State Reform School, 1898 Report

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 +
Third biennial report to the Board of Trustees of the Montana State Reform School for the two years ending December 1, 1898.
  
 +
For the two years last past, steady progress has been made by all of the
 +
inmates of the institution, and a large amount of work has been done in
 +
improving the buildings and grounds.
  
−
B. C White, Director
+
==Staff==
−
Mrs B. C. White, Matron
+
*[[B. C White]], Director
−
William Hyde, Supt. Boys Bldg
+
*[[Mrs B. C. White]], Matron
−
E. W. Cook, Overseer & Guard
+
*[[William Hyde]], Supt. Boys Bldg
−
W. H. Batchelor, Overeseer & Guard
+
*[[E. W. Cook]], Overseer & Guard
−
Joseph Smith, Teacher
+
*W. H. Batchelor, Overeseer & Guard
−
Mrs Fannie Dinsomre, Teacher
+
*Joseph Smith, Teacher
−
Mrs Kate Harlan, Seamstress
+
*Mrs Fannie Dinsomre, Teacher
−
Mrs Anna Stamgreene, Cook
+
*Mrs Kate Harlan, Seamstress
−
Fred Christopher, Cook Boys Bldg
+
*Mrs Anna Stamgreene, Cook
−
John Biggs, Engineer
+
*Fred Christopher, Cook Boys Bldg
−
Mrs Eva Humphrey, Laundress
+
*John Biggs, Engineer
−
A. H. Humphrey, Night watchman
+
*Mrs Eva Humphrey, Laundress
 +
*A. H. Humphrey, Night watchman
  
 
B. C. White sent two home-made sugar beet extractions, a syrup of 44% sugar, and a lump of brown sugar of 56% sugar, to the Montana Experiment Station.
 
B. C. White sent two home-made sugar beet extractions, a syrup of 44% sugar, and a lump of brown sugar of 56% sugar, to the Montana Experiment Station.
 +
 +
==School==
 +
Prom September 10 until May 20, all of the inmates are in school four
 +
hours a day, under competent instructors. Some that are committed to the
 +
institution are mentally deficient, but the majority of the boys and girls are
 +
of average mental capacity and a few are very bright. The studies com-
 +
•prise the common school course, viz., reading, writing, artithmetic, spelling,
 +
language, geography, history and physiology. Monthly examinations are
 +
held, and a pupil to pass has to make an average of 75 per cent.
 +
 +
==Trades training==
 +
The state as yet has made no provision for teaching the industrial trades.
 +
The inmates are employed in the various duties incident to the management
 +
of the farm and caring for the buildings and grounds and the domestic labor
 +
of the school. A majority of the boys during the spring and summer are
 +
kept employed, planting, hoeing and caring for the crops; also handling
 +
and caring for the live stock. The laundry furnishes practical work for
 +
some of the older boys, and quite a force of boys is kept busy in the boys'
 +
building, and in the kitchen the boys learn the practical part of baking and
 +
preparing food, which, however, at present can only be taught to a limited
 +
number.
 +
The girls are employed in the kitchen in the girls' building, sewing room
 +
and in the general duties of hall and dormatory work, and caring for
 +
the building generally. All of the work carried on at the institution is of a
 +
practical nature. They prepare meals, make their own clothes, do all the
 +
darning and mending; also make all of the coats, pants and vests for the
 +
boys' department. All of the work, study and training is planned for the
 +
improvement of the inmates, and to teach the practical side of life.
 +
During the summer military drill is carried on and is also continued
 +
during the winter, when the weather is suitable for outdoor exercise. The
 +
military drill i^ highly beneficial, in training the mind to attention, a
 +
better carriage of the body and maintaining discipline. The drill could be
 +
made more efficient and attractive if we had "Quaker guns" for the two
 +
companies. At the present time, however, we are organizing a drum corps.
 +
and are beginning on the rudiments of music. By spring it is expected that
 +
we shall have a fair military band, which will add to the attractiveness of
 +
the drill.
 +
3S REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
IMPROVEMENTS.
 +
The sewer provided under the act of the legislature of 1896, with an appropriation
 +
of $2,500, has been completed, but not within the appropriation,
 +
an 1 does the work for which it was designed in a highly satisfactory manner,
 +
and will have sufficient capacity to carry off all the sewage of the school
 +
for ffty years hence. The full length to where it enters the slough near the
 +
Yellowstone river is 0,320 feet. It is laid of 8-inch vitrified pipe, with oakum
 +
gaskets and Portland cement around every joint. The contract for excavating
 +
3,320 feet at an average depth of ten feet was let for 12 1-2 cents
 +
per lineal foot, and the balance of the excavating for a distance of 3,000 feet
 +
was done by the boys, to an average depth of four feet, and the boys did all
 +
of the filling in.
 +
An excavation 12 feet deep and 25 feet in diameter has been made back
 +
of the boiler house and an 108 barrel tank set therein; connection made
 +
with the artesian well and also with the steam pump. Stand pipes two
 +
inches in diameter, fitted with fire plugs and hose, have been put in the
 +
girls' building, giving us quite an efficient fire protection, which was greatly
 +
needed. Tn utilizing the water of the artesian well, it gives to the school a
 +
supply of pure, soft water for all domestic purposes, and avoids the large
 +
accumulation of lime and scale in the boiler and hot water pipes that we
 +
had to contend with while using the strong alkali water from the seepage
 +
well in the boiler house.
