REPORT OF VISITATION OF ALMSHOUSES IN THE FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT. To the State Board of Charities: The report of the almshouses and public hospitals in the Fifth Judicial District is herewith presented. The inspection reports adopted by the State Board of Charities show that these institutions should be classified as follows: Class I shows practically no defects in equipment or manage ment. Class II shows few or minor defects. Class III indicates many or important defects. IMPROVEMENTS. Improvements have been very general this year. The most notable are the erection of a large county hospital at Oneida County Almshouse and of a dormitory for 200 women at Onondaga County Almshouse. Other improvements include forced draft ventilation at Oneida County Almshouse and Herkimer County Hospital, new bedding at Jefferson County Almshouse and Utica General Hospital, the equipment of a new hospital at Oswego County Almshouse, a new concrete water tank and two low pressure boilers at Oswego City Almshouse. At Lewis County Almshouse a two-story porch for women was built, a fire escape provided, the walls of eight rooms finished with burlap, new floors laid, and an iron fence put up. Jefferson County Almshouse has new liquid chemical fire extinguishers, a new silo, and a meat cooler. At Herkimer County Almshouse new plumbing was installed, including bath tubs, flush closets, lavatories and slop sinks, and an orchard of fifty apple trees was set out. Onondaga County Almshouse has entered on an era of expansion. The water system has been improved, a new heat and power plant built, the drainage system extended and a farm of 138 acres, with farm house and barn, purchased. ADMINISTRATION. Of nine public charitable institutions in the district six are managed with efficiency and are graded first class as to administration. Jefferson County Almshouse fails of this rank because the building is infested with bed vermin and the care of the sick is unsatisfactory. The administration of the present superintendent of poor at Herkimer County Almshouse has been unsatisfactory. Another poorly managed institution in the district. is the Syracuse Municipal Lodging House. The lodging house was found in a filthy condition, the paid officer is more often away from his post than on duty, and the general public is too little interested in the institution to call a halt in the inefficient management. The Commissioner of Charities of the city has issued a public statement in which he deprecates the existence of the lodging house, and it would doubtless be better discontinued than to go on encouraging vagrancy and breeding disease as at present. Attention is called to the needs of the various institutions given below. The census table appended shows that the almshouse population of this district is large, and its proper housing is a serious problem, especially in Onondaga and Oneida counties. Respectfully submitted, (Signed) DENNIS MCCARTHY, Commissioner of the Fifth Judicial District. |