The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-12-16


springs country in exchange for wa
ter rights in Snake river. If this can
be effected thru the department of
reclamation at Washington, this
500 acres of asylum land can
nearly all be watered via the Black
foot river.
Another tract of land belonging
to the asylum lies farther eastward
and is isolated from the rest. 1t
contains 800 acres that was selected
there in lieu of lands granted to the
institution but situated in some
other part of the state. All of this
800 acres is rough land bordering
the Blackfoot river. Some Of it is
high SAM hills, and some of it is low
land that subirrigates and produces
a sparse growth of grass such as is
usually found on alkali flats. Under
present conditions this land has very
little value. and it would require a
large expenditure to make it over
into good agricultural land. While
this land was being selected, they
entirely overlooked an S0-acre tract
that was open to entry on the side
nearest the town and it was the only
really valuable land in the whole
open tract of 400 acres. This eighty
has since been filed upon by j e.
Hepworth, who discovered it later.
Some of the most valuable of the
asylum land was donated to the state
by W. N. Shilling, now resident of
Rupert, Idaho, and another tract Of
LAT acres at the edge of the town
was bought of George w. Benjamin
about the year 1895 at twenty dol
lars an acre with water right and
considerable improvements. This is
| worth several hundred dollars an
acre now, and a small tract Of 1t ly-
ing closest to town was sold in town
lots under special legislation in
1918. The total acreage now held
by the institution is 1887 acres.
The asylum farm has generally
had large number of hogs, and
until the. present year all of them
were kept in pens thruout the year
After the grain was harvested, there
would be a couple of months when
the hogs could be fattened on the
stubbles and other biproduct forage
in the fields, and would make better
pork than by being kept in the pens
There was no hog-fence to keep them
in the fields, and the present man
agement considered it good invest
ment to add the woven wire fencing
to enclose large part of the farm,
and this enables them to pasture the
hogs on the waste feed
Writer'S Predictions Proven
In earlier articles of this series l
| have stated that about ten per cent
of the patients in the BlackfOOt asy-
lum we're not insane but merely &C.
centric or old or queer and childish,
| and should be taken care of by their
relatives in the homes.
/ stated, also, that another ten
per cent of them belong in the asy-
lums of other states and not in
Idaho. They have simply been
shipped into this state and unloaded
upon us, and we have not provided
any means Of getting them back to
where they belong, so they are still
with us. Proof of both of these
statements has come from an unex-
pected source, which I shall quote
but first l want to refer to another
matter.
Former Prediction Repeated
In another series of articles pub
lished few weeks ago entitled,
mot doing it for money" said
that another ten per cent of the
people now confined in the Black
foot asylum could be cured by chiro-
practices if they would only employ
competent practitioner and give him
opportunity. l said, and / repeat it,
that the Blackfoot asylum is con-
sidered medical institution, is in
charge of people who believe in and
rely upon medical and surgical
practice to the. exclusion Of all 9th
ers no matter how practical and sue
cessful they are proving. said that
if a person having friend in the
asylum should ask to have that
friend treated by chiropractic,. I be-
lieved the board would say that it
was medical institution and that
If the patient could not be cured by
medical or surgical treatment that
there was no way under heaven for
him to be cured. 7 said that If a
person made such a request of DR..