Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/378

 NEW YORK (STATE) All the charitable, eleemosynary, correction- ! al, and reformatory institutions of the state, except prisons, whether receiving state aid or maintained by municipalities or otherwise, are subject to the inspection of the state board of charities, composed of 11 members appoint- ed by the governor with the consent of the senate, besides the lieutenant governor, secre- tary of state, comptroller, attorney general, and state commissioners in lunacy, all of whom serve without pay. The board reports annual- ly to the legislature concerning the various in- stitutions visited by them, which embrace the state, local, incorporated, and private charities for the insane, blind, deaf and dumb, idiots, inebriates, juvenile delinquents, orphans, pau- pers, &c. The number of insane in New York on Jan. 1, 1872, was reported at 6,775, of whom 1,093 were in state and 312 in private institutions, 2,233 in city asylums and alms- houses, 1,319 in county asylums and poor- houses, 75 in the Auburn asylum for insane criminals, 161 in the institutions of other states, and 1,582 in the custody of friends. In 1874 $102,234 was paid by the state for the maintenance of insane persons, besides large appropriations for buildings, &c. There are five state institutions for the treatment of this class, of which the oldest is the lunatic asylum in Utica, opened in 1843 and having accommo- dations for about 600. Acute cases are chiefly treated here, while the chronic insane are re- ceived in the Willard asylum, opened at Ovid, Seneca co., in 1869, which, with projected im- g-ovements, will accommodate 1,000. The udson river hospital for the insane in Pough- keepsie, the state asylum in Buffalo, and the homoeopathic asylum in Middletown are state institutions not yet (1875) completed. The estimated cost of each of the two former is $3,000,000; when completed each will ac- commodate about 600 patients. The institu- tion at Middletown is smaller. On Sept. 30, 1874, there were 1,719 inmates, 590 being in the Utica asylum, 879 in the Willard, 212 in that at Poughkeepsie, and 38 in that at Middle- town. There is also a state institution on Ward's island, New York city, for insane im- migrants. In addition to these there are two city institutions in New York city, Brigham hall at Canandaigua, Marshall infirmary in Troy, the Providence lunatic asylum (Roman Catholic) in Buffalo, and the asylum at Bloom- ingdale, all of which are incorporated; and Sanford hall, Flushing, the home for nervous diseases at Fishkill, and the home for insane and nervous invalids at Pleasantville, which are private. The ^loomingdale asylum is one of the oldest institutions of the kind in the United States, having been opened in 1821, and has a wide reputation for the excellence of its management. Any person or association is prohibited by law from establishing or keeping an institution of any kind for the reception of persons of unsound mind, without license from the board of state charities. The whole number treated in the incorporated and private asylums of the state in 1873, not including the two New York city institutions, was 732, of whom 449 remained on Jan. 1, 1874. The state asylum for idiots in Syracuse was estab- lished in 1851 as an educational and not a custodial institution. It has accommodations for 225 pupils ; the indigent are received free of charge. The daily average number of pupils in 1873 was 178, of whom 154 were supported by the state at a cost of $43,000. The blind are instructed at the state asylum in Batavia, opened in 1867, and the New York institution for the blind (incorporated) in New York city, founded in 1831; the former has accommoda- tions for 150, and the latter for 225 pupils. The New York institution for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, in New York city, is maintained chiefly by the state. It is the largest of the kind in the world, having a capacity for 550 pupils, and, excepting the American asylum in Hartford, the oldest in the United States, having been opened in 1818. Its plan comprises an educational and an in- dustrial department. All indigent deaf mutes between the ages of 6 and 25 years are re- ceived free of charge. At the close of 1874 there were 30 instructors and 584 pupils, of whom 355 were beneficiaries of the state, 162 of counties, and 47 of New Jersey, the re- mainder being maintained by friends. Articu- lation and lip reading were taught to about 100. Pupils are also maintained by the state at the institution for the improved instruction of deaf mutes in New York city, and at the Le Oouteulx St. Mary's institution in Buffalo. The state asylum for inebriates at Bingham- ton was opened in 1864. The buildings cost $500,000, and will accommodate 200 patients. The state institutions for the reformation of juvenile delinquents are the house of refuge on Randall's island, New York city, opened in 1825, and having a capacity for 1,000, and the western house of refuge in Rochester, with accommodations for 600, opened in 1849. An industrial reformatory, with a capacity for 500, is in process of construction at Elmira. Be- sides these there are 11 incorporated and muni- cipal reformatories in the state, which from time to time have received state aid, but are mainly supported by private gifts and muni- cipal appropriations. The total number of in- mates in all reformatories on Jan. 1, 1874, was 4,580. There are also many organizations in the state for the care of destitute children, such as the children's aid society of New York city and the various missions and industrial schools of that and other cities. The total property valuation of the state charitable institutions above named was $6,184,302. The receipts for the year were $1,621,132, of which $1,015,- 251 was from the state, and the expenditures $1,589,183, of which $711,805 was for build- ings and improvements. State paupers are received at almshonses in Albany, Yaphank, Delhi, Canton, and Buffalo. The private and