 +
Electric lights have been installed in the boys' building, thereby doing
 +
away with the lamps, which were dangerous and a source of constant annoyance.
 +
Window guards have also been put on the building, the floors and
 +
wainscoting painted, transoms put in, the plastering repaired, and about
 +
eighteen inches of sand filled in the cellar. A large sink, with connections
 +
made with the sewer, has been put in the kitchen.
 +
A new closet has been built for the boys, thereby doing away with the
 +
use of a joint closet for both sexes. Over 500 feet of board walks have been
 +
built, hundreds of loads of sand have been hauled in around the buildings,
 +
to bring the lawns to grade; a large lawn has been graded and set out to
 +
trees in front of the boys' building, and a new play ground made. Over
 +
five hundred shade trees have been set out and nearly all of them are in
 +
a thrifty condition. A tile drain has been laid around both buildings in an
 +
effort to keep the water out of the cellars, but it has proven ineffectual, as it
 +
was not put deep enough. To keep the water down a steam pump has to be
 +
used for about six months of the year. Competent engineers recommend
 +
filling in the cellars above the water line. This flood of water undoubtedly
 +
comes from irrigation.
 +
A large and commodious root cellar, 30 by 70 feet, has been built.
 +
Excavation was made four feet below the surface of the ground and a solid
 +
wall of masonry, six and a half feet high and two feet thick, was laid, for
 +
sides and end. A roof of large pine poles was put on, the cracks well chinked
 +
and the whole covered with two feet of dirt. The work on this large structure
 +
was all done by the boys, and the only expense that the state had to
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. .iJ
 +
meet was for material and overseer. This building furnishes the institution
 +
with a necessary and valuable addition to the plant and supplies a needed
 +
want for the storage of vegetables
 +
The floor has been laid in the laundry, a large tank put in to heat water
 +
for washing and bathing purposes, all of the vats have been connected with
 +
the sewer, and a portion of the laundry has been partitioned off for a
 +
paint shop.
 +
A bath room has been put in for the use of the girls in the girl's building,
 +
and an ample supply of water is secured by connection with the large tank
 +
in the laundry. This arrangement is greatly appreciated by all, as it does
 +
away with very primitive methods of bathing and gives us a nicely equipped
 +
bath room. It is hoped that means can be procured to also put in inside
 +
water closets for the girls' building.
 +
NEEDS.
 +
The girls' building needs a heating plant that will heat. My predecessor
 +
called attention to the heating plant now used, and recommended that it be
 +
discarded and steam heat be installed. I very earnestly renew the recommendation.
 +
The hot air system now in use is dangerous, dirty and nearly worthless
 +
in cold weather. The building is made unhealthy by the clouds of
 +
sulphurous smoke and coal gas that pour into the rooms through the hot air
 +
pipes. The furnaces consume a vast amount of coal with no adequate return
 +
in heat. In cold weather, with the furnaces running to their full capacity,
 +
with pipes red hot and pitch oozing out of the floor joist, it requires constant
 +
and vigilant attention both night and day to prevent a fire, and the
 +
system now in use menaces the lives of every occupant of the building. It
 +
should be abandoned without delay and a steam heating plant installed.
 +
Regardless of the fact that a new heating plant should be installed, another
 +
boiler should be purchased as a measure of safety. Should anything go
 +
wrong with the present boiler or its equipment, we have no means of heating
 +
the boys' building or running the pumps.
 +
A gymnasium, could be used to most excellent advantage at the institution.
 +
as we have no means of recreation or exercise for either the boys or girls
 +
during cold weather, except those that have details to carry on the ordinary
 +
work of the institution. We are by degrees accumulating a library and
 +
now possess seventy-two volumes. It is not necessary to impress upon the
 +
minds of the board the necessity of a better library and a reading room.
 +
We need more good books and papers. This fact is so obvious- that further
 +
comment is unnecessary. I especially recommend that some action be taken
 +
towards limiting the age of those committed to the school, or an equipment
 +
furnished adequate to the demands of the institution for treating the overaged
 +
young women and men sent here. This institution is neither a foundling
 +
asylum for infants or a reformatory for treating adult felons. The
 +
equipment and design of the institution is a training school for juvenile
 +
delinquents. The practice of sending renegade boys here that are over
 +
eighteen years of age, but whose ages are given in the commitment as sixteen
 +
40 REPORT OF EOARD OP
 +
or seventeen, is pernicious in the highest degree. Youth that have been
 +
released or escaped from eastern institutions drift into the state and are
 +
in time sent here. At the present time we have four boys here that have
 +
been in eastern institutions, and one of them was committed as 17 when
 +
as a fact he states that he is twenty-two, and I have every reason to think
 +
he states his age correctly. Another class of youths come west to be dime
 +
novel cowboys and all-round bad men. As soon as it becomes apparent tnar
 +
hard work on the range and^expert horsemanship are the essentials for a
 +
successful career in the saddle, these youths drift into the towns and cities
 +
and in time are sent to the reform school as vagrants, petty thieves and
 +
burglars. The pernicious and corrupting influence that these youths have
 +
on the younger boys of the institution is vicious beyond the power of words
 +
to express. If the law is not amended limiting the age to 16 for both
 +
sexes, I recommend that an isolation department be provided, where these
 +
young men can be treated. It is not so bad in the girls' department, but we
 +
get a great many young women that are over eighteen, and the influence
 +
of these is, as a rule, bad.
