Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-03-18
DISCUSS STATE INSTITUTIONAL
LIFE At CONFERENCE OF 81.
PERINTENDENTs.
SEPARATE RESIDENCES FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIALS
Too intimate Acquaintance Frequently
Tends to interfere With Discipline,
Women cay - Papers Read by Mrs.
! w. L. kuser Of Eldera, and Mrs,
VoIdsns, Of Cherokee.
,ciai to rimes-Republican.

Special to Times-Republican.
Des Moines, March 1s.-Institution
life from the standpoint Of the women
to the fore today at the board Of con-
troll conference. The wife Of the super
intendent at Eldora presented a paper
on housing officers and employees at the
Institutions and it was discussed by the
wife Of the superintendent at Cherokee.
Both presented some ideas which the
public ought to consider.
Mrs. Kusher declared that to make
conditions Good at the institutions will
cost money but to get good helpers and
keep them they must get as good as
they can get in the commercial world
Iowa would be the gamer by making
conditions the best possible for the
| state could then get good officers and
employees and demand best work.
"The responsibility of conducting the
institutions under the board of control
is grave one and demands the best
service Of able men," she said. men
Of high ideals and philanthropic mo-
tives, men whose measure of worth and
service is not the monthly stipend al
lowed by the state, but rather the high
standard efficiency shown in the insti-
tutions and the benefits and relief af-
forded the wards Of the state"
Good Housing Essential.
Mrs. Kusher advised that the super
intendent Of any institution ought not
to live in the administration building
There should be respite from the cares
Of the position. And the family of a
superintendent or other emnloye should
receive consideration. There should be
good housing for officers and en-
ployes and no uncongenial room mates
One great trouble with institution life
Is that officers and employees come to
know each other too WELL The larger
institutions should have employees
homes. and great care should be had
in the housing of the night workers.
Too Many Changes.
Mrs. NJ N. voldeng said that any
thing that will prevent frequent
changes in the institution force will be
of great help and the question is what
can be done to make the positions at
| tractive. 1t is not a question of wages
alone. Much depends on the measure
of happiness and contentment. The
:
upon nurses and attendants is to build
separate homes for them so they can
| come to their duty fresh and at the
end Of the long days work they can
go away to privacy and quiet The
first institutions We're "asylums," and
! in these the treatments, If any, were by
the wholesale method. Homes for en-
! ployes seemed unnecessary Space that
could not be utilized for anything else
was used to house the employees. The
states are learning better. Nurses and
teachers are surrounded by depress-
ing and nerve racking influences and
it is desirable they should be housed
in separate homes, simple, comfortable
nd homelike.
Mrs. Voldeng secured letters form
orty-one superintendent in as many
'ifferent states advising as to what
hese states are doing along the line
If housing officers and employees. Four
'uperintendents did not favor separate
uildings for superintendent, nurses
taft and employees; three expressed
a decided preference for superinten-
! dants quarters in the administration
building; but twenty-nine favored
separate quarters for all. A few were
uncertain as to the advantage Of a
superintendent residence Nearly all
the institutions have nurses homes. No
superintendent or officer who has had
experience in institutions where there
are nurses homes staff houses and res
idence for the superintendent, but that
vastly prefers the more normal life
thus attainable.