The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-12-02
Horrible Conditions At
Reform School Found As
Reported By DR.. Klock

II
.-
Tallahassee, Dec. 2.--That the so-
called reform school, or State Indus
trial School for Boys at Mariana Il
so conducted as TO be disgrace tc
the State of Florida and its people:
that II has been lamentably misman,
aged and its hapless inmates abused
by conditions which would dis
grace German prison camp; that
the board Of commissioners off State
institutions which is made up of the
governor and his cabinet, has been
negligent, to say the least; and that
the report recently made to the Unit
ed States Public Health Service by its
representative, DR.. G. W. Klock OF
Daytona, was warranted and true, is
the virtual summing up Of the special
committee Of the legislature sent to
Marianne, and which reported back
to the Legislature Saturday.
The report OF the five members
Senators Hughlett and Anderson and
Representatives Crews, Miller and
Hamblin-does not coincide with the
report which the board Of commits
sioners of state institutions made to
the press after DR.. Knocks severe ar
raignment of the neglect Of the States
wards and gross Encouragement Of
the institution.
The committees report, while It
does not go into sensati0nalism,
shocked the members Of the legisla-
ture. 1t stated that the institution
has been grossly mismanaged; that
the boys have been ill-fed and are ILL
clothed; that many Of them are bare
footed, and thinly clad; that the bed
ding in the hospital is merely col
lection of old mattresses on a cement
floor, as DR.. Klock stated, and that
the bed linen apparently has never
visited laundry since first put into
use; that the mattresses are damp,
and that the roof of the building
leaks.
That when the committee assembled
in the mess hall with the boys for
dinner on Thanksgiving Day, they
found that the lads were not given
knives or forks with which to handle
their food, and took pieces Of meat in
to their hands and gnawed at them
after the manner Of savages.
That although 5000 pounds Of
smoked meat was purchased some
time ago that the recently dismissed
superintendent at times refused to
honor acquisitions for supplies OF It
and finally two-thirds Of the purchase
was buried after 1t had spoiled and
become unfit for use.
That there is a very unsanitary con-
dition in the bakery, with the build
ing unscreened. That there are no
books in the reading or recreation
room for the boys. That idleness has
been the rule, and that the superin-
tendent recently dismissed was neg
ligen to fevnhis
ligent of even his plainest duties,
Would Take IL Out Of Hands of Pres
emit Board
The committee recommends that an
appropriation of $4,000 be made i'm
mediately available for the school, and
that the annual wage of the superin-
tendent be raised to $4,000 SO that a
capable and experienced man may be
secured for the place. Also that a
committee of three well-informed citi-
zens be created to act as board oe
inspection and who shall report to the
board Of control.
The committee states in its report
that the accounts of the school are
in bad shape, there being no inven-
tory OF what supplies were on hand.
and no account of what had been used.
In reference to clothing the commit
tee found nearly three hundred fleece
lined undershirts stored away. They
had never been used; yet some Of the
thinly-clad boys were suffering from
the chill weather.
OF the hospital room the commit
tee stated that it was In a most in
sanitary condition with leaky roof.
The report said the floor evidently had
not been scrubbed in weeks, the mat
tresses wet and worn and dirty, and
the bed linen filthy. DR.. Baltzell, the
resident physician, when asked about
conditions, reported by DR.. Kloek,
stated that he had given warning to
tba fornad sunarintendant that pren-