 +
I tbink that at least forty acres of the farm should be fenced with an
 +
enclosure of sufficient height to prevent escapes. The work of the institution
 +
could be carried forward with better results, an officer could give
 +
better attention to the work in hand, "and it would in a measure prevent the
 +
constant efforts to get away.
 +
The institution needs more land, if we are to raise all of the hay that is
 +
required for the stock now on the premises. We have the necessary labor
 +
and teams, and if the state will furnish the land we can raise all of our hay.
 +
I recommend that the 20 acres adjoining the farm on the south be purchased.
 +
I also recommend that the name of the institution be changed from the
 +
Montana State Reform School to the Montana State Industrial School. The
 +
notion always prevails, and undoubtedly is to some extent just, that a boy
 +
or girl that has been in a reform school is to some extent a criminal, or
 +
very bad, and has needed vigorous treatment. This is probably true, but
 +
when an inmate is paroled it is something of a stigma upon him that he has
 +
been in a "reform school," whereas if the name "Industrial School" were sub- ,
 +
stituted, I am of the opinion that it would be for the better welfare of the
 +
boys and girls sent here.
 +
The health of the institution has been exceptionally good. We have had
 +
no epidemics of any kind, and no serious accidents, greater than an injured
 +
thumb and a few sprains. There has been but one case of serious sickness in
 +
the past two years, and with regular habits, a reasonable amount of exercise
 +
and good food the inmates are very healthy and strong.
 +
Sunday-school and religious services are held every Sunday in the chapel.
 +
The Sunday-school is conducted by the employes, and the afternoon service
 +
is conducted by one of the ministers of Miles City. Rev. Charles Quinney,
 +
rector of the Episcopal church, officiates on the first Sunday of the month.
 +
Rev. Henry James, of the Methodist Church, the second Sunday; che Christian
 +
Endeavor has the third Sunday; the fourth Sunday Rev. Edward McSTATE
 +
PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 41
 +
Cullough Calvin, of the Presbyterian Church, and upon a fifth Sunday occurring
 +
in a month, the Woman's Chrustian Temperance Union conducts a
 +
service. Rev. Father VanDenbrock, of the Catholic Church, conducted services
 +
at the institution until poor health compelled him to relinquish the
 +
appointment.
 +
We have also been favored with services by Dr. Reed, president of the
 +
Bozeman College; Rev. Dr. Gwynn, of Great Falls; Rev. Bennett, presiding
 +
elder of the Bozeman district, and Dr. Martin, of the Presbyterian College at
 +
Deer Dodge.
 +
Mrs. Mabel Conklin, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Maj. Hilton, of San Francisco,
 +
temperance speakers, have delivered addresses at the school.
 +
Donations—Gov. Smith sent us a box of books, papers and magazines; the
 +
Miles City Club a large number of magazines and illustrated papers Mr. C. R.
 +
Middleton, magazines; Mrs. Jepp Ryan, books, papers and magazines; the
 +
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, papers; Mr. Edmund Butler, ninetyseven
 +
volumes of "War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union and
 +
Confederate Armies."
 +
Cash contributions have been made by the following gentlemen to purchase
 +
instruments for a band: W. B. Jordan, $10; W. H. Bullard, $10; D. W
 +
Stacy, $5; H. R. Phillips, $5; Dr. W. L. Andrus, $5; W. E. Savage, $5; Chas. J.
 +
Smith, $2; Samuel Gordon, $5; King Bros., $2.50; H. W. Mclntyre, $5; B. K_
 +
Holt Meat Co., $5; Miles City Lumber Co., $5; F. Orschel, $5; Albert Kircher,
 +
$2; Judge C. H. Loud, $5; A. Farnum, $5; Truscott & Harmon, $5.
 +
In conclusion, I wish to state that it is a source of very great gratification
 +
to the Matron and Director to note the many evidences of interest and cooperation
 +
in the work of the institution, shown by the Board of Trustees.
 +
At all times the members of your board have shown an interest and disposition
 +
to aid the management in carrying forward the work, and have heartily
 +
co-operated in all plans for the advancement of the welfare of the inmates.
 +
I wish also to call the attention of the board to the earnest work done
 +
by the ministers of the town in their work at the institution, and I wish to
 +
acknowledge the fact that they have greatly aided in stimulating and
 +
building up a good moral tone and sentiment among the inmates, and the
 +
Sunday service is a source of great profit and enjoyment.
 +
We have every reason to be grateful for the success that has attended
 +
our efforts in the management of the institution, and the absence of all
 +
serious calamity.
 +
BURTON C. WHITE.
 +
Director.
 +
 +
42 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
 +
1897. 1898.
