The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1943-03-12

e fall. The farmer, it was said, COZ
o planned because he thought the ca
s rots were not thinned enough, TIL
IS had they been so thinned they wou
g have grown much larger and yielde
e more for him. But the kitchen d
: clares the carrots are just right sis
S for their use, that they would M
s want them any larger. We gave tn
4 farmer every opportunity to appes
e and register with this committee an
' complaint that he might have, but b
! did not show up.
Buildings and Equipment
/, While there are several large brio
dormitOries at the Montana Stat
Hospital, the place generally remind
one of an old, run down ranch, wit
buildings of all sizes and types stucl
here and there, according to the nc
ton and need of the particular builde
at time of construction. The barns
for example, are hardly more thai
sheds and would certainly be cleared
away and replaced by something a
least fairly modern by any progress
sive rancher who thought to operate
a spread of this size. The cows, o.
which there are perhaps $50 milkeC
by hand are housed in a weather
beaten barn through which the wintry
winds find many an opening, but into
which the sun can hardly shine at all
There are only a few stanchions in
the barn; most of the cows are tied
with ropes. The hog shed is nothing
more than a shed, open at one end,
with no sunlight provided for. The
chicken houses are inadequate to care
properly or fully for the flocks the
institution needs. Some new chicken
houses are needed badly.
The laundry falls far short of meet
ing the requirements of the institu-
ton, so that it must be operated Sum
days, as well as every other day, to
keep fresh linen and other articles
of clothing for the more than 1000
patients and employees. How long
this laundry has been in use, or how
hard it has been used, may be Judged
by the grooves worn in the hardwood
floor-almost through the floor in fact
where individual workers have stood
and ironed at the circular affair which
constitutes their set of stationary
ironing boards with the individual
boards sticking out like the spokes
of great wheel A mangle of I'M
certain age is used for the sheets and
pillow cases. Otherwise the work
could never be performed This
laundry building, three stories high
but covering only small ground
space, might be used to good advan-
tage as a recreation center for en-
thing greatly needed at
Warm Springs-if and when a new
laundry of sufficient size and proper
equipment is built to take it's place.
Among the dormitories are several |
wooden buildings, mostly two stories |
high, which are virtual fire traps for
The patients housed within. A good |
of the crowded condition of |
he institution may be observed in
.hese old buildings, Cottage A, for in
stance, houses So women patients, |
with beds crowded almost as close as
hey will stand, upstairs and down.
And for the So patients there is one
I'D fashioned bath tub down stairs.
Cottage B, another wooden building
If about the same size, houses 81
women patients has one bath tub
w of ire nd 70 |
he two floors. Cottage F, where are
-ept the worst women cases, houses
Is patients, with bath and toilet IA
ilities about the same as for the 9TH
r cottages mentioned. This building
las some two or more towers at the
PIPER corner where women attendants
ave rooms, but no means of escape
rom these towers has been provided
hould a fire break out Still an
Their, larger dormitory, has the APP
earance of being made of brick, but
5 only brick veneer and as much a
ire trap as the other named. Such
) the condition of the old buildings,
yhich should have been replaced long
go with modern, fire-proof struc-
lres.
The equipment is antiquated all
trough the institution. Much of the
lumbing dates back to an early age
he problem of heating is difficult S
'om the. central heating plant, be- a
ause Of the poor arrangement of the ]
uildings and the dilapidated condi t
on of some. The kitchen and bak- O
" display the worst shortcomings of e
i in equipment. Here the work s
ust go on regardless. And the i'm f
ements are old style and crude be-
md belief. There is no mechanical n
except for small unit a
srhaps at the hospital ward. Ice is b
,ed in summer for such cooling as a
IN be maintained by this method. b
he cooking is done largely by steam, e
it'll the food placed in large metal a
ldrons for this purpose. And for k
king bread the institution makes tt
e of old brick ovens, built 40 years c
% and still fired with wood. These
ems must be kept going almost con- m
antly to turn out the 1000 loaves =
bread a day the institution re- nj
Tres, so that it is seldom they can m
used to bake other food stuffs. L.
" supplying the dining rooms each Ii
cal time, the food is placed in open hi
etal containers of some fifteen gal al
I capacity and wheeled through long m
nnels to the various buildings, each pa
which has its own dining room. Sc
lese containers naturally get hard m
,atment but, being made of heavy al
stal, they hold heat well and de- w