Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/277

 PENNSYLVANIA 267 Friends' hospital, Philadelphia, 100; insane department of Philadelphia city almshouse, 660. The first four of these are state institu- tions, though that at Dixmont is not owned or managed by the commonwealth. The hos- pital in Harrisburg was opened in 1851, and in 1874 had an average of 395 patients, who were maintained at an average cost of $286 03 each. Of the 380 inmates on Sept. 30, 1874, 176 were supported by the public. The west- ern Pennsylvania hospital at Dixmont, 7 m. below Pittsburgh, is a corporate institution opened in 1857, where an average of 469'8 patients were maintained in 1874, at a cost of $244 50 each. Of the 510 remaining at the close of the year, 402 were supported by the public. The Danville hospital, opened in 1872, has present accommodations for 240; the buildings are not yet completed. The av- erage number of patients in 1874 was 198'7; remaining at the end of the year, 238, of whom 186 were maintained by the public; average cost of support, $262 60. The construction of the northwestern hospital for the insane was begun at Warren in 1874 on a farm of 334 acres. The estimated cost is $1,000,000. Ac- cording to the census of 1870, there were 2,250 idiots in Pennsylvania. Provision is made for the education of this class in the training school for feeble-minded children near Media, Delaware co. (See IDIOCY, vol. ix., p. 174.) The average number treated here in 1874 was 223, of whom 98 were females ; the cost of support was $253 43 each. Of the 231 inmates on Sept. 30, 89 were wholly and 19 partially supported by the state ; 30 were maintained by New Jersey, 2 by Delaware, 12 by Philadelphia, and 61 by parents and guardians. By the census of 1870, 1,767 blind and 1,433 deaf and dumb were report- ed in the state. The Pennsylvania institution for the blind, in Philadelphia, founded in 1833, has accommodations for 124 males and 84 females. An average of 197 pupils were instructed in 1874, at a cost of $317 92 each. Of the 200 pupils on Sept. 30, 1874, 130 were supported by the state. The students are taught various trades and occupations. The "home" connected with this institution, the industrial home for blind women, and the Pennsylvania working home for blind men in Philadelphia, are designed to furnish employ- ment to blind adults. The state institution for the deaf and dumb, opened in 1820, is in Philadelphia. It has accommodations for 115 boys and 110 girls, and in 1874 had an average of 229 pupils, who were supported at a cost of $140 40 each. Of the 219 inmates on Sept. 30, 1874, 193 were state beneficiaries. Besides the ordinary instruction, shoemaking, tailor- ing, dressmaking, sewing, &c., are taught. Instruction is also afforded to this class by the home for deaf mutes in Pittsburgh, to which the state appropriated $2,000 in 1874. The township system for the support of the poor, which prevailed in provincial times, still con- tinues in 32 counties of the state. In the larger and wealthier counties, however, which contain about four fifths of the wealth and population of the commonwealth, the improved system has been adopted of supporting the poor in one or more large almshouses, of which there are 57. The total number of per- sons relieved during the year ending Sept. 30, 1874, was 99,048. The number of paupers of all classes maintained in almshouses, Sept. 30, 1874, not including the insane in the Philadel- phia almshouse, was 7,782, of whom 4,669 were males and 3,113 females; 6,884 were adults and 898 children; 1,226 were insane, 43 idiotic, 131 blind, and 50 deaf and dumb. The number receiving outdoor relief at the same time was 11,100, besides 847 township poor in districts or counties having no aims- houses. Forty orphan asylums, homes for the friendless, &c., are chiefly supported by pri- vate contributions or churches ; and there are ten hospitals maintained by endowments or private contributions. The number of per- sons supported by public charity during the year ending June 1, 1870, according to the census, was 15,872, at a cost of $1,256,024. Of the total number (8,796) receiving support at that date, 4,822 were native born, including 4,354 white and 468 colored, and 3,974 were of foreign birth. Since 1865 the state has appropriated $4,385,556 to the support and education of 7,391 soldiers' orphans in various schools throughout the state. The amount ex- pended in 1874 was $450,879, and the number of orphans on Sept. 1 was 2,988. This chari- table work of the state will cease in 1879 ; it is estimated that $1,200,000 more will be needed for the purpose. The origin of public schools in Pennsylvania may be traced to the frame of government prepared by William Penn in 1682, which provided that the gov- ernor and council should " erect and order all public schools." In 1752 trustees and mana- gers for such schools were appointed ; the pro- visional constitution of 1776 provided for the establishment of a school in each county ; in 1786 60,000 acres of land were set apart for public schools; and the constitution of 1790 required the legislature to "provide by law for the establishment of schools throughout the state in such a manner that the poor may be taught gratis." In 1819 an act was passed for opening free schools to indigent children be- tween 5 and 12 years old, and in 1834 the foundation of the present school system was laid by the law providing free education for all persons between the ages of 6 and 21 years, Under this law, as amended by the constitu- tion of 1873 and previous acts, the supervision of the public schools is vested in a state su- perintendent of public instruction with two deputy superintendents appointed by himself, 65 county and 21 city and borough superin- tendents elected by the school directors, and 6 directors for each district, who are elected by the people, and have power to levy and collect