 +
Dry goods $1,730.59 $1,180.63
 +
Groceries 3,284.55 3,227.85
 +
Meats 849.60 733.55
 +
Salaries 7,884.88 7,360.15
 +
Trustees 195.00
 +
Fuel 2,026.68 1,478.38
 +
Lights 959.80 685.50
 +
Hardware 552.70 792.99
 +
Feed 269.93 609.29
 +
Furniture 73.30 140.75
 +
Physician 1,033.00 107.00
 +
Medicine 189.80
 +
Building and improvements 907.81
 +
Blacksmithing 121.75
 +
Irrigation 375.00
 +
Insurance 1,110.00
 +
Sundries 325.82
 +
$19,541.27
 +
Appropriation 16,222.00
 +
16,875.00
 +
348.64
 +
736.72
 +
90.90
 +
290.50
 +
$20,118.79
 +
Deficit $3,898.79 $2,666.27
 +
Tbo following appropriations will be necessary to carry forward the work
 +
of tho school for the next two years:
 +
T.
 +
An appropriation of $20,000 for general maintenance for 1899 and $21,000
 +
for the year 1900.
 +
II.
 +
An appropriation of $2,500 to install a steam heating plant in the girls'
 +
building.
 +
III.
 +
An appropriation of $1,000 to purchase machinery and material for the
 +
manufacture and repair of boots and shoes.
 +
IV.
 +
An appropriation of $250 for a gymnasium.
 +
V.
 +
An appropriation of $1,000 to purchase 20 acres of land adjoining the
 +
school farm on the south.
 +
VI.
 +
An appropriation of $800 to build a high wire fence around 40 acres of the
 +
farm.
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 4.,
 +
TABLE NO. 1.
 +
Boys.
 +
Showing number received since opening school 124
 +
Number in school Dec, 1, 1897 49
 +
Number in school Dec. 1, 1898 62
 +
Received during year 1897 , 19
 +
Received during year 1898 25
 +
Total number cared for during year 1898 74
 +
Total number cared for during year 1897 71
 +
Number paroled in 1897 19
 +
Number paroled in 1898 12
 +
Number escaped in 1897 2
 +
Number escaped in 1898 1
 +
Number pardoned in 1897 1
 +
Girls. Total.
 +
25 149
 +
12 61
 +
12 74
 +
5 21
 +
3 28
 +
15 89
 +
15 86
 +
3 22
 +
4 16
 +
2
 +
1
 +
1 2
 +
TABLE NO. 2.
 +
Showing age when committed, as stated in commitment form, Dec. 1, 1896,
 +
to Dec. 1, 1898.
 +
Boys. Girls.
 +
Eight years old 1
 +
Nine years old , 2
 +
Ten years old 2
 +
Eleven years old 5
 +
Twelve years old '
 +
.
 +
.
 +
3
 +
Thirteen years old 5
 +
Fourteen years old 7
 +
Fifteen years old 5
 +
Sixteen years old 7
 +
Seventeen years old 7
 +
Unknown 2
 +
Total . , 46 7
 +
In the above list there are two boys and one girl that are over 18. The age
 +
is given as 17 in the commitment.
 +
44 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
TABLE NO. 3.
 +
Whole number received, and counties from which they have been committed.
 +
since opening of institution to Dec. 1, 1898.
 +
Boys. Girls.
 +
Beaverhead 3
 +
Broadwater
 +
Carbon
 +
Cascade 15 3
 +
Choteau 5
 +
Custer 11 3
 +
Dawson
 +
Deer Lodge 11 4
 +
Fergus 3 3
 +
Flathead , 2
 +
Gallatin 10 1
 +
Granite 4
 +
Jefferson 3
 +
Lewis and Clarke 19 • 1
 +
Madison ' 1 1
 +
Meagher , 2
 +
Missoula 7 2
 +
Park 7
 +
Ravalli 1 1
 +
Sil v er Bow 13 5
 +
Sweet Grass : 1
 +
Teton 2
 +
Valley
 +
Yellowstone 4 1
 +
Total 124 25
 +
TABLE NO. 4.
 +
Offence, as stated in commitment, of those received during past two years..
 +
from Dec. 1, 1896, to Dec. 1, 1898.'
 +
Boys. Girls.
 +
Incorrigibility 25 4
 +
Incorrigibility and mendicancy 2
 +
Incorrigibility and vagrancy 3
 +
Forgery 1
 +
Burglary, 1st degree 4
 +
Burglary, 2d degree 3
 +
Grand larceny 5 1
 +
Felii larceny 3
 +
Assault, 3d degree 1
 +
Receiving stolen property 1
 +
Total 46 7
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 4.,
 +
TABLE NO. 5.
 +
Showing scholarship of inmate when received.
 +
—Reading
 +
—
 +
Boys.
 +
Could not read or write 8
 +
Read in First Reader 10
 +
Read in Second Reader 5
 +
Read in Third Reader 15
 +
Raad in Fourth Reader 15
 +
Read in Fifth Reader 4
 +
Read in Sixth Reader 4
 +
Total 61
 +
—Attainments in Arithmetic
 +
—
 +
Boys.
 +
Never had arithmetic ' 18
 +
Knew numbers 3
 +
Far as Addition 9
 +
Far as Subtraction 5
 +
Far as Multiplication 7
 +
Far as Short Division 2
 +
Far as Long Division 5
 +
Far as Fractions 7
 +
Far as Decimals 2
 +
Far as Percentage 3
 +
Total 61
 +
—Attainments in Writing
 +
—
 +
Boys.
