Paoli Republican, Aug 2, 1916: Letter About the Orange County Poor Farm: Paoli, Ind

Paoli Republican,

Aug 2, 1916:

July 11, 1916

To the Board of State Charities, Indianapolis, Ind.

Gentlemen:

The CountyBoard of Charities visited the Orange County Poor Asylum and Jail on the date above written. The asylum farm consists of 207 acres, all tillable except about thirty acres of timber land; eight acres of which is in fruit orchard, five acres in garden, and the remainder in wheat, corn, oats, timothy, clover and pasture land: all of which looks fine and in good condition. The fencing, barn, outbuildings and dwelling house are all in good shape, except patches of plastering in some of the rooms have fallen from the ceiling, caused by leaky roof, which will be looked after. The live stock consists of eighteen head of cattle, seven horses, two mules and forty-four head of hogs, all of which are in good condition. The Superintendent, Mr. Webster, is a practical farmer. He is a hard worker, and takes much interest in the farm, which for the last year has been self supporting. The dwelling house is a large, modern, two story brick building, with basement, all in good sanitary condition. It is heated by steam and lighted by lamps. The house is furnished with modern bath tubs, wash basins, toilets, cooking range, utensils, etc. - all neat and clean. The bed rooms are supplied with iron bedsteads, with full straw ticks and the necessary amount of bed coverings, in good condition. At present, there are seventeen inmates, eleven of which are men, five women, and one child about six years of age. One man confined to his room with tuberculosis.

The CountyJail and dwelling house are in bad condition. While they are kept as well as could be under existing conditions, yet no housekeeper could keep out the existing bad odor in both jail and dwelling. In the dwelling house, this odor certainly comes from dampness from the ground coming up through the floors. We feel quite sure that this could be overcome by putting in the necessary number of ventilators in the foundation under the floors, which is a sufficient height above to the ground to receive good sized ventilators. As to the Jail proper, will say that much trouble could be overcome by enlarging the windows which could easily be done by cutting down through two stones under each window. This would add about thirty inches height to each window. Also, the floor in the jail should be raised with concrete at least to a level with the cage in the jail. A smooth concrete floor in the jail building would be more sanitary, easily kept clean, and would eliminate the old rough floor which is full of seams and cracks, in which is bred all kinds of insects which naturally harbor in such places. The concrete floor should be laid smoothly, with sufficient fall to carry off the water to a certain point where a trap should be placed to prevent any odor to come back through the drain pipe. Also, the plumbing is in bad shape and should be looked after. Much of the dampness in Jail comes from leaky pipes. The jail is simply unsanitary, and is not fit for a human being to live in, and we hope this property will be remodeled.

Very truly yours,

Board of CountyCharities,

John T Stout, President,

Belle T Braxtan, Secretary.