*:::::: 63-72547 A.
t SECOND
BIENNIAL REPORT
OF THE
BOARD OF CONTROL
FOR
STATE CHARITABLE
INSTITUTIONS

1917-1918
BOARD OF CONTROL
W. H. HALL, Chairman, Little Rock, Ark.
Z. M. McCARROLL, Vice Chairman, Little Rock, Ark.
B. J. REAVES, Little Rock, Ark.
JoE FERGUSON, Secretary, Little Rock, Ark.
By Transfer
AUü 3 1925


e-4, -2, 4 & 2, …*&e… *
IVERSITY OF CHICAGO
LIBRARIES
266992
MARCA (030
To His Eaccellency, Charles H. Brough, Governor of Ark-
63%.S.O.S:
Sir: In compliance with the statutes, we beg to sub-
mit the second biennial report of the Board of Control
for State Charitable Institutions, covering the period
from April 1, 1917, to December, 1918.
At the beginning of the present biennial period, April
1, 1917, the personnel of the Board was as follows:
W. H. Hall, Chairman.
G. A. Vincenheller, Vice Chairman.
Z. M. McCarroll, Member of Board.
Joe Ferguson, Secretary.
It is with profound regret that we report the death
of Hon. G. A. Vincenheller, which occurred on November
21, 1918. Mr. Vincenheller was one of our most faithful
and loyal members, a man of splendid executive ability,
untiring energy, esteemed by all for his fidelity to prin-
ciple and unselfish service to his State and his friends,
and we feel a personal loss in his seemingly untimely
death, recognizing in him one of the most faithful offi-
cials who ever served the State.
On November 26, 1918, Hon. B. J. Reaves was ap-
pointed to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Vincenheller,
and on said date Hon. Z. M. McCarroll was by the Board
elected Vice Chairman, succeeding the Hon. G. A. Vincen-
heller, deceased. .
On December 11, 1918, our efficient Secretary, Hon.
Joe Ferguson, tendered his resignation, effective at the
pleasure of the Board at any date prior to January 15, .
1919. Mr. Ferguson resigned because of the fact that
he had recently been elected Treasurer of the State of
Arkansas. Mr. Ferguson has been Secretary of our
Board since the creation of the same in 1915, and it is .
with regret that we accept the resignation of a man who
has been so efficient in the discharge of his duties and so
faithful and loyal to his State and friends.
On December 11, 1918, Hon. U. A. Obenshain of
Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was elected Secretary of our
Board, succeeding the Hon. Joe Ferguson, resigned.
It will be necessary that deficiency appropriations
be made for the maintenance of the Confederate Home,
the State Hospital for Nervous Diseases and the Arkan-
as Deaf-Mute Institute during a portion of the present
biennial period, the reasons for which will be discussed
in detail where we deal with these institutions under sep-
arate headings.
SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.
In making our report on the Arkansas School for the
Blind we respectfully refer you to the report of the Su-
perintendent, John H. Hinemon, which is very explicit,
and we commend the work being done in that institution,
placing special emphasis upon the recommendation of the
Superintendent looking to the future development and
usefulness of the school.
The affairs of this institution are conducted harmo-
niously, great stress being given the importance of indi-
viduality and independence on the part of the faculty with
the pupils. It is the purpose of the school to inspire the
pupil with confidence in his or her ability to earn a liveli-
hood and become an independent rather than a depend-
ent.
The present site of the Arkansas School for the
Blind comprises practically four city blocks, and is lo-
cated in one of the most desirable residence sections of
the city. The buildings are not modern and are not of
such construction as to conform to modern convenience,
sanitation, ventilation or lighting. We respectfully call
your especial attention to this particular part of Super-
intendent Hinemon’s report, under the heading of
— 4 —
“Buildings and Grounds,” and which we most heartily
endorse.
During the present year the barn at this institution
was destroyed by fire, together with its contents. The
insurance on this building amounted to $1,600. The esti-
mated cost of rebuilding the barn by one of the most rep-
utable contractor’s in the city was $3,300. By purchas-
ing the material and using the labor of employees at the
institution we were enabled to rebuild this barn at a much
less cost than estimated. And in view of the fact that
the carriage, buggies and harness were destroyed in the
fire, it was necessary to provide some means of convey-
ance for the use of the institution; and the Board pur-
chased an automobile with the difference between the
amount of insurance collected, $1,600, and the actual cost
of rebuilding the barn, an itemized statement of which
will be found in Superintendent Hinemon’s report.
CONFEDERATE HOME.
A deficiency appropriation of approximately thirty-
five thousand dollars will be necessary for this institu-
tion. The Legislature in 1915 appropriated $55,000 for
current expense for the biennial period from April 1,
1915, to April 1, 1917, being the same amount as was ex-
pended in the operation of the Home for the preceding
biennial period, and it was necessary to have a deficiency
appropriation in 1917 of $12,000, making the aggregate
current expense for the period named $67,000. The cur-
rent expense appropriation made by the Legislature in
1917 for the present biennial period was $65,000; two
thousand dollars less than the actual cost for the preced-
ing biennial period. The average population of the Home
for the biennial period, 1915-1917, was approximately
130, while the average for the present biennial period
from April 1, 1917, to December, 1918, has been more
than 160. At the time the appropriation was made in
the early part of 1917 for the present biennial period our
country was not involved in the recent world-wide war,
— 5 —
and the Legislature could not foresee the great increase
in prices of all necessaries of life with which we are all
now familiar. Further, when the appropriation bill for
the maintenance of the Home, $65,000, was drafted, it was
not known that a bill for an addition to the hospital at
the Home would be passed. This addition to the hos-
pital has been erected at a cost of $18,000, and this ac-
counts for the increase in the population of the Home.
In addition to the increased population, we have the in-
creased cost of all commodities, and below we give a com-
parative statement of some of the necessary items, towit:
Mar. 1915. Dec. 1916. Dec. 1918.
Meal $ 2.95 $ 4.90 $ 7.75
Sugar 5.90 7.90 9.60
Butter .27 .40; .63
Eggs .20 .36 .60
Chops 1.90 2.20 3.25
Breakfast bacon........................ .13% .19; .42
Sweet milk .21 .30 .50
Dry salt meat .12% .15; .27
Flour 8.10 9.60 10.75
Lard - .10% .14; .23
For further details as to the increased cost for the
maintenance of this institution special reference is made
to the report of Superintendent Newton.
During the present biennial period new boilers have
been installed, but the heating system throughout the
older buildings, as well as the plumbing, and the ice
plant, are in need of material repairs, and it is necessary
that adequate provision be made for same.
The residents of the Arkansas Confederate Home
are growing older each day, and as time passes they
become more helpless and more dependent, thus requiring
more attention and more care. The sentiment of patriot-
ism, and that reverence for a hallowed and heroic period
of the past, dear to every true Southern man and woman,
—6—
impels us to make the statement that we know the rep-
resentatives of the great commonwealth of Arkansas will
make an appropriation amply sufficient to provide for
the survivors of the world’s greatest army.
DEAF-MUTE INSTITUTE.
In submitting our report on the Deaf-Mute Institute
we would commend to your notice the work now being
done in that institution as outlined in the report to our
Board by Superintendent Clarke, copies of which will be
furnished to you and to the members of the General As-
sembly.
We recommend the changing of the name of this
institution from “Deaf-Mute Institute” to “Arkansas
School for the Deaf,” and we most heartily endorse the
reasons for this change as outlined in the report of Su-
perintendent Clarke.
The attendance of this school increases from year to
year, and the great majority of these students are under
the age of fourteen years. These small children require
the constant and watchful care of capable and expe-
rienced employees. Many of them are frequently on the
play grounds, where they are not safe without the pres-
ence of a supervisor. The staff of teachers is inade-
quate, especially in view of the fact that we have so many
small children, and we respectfully ask that the number
of teachers be increased as outlined in the superintend-
ent’s report, and in our budget for this institution which
has been heretofore submitted to you.
The buildings and equipment are in need of repair,
and we most earnestly urge that the appropriation for
this purpose as requested in our budget be made.
There will be a deficiency in the current expense ap-
propriation for this institution. The Legislature of 1915
appropriated the sum of $72,500 for this purpose, while
the appropriation in 1917 for the present biennial period
was only $70,000. We will ask the Legislature to make
—7 —
a deficiency appropriation of approximately $6,500 for
this institution, due solely to the increased cost of all com-
modities used in connection with the operation thereof,
a comparative statement of the cost of quite a number of
which for the past four years will be found in our report
on the Confederate Home. However, a greater portion
of this deficiency would be averted had the appropriation
for the present biennial period been made in a lump sum,
or some provision made for the using of any unexpended
balance in one fund for the maintenance and operation of
the institution; and in this connection we desire to urge
that in the future the appropriations for all State Char-
itable Institutions be made in a lump sum for each insti-
tution, or provision be made for the use of any unexpended
balance as indicated above. We are not compelled to
ask for a greater deficiency appropriation for the reason
that the school was closed the middle of May instead of
June 1 in 1917, and was closed May 1 instead of June 1
in 1918; but, when this action was taken by the Board
we had six days of school instead of five each week, and
as a result the pupils lost only seven days’ School time.
Further, we fixed the date of the opening of the present
term for October 16 instead of October 1, and on October
7 the State Board of Health established a quarantine by
reason of the epidemic of influenza, and closed all schools
in the State. On November 16, 1918, at a joint meeting
of our Board, the Federal and State health officers, and
the superintendents of the Deaf-Mute Institute and the
Arkansas School for the Blind, it was decided that both
schools might open on November 22, and the pupils were
notified to report on that date.
STATE HOSPITAL FOR NERVOUS DISEASES.
