tents, two 30 feet long, and one 60 feet long, were used as sleeping quarters. The Trustees hope to acquire several acres of land adjoining the School, on which additional buildings may be erected. The Superintendent is in favor of having separate sleeping-rooms for the boys, and it would be well if the new buildings could be arranged in this way, instead of having the boys sleep in a dormitory. There were twenty-five cases of diphtheria in the hospital of the School during the Spring, besides others who were able to be up and about, but who showed the usual signs of the disease. During the Summer there were seventeen cases of malaria. It is to be hoped that the plan of the Trustees for draining the low lands near the School will soon be carried out. Worcester County Truant School, Oakdale. $5,758 00 Expenses for year ending September 30, 1900, (Visited November 14, 1900.) 2 80 The During the past year pupils of the Normal School in Worcester have taught in this School for periods of three weeks each, acting as assistants to the regular teacher. The plan has proved satisfactory, and will be continued. co-operative banking system is still in use, and the boys enter into it with enthusiasm. There have been no runaways during the year. The boys look clean, well and happy. A clock, with an electric bell attachment, directs all the movement of the boys, except in play time. They get up on signal, wash, dress, march to breakfast, go to school, etc., with military precision. During the summer vacation the boys were required to do forty hours of work each week, for which they received compensation from the Superintendent. The lazy boys, who would not work, found themselves at the "paupers' dining table" on Saturday nights. The truant schools appear to be generally well managed and in good condition. The Board desires to call attention to the following portions of the Act establishing the truant schools, with the remark that a more general acquaintance with this law and a closer following of its requirements would undoubtedly result in a reduction of the number of truants: [ACTS OF 1898, CHAPTER 496.] SECTION 31. Any person having under his control a child between seven and fourteen years of age who fails for five day sessions or ten half day sessions within any period of six months while under such control, to cause such child to attend school as required by section twelve of this act, the physical or mental condition of such child not being such as to render his attendance at school harmful or impracticable, upon complaint by a truant officer, and conviction thereof, shall forfeit and pay a fine of not more than twenty dollars. Any person who induces or attempts to induce any child to absent himself unlawfully from school, or employs or harbors while school is in session any child absent unlawfully from school, shall forfeit and pay a fine of not more than fifty dollars. mons. SECTION 32. Police, municipal and district courts, trial justices, and judges of probate courts, shall have jurisdiction of all cases arising under this act relating to persons residing in their respective jurisdictions. Upon a complaint for an offence under this act a summons shall issue instead of a warrant for arrest, unless in the judgment of the court or magistrate receiving the complaint there is reason to believe that the accused will not appear upon a sumA warrant may issue at any time after the issue of such summons, if occasion arises, whether or not the summons has been served. Such summons or warrant may be served, at the discretion of the court or magistrate, by a truant officer or by any officer empowered to serve criminal process. Upon complaint against a child under this act the parents, guardian or custodian of the child shall be notified as is required by law in the case of a juvenile offender. No child under seventeen years of age shall be committed under this act, except to a county truant school, and no child against whom complaint as an habitual absentee is brought under section twenty-five of this act by any other person than a truant officer shall be committed under this act, unless due notice and an opportunity to be heard have been given to the state board of charity. THE CITY AND TOWN PAUPERS. Chapter 396 of the Acts of 1898 is as follows: "In towns where paupers are provided for in families the overseers of the poor shall investigate each place where the town paupers are to be so provided for, and shall endeavor by contract to secure their proper care and maintenance. A full and complete record of each case shall be kept, showing the terms of the contract and what services, if any, are to be rendered by the paupers. A majority of the overseers of the poor shall certify upon the records that such investigation has been made in each case, and that they are satisfied that the paupers will be properly cared for. The overseers of the poor, either by one of their own number or by a duly appointed agent, shall, at least once in every six months, visit each place where the town paupers are supported, and a record of each visit and of the condition of the paupers visited shall be kept. The state board of charity shall have authority to visit and inspect all places where town paupers are supported in families." It is provided by Public Statutes, chapter 84, section 38, that "Overseers