CHARITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



127 



of applications for admission is steadily increas- 

 ing. The total enrollment for the blind school, 

 1897-'98, was 205. The appropriations, 1897-'98, 

 amounted, in round numbers, to $61,000. The 

 total enrollment for the Deaf-mute Institute, 

 1898, was 270. The appropriations, 1897-'98, 

 amounted, in round numbers, to $80,000. 



California. A very determined effort was 

 made before the Legislature of 1899 to establish 

 a State board of charities and correction. The 

 bill introduced passed both houses, but was re- 

 fused by the Governor. A bill for the disestab- 

 lishment of the Home for Adult Blind, and bills 

 for the further improvement of the Home for the 

 Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children, and 

 especially for the epileptic colony, newly estab- 

 lished under the care of said home, also passed 

 both houses, but were vetoed by the Governor. 



Two new hospitals have been opened one sup- 

 ported by a charitable Hebrew organization, but 

 absolutely nonsectarian as to its patients; the 

 other was organized by representatives of sev- 

 eral Protestant churches, the Masonic order, and 

 Odd Fellows, called the Christian Hospital Asso- 

 ciation, and is designed to care for people of a 

 good class not able to pay usual hospital rates. 



Aged and infirm poor are maintained by their 

 respective counties in hospitals, poor farms, and 

 almshouses. In most counties the healthy poor 

 are not separated from those who are sick or 

 injured. From the counties reporting, 9,375 of 

 these two classes have been maintained during 

 the year 1898. In the San Francisco Almshouse 

 the number reached 1,000. 



Destitute children are maintained chiefly in or- 

 phanages supported by the State. A few are 

 allowed in poorhouses in distant counties. Dur- 

 ing the half year ending June 30, 1898, 803 or- 

 phans, 5,100 half orphans, 530 abandoned children, 

 and 180 foundlings were supported, at a cost to 

 the State of $204,701.91. 



The two State institutions for the care of the 

 blind are the Home for Adult Blind, in Oakland, 

 and the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Asylum, in Berke- 

 ley. There were 237 inmates in the latter insti- 

 tution for 1898. From the former we could ob- 

 tain no information. In 1897 there were 100 

 inmates. 



No separate State institution is maintained for 

 deaf-mutes, they being received into the home at 

 Berkeley with the blind. The Catholic Sisters 

 of St. Joseph have opened during the past year 

 a home for deaf-mutes, and have some 00 pupils. 



Idiotic and feeble-minded persons are kept in 

 a home at Eldridge. The number of inmates, 

 1898, was 570. This included those in the school, 

 custodial and industrial departments. The sum 

 of $199,700 was allowed by the last Legislature 

 for two years' support. 



There are five insane asylums in the State. The 

 State Insane Asylum is at Stockton. Its nomi- 

 nal capacity is 1,000 males and 500 females. The 

 average number of inmates is 1,504. The expendi- 

 ture for this asylum, 1897-'98, was $193,733. The 

 Napa State Asylum for the Insane has a nominal 

 capacity of from 900 to 950. According to the 

 latest available report, 1894-'95, the number of 

 patients treated during that fiscal year was 

 1,089. The expenditure for that year is reported 

 as being $198,802. The report of the Agnew 

 State Hospital, at Agnew, shows a nominal ca- 

 pacity of 1,000. The number of patients treated, 

 1897-'98, was 1,109, the daily average being 914. 

 The expenditure for the year was $121,109. 



The City and County Hospital, San Francisco, 

 is a general hospital. Total receipts, $91,394; total 

 expenditures, $91,394; number of beds, 437; daily 



average number of beds occupied, 378; number 

 of in-patients, 4,401; number of out-patients, 772; 

 cost per in-patient per day, (57 cents. 



Information concerning charitable institutions 

 supported by cities in this and other States is 

 given in the second part of the article, which is 

 devoted exclusively to municipal establishments 

 under the general heading of Charity. 



Colorado. From the official report, 1897-'98, 

 concerning State charities, it is gathered that the 

 appropriation for deaf and blind for that year 

 was $5,000. This amount was for one institu- 

 tion, having 115 patients. An expenditure of 

 $50,318.52 is shown for one insane asylum. 

 Twenty thousand dollars was appropriated to- 

 ward the support of dependent children. An ap- 

 propriation of $40,000 is credited to soldiers and 

 sailors, and $3,000 for upkeep of the State Board 

 of Charity. 



The appropriation mentioned above for de- 

 pendent and neglected children was a special one, 

 intended to defray the cost of a permanent site 

 and building. The lunacy act of the State has 

 been revised, rendering its provisions similar to 

 those of New York, and including insistence on 

 the deportation of pauper insane not residents of 

 the State. Appropriations by the Legislature for 

 maintenance and improvements recommended by 

 the State Board of Charities and Correction were 

 very liberal, considering the condition of the 

 State treasury. 



The appropriations for 1900 were as follow: 

 State Home for Dependent Children, $15,000; 

 State Insane Asylum, $30,000; State School for 

 Mute and Blind, $22,000; State Soldiers' and 

 Sailors' Home, $20,000. 



Besides these legislative appropriations, a regu- 

 lar tax of one fifth mill goes to the State School 

 for Mute and Blind, and a one-fifth-mill tax is 

 appropriated for the support of the State Insane 

 Asylum. Appropriations in addition to the fore- 

 going are made for improvements, for the erection 

 of new buildings, and for the purchase of a per- 

 manent site for the State Home for Dependent 

 Children. 



An important measure has been passed in the 

 State Legislature, whereby a penalty is imposed 

 for the commitment to or retention in county 

 temporary homes for dependent children of any 

 demented or idiotic children or children suffering 

 from incurable or contagious diseases. An effort 

 was made to provide for the commitment of such 

 children to the care of the boards of management 

 of the county homes, in order to have them 

 under responsible supervision, but not to place 

 them in the homes with other children, and the 

 matter is still under consideration. A bill to 

 transfer the cost of support of children in the 

 county homes from the State, where it now rests, 

 to the towns from which the children are com- 

 mitted, will probably be defeated. Another bill 

 has been introduced, providing that no complaint 

 should be brought for the commitment of a child 

 to a county home until after it had been investi- 

 gated and approved by the town committee. 



Only a portion of the counties have poorhouses 

 or poor farms, relief being given at the homes 

 and the sick being cared for in private hospitals. 

 The approximate population of dependent pau- 

 pers is about 250 in the State. In the Soldiers' 

 Home, March 1, 1899, 140. 



In the State Home for Dependent Children, 

 March 1, 1899, 04; in private orphanages, 500 (ap- 

 proximate number) ; in county institutions, none. 

 There are 25 hospitals in the State, nearly all 

 under private auspices, having an average popu- 

 lation of about 500. 