As to the operation of this institution, we respect-
fully refer you to the report of Dr. C. C. Kirk, Superin-
tendent, made to our Board, covering the period from
April 1, 1917, to December, 1918, which is as follows:
To the Board of Control of State Charitable Institutions
of Arkansas:
Gentlemen: In accordance with the statutes, I am
respectfully submitting a report of the operations of this
hospital from March 31, 1917, to December 1, 1918.
On March 31, 1917, there were remaining in the hos-
ital 2,018 patients; on December 1, 1918, there were re-
maining in the hospital 1,838 patients, a decrease of 180
patients. This decrease in the number of patients is due
to a special effort on the part of the management to send
home patients recovered, those not insane, and those we
thought would be better off at home, such as mild cases
of epilepsy and pellagra. It is also due to the co-opera-
tion of the county judges and physicians of the State,
who were requested not to send mild cases of epilepsy
and pellagra to this institution while we are in an over-
crowded condition.
Total number of male patients 925
Total number of female patients 913
Total 1,838
Certified capacity, men 827
Certified capacity, women 867
Total 1,694
Actual number of beds, men 1,000
Actual number of beds, women 1,020
Total beds 2,020
Total daily population not including paroles................. 1,970
—9—
MEDICAL SERVICE.
t Number of physicians, including the superintend-
ent, 8.
Staff Meetings—As a result of the large number of
admissions, it has been necessary to hold clinics five
mornings a week. Each case is presented before the
entire staff for the purpose of making a diagnosis and
outlining the treatment.
Noonday Staff—After the physicians have made
their services and return to the administration building
reports are made by them to the Superintendent in the
presence of all officers, including the dentist and patholo-
gist, telling of the work that has been done during the
Thorning, reporting the number of patients sick, and with
what diseases, deaths, accidents, sanitation of the ward,
misdemeanor of attendants and nurses. It is also the
policy of the management to talk over our work and any
constructive criticism is welcomed. Many improvements
are made as a result of these conferences.
Surgical Operations—It has been necessary to call
in surgeons from the city in five instances to do major
operations.
Laboratory Work—All patients admitted had a rou-
time examination of the blood and urine. A Wasserman
test was also made on each patient admitted, and scores
of other special examinations. (See special pathologist’s
report.)
Hydrotherapy—Two new tubs for continuous bath
have been installed on the receiving ward for white
women. A complete hydrotherapy outfit has been in-
stalled for the woman's department, including one elec-
tric bath cabinet, four Russian bath cabinets, four Turk-
ish bath cabinets, seven hot pack beds. This is one of
the finest equipments to be found anywhere. (For fur-
ther information note reports made.)
Health of Patients—The general health of the pa-
tients had been about as usual until the influenza epi-
demic. About 20 per cent of them had the disease. The
fatalities were nearly all due to pneumonia complications
associated with either tuberculosis, pellagra or epilepsy.
IMPROVEMENTS MADE.
The D building north was roofed and plastered.
New laundry machinery was added, including one
dry room tumbler, one extractor, two garment pressers
and two washers.
An industrial room was made over B 2 north, where
the institution sewing and mending is done.
E 1, 2, 3, 4 north, C 2 north and A 1 north were all
painted, including the large dormitories and dining rooms
connected with these buildings; D 1, 2, 3, 4 south, includ-
ing dormitories and dining rooms; the outside wood work
and tin work of the A and B buildings north and south;
the tin work of D north.
The interior of the chapel was redecorated and fire
doors put on.
The floors in the halls of each ward that were not pre-
viously oiled have been oiled, improving the looks of the
ward and reducing the cost of keeping these floors in
good condition.
A room on the first floor of the laundry has been
equipped as a marking room, one person doing all the
marking, eliminating the promiscuous marking formerly
done by nurses and attendants, which often resulted in
the loss of clothing.
The acreage of the garden has been increased about
ten acres through terracing, clearing and draining. The
swamp land directly in front of the C building and the
fish pond below the E building south have been drained,
eliminating the mosquito and giving several acres of land
which are quite fertile. Practically all of the inside
fences have been torn away as they were in bad repair,
useless and unsightly, and used as a place to throw rub-
bish. Thousands of tin cans and piles of rubbish have
been hauled away and buried.
The road leading into the institution, which was in a
very bad condition, has been remade. A road circling
about one-half mile was made in the southwest part of
the grounds, and was built specifically as a walk for the
patients. A road connecting Pulaski Heights was made
—11—
to facilitate the entrance of the fire department in case
of fire.
The paint shop was moved from the basement of the
E building South into a small cottage back of this build-
ing. The use of oils and paints under this building was
regarded as dangerous.
NEEDs of THE HospitaL.
The most urgent need is that of a tubercular build-
ing where the tuberculars can be housed. This building
should be large enough to accommodate one hundred pa-
tients, which will greatly aid in relieving the congestion.
All physicians and employees now live in the same
buildings with the patients. This is bad enough when
housed with patients that are not noisy and disturbed,
but many of the attendants and nurses are obliged to
work twelve to fourteen hours a day with violent and dis-
turbed patients and then go to bed in a room on the same
ward with these same disturbed people. By housing
these employees in a separate building it will give room
for more patients on the wards, and I am certain the
employees will give better service.
The E building south and the F building north re-
Quire new roofs.
New toilet facilities for the A and B buildings are
urgently requested.
The present barn is old, unsightly and badly located;
should be torn down and a new barn built in a different
location.
As a result of the war, insanity has greatly increased
among the soldier boys, many of whom will soon be re-
turning from the front mentally and physically sick. This
is the only hospital in Arkansas where the mentally sick
can be cared for, and our over-crowded condition is well
known. There are two ways by which we can increase
our capacity for caring for the mentally sick; the best
way is to build an entirely new institution; the second
best way is by adding new buildings to this institution.
Notwithstanding the economies that have been prac-
ticed, the increase in the prices of commodities has been
— 12 —
so rapid that we were unable to maintain the health of
the patients, continue efficient treatment, and keep up the
buildings and plants in the institution with our present
current expense allowance. We, therefore, most urgently
request that our current expense funds for the next two
years be increased at least 25 per cent, and our personal
service funds be increased at least 10 per cent.
EMPLOYEEs.
Average number male attendants 63
Average number female attendants 62
Other employees and officers 88
Total 213
There has been a shortage of male help. The first
twenty days of August, 1917, we lost eighteen men, which
was more than one-third of our male attendants. This
seriously crippled our force for some time, as the ma-
jority of these men were trained, experienced attendants.
For patriotic reasons we were encouraging our boys to
volunteer. There has been a great shortage in the army
hospitals and we have sent many of our best attendants
into the psychiatric units of the hospitals. This shortage
of male help has caused us to utilize the services of
women on the male side; a man and wife now have charge
of many of the wards that were formerly operated by two
men. Women are naturally better housekeepers and
more gentle than men, so that wherever we have placed
a woman we notice the wards are better taken care of
from a sanitary standpoint and that the tone of the ward
is improved.
The policy of promotion has been carried out, and
the employees generally understand that promotion de-
pends upon efficiency and experience. We lost the serv-
ices of our head engineer, who was succeeded by the as-
sistant engineer; our interne resigned and was succeeded
by a former interne; our women’s hydrotherapy opera-
tor resigned and was succeeded by her assistant; we lost
the services of two supervisors; in each instance they
were succeeded by a trained and experienced charge
— 13 —
nurse and a trained and experienced charge attendant.
So far no one has come into the institution who has not
started at the bottom. I believe this policy has had a
splendid effect upon the employees and gives them some-
thing to look forward to and stimulate their desires to
become more and more efficient.
CHANGES IN PERSONNEL of MEDICAL STAFF.
Dr. D. C. Lee, pathologist, resigned to volunteer in
the service of the United States army. We have not been
able to fill his position. Dr. W. H. Moore, interne, re-
signed to enter the army.
CHAPEL SERVICE.
Each Sunday religious services are held for the in-
mates. The Little Rock Ministerial Alliance very kindly
offered us their help for which we are deeply grateful.
Music for the services is provided by the employees. We
occasionally have music furnished by some of the splen-
did church choirs and hope to have more of this music
during the coming year.
EconoMICs EFFECTED.
At the request of your Board to eliminate waste and
to economize where possible without jeopardizing the
health of the patients or the efficiency of their treatment,
we made the following changes: Disposed of the horses
and carriage formerly used by the Superintendent, and
had the driver given other work; reduced the monthly
water bill from $600 to $500 due to care on the part of
the employees and patients in not allowing faucets to
remain open. Approximately $500 monthly has been
saved on drugs and medical apparatus; much of this
wastage was due to deterioration of the drugs because
of being issued in large quantity and the disposition of
certain employees to ask for drugs and medical appa-
ratus whether they needed them or not.
At the beginning of our work there were many com-
plaints of shortage of food. Upon investigation we
found certain dining rooms over-supplied with food and
others under-supplied; large quantities of food were go-
ing into the garbage; this was not entirely wasted, as it
—14–
was fed to the hogs; however, hog feed can be bought for
two or three cents a pound; this usable food was costing
much more than that. Furthermore, certain inefficient
and wasteful cooks were discharged. We made a saving
of more than $200 monthly in one dining room after
changing cooks. The garbage at that time was six bar-
rels daily; it is now two barrels daily. The elimination
of this wastage required time and a hearty co-operation
on the part of the employees, especially the cooks and
waiters. This saving on food amounted to more than
$1,000 monthly.
The following places were abolished:
The tinsmith, receiving $60 per month; slater, re-
ceiving $70 per month; brickmason, receiving $50 per
month; plasterer, receiving $5 per day. There was not
enough work to keep these men busy, neither were there
adequate funds. The head carpenter, with the aid of
patients, has taken over the work formerly done by the
tinsmith and slater. The painter, with the aid of pa-
tients, has taken over the work formerly done by the
plasterer.