 +
Could not write 17
 +
Write name only
 +
Write legibly 9
 +
Write well 35
 +
Total 61
 +
—Relating to Parents of Inmates
 +
—
 +
Boys.
 +
Father intemperate 32
 +
Both father and mother intemperate 5
 +
Unknown 12
 +
Temperate ' 18
 +
Total 61
 +
Girls.
 +
V
 +
1
 +
3
 +
1
 +
3
 +
12
 +
Girls.
 +
2
 +
Girls.
 +
2
 +
2
 +
12
 +
Girls.
 +
7
 +
3
 +
1
 +
1
 +
12
 +
46 REPORT OF EOARD OP
 +
TABLE NO. 6.
 +
Birth Place of Present Inmates.
 +
Boys. Girls.
 +
New York 1
 +
New Jersey 2
 +
Pennsylvania 2
 +
Ohio 4
 +
West Virginia 1
 +
Michigan 3
 +
Illinois 1
 +
Wisconsin 1
 +
Minnesota 3
 +
Kentucky 1
 +
Missouri 2
 +
Texas 1
 +
North Dakota 4
 +
South Dakota 2
 +
Montana ".
 +
.
 +
15
 +
Nebraska 3
 +
Wyoming 1
 +
Kansas 1
 +
Colorado 3
 +
Utah 1
 +
Nevada 1
 +
California 1
 +
Washington 1
 +
Canada
 +
England 1
 +
Treland 2
 +
Germany
 +
Russia 1
 +
Unknown . 3
 +
Total 62 12
 +
TABLE NO. 7.
 +
Showing Pecuniary Circumstances in Ancestry.
 +
Boys.
 +
No accumulations 48
 +
Forehanded 12
 +
Unknown 1
 +
Total 61
 +
Girls.
 +
10
 +
2
 +
12
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 47
 +
TABLE NO. 8.
 +
Showing Religious Training.
 +
Boys. Girls.
 +
None 15
 +
Attended church and Sunday-school occasionally 41 7
 +
Regular attendance at church and Sunday-school 5 5
 +
Total 61 12
 +
TABLE NO. 9.
 +
Showing Religious Faith of Parents.
 +
Boys. Girls.
 +
Protestant 29 8
 +
Roman Catholic 22 3
 +
Hebrew 1
 +
None , 3
 +
Unknown 7 1
 +
Total 62 12
 +
TABLE NO. 10.
 +
Showing Home Life and Conditions.
 +
Boys. Girls-
 +
Both parents dead 8 1
 +
Father dead—step-father 9 2
 +
Mother dead—step-mother 2 1
 +
Both parents living, separated and father remarried 1
 +
Both parents living, separated and mother remarried 7 1
 +
Both parents living together 18 3
 +
Mother dead, father unmarried 11
 +
Parents separated 4 1
 +
Eoth parents in penitentiary 2
 +
Father unknown, step-father and mother in penitentiary 1
 +
Knows nothing about parents 1 1
 +
Total \ 62 12
 +
48 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
TABLE NO. 11.
 +
Showing those Received at Institution from Following Named Counties for
 +
Year Ending Dec. 1, 1898.
 +
1897. Boys. Girls
 +
December—Silver Bow 1
 +
1898.
 +
January—Silver Bow 2
 +
January—Missoula
 +
February—Silver Bow 1
 +
February—Park 1
 +
March—Lewis and Clarke 1
 +
March—Custer 2
 +
March—Silver Bow 1
 +
April—Gallatin 2
 +
April—Lewis and Clarke 1
 +
May—Deer Lodge 1
 +
May—Gallatin 1
 +
June—Lewis and Clarke 1
 +
July—Park 1
 +
July—Silver Bow 1
 +
August—Park 1
 +
September—Custer 1
 +
September—Teton 1
 +
October—Gallatin 1
 +
October—Custer 1
 +
October—Deer Lodge 1
 +
October—Lewis and Clarke 1
 +
October—Flathead 1
 +
November—Yellowstone 1
 +
Total 25 3
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 49
 +
TABLE NO. 12.
 +
Showing Those Received at Institution from Following Named Counties, for
 +
Year Ending Dec. 1, 1897.
 +
1896. Boys. Girls.
 +
December—Silver Bow 1 2
 +
December—Meagher 1
 +
1897.
 +
February—Silver Bow 1
 +
March—Silver Bow 2
 +
March—Cascade 2
 +
March—Custer 1
 +
March—Missoula 1
 +
April—Deer Lodge 1
 +
April—Missoula 1
 +
May—Lewis and Clarke 1
 +
May—Silver Bow 1
 +
May-—Yellowstone 1
 +
June—Cascade 1
 +
July—Cascade 1
 +
July—Lewis and Clarke 1
 +
September—Ravalli 1
 +
September—Gallatin 1
 +
October—Gallatin 1
 +
October—Sweet Grass 1
 +
November—Lewis and Clarke 1
 +
. Total 19
 +
50 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
TABLE NO. 13.
 +
Showing Number of New Garments Made in Sewing Room from Sept. 4, 1897,
 +
to Dec. 1, 1898.
