Las Vegas optic., 1912-08-23
FARM CURE TO Be.
USED FOR THE
DRUNKARDS
MUNICIPAL COLONY TO BE OPEN
ED FOR lNERRlATEs IN
NEW YORK

Within few months there will be
established among the mountains not
far from New York what will approxi-
mate an earthly paradise for the cure
Of New York's most hardened inebri-
ates. It is not philanthropic, but a
civic enterprise. The only way man
can enter it is to be adjudged an ha-
bitual drunkard.
No contrast could be more striking
than the present fate Of the chronic
drunkard and the care that soon will
be lavished on his well being when
the gates OF this new paradise in the
country are thrown open to him. For
years the drunkard has been going
to the workhouse, a large and gloomy
building over on Blackwell's Island, in
felicitously named because no work
Il done there. III this dull retreat
the inmates drag through their days
of discipline until they may leave and
begin all over again the process that
ends in their being sent back.
The other stopping place Of the vic
Tins of perpetual thirst is the psyche
pathic ward in Bellevue, where the
acute cases land, those that are on
the borderland OF insanity. It is an
other gray and gloomy place that
awaits the coming Of modern Dante
for an adequate description
But up in Orange county, in the en-
chanted land where SO many New
Workers spend their vacations, there
is being established the largest and
most complete farm colony for the
cure of inebriety that there is in
America 1t covers nearly one thou
sand pacres in a broad hollow in the
hills. Until the city bought the
property it was one Of the most
splendid farms of all that region that
literally flows with milk and honey.
If, as has been proved pretty con
clusively, environment has much to
do with the cure Of disease, it would
seem as if no malady could long re-
sist the charm Of this peaceful land
scape where the city's drunkards are
to be made over. In summer the pur-
pie haze glorifies the distant noun
tains, sunset and sunrise are never
sass.e BBeaftiiffI than In this place Of
eace. A lake and abundant springs
of cool, sparkling water add beauty
TO the landscape But the regenera-
tion of the drunkards is not to come
through contemplation of their sur
roundings alone.
The broad acres of tillable land
must be worked. At first, no doubt,
any sort Of labor win be hard for
these inept and broken men, and they
viii be given the lightest tasks. But,
later. as their strength increases, they
will handle the plow and the hoe and
the cuItivator with zest. They will
have appetites such as they never knew
since boyhood, and their brains will
Be AS clear as the crystalline air they
breathe.
This will go on for twelvemonth
at least, perhaps for three times that.
hut in the end the men that may go
back to the city If they will are sure
to be clear eyed well muscled, sober
human beings, each Of whom is a
good asset for the city that has lifted
him up. instead Of a heavy liability
as he is today
More than 600 persons are arrested
here every week for drunkenness in
the summer, and about 500 a week
during the winter This IS . pretty
low average for city Of this size,
but the total IS close to 10000 a year.
Several times that number Of drunls
do not reach the helpless or brawling
stage and are started homeward by
the police without being arrested The
maintenance Of the workhouse drunk
ards costs the city $4,000 a year, and
the care Of those that land in Belle
we $4,000 annually. Then there is
the aftermath
Thirty per cent Of the men and 10
per cent Of the women in the state