Hansford: Mental Defectives in County H., Indiana 133 
In the beginning’ of this section, the statement was made 
that some dwelling places stood out as '‘feeb houses”. A 
great part of this ‘"feebness” depends on this condition of the 
home which has been divided into 4 classes. Knowing that 
this concerns only the houses where the feeble-minded are to 
be found, we are not surprised to see the frequency of the 
digit 4. 
From Table XIV it will be 
seen that out of 97 homes on 
which there is information, 
51 are listed as being in very 
bad condition, 26 are poor, 15 
are fair, and 5 are in excellent 
condition. The writer has tried to eliminate the factor of 
wealth in each case, judging the home solely on the way in 
which it is kept. The condition of a few homes will be de- 
scribed. 
In the rural group it is shown that 26 of the 50 homes are 
in the fourth class. These represent the lowest level of care 
which is given to a home. Many of them are housed in build- 
ings of the lowest type. However, wherever feeble-minded 
women are found in the homes of men of considerable wealth, 
the house as surely falls into the fourth class as if she lived 
in a miserable log cabin. The home of Paul Johnson in Town- 
ship 4 shows this. Paul, a member of a defective group, has 
thru his shrewdness and industry managed to accumulate 
quite a bit of wealth. He lives in a good two-story house in 
a good neighborhood. This house is as much of a “feeble- 
minded house” as any log shack in Township 12. The only 
difference is in the size and build of the bare structure. There 
are to be found no curtains, carpets, nor blinds. Heaps of 
harness and burlap sacks were piled on the parlor floor. In 
one corner of the room was a large heap of potatoes which 
were kept there out of the cold. They were not in baskets or 
sacks but were actually piled on the floor. None of the women 
seemed to be the least bit embarrassed by the appearance 
of the room. The outside of this house did not show the care 
that is usually given by the women of the home. No garden 
or flowers were to be seen. The children looked ragged and 
dirty, very much like the children of defective parents who 
have not the nickel to buy soap. It is said that the Johnsons 
Table XIV 
1 
2 
3 
4 
Urban 
4 
7 
13 
25 
Rural 
1 
8 
13 
26 
Total 
5 
15 
26 
51 
10—26177 
