defects in the present aImshouse are the want of proper facilities for the care vices are few and this means greater expense for the taxpayer on account of additional .-help needed Water closets are dark and unventilated, be considered sufficient for furnish ing both light and fresh air The plumbing is of the mongre1 type, and the decaying floors, wet plastering, exposed areas of Iatning from which the. plastering of the ceiling had fallen, bear witness to the necessity portion of the building. The depart nent for the insane is apparently a nakeshift and is not modelled in keeping with modern conceptions of the care of these unfortunates. The quarters for tn administrative de- .partm ent are wholly inadequate and ed storeroom. So inferior are they to similar departments ! in other larger and well conducted alnashouses conap1 etely oufelassed.
 Under existing conditions the work of caring for the poor in this
 
 lem. Upon questioning the inmates it was ascertained that those in charge Fofs5 the alIasllousa did all. in their power to make matters as com fortabfe as possible and censure should therefore be directed to the structure itself and not to the man agement-
 .'Ita certainly seems time that some thing shPuId be done to provide bet ter quafters for the Bridgeport aims house; and the State Board of Chari- ties would be very glad to hear at your earliest convenience any state nent from. your Board in regard to the, matter.
 < king you for the favor4o an
 se. 'sSNzery sin ncere1y yours ss
 Charles P. Kellogg, ' as Secretary
 The voters of Bridgeport will have an opportunity of rem edying this dis gra cefuI condition of affairs at the alrnsho1iset by voting in favor of the a1rnsh ouse bonding issue at the spe- cial election, Sept 24th.
 A CITIZEN
 Girl Wanted? Read the 1oY1oc1s yTan4 6c