CHARITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



inmate, $500 for repairs, and $150 for religious 

 services. 



Texas. The State appropriations for chari- 

 table institutions for the year ending February, 

 1900, amounted to $(529,107. This amount in- 

 cluded the following items: Blind, $48,212; deaf 

 and dumb, $29,950; insane, $422,980; orphans, 

 $(50.300 (estimated). 



Several bills are under consideration proposing 

 liberal appropriations for the enlargement and 

 better equipment of State institutions, which in- 

 clude three asylums for insane, two schools for 

 deaf-mutes one for colored persons School for 

 the Blind, Old Soldiers' Home, and Orphanage. 

 At the last session an appropriation of $50,000 

 was made for the building of an asylum for epi- 

 leptics on a large tract of land already secured 

 for the purpose. To this good beginning, doubt- 

 less, additional appropriations will be made from 

 time to time, till the demands of necessity on 

 this line shall be met. 



Texas has no school for feeble-minded. The 

 unfortunate of this class are kept with the indi- 

 gent on county poor farms, but better things 

 are hoped for in the near future. There is no 

 State board of charities, but the larger cities have 

 charity organizations that afford systematic re- 

 lief to thousands of the very poor. 



There are a number of rescue homes, hospitals, 

 and homes for the aged and dependent in various 

 parts of the State, under control of churches and 

 societies, all doing a good work of relief and 

 reformation. 



There are 13 orphanages in Texas conducted 

 by various churches and societies. Some of these 

 find homes in families for many children, and 

 agents of children's home-finding societies out 

 of Texas also work on this line in this State. 

 The Buckner Orphans' Home alone, near Dallas, 

 has in families, and yet under its watch care, 800 

 children. 



Poor in poorhouses are cared for in the Old 

 Soldiers' Home, with 240 inmates; in homes for 

 the aged (estimated), 50; on county farms, un- 

 known; destitute children in State Orphans' 

 Home, 400; Buckner Orphans' Home, 365; Buck- 

 ner Home Annex (average), 13; Methodist Or- 

 phans' Home, 85; St. Mary's Orphanage, 100; 

 Galveston (name not given), 53; Odd Fellows' Or- 

 phanage. 49; Masonic Widows and Orphans (not 

 opened); Island City Protestant Orphanage, 40; 

 San Antonio Protestant Orphanage, 53; Faith 

 Home, 23; St. Matthew's Orphanage, 30; Bay- 

 land Orphanage, 35; Gainesville Orphans' Home, 

 10; Fort Worth Benevolent Home, 59; total or- 

 phans in institutions, 1,315. 



The blind are taught in the State School, 177 

 pupils; deaf-mutes in the State School, 284 whites 

 and 100 (estimated) colored. The insane are 

 housed in the State asylums, 2,040. 



Utah. The sums expended by the State in 

 behalf of charitable institutions for the fiscal 

 year ending November, 1898, included $26,961.99. 

 Under the heading of insane, the cost for two 

 years ending November, 1898, was $79,831.78. 

 with 203 patients. 



There has been no legislation in the field of 

 charities and reform. No important charitable 

 organizations have been established. 



The number of blind in the School for Deaf, 

 Dumb, and Blind is 18. 



The number of insane in State asylums is 273. 

 The expenses during the past two years amounted 

 to $79,832. 



Vermont. Among the legislative provisions 

 enacted in 1898 is included one whereby imbeciles 

 who had been sent to the State Asylum shall 



be remanded to town almshouses. This forbids 

 the detention in hospitals for the insane of de- 

 mented persons who are not dangerous. 



The number of poor in poorhouses, etc. (all 

 boarded out), is unknown; there are three homes 

 for orphan and destitute children in the State, 

 under private management, containing about 

 150. The sick and injured are cared for in five 

 hospitals, under private management. 



There are, according to the latest report, 8 

 blind, 19 deaf-mutes, and 9 feeble-minded children 

 cared for in institutions in Massachusetts and 

 Connecticut, the State appropriating $11,000 an- 

 nually for this purpose, the beneficiaries being 

 designated by the Governor. In the State Hos- 

 pital the number of insane is reported as 520 ; in 

 the Brattleboro Retreat, at the charge of the 

 State, 100. 



" Virginia. There are no available statistics 

 concerning poor and destitute children. Provision 

 is, however, usually promptly made for all in 

 these classes. Each county and each city main- 

 tains an almshouse. Here and there throughout 

 the State are homes and asylums for orphans 

 and destitute children. All these homes and asy- 

 lums are supported by private charity organiza- 

 tions, churches, etc. 



The sick and injured are always promptly cared 

 for and treated in local hospitals, most of which 

 are very well equipped. 



The School for the Deaf and the Blind (ex- 

 clusively for white pupils), at Staunton, is sup- 

 ported by and under supervision of the State. 

 Nearly 200 pupils. 



No State provision is made for feeble-minded 

 children. Usually the indigent cases are pro- 

 vided for in almshouses, private charitable 

 homes, etc. 



The insane are cared for in four State hospitals, 

 though at present their capacity is inadequate 

 for all those needing hospital treatment. There 

 are about 250 in various private families, in jails, 

 etc., awaiting room in the State institutions. At 

 present there are 1,700 insane in the hospitals for 

 whites, and 860 insane negroes in Central Hos- 

 pital, near Petersburg, Va. 



Washing-ton. The amount expended by the 

 State in behalf of charitable institutions for eight- 

 een months ending September, 1898, was $3,509.95. 

 This included $2,613.67 under the heading of in- 

 sane, and $896.28 for the Soldiers' Home, with 130 

 inmates. 



A bill was passed at the meeting of the last 

 Legislature appropriating $14,000 to establish a 

 home for adult blind. The Washington Children's 

 Home Society, located at Seattle, is successfully 

 aiding the homeless children of the State. The 

 blind, deaf-mutes, and feeble-minded children are 

 kept in the School for Defective Youth. Statis- 

 tics are not forthcoming. The average daily at- 

 tendance at three of the principal charitable in- 

 stitutions is as follows: Western Washington 

 Hospital for the Insane, 532 ; Eastern Washington 

 Hospital for the Insane, 279; Washington Sol-, 

 diers' Home, 123. 



West Virginia. The sums expended by the 

 State for charitable institutions for the year end- 

 ing September, 1900, include the following items: 

 Deaf and dumb, $50,350, with 134 pupils; insane, 

 $219,750, with 1,346 patients; Home for Incur- 

 ables, $39,000. 



The Legislature of 1899 was quite liberal in 

 providing for State charitable institutions. The 

 building to be used as the Home for Incurables, 

 located at Huntington, was reported early in the 

 year to be well under way, and likely to be ready 

 for occupancy in a few months. 