PREVENTION OF INSANITY.
It is hoped that the State will make an effort to pre-
vent mental diseases. The economic loss is great, but
this is insignificant when compared with human lives
that are blasted and destroyed. About 25 per cent re-
cover and a certain per cent will improve, but the major-
ity of the patients remain in the institution as long as
they live. To care for the increasing number of chronic
patients the State will be obliged to build new institu-
tions. Probably more than 25 per cent of mental dis-
eases can be prevented by preventing the spread of ven-
ereal diseases, limiting the use of alcoholic beverages and
narcotics, eliminating extreme poverty, preventing re-
production in neuropathic individuals, observing the laws
of mental hygiene and the early treatment of nervous and
mental diseases.
HoN. G. A. VINCENHELLER.
In the recent death of Hon. G. A. Vincenheller, mem-
ber of the Board of Control, this institution suffered an
—15—
irreparable loss. While devoting most of his time to
the business interests of the hospital, yet his heart went
out to the patients, and he was always glad when some-
thing was done for their comfort and happiness. He be-
lieved in and insisted on efficiency and loyalty. His splen-
did advice will be greatly missed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTs.
I wish to express my sincere thanks to the Board of
Control, the officers and employees of this institution for
their full and complete co-operation, without which no
institution can be a success.
I wish to thank the State Agriculture Department
for their assistance in terracing and draining our land.
Respectfully submitted,
C. C. KIRK,
Superintendent.
From the foregoing report it will be seen that the
Superintendent has given a very clear, complete and con-
cise statement of the workings of this institution, the
improvements made and results accomplished during the
present biennial period; and we urgently ask that his
recommendations be given earnest and careful considera-
tion. We have kept in close and constant touch with this
institution and its workings, and we most heartily en-
dorse the report of the Superintendent and his adminis-
tration of the affairs.
What we consider at this time the most urgent need
is a tubercular building, where those patients suffering
from that dread disease may be isolated from the other
patients and receive the scientific treatment that can
only be given when they are confined in a building of
modern construction. We shall ask that the Legislature
appropriate for this purpose the sum of forty thousand
dollars, that being the lowest amount for which a suit-
able building can be erected, according to the estimate
of a competent architect.
It is also necessary that the two one-story frame
buildings, known as E building south and F building
— 16 —
north, have new roofs without delay, as they are now in
such condition that they have to be constantly repaired
and the buildings are damaging by reason thereof. It
is estimated that the cost of roofing these two buildings
properly will be eight thousand dollars.
The toilet facilities of the A and B buildings are
old and antiquated, have been in use for many years
and waste hundreds of gallons of water daily; and we
shall ask for an appropriation for general repairs in a
sum that will enable us to replace these with modern
equipment, making these buildings more Sanitary and
economizing very materially in the use of water.
The present barn is located too near the ward build-
ings, is old and dilapidated and should be torn away and
a modern barn erected in the rear of the grounds for the
housing of the stock.
One of the great needs of this institution is a good
farm of from three to five hundred acres, where garden-
ing and truck-farming may be conducted, as well as dairy-
ing and the raising of poultry and hogs. There are be-
tween three and four hundred feeble-minded and epilep-
tic patients in the institution who could be placed on such
a farm and in a large measure be self-sustaining, and at
the same time it would be beneficial to both their phys-
ical and mental condition were they given light and mod-
erate work rather than being housed in the buildings at
the present institution. If you feel that the financial
condition of the State is such that provision for the pur-
chase of such a farm can be made, we most earnestly
request that you recommend to the Legislature that such
provision be made.
We are transmitting with this report to you full and
complete reports from all departments of the State Hos-
pital for Nervous Diseases, showing the various prod-
ucts of the institution, the work done in each department,
and when same has been printed copies will be furnished
to members of the General Assembly.
Despite the very great increase in the cost of both
food and clothing, as well as every other article needed
and used in connection with the operation of this institu-
— 17 —
tion, we will not have to ask for a deficiency appropria-
tion in excess of approximately seventy thousand dol-
lars, and we will have something like sixty-five thousand
unexpended in various appropriations for this institu-
tion, which practically offsets the deficiency in the current
expense appropriation. We have been able to accom-
plish this by eliminating waste, and close buying, being
able at all times to make all purchases on a cash basis,
and by economizing where it was practical to do so,
always being careful of the health and comfort of the
unfortunate wards of the State.
SCHOOL FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDED.
The Legislature at its 1917 session passed an act
seeking to establish a School for the Feeble-Minded and
placing the same under the supervision of our Board,
with the former Commission for the Feeble-Minded as
an honorary board to act in conjunction with us. It pro-
vided that we might select a certain amount of State
lands for a site, or in the event a suitable site could not
be found on State lands, then a given number of acres
might be sold for the purpose of providing funds with
which to purchase a site. We could not find a suitable
site on State lands, and could not sell the number of acres
provided in the act for a sum sufficient to purchase a
proper site. In addition, the only provision made for
buildings and maintenance was one-fourth of the pro-
ceeds of the forty-acre tract of land west of the Arkansas
Deaf-Mute Institute, which was turned over to the State
General Hospital Board to be sold and three-fourths of
the proceeds to be used for the establishment of a State
General Hospital. This tract of land has never been sold,
and therefore no funds have been available for any pur-
pose. We make the above statement that you may know
why nothing has been done toward the establishing of
this school.
In conclusion, we wish to express to Your Excellency
our sincere thanks for your full and complete co-opera-
—18—
tion with our Board, and without which no Board can be
a SUICCéSS.
Respectfully submitted,
W. H. HALL,
Z. M. McCARROLL,
B. J. REAVES,
Board of Control for State Charitable Institutions.
JOE FERGUSON, Secretary.
— 19 —
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T H E F I R S T
BIENNIAL
REPORT of
THE BOARD
of CONTROL
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FOR
STATE CHARITABLE
INSTITUTIONS
OF ARKANSAS
1915-1916
.-->
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THE FIRST
Biennial Report
The
Board of Control
FOR
STATE CHARITABLE
INSTITUTIONS
OF ARKANSAS

1915-1916
Democrat Printing & Lithographing Company
Little Rock


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366C02 (
MARCH scº
To His Eaccellency,
Governor Geo. W. Hays.
Sºr:
In compliance with the statutes, we beg to sub-
mit this, the first biennial report of the Board of
Control for State Charitable Institutions.
The board held its first meeting on the 10th
day of March, 1915, with James Surridge, T. J.
Raney and W. H. Hall (all of the members of the
board) present. W. H. Hall was elected chairman
and Joe Ferguson secretary.
We are pained to report the death of Hon.
James Surridge, which occurred October 25, 1915.
Mr. Surridge was one of our most faithful and loyal
members. On November 4, 1915, Hon. O. C. Burn-
side was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Mr.
Surridge. On December 23, 1916, Mr. Burnside
resigned as a member of the board and Hon. Z. M.
McCarroll was appointed to succeed him.
This board was heavily, handicapped by financial
conditions at the beginning of their tenure in office.
By reason of continued reports that State warrants
would be worth as low as sixty cents on the dollar
many dealers refused to bid on supplies for the
various institutions, and those who did bid figured
a heavy discount, which very materially decreased
the purchasing power of State warrants. After con-
tinued efforts on our part we were able to convince
the dealers that the financial condition of the State
Was not such as to justify such discounts, and at this
time we are purchasing supplies on practically a cash
basis, having perfected arrangements whereby war-
rants can be handled on a discount basis of six per
cent per annum, and quite a few dealers have ex-
pressed a willingness to carry the warrants them-
selves. *
3
We advertise monthly for bids for supplies of
every character in the Arkansas Optic, a news-
paper owned and operated by the Deaf Mute,
thereby reducing the cost of advertising to a mini-
mum and at the same time giving employment,
experience, and responsibility to the deaf mute pupils.
We require all bidders, where practical, to furnish
samples of their goods and wares at our office. The
stewards at each of the institutions are required to
inspect all supplies or articles received and to reject
such as do not come up to standard. A complete
file of all bids, accepted or rejected, is kept by the
secretary of the board and are accessible at all times
to interested parties.
We regret to report that deficiency appropria-
tions will have to be made for the maintenance of
the State Hospital and the Confederate Home during
a portion of the remainder of the present biennial
period, the causes for which will be found in detail
in the further discussion of these institutions under
separate headings.
SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.
In submitting our report on the School for the
Blind we respectfully refer to the report of the
Superintendent, John H. Hinemon, which is given
in detail, and would commend to your notice the
work now being done in that institution, placing
special emphasis upon the needs and recommenda- .
tions of the superintendent looking toward - the
future usefulness of the school.
Perfect harmony exists between the superintend-
ent, faculty, employees and student body. Great
stress is being given the importance of individuality
and independence on the part of the faculty with the
pupils. An earnest effort is being made to teach
the pupil confidence in his or her ability to earn
4
through honest effort a livelihood and becoming
an independent personage rather than a dependent.
New equipment in the various departments of
this institution is needed if the institution is to
accomplish the purpose for which it was established
and has been maintained.
While no deficiency will occur at this institution
during the present biennial period, many repairs are
needed, and these items will be presented in detail
to the General Assembly with the request that pro-
vision be made therefor.
CONFEDERATE HOME.