of the poor shall make and forward returns on or before the tenth days of January and July in each year, to the state board, concerning all minor children above the age of four years who are supported at the expense of such city or town, in an almshouse or elsewhere, on the first day of said months. Said returns shall be made in such form and shall contain such information respecting said minor children as may be prescribed by the state board." It is also provided by Public Statutes, chapter 89, section 53, that "The state board shall as often as once a year visit all children maintained wholly or in part by the state, or who have been indentured or placed in charge of a person by any state institution, board, or officer of the commonwealth, or under any provision hereof, and all minor children supported at the expense of any city or town; and shall inquire into the condition of such children, and make such other investigations in relation thereto as it may think fit; and for this purpose it may have private interviews with such children at any time." It is provided by Public Statutes, chapter 84, section 3, as amended by chapter 197 of the Acts of 1893, and by Public Statutes, chapter 84, section 4, that "In every city and town, said overseers shall place every pauper child in their charge, and over four years of age, in some respectable family in the state, or in some asylum therein, to be supported there by the city or town, according to the laws relating to the support of the poor, until they can be otherwise cared for. And the overseers shall visit such children, personally or by agent, at least once in three months, and make all needful inquiries as to their treatment or welfare. No such child, who can be cared for as above directed without inordinate expense, shall be retained in an almshouse, unless he is a state pauper, or idiotic, or otherwise so defective in body or mind as to make his retention in an almshouse desirable, or unless he is under the age of eight years, and his mother is an inmate thereof, and is a suitable person to aid in taking care of him." It is also provided by chapter 401 of the Acts of 1887, as amended by chapter 197 of the Acts of 1893, that "Whenever the overseers of the poor of any city except the city of Boston, or of any town, fail to place out according to the provisions of section three of chapter eighty-four of the Public Statutes any pauper child in their charge for two months from the date of their receiving of such child, then the authority vested in said overseers under said section three may be exercised by the state board of charity, to the exclusion of said overseers, and under the authority of the state board of charity such child shall be supported by the city or town in the same manner as if placed out by its overseers of the poor, and shall be subject to the visitation of the said state board of charity, its officers or agents, until the said state board of charity shall be furnished with evidence satisfactory to said board that the overseers will properly care for such child in accordance with the provisions of said section three." The Adult Poor provided for in Families. In consequence of returns received from Overseers of the Poor, agents of the Board have visited during the last official year 414 paupers, 193 men and 221 women, - provided for in families by the following 143 towns: Abington, Adams, Amesbury, Amherst, Andover, Arlington, Ashland, Athol, Auburn, Avon, Barre, Becket, Berlin, Bernardston, Blandford, Bourne, Boylston, Brimfield, Brookline, Canton, Carver, Charlemont, Charlton, Chatham, Cheshire, Chesterfield, Chilmark, Clarksburg, Clinton, Colrain, Cottage City, Cummington, Dalton, Danvers, Douglas, Dover, Eastham, Edgartown, Egremont, Enfield, Erving, Framingham, Goshen, Grafton, Granby, Great Barrington, Halifax, Hamilton, Hanover, Hatfield, Hingham, Hinsdale, Holbrook, Hubbardston, Hull, Hyde Park, Kingston, Lakeville, Lancaster, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Leverett, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Mansfield, Marion, Mashpee, Mendon, Merrimac, Middleton, Millis, Milton, Montague, Monterey, Mount Washington, Nahant, Needham, New Braintree, Newbury, New Marlborough, New Salem, Norfolk, Northborough, Northbridge, Northfield, Norwood, Orange, Orleans, Otis, Oxford, Pelham, Phillipston, Plainfield, Plympton, Princeton, Raynham, Revere, Richmond, Rockland, Rowe, Rowley, Royalston, Russell, Rutland, Salisbury, Savoy, Sheffield, Shelburne, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Southborough, South Hadley, Southampton, Southwick, Stockbridge, Stoneham, Sunderland, Sutton, Templeton, Tisbury, Tolland, Truro, Tyngsborough, Tyringham, Wakefield, Wales, Washington, Wellfleet, Wendell, West Springfield, West Stockbridge, West Tisbury, Weymouth, Whately, Whitman, Wilbraham, Williamsburg, Williamstown, Winchester, Winthrop, Worthington. In the 408 cases in which the age was given, 14 were between twenty and thirty years of age, 17 between thirty and forty, 30 between forty and fifty, 45 between fifty and sixty, 91 between sixty and seventy, 116 between seventy and eighty, 85 between eighty and ninety, 9 between ninety and one hundred, and 1 was over one hundred. For their support there was paid in 81 cases less than $2.00 per week, in 194 cases from $2.00 to |