Evening star., 1919-12-01

site in the country be purchased FOL
the Industrial Home School for white
children. the present cramped site ir
Georgetown to be sold at price that
| would pay for new site and neces'
sary buildings. Urgent recommends
tion is made that Congress provide 6
suitable institution for the care OF
the feeble minded.
Report on Children's Guardians.
At the close of the fiscal year 2,02t
| children were on the rolls of the
| board Of children's guardians, the re-
| ing permanent wards, twelve tempo
rary and seventy feeble-minded
Good homes were found for many
| children. but many more homes are
| needed, the report said. Recommen-
| dations are made for enactment OF
| the mothers pension bill that was re-
| jected by Congress; for temporary
| receiving home. and for an industrial
school for cOlored girls.
District Alienist.
The report of the District alienist
showed that Lip cases were ex-
| Asylum Hospital, $40 being mental
| suspects. 33s acute alcoholics. AZ
| chronic alcoholics, % delirium tre-
| mems and 33 drug addicts.
| salary of the stenographer and clerk
! to the ailenist be increased; that pro-
| vision be made for medical psy-
| chO1ogist and that an amendment be
| made to the District law relating to
the insane, such as has been prepared
and indorsed by the Board of Trade.
Veterinary Division.
The report of the veterinary divi-
! sion showed twenty-five horses pur-
| chased, fifty three sold at public auc-
| tion twenty-seven died of various
| causes and eight destroyed because OF
| injuries. The division reported 25o
| hogs treated as preventive OF ho;'
and seventy cattle tested for tuber-
| culosis at the workhouse.
! Other Reports Summarized.
The board of pharmacy reported
sixty-one applications to practice
pharmacy; the board of medical
Supervisors reported forty-one appll-
cants for licenses to practice medicine
| in the District, thirty-five OF whom
passed. four failed and two Wlthdre"
from the examinations.
The board of dental examiners re-
ported fifty-siX applicants for certln- =
Gates to practice dentistry. twenty-slx
passing. twenty failing and ten con-
ditioned. ,s
The nurses examining board held
two examinations during the year,
with ninety applicants. of whom only
nurses registered during the year
! was seventy EIGHT.
he investigated 1,494 deaths, Oh Wnlct, III
422 were by violence: performed 10"
autopsies, and held 176 inquests. n1ty-
eight more than for the previous
year. +h,.
it turned over eighty-nine bodies TO
medical schools in the District, ac-
cording to law.
Minimum Wage Board.
SynopsiZing the creation and op-
Grafton Of the minimum wage poaro
for the period ended December 81,
1918, the report said:
..The District of Columbia minimum
wage law, enacted for the purpose OF I
protecting the women and minors OIL
the District from conditions detrl-
mental to their health and morals re-
sulting from wages Inadequate to
maintain decent standards of living
was approved and went into erect
September 10, 1918. On October ~,
the following persons were appointed
by the commission as members OF
this board: Miss Ethel Smith, Jesse
&c. Adkins and Joseph A. Berber1ch.
The term of Miss Smith was to be
until January 1. 1919, that of Mr.. Ad-
kins to be until January 1, 1920, and
that of MIR. Berberich to be until Jan
uary /, 1921. On December 80 Miss
missfoners for the term ending jan
uary 1, 1922.
"The president of the board of
Commissioners called an organization
meeting of the board for October 80.
at which Mr.. Adkins was elected
chairman.
Selection of Secretary.
The first matter TO come before
the board was the selection of sec
retary. Numerous applications were
received and many prospective can
didates were interviewed or communi-
Gated with, in the hope that person
who had had experience with min
imum wage commission might be OBJ
siderable delay, Miss Clara Morten-
son of the stan of. the war labor
policies board, was appointed secre-
tary to the board on December s, 1913
Miss Mortenson is native of Cali
fornia and a graduate of the state
university. Prior to her residence in
Washington she was instructor in
economics and labor at Bryn Mawr
College.
"In the short time which has pass
ed since the organization of the staff.
it has been impossible to do more
than survey the field and outline a
plan of action. 1t was necessary to
determine the chief industries of the
District and the approximate num-
Der Of women engaged in each. To
this end the services of two investi-
gators, Miss Bertha Neinburg and
Miss Caroline Wilson. were obtained
for a few days. Their report. a copy
of which is attached, shows that
there are approximately 1858 woman
workers who will come within the
field of wage investigation. OF these
7,103. or 45 per cent, are employed in
mercantile establishments; 2,760, or
IT'S per cent, in the personal service
industries restaurants. hotels. hair
dressing. etc); 4,520. or 80 per cent,
in the manufacturing and mechanical
industries; and the remainder, tx
per cent. in Offices and in transporta-
tion. A list Of representative firms in
each industry also was compiled by
these investigators.
d. C. Living Cont Inquiry.
THE United States bureau of la
Dor statistics consented to bring its
study Of the cost Of living in the Dis
trict. made in 1916, up to date for the
use Of the board. The material will
be available on January 15, 1919.
with this data. It will be a COM
paratively simple task to determine
il there are occupations in which a
substantial number OF woman work.
ers are receiving wages inadequate to
supply them with the necessary cost
of living and maintain them in health
and protect their moealA'
From wage figures obtained from
the United States employment serv-
| ice, the indications are, that investi-
CATION will prove the necessity for
calling conferences in a number Of
occupations The order in which the
board will proceed Is dependent to a
large extent upon the seasonal fiuc.
| tuations in the trade concerned"