134 



CHARITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The insane are cared for at State expense m 

 an excellent manner at Warm Springs, Deer 

 Lodge County, Mont. Its nominal capacity is 

 450; daily average number. 350. 



Nebraska. The State appropriations for char- 

 itable institutions for the two years ending No- 

 vember, 1898, were as follow: Blind, $45,775; deaf 

 and dumb, $55,250: insane. $360,895; feeble- 

 minded youth. $77.400: Soldiers' Home, $93,350, 

 with 325 inmates; Homo for Friendless, $31,500. 



Among bills passed by the last Legislature was 

 one to provide for the control and maintenance 

 of the Home for the Friendless as a State insti- 

 tution. A bill was introduced to create a State 

 board of charities. The bill was framed so as 

 to be in harmony with the State Constitution. 

 So much sympathy was expressed that for a con- 

 siderable time the friends of the bill expected 

 it to carry. It failed, however; but the friends 

 are determined to succeed, and are confident this 

 measure will be carried at the next Legislature, 

 two years hence. 



The aged poor are largely provided for in 

 county almshouses. and the number has greatly 

 increased of late years in large centers of popula- 

 tion because of the increase in the number of 

 the insane. Seven old persons are now being 

 provided for by the State in the Home for the 

 Friendless. 



Most of the dependent children of the State 

 are provided for by private associations. One 

 State institution, the Home for the Friendless, 

 has 38 children. This is also a placing-out agency, 

 and children are only kept temporarily. Some 

 of the larger counties have the care of a few 

 dependent children. 



No provision is made for sick and injured by 

 the State. There is only one county hospital, 

 and it is located at Omaha. Most of the hos- 

 pitals are supported by churches. 



There is one State institution for the blind, 

 with 79 inmates. 



There is one institution for deaf-mutes. It has 

 149 inmates. Oral and manual methods of teach- 

 ing are employed. 



There is one institution for feeble-minded, with 

 216 inmates. Many appeals are made for the 

 admittance of others, who are refused from lack 

 of accommodations. A good many of these are 

 provided for in county houses, and others are 

 under private care. 



There are three hospitals for the insane, one 

 of them for incurables. The total number of 

 patients, according to the last report, was 1,121. 

 It is difficult to estimate the number of patients 

 in county houses. There are 90 in Douglas County 

 Hospital alone. There are also two soldiers' and 

 sailors' homes, with a total of 254 inmates. 



The insane asylums and hospitals include the 

 Hospital for Chronic Insane, Hastings: nominal 

 capacity, 650; daily average number, 600; Hos- 

 pital for the Insane, Lincoln: nominal capacity, 

 350; daily average number, 350; Norfolk Hos- 

 pital for the Insane, Norfolk: nominal capacity, 

 20S: daily average number, 204. 



Nevada. The Secretary of State reports that 

 the only appropriations foV public charities made 

 each year by the State of Nevada are: For care 

 and support of the indigent insane, $35,500; for 

 the support of the State Orphans' Home, $14.700. 

 The expenditures for 1898 for the former amounted 

 to $32,058.84; for the latter, $13,229.31. The nomi- 

 nal capacity of the Hospital for Mental Diseases, 

 Reno, is 225; daily average number, 197. 



New Hampshire. The Secretary of State re- 

 ports an expenditure of $42,742 for charitable 

 institutions for the year ending May, 1899. This 



amount includes the following items: Blind, 

 $3,994; deaf and dumb, $4,510; insane, $24,745; 

 feeble-minded, $1,094; soldiers' homes, $8,399. 



Important among the changes made by the 

 Legislature of 1898-'99 was that relating to the 

 beneficiaries of the Deaf and Dumb, Blind, and 

 Feeble-minded fund. New Hampshire gives $10,- 

 000 annually for the support of these defectives 

 in institutions outside of the State. The law, as 

 it now stands, places the nomination of these 

 beneficiaries in the hands of the Board of Chari- 

 ties, upon whose recommendation only the Gov- 

 ernor and Council can appoint children to fill the 

 vacancies. A joint resolution authorizes the 

 Governor and Council to appoint a commission, 

 to work with one appointed by the State Con- 

 ference of Charities and Corrections, to investi- 

 gate the jail systems of the State and the State 

 control of the insane as compared with the county 

 care of the indigent insane, and to report to the 

 next Legislature. Appropriations were granted 

 to the State Insane Asylum, $50,000; Soldiers' 

 Home, $20,000 annually for two years. Towns 

 and cities are privileged to expend $5,000 in the 

 establishment of a free bed in any hospital for 

 the benefit of the cities' sick poor, or to spend 

 $300 annually for a yearly bed in such an insti- 

 tution. 



The most important new movement to be re- 

 corded is the establishment, on a permanent 

 basis, of a New Hampshire Conference of Chari- 

 ties and Corrections. The State Board of Chari- 

 ties inaugurated this movement, and the first 

 meeting was held at Concord, Feb. 21, 1899. The 

 outcome of this meeting was the incorporation 

 of the conference, with Judge H. E. Burnham, 

 Manchester, president; President William J. 

 Tucker, of Dartmouth College, first vice-presi- 

 dent; John M. Gile, M. D., Hanover, secretary; 

 Mrs. Lillian Streeter, Concord, treasurer. 



The results of the first conference were in- 

 creased appropriations for the insane asylum and 

 the appointment of a committee authorized by 

 law to investigate our jail systems and the State 

 care of the indigent insane. The Sociological 

 Committee of the Federation of Women's Clubs 

 aided in getting up this conference, while the 

 Concord Woman's Club paid all the' bills thereof. 



A magnificent ne\v operating room, known as 

 the Wells Building, has been given to the Elliot 

 Hospital, in Manchester, by Mrs. Charles Wells. 

 The Odd Fellows are soon to establish an or- 

 phans' home. 



There are ten counties, and the amounts dis- 

 bursed by their officials during the year ending 

 Dec. 31/1898, included $403,155 for support of 

 paupers. The eleven cities of the State paid 

 during the same period, for support of poor, in- 

 cluding aid to hospitals, $105,207. The 224 

 towns, which comprise one half of the aggregate 

 population, undoubtedly paid in 1898 for sup- 

 port of poor at least $50,000. (Private charity 

 helped to maintain 5 homes for the aged, 3 or- 

 phans' homes, 10 hospitals, 1 mercy home for. 

 females, by contributions estimated at '$100,000. 

 Fraternal and benevolent organizations dispensed 

 in charity not less than $75,000.) 



Taking into account contributions from all 

 sources, it is estimated that at least $1,000,000 

 is contributed annually in the State for charitable 

 purposes. 



The poor in its poorhouses include, in alms- 

 houses, 692; in families (figures not procurable) ; 

 county charges in almshouses, 83; in orphan asy- 

 lums, 327; placed out in families, 201. 



Blind children are placed in institutions out- 

 side the State. Thirteen are now provided for. 