A deficiency appropriation of approximately
$12,000.00 will be necessary for this institution. It
will be remembered that the appropriation for cur-
rent expense of the Home was $30,000.00 in 1913,
and by reason of the increased population and other
causes it became necessary that the Legislature of
1915 make a deficiency appropriation of $25,000.00,
or an aggregate amount of $55,000.00 for the cur-
rent expense of this institution from April 1, 1913,
to April 1, 1915. The Legislature in 1915 appro-
priated the sum of $55,000.00 for the current expense
of the institution from April 1, 1915, to April 1,
1917, the same amount as for the preceding biennial
period. The average population of the Home for
the biennial period first named was 106, while the
average for the present biennial period to January
1, 1917, has been more than 130, or an increase of at
least thirty people, and at times it has exceeded 140.
It is a well-known fact that since the beginning of the
present biennial period the cost of living has in-
creased more than forty per cent.
In addition to the above, it was necessary to
expend from the current expense fund the sum of
$892.61 for additional hospital equipment in excess
5
of the $6,000.00 appropriated by the last Legislature.
Also, when the addition to the hospital was com-
pleted it was found that the heating and water con-
nections were inadequate and we had to expend the
sum of $1,285.51 for the construction of a steam
tunnel and piping the same. The sum of $253.00
was expended from the current expense fund to
repair the roof of the main building and to provide
new floors in the men's toilet rooms. The sum of
$980.00 has been expended for additional nurses
following the completion of the addition to the
hospital and the necessity for separate nurses much
of the time for female patients. By reason of the
enlarged farming operations of the institution, and
nearly half the time a team and two hands are
required to haul coal from the railroad for fuel, an
additional expenditure of $360.00 has become neces-
sary; however, more than $1,300.00 worth of pro-
duce for the Home was grown. The item of tobacco,
paid from the current expense fund, will exceed
$1,400.00. We have paid from this fund for insur-
ance on buildings more than $2,000.00.
The sum total of the amounts above enumerated
is in round numbers more than seven thousand
dollars.
We feel that the Home should be enlarged,
because of the fact that more than one hundred
people have been delayed or denied admission during
the present biennial period for the lack of room.
The capacity of the Home is now in a crowded con-
dition, 140, and we believe it should be increased
to 180.
Additional boiler power is needed. The two
small boilers in use cannot possibly produce suffi-
cient power for the light plant, ice plant, pumps and
heating system.
The average age of the residents of the Home is
increasing each year, and it is a well-known fact
6
that with age comes its infirmities. It necessarily
follows that the Home is becoming more and more
a hospital, and we know that the representatives of
a warm-hearted and generous people will make
appropriations amply sufficient to provide for the
care, in sickness and in death, of the survivors of
the world’s greatest army.
We respectfully refer to the report of Superin-
tendent Newton with reference to the condition and
needs of the Home, which report has our approval.
DEAF MUTE INSTITUTE.
In submitting this report on the condition
and affairs of the Deaf Mute Institute, the most
important matter that presents itself for considera–
tion is the immediate need of more room in order that
all deaf children who make application to this school
may be received and properly provided for. The
building now being used for school purposes is
entirely too small in regard to both the number and
size of its class rooms to accommodate the present
attendance, and there is no reason to believe that
the number of applicants will diminish. The dor-
mitories, dining rooms and the hospital at this
institution are all overcrowded, and the problem
for consideration is, how best to afford some relief
from this condition at the least expenditure of money?
Attention is called to the discussion of this matter
on page 24 of the superintendent's biennial report
to the board.
The attendance of this school has increased
from 280 in January, 1915, to 314 in January, 1917.
Nearly one-half of these students are under twelve
years of age, and the average age of those newly
admitted is less than eight years. They, therefore,
require the constant and watchful care and help of
capable and experienced employees. Some of these
7
younger children are always on the play grounds,
where they are not safe without the presence of a
supervisor; and with so many little ones needing
personal care, our staff of supervisors is too small.
The reports of the different doctors who attend
the school are submitted with the superintendent's
report, and show that the general health of the school
is good, and that in the treatment and prevention
of disease all is being done that can be done with
the present facilities and accommodations.
A small appropriation is recommended with
which to meet the necessary expenses of poor but
deserving graduates of this school, who are ambitious
to acquire more advanced education at the National
College for the Deaf, in Washington, D. C. An
appropriation for graduate and student labor, to be
used in employing student assistants in the different
industrial departments, and for various odd jobs
about the school, is also recommended.
The shoemaking department and the wood-
working department are both in need of additional
machinery, in order that the students may be
schooled in working with the machines most used
by their employer when their school days are over
and they enter these fields of industry.
The per capita cost for the support of this
school is below the average of other schools of its
kind. Full justice cannot be done for these children
unless the school is provided with the kinds of
equipment required to give them an education that
will make them self-supporting when they leave
the school.
It is apparent that some new fences and con-
siderable repairs to old ones, as also to the roofs,
window casings, floors and electric wiring are at once
needed in order to preserve the property and prevent
further depreciation at this institution.
8
STATE HOSPITAL FOR NERVO (JS DISEASES.
When we took charge of the charitable institu-
tions we soon learned that the State Hospital for
Nervous Diseases is a very large institution, and that
the increase in the number of patients and in the cost
of living would soon bankrupt the State.
On March 10, 1915, there were 1,720 patients in
the institution, and at the close of this biennial period
there will be approximately 2,100 patients, or an
increase of 22%. A similar increase for eight more
years would make a population of 4,000, and when we
consider the fact that Government statistics show
that the cost of living has increased 44% in the last
two years, and that our State revenues are only
increasing about 15% each biennial period, we will
soon determine that it will take 50% of the entire
revenue of the State to maintain this institution, and
will be a great burden on the taxpayers of the State,
which will have to be met by increased taxes or bond
issues. We have before us an article written by Dr.
James V. May of New York, read at the last meeting
of the American Medico-Psychological Association,
which, on the account of its great importance, was
spread upon the minutes of the meeting, and we
submit a copy of same in this report for your careful
consideration, as follows:
“SOME OF THE MORE RECENT PROBLEMS
CONNECTED WITH THE STATE CARE OF
THE INSANE, BY JAMES V. MAY, M.D.,
ALBANY, NEW YORK, MEDICAL MEM-
BER OF THE N. Y. STATE HOSPITAL
COMMISSION.
The complete supervision by the State of the
care of the insane in institutions has not been accom-
plished without numerous difficulties. The prob-
lems necessarily arising in the development of and
undertaking of this magnitude have varied from
9
time to time, and have recently assumed new and
entirely different aspects.
We are concerned now not only with the task
of caring for the indigent insane at a cost which is
already a tremendous burden upon the State, but
with the necessity of adopting new measures which
will reduce the number of admissions to the institu-
tions and obviate the need of hospital treatment in
as many cases as possible.
New York opened its first hospital for the
insane at Utica in 1843; the second at Willard in
1869; and the third at Poughkeepsie in 1871. These
were followed by institutions at Middletown in
1874; Buffalo in 1880; and Binghampton in 1881.
The first steps towards entire State care of the
insane resulted from legislative enactments in 1889,
since which time eight new hospitals have been pro-
vided for. The insane were not entirely removed
from county houses and asylums until 1893. The
number of patients in the civil State hospitals has
grown from 16,006 in 1890 to 33,357 in 1914, an
increase of 108.4 per cent.
The overcrowding in the institutions in April,
1915, was 6,105, or 22.2 per cent. New York now
has 14 State hospitals with a capacity of 27,476;
10,000 acres of land in connection with them, and
thirty-five millions of dollars invested in lands,
buildings and equipment. This does not include
the institutions for the criminal insane. This
maintenance of the hospitals during the year 1914
cost $6,684,376.18. The legislature appropriated
$104,054,978.56 for the maintenance of patients from
1891 to 1914, inclusive, and $18,571,991.39 for addi-
tions and improvements.
Approximately one-sixth of the current revenues
of the State are now being expended for the care of
the insane. It will readily be seen that this im-
10
poses a burden upon the taxpayers that makes some
kind of relief imperative.
The various procedures which have been insti-
tuted or proposed with this object in view may be
summarized as follows:
(1) Measures on the part of the State for the
prevention of insanity,
(2) Dispensaries and out-patient departments.
(3) Better care of the insane pending commit-
ment.
(4) Supervision of paroled and discharged
patients by after-care workers.
(5) The care of the insane in psychopathic
wards and hospitals.
(6) The return of non-resident insane to other
States.
These proposed methods of alleviating the exist-
ing conditions will be discussed in order:
MEASURES FOR THE PREVENTION OF
INSANITY.
The fact that 7.4 per cent of the first admissions
for the year ending September 30, 1914, were forms
of alcoholic psychoses and 12.4 per cent diagnosed
as general paresis, a total of 19.8 per cent of all the
first admissions, shows conclusively that purely
preventable diseases play an important part in the
etiology of insanity. Twenty-four per cent of the
men and 6.8 of the women admitted to Manhattan
State Hospital during the last year suffered from
general paresis. The researches of Hoch, Meyer
and others showed that many cases of demential
praecox and other psychoses are due to faulty mental
mechanisms and are therefore largely amenable to
11
preventive measures. Every effort has been made
to bring the importance of these facts to the atten-
tion of the public and free use of the press has been
made for this purpose. A special mental hygiene
number of the STATE HOSPITAL BULLETIN
is now in preparation and will be issued for general
distribution in a short time. Occasionally mental
hygiene conferences have been held by the State
Charities Aid Association in various parts of the
State, and a very general interest has been shown
in this subject by the public. The State Hospital
Commission has maintained an elaborate exhibit at
the annual State Fair at Syracuse for a number of
years, and this exhibit has also been used to good
advantage in other parts of the State, particularly
in the larger centers of population. -
Attention has been called to the etiology of
insanity and the fact that many cases are preventable
or manageable. Pamphlets on insanity have been
widely distributed in connection with these exhibits
and conferences. In addition to this, numerous
papers have been read at public meetings by physi-
cians from the hospitals and efforts made to enlist
the co-operation of medical societies in mental hygiene
work. The State Charities Aid Association has
disseminated thousands of pamphlets relating to
the subject of insanity, and has done valuable work
in the education of the public along these lines. The
State Hospital Commission contemplates the estab-
lishment of a bureau of prevention, and after-care as
soon as funds can be obtained for this purpose from
the legislature, an undertaking which will eventually
lead to definite and practical results.
