New Britain herald., 1919-01-23

thousand (2,o0o) pounds of butter and also the files of the state com missioner of domestic animals of Hartford and presumably the boards own files show the correspondence be- tween them from December, 1917, until June, 1918, in regard to inspec- ton, testing and slaughtering of the Town Farm herd and the post mor- tenn report on each animal which conclusively shows that the board suspected something was the matter with the stock and the post mortem proved that some of the stock had been affected for several months, consequently the inmates of the home had used for food milk from diseased animals during that time.
 This alone accounts for the news of the killing of all but four of the herd failing to reach the public. It demonstrates that the officials were not proud of their work and that they were not looking for any praise for it.
 Influenza Case Admitted.
 Another incident bearing on the Town Farm management, which have good reason for believing to be reliable, is this: In October last, dur ing the height of the influenza epi- denic I was at the Town Home and was informed by MT and Mrs. Kibbe that up to that time they had not per- ceived any indication of any inmate being at all affected with the dis ease. Just about this time the home physician had been taken i'll with the flu which turned into a severe pneu- monia case and then were was no regular medical attendant at their service. About the middle of Octo- Der the superintendent of the home was notified by superior officials that he must receive and care for a sick man at the home. Inquiry Was made as to the disease the party had and they were informed that it would be risky business to allow the introduce ton of a person suffering from a con- tagious disease, especially influenza, into the home as all the inmates at that time were free from it. The su- perintendent was assured that the person did not have the disease and that he must be taken care of
 "The patient was sent down there and a special physician called in to prescribe for him. It. was then learned that the physician called In had treated the party before his en- try into the home and that it was for influenza evidenced by medicine the patient had with him and also his case was then pronounced influenza for which he was treated until his death some four days later.
 After the above case was admitted there were six cases of Influenza among the adults and six children taken with it, but fortunately no deaths occurred.
 "This caused lot of extra work for the small working force there and they were further handicapped by their regular home doctor being sick.
 Fire Prevention Not Heeded.
 "A year ago we read in substance, in large type on the front page of leading local paper about the fire trap at the Town Home. Inmates in dan ger of being burned to death, prom inent city officials pronounced it un- safe and condemned it, etc. This was just a furry, nothing to speak of has been done to make the place more safe. A coat of whitewash would he of as much benefit as anything that has been done. A thousand to twelve hundred dollars has been expended on this particular building during the past season but the safety of the in mates has not been increased on the whole, they are in more danger now than they were a year ago. The $1.- 200 expended probably benefited peo- pie not connected with the home more than anybody else. The facts in the case are these, that the oldest part of the home built Of wood along about 1885. a basement and two story building approximately 32 or 34 feet wide by 80 or 90 feet long, con- nected by a closed passway at one end with the men brick dormitory- is used as the home for the bedrid- den and feeble-minded women with one demented female Gan old inmate who is kept locked up) and also some children, probably 20-odd in all. This building has a corridor or hall ! through the center of it on each floor and small rooms extend from these halls to the outside on each side, there being a door from the hall into each room and one window in each room on the outside. On one end of the building there is wide