Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/262

 258 CONNECTICUT amounted to $79,793, and the total expendi- tures to $77,981. Up to April 1, 1873, 643 patients were admitted, of whom 116 were dis- charged recovered, 72 improved, and 91 station- ary, and 93 died. The retreat for the insane hi Hartford was incorporated in 1822, and has at various times received aid from the state and donations from individuals. The average number in this institution is about 250, who are maintained at an average cost of about $5 a week. Since its opening about 5,000 pa- tients have been treated. According to the census of 1870, there were 772 insane in the state. The accommodations of the state not being sufficient for this number, some have been treated in the hospitals of neighboring states, while others have been unprovided for. A school for imbeciles has been estab- lished at Lakeville, in the town of Salis- bury, which receives both state and private pupils. In 1873 the number of pupils was 50, of whom 20 were state beneficiaries. The number dismissed or improved since the open- ing of the institution has been 26 per cent. A commodious building has been erected with the $10,000 appropriated by the legislature in 1872, which will enable the institution to ac- commodate all of this unfortunate class for which the state may have to provide. The Hartford hospital was first opened Aug. 1, 1860, with accommodations for 44 patients ; by the addition of wings to the main building, the institution now accommodates 100 patients. The whole cost of buildings and land (70 acres) was $188,495, of which $127,200 were con- tributed by individuals and $30,000 by the state, which has also made an annual grant of $2,000 toward defraying current expenses. The permanent fund of the hospital amounts to $153,500. Patients are received from the various towns of the state for a small com- pensation, while not a few are admitted free. A large number of Connecticut soldiers have been received and treated, for which the in- stitution received from the state to March 1, 1871, $15,095 08. From the opening of the hospital to that date 2,239 patients received its benefits, at an average cost of $5 68. Of this number 1,596 recovered, 155 improved, 120 remained stationary, and 304 died ; 1,097 were Americans, and 1,142 of foreign birth ; 1,827 of temperate and 412 of intemperate habits. Their average time at the hospital was 8'3 weeks. During the year ending Feb. 28, 1871, 370 patients (246 males and 124 females) were under treatment. The receipts amounted to $19,443 63 ; disbursements, $19,854 90. There is also a hospital in New Haven, supported in part by the state. Two soldiers' orphans' homes for the education of children of de- ceased soldiers, situated at Mansfield and Darien, are under the charge of voluntary so- cieties, aided by state appropriations. The number of children of this class in the state in 1871 receiving $1 50 weekly each for their support was 1,648. The state prison is situated at Wethersfield. The building was erected in 1827, contains 232 cells, and is inadequate to the requirements of the state. The construc- tion of a new one has been recommended by a committee of the legislature. The mode of in- flicting punishment on convicts is by confine- ment in dark and solitary cells, and by fetters and shackles. Punishment by the shower bath and " moderate whipping, not exceeding ten stripes for any one offence," though not prohibited by law, has been discontinued. Convicts are employed in making boots, rules, &c., and burnishing plated ware. Instruction is given in the common English branches. The library contains 1,165 volumes. -The number of convicts March 31, 1873, was 175 ; 142 were Americans and 33 foreigners, 3 females, 40 colored, 14 under 20 years of age, and 13 over 50; 160 for first offence; 23 under sentence for life. The income for the year was $26,452, including $14,695 from shoe shops, $3,030 from wire shop, $2,220 from burnishing shop, $4,833 from rule shops, and $880 for boarding United States prisoners. The expenditures amounted to $24,941. The whole number of persons committed to the various jails during 1871 was 2,593, being 347 more than in the preceding year. The whole number confined April 1, 1871, was 289, being 24 fewer than on April 1, 1870. There were six homicides com- mitted in the state during the year. The im- provements made within the past few years in the system of education in Connecticut have given a marked prominence to the common schools of the state. The supervision and control of the educational interests of the state were in 1865 intrusted to a board of education, consisting of the governor, lieutenant governor, and four members, one from each congres- sional district, appointed by the legislature. The board appoints its own secretary, who performs the usual duties of a superintendent of education. In 1868 the law providing for the levying of tuition or rate bills was repealed, and a system of free public schools established, each town being required to levy a tax suffi- cient, with existing school revenues, for the maintenance of free schools. By the act of 1870 each town is required to maintain free public schools for at least 30 weeks in the year, in every district in which the number of persons between the ages of 4 and 16 years is 24 or more, and for at least 24 weeks in every district in which the number of such persons is less than 24. Proprietors of manufacturing establishments are by law prohibited, under a penalty of $100 fine, from employing children under 14 years of age who have not attended school for at least three months in each year ; they are further required to see that all persons employed by them are able to read and write and understand the elements of arithmetic. An amendment to the law is recommended by the board of education, in order to secure the actual attendance at school for at least three months eacli year of all the children relieved