DISPENSARIES AND OUT-PATIENT
DEPARTMENTS.
As far as possible with the funds available, the
commission has encouraged the State hospitals
12
to establish dispensaries and out-patient depart-
ments for the care of cases not requiring hospital
treatment and the Supervision of paroled and dis-
charged patients. This work when developed to
the maximum will unquestionably have a very
appreciable effect in reducing the number of cases
committed to the care of the hospitals. Dispensary
work has been undertaken already by the Roches-
ter, Hudson River, St. Lawrence, Long Island and
Gowanda State hospitals. At the Rochester State
Hospital 225 patients were examined and given
medical advice by members of the staff during the
year. About 300 persons consulted with various
members of the staff of the Buffalo State Hospital
during the same period. The long Island State
Hospital conducts a dispensary at the institution
as well as a downtown clinic. At the hospital 53
persons called for advice and treatment during the
last fiscal year, and 37 visited the downtown clinic
during the first three months of its existence. This
phase of work is as yet in its incipiency in New York
State, but it is certainly very promising. The results
that can be expected from early treatment in dis-
pensaries and out-patient departments will be shown
by a study of the hospital residence of the patients
discharged. Of those discharged as recovered during
one year in the New York State institutions, 54 per
cent had a hospital residence of less than six months,
29 per cent less than one year, while only about 2
per cent had been in the institutions for five years or
more. Unquestionably a large percentage of these
commitments would be obviated by early treatment
and advice in dispensaries.
BETTER CARE OF THE INSANE PEND-
ING COMMITMENT.
The laws of New York State delegate to the
local health officer the duty of caring for the insane
pending commitment and the responsibility of seeing
13
that they are given proper medical and nursing
attendance until they can be removed to a hospital.
It is now absolutely unnecessary under any circum-
stances for insane persons to be placed in a jail or
police station until a mental examination can be
arranged for. When the condition of the patient
is such as to require immediate care and treatment,
he may be admitted on the petition of a friend or
relative, after a medical certificate has been properly
subscribed to by two qualified examiners in lunacy.
In such an event, the Order of a court providing for
the patient's detention must be obtained within ten
days. When the patient is dangerous to himself or
others, and there is no proper place for his detention
pending commitment, the law now gives the su-
perintendent of the State hospital authority to admit
such a case upon the petition of the health officer
alone. A court order of commitment must be
obtained within ten days or the patient released.
The superintendent has the sole power to deter-
mine whether such a case is a proper one to admit
under this provision of the law. These arrangements
make it possible to remove immediately to the hos-
pital people who have been taken often heretofore to
jails and deprived of early treatment at a time when
it is most important.
SUPERVISION OF PAROLED AND DIS-
CHARGED PATIENTS. SOCIAL SER—
VICE FOR THE INSANE.
At the present time about 1,400 patients are
temporarily at their homes on parole from New York
State hospitals. This number of patients is equiva-
lent to the entire population of one of our smaller
State hospitals. The importance of this arrange-
ment from a purely financial point of view is well
worthy of note, leaving entirely out of consideration
the comfort and convenience of the patients con-
cerned. At a per capita cost of $210, this means
14
a saving to the State of approximately $294,000 a
year. The possibility of keeping these patients at
home for any extended period depends largely on
their careful supervision by so-called social workers
or after-care agents. As far as the finances of the
State will permit, trained workers have been assigned
to the various hospitals for this purpose.
THE CARE OF THE INSANE IN PSYCHO-
PATHIC HOSPITALS AND WARDS.
Attention has been called to the large percen—
tage of first admissions that leave the hospitals
after a very short residence. A large proportion
of these cases can unquestionably be cared for in
psychopathic hospitals or in wards of general hos-
pitals. There should be such institutions or wards
in each county, or at least in every large center of
population in each hospital district. These wards
could also be used as places of detention. Many
patients would undoubtedly be returned to their
homes without the necessity of a commitment to
a State hospital. The financial saving alone would be
very large. The expenses involved should be a charge
upon the county or be met by contributions from
other sources. About 5,000 cases are admitted
annually to the psychopathic wards of Bellevue
Hospital in New York City, and a large number to
the corresponding pavilion of the Kings County
Hospital in Brooklyn. The Michigan State Psycho-
pathic Hospital has received 1,397 patients since the
date of its opening in 1906. Only 407, or 28 per
cent, of these cases were transferred to State hospi-
tals. Of 1,342 discharges, 218 were recovered and
384 improved.
The per capita cost of this institution is only
$1.18 per day. Twenty-nine and one-tenth per
cent of the admissions during the last hospital period
were voluntary cases, 44.8 per cent of the discharges
15
occurred after one month or less of treatment in
the hospital, and two-thirds of the recoveries occurred
within a period of three months after admission.
Certainly it is economy, if nothing else, totreat
mental diseases in their earlier stages. Of the 1,751
persons suffering from well-developed psychoses and
admitted to Pavilion F of the Albany Hospital since
1902, 222 were discharged recovered and 508 as
improved. This means a saving of thousands of
dollars to the State, and is a source of economy which
should be encouraged and developed.
THE RETURN OF NON-RESIDENT INSANE
TO OTHER STATES.
During the past eleven years the Bureau of
Deportation connected with the New York State
Hospital service has removed 2,358 non-resident
insane to the States in which they had a legal resi-
dence. This number is equivalent to the total
population of the Utica, Buffalo, St. Lawrence,
Rochester or Gowanda State Hospitals, and repre-
sents a saving to the State of at least $495,180,
based on the present per capita cost of care. Many
of the States have no laws which determine legal
residence, although providing for a legal settlement
within their boundaries. -
The following agreement has been entered into
between the New York State Hospital Commis-
sion and the State Board of Insanity of Massa-
chusetts for the exchange of non-residents between
these two States. It would be highly desirable to
have such an arrangement extended to other States
for the mutual benefit of all concerned.”
It will be necessary to change the laws of this
State in many respects to handle this enormous in-
crease in expenses, which are very intelligibly dis-
cussed in this article. It is apparent that the county
16
judges are quick to declare people insane and un-
load them at the State Hospital, when in fact they
are not insane. The State Hospital for Nervous
Diseases is an institution where patients should be
treated for mental and nervous diseases only. There
are many idiots in the institution, who are not insane,
but are placed there because their people do not want
to be bothered with them. There are also many
old people in the institution, who are not insane, but
are there because some one at home did not want
to have the care of them. There are approximately
100 patients in the institution, who are drug habitues,
and others who are temporarily insane from the ex-
cessive use of alcohol. This class of patients should
be cared for in private institutions. They only re-
main in the institution from sixty to ninety days,
but they crowd out patients who are really in need
of proper treatment. We recommend that the law
be so changed as to provide that when the county
judge declares any one insane that he submit the
papers to the superintendent of the institution, and
if the superintendent approves the papers, he return
them to the county judge with instructions as to
forwarding the patient to the institution. No pa-
tient should be received at the institution who has
not been vaccinated against all contagious diseases.
The superintendent should have an absolute right
to reject any patients, who, in his opinion, are not
insane. There are many wealthy people in the insti-
tution, and also many patients who have wealthy
relatives. The present statute requires that their
expenses shall be paid quarterly. However, this has
been very badly neglected, as there are only about one-
half dozen paying patients in the institution. Other
States have what is known as the fiscal agent, who
makes a personal investigation in regard to the financial
standing of all patients in the institution, and we
have recommended in the appropriation bill a salary
for a fiscal agent, which we believe would save at
17
least $10,000 annually. About 60 per cent of the pa-
tients in the institution can do some kind of work,
which will not only help to maintain them, but will
be of great benefit in their treatment and will save
much property which they destroy while idle in the
institution. Nearly all the States have a farm for
certain classes of patients, and there is no question
but that 500 patients now in the institution should
be on the farm. There are also about 500 patients
in the institution that should not be on the farm,
but could be taught an occupation in the institution.
We have included in our recommendation salaries of
two occupation teachers.
We think no more buildings should be erected
on the present institution grounds, because of the
fact that it is, as you might say, upon the top of a
rock, and very little can be accomplished in an effort
to cultivate the soil. The State of New York has
approximately 30,000 insane people with 14 State
hospitals. They also have about 1,000 acres of
farm land at Central Islip State Hospital, Long Island,
New York. When you consider the value of the farm
land at that institution and compare that with the
farm value here, it should, beyond a doubt, settle
the question that we should buy a farm and erect
buildings thereon, which would relieve the congested
condition in the present institution.
The present buildings are full from the garret
to the basement, and it is going to be absolutely nec-
essary to erect more buildings, and we are sure that
they should be erected elsewhere. A farm could be
purchased near Little Rock, and the patients who
are able could earn at least 50 per cent of their main-
tenance. The question of occupation for the patients
is so important that we submit here with a paper
written by Dr. Henry P. Frost, superintendent of
Boston State Hospital. (Copy follows:)
18
“OCCUPATION OF PATIENTS.
By HENRY P. FROST, M. D.,
Superintendent Boston State Hospital,
Dorchester Center, Mass.