 +
Coats 87
 +
Pants .. ... 108
 +
Vests 57
 +
Boys' shirts 181
 +
• Night shirts 95
 +
Dresses : 37
 +
Nightdresses 29
 +
Aprons 106
 +
Mittens 76
 +
Kitchen aprons 30
 +
Petticoats 25
 +
Shirt sleeves 18
 +
Pillow cases ...:...... 99
 +
Sheets 18
 +
Towels .. ... 69
 +
Apron sleeves 28
 +
Waists 6
 +
Drawers 3
 +
Dress skirts 5
 +
Sun bonnets . . 1
 +
Total ......1,077
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 51
 +
TABLE NO. 14.
 +
Showing Number of Garments Repaired in Sewing Room from Sept. 4, 1897,
 +
to Dec. 1, 1898.
 +
Coats 181
 +
Pants 593
 +
Vests 117
 +
Overalls 124
 +
Shirts , 1,340
 +
Night shirts 715
 +
Under shirts 506
 +
Socks ...., 3,880
 +
Drawers 587
 +
Dresses ... 63
 +
Night dresses 22
 +
Dress skirts 10
 +
Aprons .
 +
.
 +
124
 +
Kitchen aprons 31
 +
' Sheets 147
 +
Pillow cases . . 69
 +
Table cloths 14
 +
Mittens 7
 +
Hose '. 102
 +
Petticoats .:.- 77
 +
Dress waists 13
 +
Towels 32
 +
Hats 13
 +
Sleeves 2
 +
Wash clothes 4
 +
Sweaters 2
 +
Miscellaneous 32 v
 +
Total 8,808
 +
52 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
TABLE NO. 15.
 +
Showing Amount of Work Done in Laundry from Aug. 23, 1897, to Nov. 27,
 +
1898.
 +
—Clothes Washed
 +
—
 +
Sheets 5,045
 +
Pillow slips 7,995
 +
Aprons 2,400
 +
Socks 7,550
 +
Shirts 3,488
 +
Towels 4,587
 +
Night dresses 719
 +
Under shirts 925
 +
Boys' underwear 1,110
 +
Napkins 4,550
 +
Table cloths 585
 +
Night shirts 3,861
 +
Gollars 238
 +
Spreads 210
 +
Dresses 260
 +
Waists 130
 +
W. Skirts 580
 +
Doileys 130
 +
Sun bonnets 195
 +
Table covers 65
 +
Total 45,869
 +
—Clothes Ironed
 +
Sheets 980
 +
Pillow slips 7,995
 +
Aprons 1,530
 +
Napkins 4,545
 +
Table cloths 585
 +
Collars 238
 +
Dresses 260
 +
Waists 130
 +
Doylies 130
 +
Towels 3,640
 +
White skirts ; . .
 +
.
 +
580
 +
Under skirts 925
 +
Table covers 65
 +
Sun bonnets 195
 +
Total 21,893
 +
i
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 53
 +
TABLE NO. 16.
 +
Showing Products of Farm, Garden and Stock for Year Ending Dec. 1, 1897,
 +
Potatoes, pounds 44,400
 +
Stock beets, pounds 82,000
 +
Table beets, pounds 5,000
 +
Onions, pounds 3,000
 +
Carrots, pounds 4,000
 +
Parsnips, pounds 800
 +
Navy beans, pounds 1,700
 +
Pork, pounds 4,000
 +
Summer squash 1,000
 +
Hubbard squash 320
 +
String beans, bushels 30
 +
Cucumbers, bushels 15
 +
Water melons 1,050
 +
Musk melons 384
 +
Garden lemons, bushels 15
 +
Green corn, dozen ears 150
 +
Young onions, dozen 200
 +
Apples, bushels 4
 +
Plums, bushels 4
 +
Alfalfa and millet hay, tons 32
 +
Oat hay, tons 6
 +
Corn fodder, tons 20
 +
Milk, quarts 7,300
 +
Tomatoes, bushels 15
 +
Pumpkins, wagon loads 18
 +
Currants, bushels 8
 +
Gooseberries, bushels 10
 +
Cabbage, heads 1,500
 +
Raspberries, quarts 40
 +
Pie plant, pounds 300
 +
Pickels, barrel 1
 +
Canned currants, quarts 760
 +
Pickled beans, quarts 320
 +
Pickled apples, quarts 48
 +
Pickled wild plums, quarts 40
 +
Catsup, quarts . 160
 +
Chow chow, quarts 120
 +
Jelly, glasses 200
 +
Dried pumpkin, pounds 50
 +
Live stock, 6 calves and 65 pigs.
 +
54 REPORT OF BOARD OF .
 +
TABLE NO. 17.
 +
Showing Products of Farm, Garden and Stock for Year 1898.
