The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-11-14
THE IDAHO REPUBLICAN

the state. II fat hogs are .butchered
and used, the record In the depart
ment Of nourishment must show It.
II he sells or nearly gives the hogs
away to q relative as superintend-
emit did few years ago there Is more
chance for the department to trace
1t up. But whenever the depart
ment receives q reQuisition for goods,
the copy Of inventory of that institu-
ton can be turned to to see how
much of that kind Of goods he has
on hand. II DR.. Hoover's inventory
showed 275 patients and q thousand
blankets, the department might not
honor requisition for more blank
cts until they knew why they had
been requested. But IL the list
showed that he had not enough to
go round, then his requisition would
receive more attention. He has q
reQuisition pending now for 1872 iron
beds with rustleSs springs, and he Is
In hurry for them. The law and
the rules under which they are work
ing will not allow him to come down
town and buy few unless he can
justify it under the emergency clause
Of Article y, lines 8 and 9, senate bill
number lat. II were the superin-
tendent they would often be having
trouble with me over emergency pur-
chases and they would probably be
filming me under section 2, mot less
than $40 nor more than $1O0." I
want to tell you why he needs the
new iron beds.
The Untidy Patients
You have seen those beds that
have woven soft-steel spring bot
tom that Says along in the middle,
and the more it is used, the more it
becomes like a hammock? There
are lot Of them at the Asylum, and
there are enough to go around such
as they are. Insanity manifests it's
disorders in many different ways,
and good many of the patients are
classed as "untidy." During the
night spot IN the middle Of the bed
becomes saturated, and the/ fluid
rusts the springs under that spot
The wire is fine and soft and soon
begins to break and go to pieces
every time it is moved or bent or
strained. Some of the patients are
untidy that the attendant has to
get them up one or more times each
night and clean them up and change
part of the bedding and put them in
again. Where there are several pa
tients crowded into one small room,
at is pretty tough on the others.
But the others are probably in the
same class, and that increases the
total of disagreeableness and bad
air. Not long ago when was prowl-
ing about the wards in company with
DR.. Hoover and the commissioner of
public welfare, the Doctor showed us
a number of these beds that hung
like hammocks with patches rusted
out under the place where the pa
TENTS hips rest. l think Commits
sioner White was as much hurt over
these things and the poor ventilation
and poor fire protection as if some
of his own folks were suffering from
it all. He said to me, "Trego, can't
you tell the newspaper men of this
state what an impossible situation we
have here so they can tell all the |
people of the great necessity for new
modern buildings and facilities for
taking better care of the patients? If |
all the people knew what we know
about this old shell wouldn't they |
send men to the legislature with in
to erect whole new set |
of buildings and make new start?"
[ told him it was a doubtful task to |
try to interest all the editors in bet
tering the conditions of lot of peo-
pie they had never seen, and trying
to stir up the interest of all the peo-
pie to such an extent that action
would result was an impossible job;
that If any state administrator took
the thing in hand and spent enough
money to correct the present out
rageous conditions, the agitators
would raise great bug-a-boo about
The high taxes, they would tell that
It was spent for salaries for new and
useless positions just like they are
1oing now concerning some improve
nents that have been made, and the
people would promptly vote them out
md put in the agitators. The agi-
,ators in their term of office would
'quander the resources of the state
md let all the institutions run down,
Ind that kind of a program makes up
he round of life in a republic.
Thirty per cent of the people hold
he balance of power, and that par
ocular thirty per. cent are not level
headed. They listen more attentive
y to scandal and falsehoods than
hey do to something sound and SEN
ible, and if an honest man and a
coundrel take turns speaking to an
audience just before an election, the
will make more impression
md gain more consideration at the
,olls than the honest man with rec
'rd of twenty or thirty years of good
works in the community.
State Buying Blankets
But to get back to those blankets
We were about to buy, the depart
nent of supplies had a world of pre-
work to do before it could
INV infn11i1nnf1xr xryl,a 10 |