Its three-fold function, therapeutic, recrea—
tional and economic, assigns to occupations of pa–
tients a position of prime importance in mental hos-
pitals, especially the large State institutions treating
and caring for all classes of the insane. The value
of occupation in all of these ways has long been rec-
ognized and in varying measure applied, but until
comparatively recent years the effort has rarely gone
beyond the economic utilization of the willing and
more intelligent chronic patients and the diversion
and treatment of convalescents. These are the ob-
vious and easy avenues of use demanding the mini-
mum of effort on the part of the hospital administra-
tion, and, while useful, limited in usefulness to a
relatively small group of patients not very badly in
need of the help.
From this sort of self-propelling activity to an
organization extending the benefits of employment
to the great mass of demented, untidy, destructive
and violent chronic patients is a long step and a diffi-
cult one. The very existence of these troublesome
classes of patients in the institutions is due in a great
part to the lack of occupation to which they have
been condemned. Nowhere is it more true that idle-
ness is the root of all evil. Certainly it breeds de-
mentia and fosters the formation of untidy and de-
structive habits, as well as bad temper and violence.
A program of occupation which stimulates interest,
replaces confusion with order and gloom with good
cheer, contributes to the cure of many, and cuts down
the cost of supervision and maintenance is well
worth the effort involved in its establishment.
The great value of occupation in the treatment
of the insane is determined by its infinite variety,
19
adaptable to innumerable individual tastes and ca-
pacities, its range from utmost simplicity to stimu-
lating technical exaction, but above all, to its essen-
tial normality, constituting it for these unfortunates
the natural passageway back to normal life. Wander-
ing attention is trained anew to concentration; dis-
tracting thoughts are pushed into the background;
delusive concepts and hallucinations are crowded
out of consciousness by demands of reality; depres-
sion and feeling of inefficiency respond to the en-
couragement of approbation; and self-respect is built
up again by successive accomplishments which are
tangible and afford satisfaction as they do in states
of health.
The recreational quality is inherent in anything
that breaks monotony and gives new or keener inter-
ests. The sight of other people variously engaged
excites a desire for corresponding activity in the mind
of one who is perforce idle, whether as yet unaccus–
tomed to idleness or surfeited with it. We often
observe among our patients this suggestive force of
example, and find it of great assistance in the propa-
ganda. Sometimes, indeed, applications for employ–
ment have to be refused to patients not yet in con-
dition to be benefited by it. The diversional feature
needs, however, to be emphasized in order to obtain
the best therapeutic results. This can be done in a
variety of ways according to individual tempera-
ment; for some the change to another kind of occu-
pation introduces a sufficient new zest; for others the
introduction of a social phase, such as group employ-
ment, with music and refreshments, or some form of
competition, gives the work a flavor of play or a
pleasing admixture of it.
The economic value of patients' employment is
difficult to compute; it is certainly considerable.
Their fancy work can be sold for at least enough to
pay the cost of materials and instructions, and in
our experience the same is true of the saving on prod-
20
ucts of the work rooms that are of use in the hos-
pital, leaving as clear profit the large item of repair
work done. The incomputable value is found in the
diminution of loss from destructive tendencies asso-
ciated with the aimless activity of these patients if
unemployed, and the reduced cost of supervision and
attendance resulting from the improvement in their
habits as regards destructiveness, disorder and vio-
lence. A further very distinct benefit to the adminis-
tration is to be noted in the better spirit which per-
vades the nursing staff when a regime of definite and
interesting duties in connection with the industrial
program replaces the drear routine of lolling and
keeping an eye on a ward full of restless, unhappy,
dull and dirty dements.
At the Boston State Hospital there has been
for the past five years an earnest effort on the part
of the management to realize as fully as possible the
benefits of occupation to the patients and to the hos-
pital.
The ends sought have been purely practical,
and may be summed up as embracing: (1) The
substitution of purposeful and useful activities for the
prevailing idleness of the able-bodied patients, with
its attendant train of degenerative and anti-social
tendencies, and the promotion thereby of better men-
tal and physical health, improvement in habits and
conduct, more contentment and capacity for enjoy-
ment, renewal of hope, and the furtherance of re-
coveries; and (2) making the economic result such
as to justify in itself the effort and outlay, leaving
the therapeutic and administrative benefits as clear
gain.
In 1910, the beginning of the period under review,
the number of patients in the hospital was 785. The
percentage employed was 40, practically all in the
domestic and outdoor routine. There was a small
sewing room in which an average of 18 women Were
21
occupied, and three or four men made mattresses
in a basement room. There were no ward occupa-
tions outside of housework and a little sewing and
fancy work by a few women, largely on their own
initiative.
At the present time, with 1,400 patients, the
percentage employed is 60, and their occupations are
classified as follows:
January 12, 1915.
Male Female Total
Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614 789 1,043
Employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 433 841
Percentage employed . . . . . . . . . . 66 55 60
Employment.
Ward work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 205 439
Handiwork in wards. . . . . . . . . . 59 168 227
Industrial rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 86 146
In administrative departments,
laundry, kitchens, etc. . . . . , 59 55 114
With mechanics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 is & e 16
Farm and grounds. . . . . . . . . . . . 47 tº tº & 47 .
Without going into the details of measures taken
to effect this fairly radical change in practice and a
still more radical change in spirit on the part of both
staff and patients, I may state that the work was
begun independently in the men's and women's de-
partments, in each of which was opened a small in-
dustrial room, since greatly expanded, under the
charge of an inexperienced, but willing and capable
head. These potential instructors were sent for brief
periods to institutions where occupation of patients
was under way and also to industrial establishments
to learn materials and methods. Work was begun
with the better grade patients to insure success from
the start, and they were given simple forms of occu-
pation, after which the plan was to advance the capa-
ble workers to more complicated processes, filling
22
their places with less promising beginners who
should be, so far as practicable, instructed by their
forerunners.
The men at first made mattresses, brooms and
doormats and caned chairs, later taking up basketry,
brushmaking, weaving, upholstery, woodworking,
and finally the manufacture of straw hats, besides
doing a great variety of repair work. There remain
to be added in this department tailoring and shoe-
making, both of which are planned to be started
this year.
In separate quarters and in classes in the wards
during the winter, men unwilling to undertake or to
stick to the utilitarian industries mentioned above
have been taught wood carving, leather and orna-
mental metal work, occupations serving the purpose
of stimulating interest and keeping alive the habit
of doing something definite each day. The capacity
for work thus fostered through the winter months is
given useful and still more beneficial direction when
spring comes, by the substitution of outdoor employ-
ment in the garden or on the farm or lawns; and the
same change is made in the case of many of the regu-
lar workers in the industrial rooms, which, to quite
an extent, are used as a preparatory school in our
scheme of industrial education, as well as a finishing
course in convalescence, fitting patients for return to
productive life outside the institution.
In the women’s industrial room the occupations
are sewing, mending, weaving, spinning, rug-making,
basketry, braiding straw and making hats, lace
making, all kinds of fancy work, knitting, crocheting,
tatting, making paper flowers, stenciling, working in
water colors, clay modeling. Taking into account
the fact that some such work as the above is a part
of the home life of practically every normal woman,
we use the industrial room in their case more to get
something started than as regular working head-
23
quarters. Patients are given a chance to show their
individual interest and capacity or given aid and
instruction to develop these and are then encouraged
to spend a part of their time in useful or agreeable
occupation in their rooms or in the wards, thus giving
to these quarters and to their life in them more sem-
blance of home. Men, on the other hand, not being
accustomed to such home occupations and finding
their interest chiefly in varieties of work requiring
tools and making litter and noise, cannot so well be
left to follow their employments singly or in groups
in the wards, though this is done with them to quite
an extent, too, several wards having frames for
hooked rook making, or light looms for carpet weav-
ing; in others there is group employment in such
simple work as raveling old stocking tops for use in
the weaving room, braiding straw for the hat indus-
try, and picking hair for mattresses.
The organization for Occupation comprises two
divisions, one for men and one for women, each of
which is headed by an instructor who has one assist-
ant. The instructors have charge of the industrial
rooms where they direct the patients and also train
attendants and nurses to act as assistant instructors
in the wards. The practical experience thus acquired
by the nursing staff is supplemented by lectures and
demonstrations given as a part of the training school
course. The head nurse in each ward is responsible
for the maintenance and further development of
suitable Occupations among her patients, and she has
the assistance of the instructor, who at stated times,
visits each ward to inspect and direct the work and in
certain wards to give class instruction. This is the
program for the women. With the men it has not
been practicable to follow exactly this plan because
the industrial room demands all of the instructor's
time and the ward occupations of the men do not
require so much expert supervision.
24
After some success had been obtained in develop-
ing the interest and co-operation of the nursing staff
and the more intelligent and willing patients, special
attention was given to the occupation and training
of the least intelligent class and to the introduction
of safe and suitable Occupations in the ward treat-
ment of those with violent and dangerous tendencies,
for it was felt that these were the larger and more
important fields for really effective work. For this
latter class the straw hat industry, now well estab-
lished, has proved most satisfactory. The work of
braiding the straw is simple, interesting, clean, and
no tools are required. Hair picking, raveling, to
some extent rug making, and, for the women, sewing
and other employments suitable for these wards,
which have as one of their benefits to the patients
engaged the not infrequent improvement in conduct
sufficient to allow transfer to the regular work rooms
and participation in other industries.
The simpler ward occupations mentioned are of
particular value in dealing with demented patients
who cannot go into the workrooms, but, when weather
conditions permit, their use of this class is almost
entirely supplanted by outdoor work. Our best
industrial exhibit is the series of wards empty of
these patients, who are to be found in large parties
on the grounds engaged in the simple tasks of digging,
wheeling earth, gathering and breaking stones, etc.,
developing one by one into really capable workers
suitable for the more responsible tasks of farm or
garden and earning transfer to higher grade wards
with pleasanter companionship.
