Milford chronicle., 1913-04-11
NEEDS OF The
GIRLS REFORMATORY.

The Delaware Industrial School is a
State institution, and it is entitled TO
such assistance from the State as will
enable its managers to carry out the
vital purpose for which it was created.
That its needs are urgent is shown by
the fact that its normal capacity is for
thirty girls, yet it is now housing and
taking care Of nearly sixty girls. These
girls are crowded together in a most
unwholesome manner. One rOoIn, in
tended for an infrmary and badly needed
for that purpose. has been converted
into q dormitory, and eighteen girls are
crowded into it. They can be accom-
modated only by the use Of double
decker beds placed close together. In
eight small rooms, designed for one bed
each, 1t has been necessary to put two
beds, and thruOut the whole school the
same congested condition prevails.
1t is quite impossible to establish and
enforce proper sanitary regulations in
these circumstances. The health Of the
girls at the school is important to their
moral and mental development. and the
managers of the institution should not
be required to attempt the impossible
m their eifUrts to properly manage a
State institution.
Kent aud Sussex counties are as much
INTERESTED in The Delaware Industrial
School for Girls as is New Castle County.
A large portion Of the girls at the school
come from the lower counties, more in
fact than enough to utilize half its nor
NAL capacity. During the past year four
girls from the town 70 SeafOrd alone have
been committed to the school, and other
down-State towns are well represented. !
The Levy Court of New Castle County
contributes forty cents a day for each
girl in the school from that county, and
while the court endorses the bill it will
continue to contribute to the support of |
the school. On the other hand, Kent
and Sussex contribute nothing to the |
maintenance of the school, not even /
paying the railroad fare Of girls sent !
from those counties to the institution.
The enlargement of the school is a sani- /
tary measure, necessary to the health 4
Of pupils it is,a moral measure, having
a vital bearing upon the future Of the 1
girls sent there to receive the benefits /
It IS expected to afford, and which it will 1
afford if means are provided for its
proper maintenance it is an economic
measure, for whatever conserves the
energies Of the State, spiritual moral
and physical, must necessarily result in
a saving.
1t is proposed to move the school to a
location where it will have more outdoor
advantages, and a desirable tract Of
twenty-seven acres at Claymont has
been donated for the purpose. Another
object in seeking more room for the
school is that it will enable the manag-
ers to divide the institution into two
buildings, and thereby separate the older
and more sophisticated girls from the
younger ones. This is Of extreme i'm
portanee and would add to the efficiency
Of the school as moral agent to a de-
gree that can hardly be over-estimated.
The school has already demonstrated
its usefulness. Like the Ferris School
for boys, it is an auxiliary to the Juve-
nile Court Its purpose is to make good
citizens out of material that has been
misplaced or missused, and in this rela-
ton it is doubtful If the community can
safely do without it.
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