REPORT.

To THE NINETEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY:

YOUR joint committee appointed to visit the Hospital for the Insane at Independence, have discharged that duty and submit the following report:

We find all the property connected with the institution in good condition and well cared for. We visited all parts of the building and all the wards containing patients, and found them clean, well protected, and in as good condition in every respect as the present overcrowled state of the Hospital will permit. Good order prevailed in all places, the officers and attendants discharging carefully and intelligently the duties with which they are charged. We deem the completion of the unfinished portion now enclosed and the finishing of the south wing an imperative necessity. The crowded condition of the wards and a proper separation of the sexes make this work a present and pressing need and we leave to the wisdom of the General Assembly the question of making at this time the necessary appropriations to finish the building according to the original design. The amount necessary to complete section four and to enclose and complete sections five and six, thus completing the Hospital according to the original design is estimated at $70,000, but if the stone for these new sections can be furnished at the State quarries, at Anamosa, and cut by convict labor at the Additional Penitentiary, as suggested by the Commissioners in their biennial report, this could be reduced about $5,000, which saving would be sufficient to finish the additional sections.

We recommend an appropriation sufficient for the purchase of three new boilers. The Eighteenth General Assembly appropriated $3,000 as a boiler fund which was used in repairing old boilers and purchasing one small sized new boiler, with a Haxtun front, and which is proving a very satisfactory investment. The amount spent for repairs on old boilers is $1,432, which large expenditure necessitated the purchase of a smaller sized new boiler so the expense might not exceed the appropriation. The cost of this new boiler was $1,657.67. The old boiler which was replaced by the new one was sold for $150, thus bringing

the expenditures within the appropriation. The estimated cost of new boilers of the proper size and capacity is $2,000 each. The patched and unsafe condition of the old ones render the purchase of at least two new ones an absolute necessity, and in our opinion not less than $4,000 should be appropriated for this purpose. The acting engineer informed your committee that in the use of the new boiler with the Haxtun front one ton of coal per day was saved, making a reduction of over three hundred tons of coal yearly. An annual saving of at least $1,200, nearly sufficient to cover the purchase-money. Hence, true economy in the use of fuel seems to indicate the wisdom of replacing the old boilers with new ones.

Your committee also recommend an appropriation of $2,500 for building three additional cisterns for the purpose of utilizing the much needed rain-water for washing and other purposes, the most of which is now wasted. Also, the sum of $1,000 for additional well for watersupply, to be located on the Hospital grounds near the old well. The new reservoir situated near the buildings is of ample size, and with an additional well for water-supply, it is claimed, will remove all doubt as to any shortage of that much needed article. It is claimed by the Board of Trustees, who have made a careful and minute examination of the situation as to water-supply, that in order to secure beyond doubt an adequate and favorable solution of this whole question, and it is a very important one, it will be necessary to purchase a piece of land known as the Gray farm, lying contiguous to the Hospital land, and convenient to the buildings in which is situated the center of a water-basin, containing a never-failing supply. The water now secured is obtained from the outer edge of this basin, and the facts as cited above, have been obtained by careful borings made by skillful and practical persons, at the instance of the Board of Trustees. The land referred to is good, productive soil, and will be of advantage to the State, aside from the considerations above mentioned. We commend to your wisdom the necessity of your favorable action on this most important subject.

The appropriation of $1,500 for finishing the plastering of the basements and attics, is of such importance as to demand immediate attention, much wood-work being exposed to the accident of fire in its present unfinished condition. The question of ice-house and refrigerator is also of importance, as the present facilities for storing perishable articles is wholly inadequate for the wants of the institution.

For continuing the sewer such provision should also be made as