The training of these patients to usefulness and
their own betterment is work that demands intelli-
gence and whole-hearted interest on the part of the
employees entrusted with their direction. It cannot
be done successfully unless the attendants are care-
fully selected, properly instructed in the principles to
25
be used and the objects aimed for, and stimulated by
constant suggestion, discussion, and, above all,
approbation of results obtained. Success is won when
the employee is made to realize the dignity and value
of his work as an agent in the patients' treatment and
learns that his results are not measured by the volume
of their work product alone.
In like measure, though in less formal fashion, all
heads of departments—the chef, the laundryman, the
mechanic, the engineer, the farmer—and their assist-
ants, became efficient industrial instructors and in-
cidentally valued agents for treatment, since all have
patients assigned to work with them, and even if
prompted originally by no higher motive than self-
interest in the development of capable assistants,
they deal out to their charges the helpful stimulus of
cordial companionship and a common purpose.”
When the present buildings were erected a very
serious mistake was made by bunching them all
together and making them three and four stories high.
We have practically no fire protection, because the
building is nothing but a fire trap. There are about
1,200 people in the main building and wings, and there
is no question in out minds that if it were to burn a
great loss of life would result. We see accounts most
every week in the newspapers where small buildings
occupied by sane people are destroyed by fire, and
many people are burned to death. In all modern
construction in recent years in other States only one
story buildings are being erected. This plan should be
adopted by this State in the future. The present old
buildings should be torn down and fire-proof struc-
tures erected, or the present buildings should be
equipped with automatic sprinklers, which would
eliminate 90 per cent of the danger of fire, and the
difference in the cost of insurance in ten years would
pay for the equipment. The buildings have caught
fire four times in the last two years, but we were able
26
to stop it before attaining much headway. However,
we might not be successful in the future. Nearly all
of the large business buildings, including factories,
department stores, wholesale houses, and oil mills are
equipped with automatic sprinklers, and if it is good
business for the business interests of the State to
protect their property where there are large values
concerned, it is much more necessary that we not
only protect the value of our buildings but also the
lives of the patients therein. We wrote letters to
one hundred and ten firms in Arkansas, who represent
indirectly one-half of the taxpayers of the State, and
we reproduce herein a letter addressed to the board
by Chas. T. Abeles & Co. of this city. The following
is a correct copy of this letter:
“Board of Control, City.
Dear Sirs:—Your letter of September 30th ad-
dressed to our company reached our office during
my absence and has been referred to me on my
return.
In answer to same wish to state I am very much
gratified to know the board is looking for the im-
provement of the fire hazard on the buildings of the
State Hospital for Nervous Diseases.
I certainly agree with you that it would be a
great calamity should these buildings ever get on
fire. gy
As to putting in sprinklers in these buildings I
believe it would be great protection and money well
spent, and in my opinion the automatic sprinklers
are absolutely fire preventive. Our firm has all of
their plants and buildings covered by automatic
sprinklers at a considerable cost and we have had the
test and without a doubt we would probably been
put out of business several times.
Trusting the board will decide making this
improvement, we are,
Yours very truly,
Chas. T. Abeles & Co.”
27
We also received similar letters from the follow-
ing: Geyer & Adams Company, Little Rock, Arkan-
sas; John Witherspoon & Co., Fort Smith, Ark.;
City Market & Arcade Company, Little Rock,
Ark. ; Chicago Mill & Lumber Company, Helena,
Ark. ; Atkinson-Williams Hardware Company, Fort
Smith, Ark. ; Fort Smith Commission Company,
Fort Smith, Ark. ; Little Rock Railway & Electric
Company, Little Rock, Ark. ; Southern Lumber
Company, Warren, Ark. ; Union Seed & Fertilizer
Company, Argenta, Ark. ; Fort Smith Coffee Com-
pany, Fort Smith, Ark. ; Jop-pa Mattress Company,
Little Rock, Ark.; Superior Chair Company, Helena,
Ark. ; Carlisle Rice Mill Company, Carlisle, Ark. ;
Owosso Manufacturing Company, Benton, Ark. ;
Lonoke Rice Milling Company, Lonoke, Ark. ;
Fletcher Coffee & Spice Company, Little Rock, Ark. ;
De Witt Rice Mill Company, De Witt, Ark.; Fort
Smith Furniture Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ; Archer
Lumber Company, Helena, Ark. ; Roberts Cotton
Oil Company, Jonesboro, Ark. ; New South Seed
Mill, Helena, Ark., Fort Smith Lumber Company,
Plainview, Ark., Fort Smith Folding Bed & Table
Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ; The Southern Cotton
Oil Company, Newport, Ark.; The Forrest City
Cotton Oil Mill, Forrest City, Ark. ; Ritchie Grocer
Co., Eldorado, Ark. ; Crossett Lumber Company,
Crossett, Ark. ; Acme Spring Bed & Mattress Com-
pany, Fort Smith, Ark. ; Fort Smith Wagon Com-
pany, Fort Smith, Ark. ; McLoud & Sparks Furniture
Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ; Voss-Barbee Manufac-
turing Company, Little Rock, Ark. ; Apple Hat
Company, St. Louis, Mo.; Fox Bros. How. Company,
Pine Bluff, Ark. ; Beal-Burrow Dry Goods Com-
pany, Little Rock, Ark. ; Tucker Duck & Rubber
Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ; Reynolds-Davis Gro-
cery Company, Fort Smith, Ark.; Dixie Cotton Oil
Mill, Little Rock, Ark. ; W. D. Reeves Lumber Com-
pany, Helena, Ark. ; Union Seed & Fertilizer Com-
28
pany, Little Rock, Ark. ; Arkansas Coffin Company,
Fort Smith, Ark. ; Chas. S. Stifft, Little Rock, Ark. ;
Helena Wholesale Grocery Company, Helena, Ark. ;
Rose City Oil Mill, Little Rock, Ark. ; Arthur G.
Lee, Seed Merchant, Fort Smith, Ark. ; A. Karcher
Candy Company, Little Rock, Ark. ; Wilmot Oil
Mill, Wilmot, Ark. ; Morris-Morton Drug Company,
Fort Smith, Ark. ; Bowser Furniture Company,
Little Rock, Ark. ; J. H. Hamlen & Son Company,
Little Rock, Ark. ; Four States Grocer Company,
Texarkana, Ark. ; Weldon, Williams & Lick, Fort
Smith, Ark. ; Max Meyer & Son, Jonesboro, Ark. ;
Fones Bros. How. Company, Little Rock, Ark. ;
The Gus Blass Company, Little Rock, Ark. ; The
Southern Cotton Oil Company, Little Rock, Ark. ;
Doyle-Kidd Dry Goods Company, Little Rock, Ark. ;
Marco Mills, Pine Bluff, Ark., C. J. Lincoln Com-
pany, Little Rock, Ark.; W. J. Murphy, Fort Smith;
Ark. ; Stuttgart Rice Mill Company, Stuttgart, Ark. ;
Union Seed & Fertilizer Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ;
Democrat Printing & Litho. Company, Little Rock,
Ark. ; Batesville Excelsior Company, Batesville,
Ark. ; W. J. Echols & Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ;
Berry-Beal Dry Goods Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ;
John B. Bond, Jr., Wholesale Druggist, Little Rock,
Ark. ; Moline Lumber Company, Malvern, Ark. ;
The Hammett Grocer Company, Pine Bluff, Ark. ;
Pfeiffer Bros., Little Rock, Ark. ; Ballman-Cummings,
Furniture Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ; The Buckeye
Cotton Oil Company, Cincinnati, Ohio; J. W. &
Robt. Meek, Fort Smith, Ark. ; Bumhrman-Pharr
Hardware Company, Texarkana, Ark. ; Speer Hard-
ware Company, Fort Smith, Ark. ; The M. M. Cohn
Co., Little Rock, Ark. ; Chapman & Dewey Lumber
Company, Marked Tree, Ark. ; Fort Smith Biscuit
Company, Fort Smith, Ark.
In complying with the strongest recommenda-
tion that we have ever seen on any proposition we
have included in our recommendation for appropria-
29
tions an item of $60,000.00 to equip all buildings,
inhabited by patients, that are over one-story high.
STREET CAR SERVICE.
There is not a day but what many officials from
Over the State go back and forth between the depots
and the State Hospital, and the taxicab service is
Very expensive. There are also about 250 people
Working in the institution who cannot get to town
without considerable expense. We have asked the
Little Rock Railway & Electric Company to extend
the car line to the base of the park in front of the
institution, and we believe we can get them to do
this. We request authority to lease them a right-of-
Way through the grounds for such a period of time as
will be practical.
WAREHOUSE ON THE RAILROAD.
We do not have sufficient wareroom facilities
on the present grounds, and have included an item
in Our recommendation for building a large warehouse
On the railroad near the State Hospital so we can
buy as much as possible in carload lots direct from
the factories and producers. This warehouse can
be used as a distributing point for all the charitable
institutions. If this is done we can buy sugar,
molasses and other provisions in New Orleans; also
salt, fruit, coffee, rice and, in fact, nearly all the
produce and merchandise at a much less price than
we are able to buy at the present time. When we
have to buy in small quantities from the wholesale
houses they have to add enough for their storage,
drayage, insurance, profits and other expenses, at
least 15%, and we are sure we can save for the State
at least $50,000.00 per year by having a warehouse
that will enable us to buy as far as possible in carload
lots.
30
IMPROVEMENTS.