 +
Potatoes, pounds 20,000
 +
Stock beets, pounds 57,620
 +
Table beets, pounds 13,923
 +
Onions, pounds 2,400
 +
Carrots, pounds 8,613
 +
Parsnips, pounds 1,473
 +
Turnips, pounds ;
 +
. 13,655
 +
Cabbabge, heads 2,550
 +
Summer squash 1,500
 +
Hubbard squash 3,250
 +
Navy bean j, pounds 1,500
 +
String beans, bushels 12
 +
Cucumbers, dozen 115
 +
Water melons 1,250
 +
Musk melons 365
 +
Garden lemons, bushels 3
 +
Green corn, dozen ears 140
 +
Young onions, dozen 165
 +
Apples, bushels 8
 +
Plums, bushels 6
 +
Alfalfa hay, tons 33
 +
Oat hay, tons 4
 +
Corn, bushel ears 395
 +
Corn fodder, tons 7
 +
Pumpkins, wagon loads 15
 +
Radishes, dozen 20
 +
Tomatoes, bushels 40
 +
Raspberries, quarts 20
 +
Pie plant, pounds 500
 +
Milk, quarts 6,500
 +
*Pork, pounds 1,182
 +
Currants, bushels 10
 +
Gooseberries, bushels 15
 +
Currant jelly, quarts 196
 +
Crab apple pickles, quarts 64
 +
Crab apple jelly, quarts 62
 +
Catsup, quarts 144
 +
Canned gooseberries, quarts 2*6
 +
Gooseberry sauce, quarts 164
 +
Currant jelly, glasses 198
 +
Currant sauce, quarts 112
 +
Crab apple marmalade, quarts 41
 +
Canned apples, quarts 14
 +
Crab apple jelly, pints 13
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 55
 +
Crab apple sauce and pickles, quarts 64
 +
Plum preserves, quarts 72
 +
Plum jelly, quarts : . .
 +
.
 +
23
 +
Sauer kraut, barrels 3
 +
Live stock, 6 calves and 45 pigs.
 +
*The pork will amount to about 4,000 pounds, as there are 35 hogs and pigs
 +
yet to kill.
 +
The herd of tcows now on the farm should be disposed of and a more
 +
suitable breed purchased. The cows are small and not well adapted to the
 +
needs of the institution.
 +
—Sold from Farm
 +
—
 +
1897.
 +
Received for pigs $23.00
 +
Received for 4 head cattle 80.00
 +
Received for 1 horse 20.00
 +
Received from J. H. Strevell, balance on hog 4.19
 +
1898.
 +
Received for pigs, Miles City Club 20.00
 +
Received for buggy painting 12.75
 +
Received for pigs 8.50
 +
$170.44
 +
Credit.
 +
Expended from said fund for school, in paints,
 +
books, flags, postage, bats, hardware, express,
 +
etc $170.75
 +
170.44
 +
Dr. to balance 31
 +
The above account has been examined and approved.
 +
J. W. STREVELL, President
 +
JOHN S. TRUSCOTT.
 +
JAMES B. HAWKINS.
 +
 +
56 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
Physician's Biennial Report of Health Department of
 +
the Montana State Reform School, Ending
 +
Dec. 1, 1898.
 +
During the last two years it is a remarkable fact that there has been no
 +
cases of illness or injury, other than trivial diseases of youth and childhood,
 +
and no fatalities to record during that period.
 +
This pleasing state of affairs is due, in a great measure (in my opinion)
 +
to two facts—namely, the perfecting and operating of a sewerage system to
 +
the Yellowstone river, and the efficient manner in which the sanitary condition
 +
of the school and belongings have been superintended.
 +
I would suggest, as a matter of vital importance, relative to perfect sanitation,
 +
that the present heating plant in vogue in the building occupied by
 +
the female inmates be abolished, and be replaced by a steam heating plant,
 +
as, in my opinion, numerous cases of throat and other troubles are due
 +
in a great measure, to the inefficiency of the present heating system. In all
 +
other respects, the health department of this institution is all that could be
 +
desired.
 +
Respectfully,
 +
W. W. ANDREWS,
 +
Physician to State Reform School.
 +
To Hon. T. S. HOGAN, Secretary of State.
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 57
 +
Trustees Report.
 +
To His Excellency, the Governor of the State of Montana.
 +
Sir:—The undersigned, the trustees of the Montana State Reform School,
 +
have the honor to transmit to you their biennial report for the years 1897
 +
and 1898, in compliance with the laws of this state.
 +
The officers and employes connected with the school are as follows:
 +
B C. White, Director of the institution; Mrs. Isadore White, wife of the
 +
Director, Matron of the institution; J. P. Duffy, engineer; Fred Christopher,
 +
cook; Clark Dickinson, teacher; Mrs. Fannie Densmore, teacher; Mrs. N. A.
 +
Castor, seamstress; Miss M. Ella Savage, laundress; Mrs. D. D. Shy, cook;
 +
Clarence Elswoeck, superintendent of boys' building; John Krause, night
 +
watchman; William Butler, overseer; N. A. Castor, overseer.
 +
The present number of inmates of the institution is 62 boys and 12 girls.
 +
The number admitted to the institution during the year 1897 was 19
 +
toys and 5 girls; and in 1898, 25 boys and 3 girls.
 +
The number dismissed during 1897 was 19 boys and 3 girls; the number
 +
paroled in 1898 was 12 boys and 4 girls.
 +
An account of the expenditures incurred and the purpose for which such
 +
expenditure was made is shown by the report of the director of the institution
 +
to this board, to which reference is respectfully made, and which shows
 +
the amount and for what purpose such expenditures were made. A recapitulation
 +
of them in the several items would make this report cumbersome
 +
to your honor and without any special purpose, further than the report of
 +
the Director shows.
