Evening star., 1941-09-17
Commissioners
Study yNewSite
For Aged Home
City Heads Appalled,
By Conditions, Ask
Prompt Correction

O~~-"-Ns
for a modernly designed entire new
plant for the Home for Aged and
Infirm was considered today by the
District Commissioners after they
had made a personal inspection at
Blue Plains. D. c., where they found
some conditions still appalling de-
spite some patchwork accomplished
under the w. P. A. program.
Promising action" the city heads
directed Budget Director Walter L.
Fowler to~make an immediate sur
vey of what other lands in the Dis
trict, owned by the District or Fed
eral Governments which might be
used as a new site for the Districts
'poorhouse."
The Commissioners indicated re-
placement work might be started
during the next fiscal year.
The Commissioners and the pub
lie heretofore have heard much
about conditions at the Blue Plains
institution, for its facilities have
been denounced by Mrs. Roosevelt
and by an investigating committee
of the House, among others. The
city heads found today. during their
thorough inspection of the plant,
that conditions have been i'm
proved, mostly due to the help rem
dered by the District w. P. A. but
they agreed it did not seem worth
while to attempt to rebuild the
present plant and they agreed that
many conditions still needed cor
rection. So much so, that Commits
sioner John Russell Young. presi-
dent of the board. said, lin some
respects we Commissioners deserve
criticism
Mason Appalled,"
Commissioner Guy Mason, asked
by reporters at the end of the
trip what he thought of the situa-
ton, said:
"I am appalled,. BY that I mean
there is the appalling fact that we
have been treating our helpless old
people worse than we treat our pris-
oners down at the jail the work
house and the reformatory, as to
food, facilities and even housing
and growing old is the only crime of
which these people at the Home for
Aged are guilty"
Commissioners Young and Mason
deferred to the Engineer Commits
sioner, Brig. Gen. Charles w. Kutz.
for judgment as to whether it would
be worthwhile to attempt to rebuild
the present institution. He said he
had thought before, and still was of
the same opinion after today's in
spection, that it would be better to
build an entirely new plant
Gen. Kutz thought new institu-
tion could be built near the present.
but the other two city heads thought
the land too low. where dampness
and fog from the river must be ex-
pected to affect the old people, par
ticularly those suffering from arth-
ritis.
Better Service Sought.
The Commissioners said many
things could and should be done at
once to improve conditions as to
food, clothing, service to patients
and equipment.
Medical aides at the institution
reported lack of sanitary trays for
carrying food to bed-ridden patients.
lack of sufficient numbers of wheel
chairs and absence of adjustable
beds for cardiac patients who now
have to sit up in bed at night when
they cannot lie down because of their
physical condition.
The Commissioners, who were &C
companied on the trip by Budget
Director Fowler; his assistant, Will
liam Wilding; Welfare Director Con-
rad Van Hyning, and Otto Cass, new
superintendent of the Home for
Aged; also inspected the old power
plant of the institution. 1t has two
boilers which were obtained second
hand from the United tSates Cap
itol in 1874. and it was asserted these
boilers then we're 20 years old. The
plant has one new boiler, but it was
said the plant is not capable of sup
plying all the electric power needed
and the city officials agreed it would
be better to use the old plant tenn
porarily merely to provide heat and
refrigeration and to depend on power
from the Potomac Electric Power Co.
for lighting.
Commissioner Young was so moved
by lack of adequate service facilities.
which he said could be provided at
a relative small cost, that he pro-
posed that study be made to see
whether money could be used for
this purpose from the old fund,
discovered last year, as a surplus
from a presidential inaugural of
BENJAMIN Harrison. The Commits
sioners were not satisfied with the
menu offered patients. For lunch
today there was provided frank
furters. Sauerkraut and potatoes,
plus some fruit. 1t was said much
the same menu would be given for
tomorrow nights supper.
Mattresses Unsatisfactory.
Definitely unsatisfactory to the
Commissioners was the condition
of the mattresses on the cots for
patients. They were dusty and
almost black. 1t was said the color
resulted mostly from disinfectant
used on them. An institution Of
fetal, however, said the plant did
not have single vacuum cleaner
and that only brushes were available
to clean the mattresses. The Com
missioners decided new mattresses
must be provided.
An institution official said the
home did not have one piece of hose
and that there was fear of what
might happen in case of fire. He
said it did have fire eXtinguishers
and that city fre-flghting equip
ment could reach the place about
7 minutes after call. Because OF
this situation the w. P. A. built
wooden stairways against the brick
walls of some wings since officials
thought the crippled folks might