The legislature appropriated $6,000.00 to build
and equip a bakery, $30,000.00 for laundry build-
ing and equipment, and $25,000.00 for an annex
to the infirmary. These items were wisely vetoed
by the Governor, and we have made such improve-
nents as are necessary on the present buildings out
of the general repair and ground floor dormitory
appropriations. We built and equipped one of the
best bakeries in the city at an expense of about
$3,000.00. We gathered up a lot of old brick that
were on the yard, and had the patients clean them
and bought new brick for the outside, and by using
as much patient labor as possible we saved the State
at least $3,000.00 in the erection and equipment of
this building. We opened up some vacant room in
the laundry and installed some new machinery, and
the present laundry with needed repairs and certain
machines replaced is adequate to do the work that
should be done at this institution. We opened up a
ward in the basement of the infirmary, which gives
us sufficient room for the care of the sick. Out of
the appropriation for ground floor dormitories we
have remodeled what is known as “Rear Center” and
fitted it up for the use of employees. In addition to
the new ward under the infirmary three other base-
ment wards have been fitted out for use of female
patients, two for the whites and one for the colored.
Practically all of the work in fitting up these new
wards has been done by the regular employees and
patients at the institution and the principal cost has
been for the materials used.
Soon after we came on the board we purchased
the necessary equipment for the female hydrotherapy,
for the construction and operation of which the last
legislature appropriated the sum of ten thousand
dollars. For the reason that some of this equipment
is not manufactured in the United States we were
31
unable to have it all delivered until about October
1, 1916. Since that date we have pushed the con-
struction of this and it will be in operation in a few
days, and will be one of the best plants of its kind
in the South. By reason of purchasing this equip-
ment at a close price, and having the work of in-
stallation done by regular employees, we will have
about $3,000.00 to revert from this appropriation.
SIDEWALKS.
There were very few sidewalks at the insti-
tution, and the patients and employees carried much
dirt into the buildings on this account. We con-
structed sidewalks connecting up all the wards with
the main institution, and conditions are much better
in this respect.
MATTRESSES.
It had formerly been the practice of the board
to purchase about 150 mattresses per month at an
expense of $600.00. The mattresses were soiled
in the middle, and only about one-third of the mat-
tress was in this way destroyed. We bought a small
amount of machinery and hired a mattress maker,
who works over these 150 mattresses each month
at an expense of about $60.00 per month—making
about 100 mattresses that are as good as new.
FUEL.
The gas bill for December, 1914, January and
February, 1915, was approximately $6,000.00, or
$2,000.00 per month. We have three very large
boilers with twelve gas burners to each boiler.
Nearly all of these boilers were apparently run at
full capacity all the time, and when the buildings
were overheated the windows were raised and the
heat disappeared. We bought extra cover for the
patients and put in small gas stoves to keep the
32
night attendants warm on the wards, and limited
the number of lights used both day and night. By
this method we have been able to discontinue the
use of about thirty of the gas burners from nine
o'clock p. m. until 4 a. m. This makes a saving of
about $750.00 per month.
WATER.
The water bill is about $600.00 per month, or
$7,200.00 per year. This is 6% on an investment of
$120,000.00. With an appropriation of $20,000.00
we could dig sufficient deep wells to supply the insti-
tution with water, and could eliminate an investment
of $100,000.00 in water. In fact, it would be cheaper
to pipe it from the river to the institution than to
buy it under the present arrangement. We have
recommended this appropriation.
The legislature of 1913 appropriated for the
State Hospital for the use of the old Board of Trustees
such an amount as was considered necessary to run
the institution for two years, and none of it was
vetoed. When the legislature convened in 1915,
they presented a deficiency bill for one hundred and
ten thousand ($110,000.00) dollars. The legislature
of 1915 gave them the $110,000.00, which paid them
out of debt.
The legislature of 1915 appropriated for our
board seven hundred and thirty-seven thousand
three hundred and ninety-one ($737,391.00) dollars,
which was considered sufficient to run the institu-
tion for the biennial period. The Governor vetoed
$141,620.00 of this appropriation, and we will have a
deficiency of about $40,000.00.
We have about fifteen thousand ($15,000.00)
dollars in other funds that will revert to the State
Treasury, so we will close the biennial period with all
bills paid, with $100,000.00 less than the legislature
33
of 1915 appropriated for the institution, which is a
showing in our favor of not less than $200,000.00
and the expense of the increased cost of living, which
the Government of the United States estimates is
44% for the biennial period.
SUPERINTENDENTS.
We notice on the corner of Fifth and Main a
very handsome bank building, which appears to be
the work of successful men. After some investiga-
tion, we learn that it was erected by a bank and that
the bank later failed. The records of the Supreme
Court of the State reflect the fact that a National
bank failed several years ago, and that the directors
thereof were held responsible for the losses, on
account of their negligence in performing their duties.
We get consolation in the fact that men who have
large problems to handle sometimes make great
mistakes. We are acknowledging that we have
made mistakes in reference to the superintendents of
the State Hospital.
The institution was established for the treatment
of mental and nervous diseases, and had an ordinary
doctor been able to treat the patients at home, they
never would have been in the institution; in fact, the
institution would never have been established. We
do not intend to reflect on the physicians of the
State when we say that we do not believe there is an
available man in Arkansas who can hold the place,
because, to be qualified for superintendent of the
hospital, one must have a long experience in institu-
tion life, where modern treatments prevail.
We are very much impressed with the method
of selecting superintendents from N. Y. State, and
this is no reflection on Arkansas, because America
was settled first in the East, and the population and
wealth of the country has drifted westward. On
account of the great population of New York, there
34
are about thirty thousand patients in fourteen hos-
pitals for the treatment of nervous diseases. They
have fourteen superintendents with about two hun-
dred and fifty physicians employed.
When a new physician is employed, they start
in at the bottom of the medical staff. We have in
mind one of their institutions that has thirty-two
physicians on the medical staff. They serve a
certain number of years (two years) as interne and
then pass an examination to qualify them for assistant
physician. After serving five years as assistant
physician, they take an examination for senior
assistant physician, and after staying in the institu-
tion about five years longer, they are eligible to take
the examination for superintendent. No board of
trustees has the authority to employ anyone who
has not passed the examination qualifying them for
appointment as superintendent.
We must say that we do not think anyone should
be employed as superintendent of a hospital unless
he comes from a State where a similar method pre-
vails.
Besides having the experience as stated above,
to fill the position of superintendent satisfactorily
to the patients, to the relatives, to the visitors and to
the board of administration, means a vast deal.
By virtue of his position, he is no ordinary man.
He must combine professional skill and executive
ability. He must know how to operate each of the
various wheels in this hall of varied industries—else
he cannot properly correct mistakes. He must be
filled with a divine discontent. His presence must
fill the atmosphere. The stamp of his individuality
and genius must be upon every piece and parcel.
His energy must be limitless. His spirit must
breathe through it all. The superintendent must
force new energy into every branch and apartment
of the institution, else, for want of proper nourish-
35
ment, the branches wither and drop into decay. We
must either advance or recede. To do the things
today as they were done yesterday, simply because
they were done so yesterday, shows simply that the
spirit of advancement is dead. He who fails to hear
the call for a progressive work must be crushed by
the wheels of the juggernaut of scientific advance-
ment.
We are not responsible for all the trouble in
regard to the superintendents at the State Hospital.
When the board took charge of the institution, Dr.
Frank Young was the superintendent, and since he
had no experience in institution life, it is no discredit
to him to say that it was impossible for him to have
made good. His resignation followed.
When we employed Dr. Bledsoe, certain recom-
mendations were made with reference to his experi-
ence which we did not investigate. The facts are
that he served about four years in a hospital in Vir-
ginia, part of the time as junior physician, and most of
the time as pathologist. It is no criticism of him
when we say that it would have been impossible for
him to have made good, when you consider the
limited experience that he had in institution life.
We asked for his resignation and all are familiar with
the result. Much was printed in the newspapers
that was printed without proper investigation, and
was not true. The Supreme Court of the State
sustained the decision of the board on the law and on
the evidence. Some have urged the election of
Dr. Stinson, former superintendent of the institution.
Dr. Stinson has been away from the institution for
about seven years and is advanced in years. If he
should be elected, it would be but a few years
until age would retire him. This is the reason given
by Dr. Greene for his refusing to accept the position.
We want to repeat that it is no reflection on the
physicians of the State when we say that we do not
36
think there is a man in the State who is available at .
the present time.
We elected Dr. M. B. Heyman, of New York,
who is assistant superintendent of one of the largest
hospitals in the world, and has been in the institution
twenty-four or twenty-five years. He stands today
qualified to be appointed superintendent of any in-
stitution in New York. He is at the head of a medi-
cal staff of about 30 physicians, which position he has
attained by competitive examinations during a period
of twenty-five years.
He agreed to take the position when he was
here, and we felt sure that he would return on Jan-
uary 10th, according to his agreement. We were
advised by an anonymous telephone message that
certain parties, together with a former superintendent
of the institution, would try to queer Dr. Heyman’s
return to the State. We are sure that Dr. Heyman
has been advised that he would not be retained by
the incoming administration. We have the matter
up with him again, and believe that the administra-
tion and the State will get behind the matter, and
that we will secure the services of Dr. Heyman.
The law provides that the superintendent shall
be elected for four years, and gives the board the
right to remove him for statutory causes. Since
the board has the right to remove, the term of four
years is meaningless and the law should be so changed
to make a superintendent’s election for an indefinite
period of time, subject to removal for statutory
GallS6S.
We have one of the best equipped institutions .
west of the Mississippi river, or in the South. The
buildings, laundry, power house, bath rooms, bakery,
cold storage, ice plant and other parts of the equip-
ment are sufficient, and all that is needed to make
the institution a success and a great benefit to the
37
• State is a competent superintendent and a thorough
organization of employees.
We will not elect another superintendent until
we are sure that he is competent.
Respectfully submitted,
W. H. HALL,
T. J. RANEY,
Z. M. McCARROLL,
Board of Control for State Charitable
Institutions.
JoB, FERGUSON,
** Secretary.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
iii.
O7470
3 9015 07470 3516