 +
The gross amount of expenditures for 1897 was $20,118.79, and the gross
 +
amount for 1898 was $19,541.27.
 +
In relation to the advancement made by the inmates of the institution, we
 +
can say with absolute confidence that the institution in its workings has fully
 +
met the expectation of its most sanguine friends. All of the work of the
 +
institution since the first of April, 1897, has been under the immediate direction
 +
of Mr. B. C. White, the Director of the institution. The discipline has
 +
been good and the advancement of many of the pupils in such industries as
 +
we are able to carry on has been, in general, good, and in many instances
 +
marvelous.
 +
It will be generaly understood that we do not get the better elements of
 +
youth in this institution, and yet with strict discipline, tempered with kind
 +
treatment, we find that very many who come here under the cognomen of
 +
incorrigible, develop into excellent characters. We find the girls more
 +
amenable to discipline than the boys.
 +
The purpose of the institution, as you well know, in its main object, is to
 +
teach the inmates and those who are confided to its charge, that it is better
 +
58 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 +
to do right than wrong, and in accomplishing this we think the institution
 +
and its management deserve the highest commendation.
 +
Your honor will remember that in 1896 and the early part of 1897 the
 +
institution suffered from a very severe epidemic of typhoid fever; all who
 +
were connected with the institution and its management could very readily
 +
trace this epidemic to a lack of sewerage. By the appropriation made for
 +
this purpose we were enabled to accomplish a proper sewerage of the
 +
institution, and since that was accomplished the health of the institution
 +
has been really marvelous. There has been but one serious case of sickness
 +
within the period covered by this report, and not an instance of death, so
 +
that without making this report unnecessarily prolix, we can state to you
 +
that the institution is at present in a most satisfactory condition.
 +
In relation to the needs of the institution for the coming two years, the
 +
Director has very carefully gone over such necessities and fully states them
 +
in his report, which we believe to be as nearly correct as possible.
 +
The girls' building is in very great need of a new heating plant. This
 +
building is heated by the old hot air system, which, however successful it* may
 +
be in other localities, is not by any means a success with us in this institution.
 +
It creates a vast amount of dust and gas, which renders the building
 +
exceedingly unpleasant. The necessary appropriation for this item our Director
 +
estimates to be $2,500, which we believe to be sufficient to accomplish
 +
a good system of steam heating.
 +
We endorse the Director's request for a gymnasium. This could be
 +
accomplished by an expenditure of probably $250.
 +
During the entire existence of the institution we have been controlling
 +
the inmates without any fencing or any special means to prevent escape.
 +
The Director is of the opinion that the fencing of 40 acres would be a vast
 +
benefit to the institution, if it can be fenced in such manner as to prevent
 +
escape by the inmates. We most cordially endorse this recommendation, and
 +
there is no doubt, if this can be done, much better results can be attained
 +
in the institution than without it. It would very considerably lessen the
 +
number of employes, because under our present system the escape of the
 +
inmates is prevented only by persons having charge of them and keeping
 +
them under constant control and under their eye. Under this system it is
 +
inconsistent with safety to allow any number of boys to work at any distance
 +
from the person having them in charge. The fence which the Director desires
 +
would obviate in large measure this constant danger of escape. The
 +
manner of fencing proposed would be by barbed wire and posts. The cost of
 +
this item would be, as nearly as we can estimate, $600.
 +
There is adjoining the institution a tract of 20 acres of land which the
 +
institution very much needs in order to have sufficient land to raise the
 +
products necessary for the institution in providing for stock and teams for
 +
the working of the ground. This land could be purchased probably at $50
 +
per acre. We recommend an appropriation of $1,000 for this purpose. The
 +
price of the land will very soon be saved by the product which it would yield
 +
STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 5y
 +
the institution. Our Director says the amount would be reimbursed within
 +
two years.
 +
There ought to be some manufacturing connected with the institution.
 +
All that we can teach now is farming and the care and attention of stock.
 +
Desirable as this branch of instruction is, it is one of the safest and best
 +
means of reformation, yet we should have something in the line of manufac
 +
tnring for those who do not take to farming, and who would perhaps never
 +
make a success of it. We ask for $1,000 in order that we may start in a small
 +
way the manufacture of boots and shoes, making perhaps at first only such as
 +
are used by the institution. We believe this could be done with perfect success
 +
and with great benefit to the inmates of the institution. If this amount
 +
could be accorded the institution, we have no hesitation in saying that it
 +
would be of very great benefit.
 +
These are the only special items that the Board of Trustees have thought
 +
it advisable to suggest to you.
 +
An electric plant, if we could have $3,000 to establish it, would be a very
 +
great saving to the institution, as our lights now cost of nearly $1,000 a year.
 +
The amounts necessary to sustain the institution we believe to be as follows
 +
:
 +
For the year 1899, $20,000; for the year 1900, $21,000.
 +
In conclusion, the Board of Trustees desire to express their appreciation
 +
of the considerate manner in which the institution has been treated by the
 +
Governor of the State and the officers of the State Board. We have the
 +
honor to be,
 +
Your obedient servants,
 +
J. W. STREVELL.
 +
JOHN S. TRUSCOTT.
 +
JAMES B. HAWKINS.

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