208 



CONNECTICUT. 



soon after entering the institution), and two 

 were found not insane. Of the three classes 

 for whom provision is made in the act of incor- 

 poration, there are, at the present time, 165 

 pauper patients, 57 indigent patients, and ten 

 private patients. The total number of all 

 classes treated during the year was 343, and 

 the whole number discharged 111. There 

 were 147 applications for admission, during the 

 twelve months preceding the 1st of April, 

 which had to be refused, all but 41 of whom 

 were from this State. 



It will be seen, from this statement, that the 

 urgent want of the institution is more room. 

 A similar asylum is also in operation at Hart- 

 ford. 



The solicitude which the State bestows on 

 such of her children as are born weak-minded, 

 commonly called " imbeciles," endeavoring to 

 better their condition, and restore to them as 

 much as possible what Nature seems to have 

 denied, appears to be in a high degree com- 

 mendable. An institution has been established 

 for such persons at Lakeville, during the last 

 twelve years, and the superintendent urges an 

 enlargement of the building, with a suitable 

 increase of yearly appropriations ; and sug- 

 gests that all weak-minded children should be 

 sent thither, as it is only such that can be con- 

 siderably improved. There have been 41 

 pupils in the school the past year; average 

 attendance 38 ; the capacity of the building is 

 sufficient for only 35. Although the standard 

 of health is uniformly low with this class of 

 unfortunates, there has been no death in the 

 school during the year, and the general health 

 of the pupils has been comparatively good. 

 The institution has been established twelve 

 years, and its success is no longe*r a question 

 of doubt. The State pays $3 a week for each 

 of the indigent scholars. Almost complete 

 idiots have been so far improved that they can 

 read and do a great deal toward self-support. 

 They are instructed in various branches of la- 

 bor and trades, as well as in the primary and 

 some higher grades of scholarship. Of the 87 

 inmates of the school since its commencement, 

 26 per cent, have been so far lifted up and edu- 

 cated that they have become comparatively 

 useful members of society. The records show 

 that this proportion have been dismissed, and 

 that they can read and write, and now work in 

 a mill or on a farm, and are " capable of self- 

 support." 



. . In the American Asylum for the Deaf and 

 Dumb, there were last year 281 inmates under 

 instruction. This institution is so favorably 

 known for its good management, and its effi- 

 cient manner of instructing the unfortunates 

 is so well appreciated by the American people 

 at large, that of the above-mentioned number 

 of its inmates 50 only were born in Connecti- 

 cut, 231 belonging to other States. 



Those among her children who are deprived 

 of sight, the State causes to be educated in 

 some well-reputed institution abroad, at her 



expense. Nine such ar"e at present under in- 

 struction in the Perkins Institution and Mas- 

 sachusetts Asylum for the Blind at South Bos- 

 ton. 



The Soldiers' Orphans' Home, Fitch's Home 

 for Soldiers, and the State Hospitals at New 

 Haven and Hartford are commended as of 

 such benefit as to justify a continuance of the 

 support they have hitherto received from the 

 State. 



The State Eeform School at Meriden, estab- 

 lished eighteen years ago, for the education 

 and correction of wayward boys, is in full and 

 successful operation. Its inmates, on March 

 31, 1870, were 267 ; which is 23 more than in 

 the previous year. The number discharged 

 within the twelve months preceding that date 

 " was 108 ; of whom 42 by expiration of sen- 

 tence ; one by order of court ; 46 consigned to 

 parents, and friends, with the understanding 

 that they should be returned to the institution 

 if they proved disobedient; 18 placed with 

 farmers ; one died. The number of boys re- 

 ceived into the school during the year was 131, 

 varying in age from seven to fifteen years inclu- 

 sive." -The boys learn a great variety of man- 

 ual pursuits; they are furnished also with 

 literary instruction, being taught the common 

 English branches used in the public schools. 

 Good care is taken to impress them with the 

 principles of morality and religious duty ; they 

 have religious instruction every Sabbath, and 

 prayers morning and evening. The boys have 

 made in the sewing-shop, 461 coats, 1,087 pairs 

 of pants, 744 shirts, 131 vests, 415 pairs of sus- 

 penders, 240 caps, 215 aprons, and numerous 

 other articles. The stock of the institution is 

 valued at $3,200, the farm produced $9,053.64, 

 and there is a balance in favor of the same, of 

 $1,577.33. The horses and carriages, wagons 

 and sleighs, owned by the school are valued at 

 $1,975. The boys caned 58,599 chair-seats, 

 7,854 backs, and 266 settees ; the institution 

 received therefor over and above expenses, 

 $8,599.10. The farm consists of 163 acres. 

 The total receipts of the institution last year 

 amounted to $54,900, of which $26,146.70 for 

 board, and $5,000 for construction, from the 

 State; $20,887,05 from chair-shops; and $1,- 

 087.03 from farm. The expenditures were in 

 the aggregate $53,117.50, leaving a balance of 

 $1,785.60 in the Treasury. 



A similar school for girls was founded and 

 commenced operations in 1870, at Middletown, 

 under the style of " The Connecticut Industrial 

 School for Girls." To prevent girls between 

 eight and fifteen years of age from going astray, 

 who for want of parental care are likely to do so, 

 and to redeem others, is the object of the institu- 

 tion. For its establishment the State appropri- 

 ated $10,000 ; private persons contributed $70,- 

 000 ; and the town donated a piece of land con- 

 taining 46 acres. The principal buildings of the 

 institution are two dwelling-houses, separate 

 though near, and exactly alike ; each capable 

 of accommodating about thirty girls, and each 



