REPORT OF VISITATION OF ALMSHOUSES IN THE THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT. To the State Board of Charities: The Commissioner of the Third Judicial District having made his annual vistation of almshouses begs to submit the following report as to their condition and the improvements accomplished during the fiscal year ending September 30, 1909. RECENT IMPROVEMENTS. New At Rensselaer County Almshouse a detached hospital is in process of construction which will be used for the isolation of tuberculosis and other contagia. The presence of tuberculosis patients in the dormitories and wards of this almshouse has been a menace to the lives of other inmates for many years. fire hose was purchased at Rensselaer and Columbia County Almshouses, electric lights provided at Greene County Almshouse, ninety-three fruit trees set out at Ulster County Almshouse, and general painting done at Albany, Greene, and Ulster County Almshouses and at Kingston City Almshouse. NEW ALMSHOUSE. The finest improvement of the year was the erection and opening of the new Schoharie County Almshouse to replace the institution destroyed by fire. The new almshouse has a capacity of forty and is valued at $30,000. It is built on the congregate plan, is well lighted and ventilated, and the construction work is good. The plumbing is modern, and the drainage by tile drains. into two cesspools. This building is located a little farther back than the almshouse which burned, and the present proximity of the horse barn is offensive. The farm buildings should be moved to the hill slope at the right of the almshouse and the grounds laid out for the adornment of the institution and the comfort of the inmates. The Third Judicial District includes the historical towns of Kingston, Catskill, Hudson, Albany and Troy, and the section of the State first settled by white men. The almshouse sites are very old, that of the Albany Almshouse being probably the oldest in the United States. These sites were well chosen and were orginally located in the country, but in several cases the cities have grown to meet them, so that in Albany, Troy, Cairo, and Kingston the almshouses are in proximity to dwellings or other institutions. The almshouse buildings were substantial when erected, but are now out of date, except in Ulster and Schoharie counties where fires have compelled the erection of new buildings within recent years. The remaining almshouses are antiquated in many ways, and retain many old fashioned customs and conditions. The lack of modern equipment and methods is distressing to one who desires these institutions to be as well equipped and up to date as the fine almshouses in the sections of the State more recently settled. Columbia County Almshouse uses filthy outhouses instead of modern plumbing, some of the inmates at Albany Almshouse go to bed by candle light and have no toilet conveniences, Ulster and Rensselaer County and Kingston City Almshouses use the most old fashioned type of iron bed, Greene County Almshouse lacks modern fire protection, and Sullivan County Almshouse, a reproach to that county, is an ill laid out place, with dirty farm buildings almost in the front yard and a conglomerate group of sheds, shanties and dormitories in the background. No almshouse plant in the district is really first class, four are second class, and four third class. ADMINISTRATION. The administration is better than the equipment, the management being satisfactory in Greene and Schoharie County Almshouses and Kingston City Almshouse. The men's buildings at Rennselaer, Columbia and Ulster County Almshouses are unclean, the cooking at Albany Almshouse is not properly done, and the general management of Sullivan County Almshouse is poor, for |