in the matter of the introduction of intoxicants to the Home, expulsion being the penalty. For a number of months there has been no case of intoxication, and as a consequence the daily routine has gone on undisturbed. The construction of connecting corridors between the several cottages of the group has given the members of the Home a number of convenient sitting-rooms, well lighted, well furnished now and with pleasant outlook. The installation of steam radiators of sufficient capacity in these corridors will make them very pleasant during the winter months. In the corridor connecting the small dining-room with the kitchen, two radiators were installed but have been discontinued and the fittings used in the new dining-room. It is necessary that these radiators be again connected with the steam supply, as this corridor is practically an annex of the kitchen, the baker using it as a place in which to set the dough over night in the bake pans, there being no heat in the kitchen at night. The new dining-hall is rapidly approaching completion. It will be connected with the present kitchen by arched doorways and will have a table capacity for 120 persons. Its windows command pleasant views, and altogether it will be a grateful change from the present small and crowded room. The upper portion of this dining-hall is divided into rooms for the female help. These rooms are large and pleasant, and provision has been made for recreation, a very essential feature where the attendants are necessarily isolated from ordinary pleasures. The new administration building is almost finished. The final touches, painting, installation of the plumbing and similar work, are under way. The connecting conduit carrying steam has been dug and the pipes are laid, so that as soon as the work of construction is finished the building can be occupied. The steam for heating the Home is generated in the powerhouse under the hill, and much of the heat is lost by reason of the exposure of pipes. A new conduit is to be dug and the pipes properly protected, which will prove an economy. pipes in the basements of the cottages are exposed and should be covered to save the heat that is now wasted. The Although this Home is not crowded at the present time, it is advisable to complete the plan which has received the sanction of the Legislature, and provide the additional building, thus giving to the Home a capacity which will suffice for the special cases which are eligible for admission. It may well bear consideration whether these rules should not be altered so as to provide for the admission of needy veterans unaccompanied by their wives. This would to some extent relieve the present pressure upon the Soldiers' Home at Bath, and would give a suitable shelter for dependent veterans who are now excluded from the Soldiers' Homes because they are crowded. The completion of the new barns and other outbuildings has been accomplished during the year, and the product of the farm and garden provided for. It is recommended that the additional building which will complete the group be arranged for in the appropriations, and that the present laundry be extended so as to facilitate the work. APPROPRIATIONS. The special appropriations amounted to $52,238.18 and the total appropriations to $76,338.18. Chapters 644 and 645, Laws of 1901 (appropriation and supply bills), appropriated for maintenance, furnishing and repairs $26,800. (Maintenance, $24,100; furnishing, $2,000; repairs, $700.) Chapter 307, Laws of 1901, appropriated for the further enlargement and equipment of this Home: For dining-room building and corridor to Cottage C, $19,000; for flooring and steel beams for coal shed, $505; for engine-room floor, $135; for brick conduit for steam pipes, $4,500; for placing pipes in conduit, $700; for sheds, piggery, cornerib and henhouse, $1,878; for developing water supply, $10,000; for wire fencing and gates, $300; for work horses (team of) $200; for furnishing, $2,000; for seeding and grading, $2,000; on account of Cottage A, $220.18; for administration building (complete), $7,500. RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. The average population for the year was 100, and the average weekly cost of support, including the value of home and farm products consumed, $3.93; excluding these, $3.68. The receipts for the year ending September 30, 1901, were: Cash on hand at the beginning of the year, $306.16; special appropriations, $51,777.11; general appropriations, $19,500; total, $71,583.27. The ordinary expenditures were: Salaries of officers, $1,500; wages and labor, $5,838.76; provisions, $4,615.98; clothing, $623.04; fuel and light, $2,510.73; hospital and medical supplies, $579.05; household stores, $590.32; ordinary repairs, $98.41; expenses of managers, $673.57; shop, farm and garden supplies, $1,394.59, and for all other ordinary expenses, $741.60; total, $19,166.05. Th extraordinary expenditures are reported as $51,838.49 for buildings and improvements, making the total ordinary and extraordinary expenditures for the year $71,004.54, and leaving $578.73 as balance in cash at the close of the fiscal year. There is, however, an outstanding indebtedness of $40 for bills unpaid. An interview between the chairman of your committee and a representative of the institution on the subject of the request for this year's appropriation disclosed the fact that the sum had been reduced to the lowest reasonable amount in view of the general desire for reductions in similar proposed appropri ations. The State Board of Charities recommends the following appropriations, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for this institution: For the erection of Cottage D and corridor, $30,000; for erection of a residence for the farmer, $1,650; to pay W. P. Buckley for foundation stone furnished for laundry building, $40; for flagging and grading, $500; for engine and dynamo connections, $1,750; for steam radiators and making all connections in corridors, $150; for farming utensils and necessary supplies, $550; for erecting veranda, $50; for changes in lavatories, $150; for changes in icehouse and cold storage rooms, $300; for 1 hood for kitchen range, $50; for covering for steam pipes, $1,400; for extension of laundry building, $1,000; for boiler and connec tions, $3,500; for piping and pipe covering in conduit from powerhouse to the buildings, $4,000; for improving the efficiency of the steam plant, $250; for small wagon, horses and sleigh belonging to Major Treadwell's family, but used by this Home since November, 1898, $325; making the special appropriations approved of $45,665; maintenance appropriation, $25,000; making the total appropriation, $70,665. Respectfully submitted. S. W. ROSENDALE, Chairman. |