The County Farm

At the severa! meetingn of the Board of Supervisors there is preseDted a report which shows the coriduct of the Üounty Toor Farm for the period intervening sinee the last meeting. Figures are presented here showing the management of the f arm in detail, the cost of keeping the producís of the farm and oí the various items of interest. 15ut these sports do not show any 01 thehome life of the inmates.or anythlng about the daily round ot lite at the pace. A visit to the farm this week showeu many things that we think wil] be of interest to our readers. Mrs. Shankland. wife of ihe keeper, sho wed us around and answered all the questions that we oould think of aBking. The buildings consist of a frame farm house, which was originally on the farm, to which has been aaaeu large ui.tiv uunmuga for the use of the poor of the county. The üeeper's lióme is in the, oíd í'arm house, and there is íiothing of special interest here, it being a good cozy farmer's home. Leaving this department, we come into the woman's department. Here the woman inmates live. There is a large pleasant sitting room on each floor, and from these rooms the halls run, opening off from which are the sleeping cooms, of which there are about thirty, with one or t wo beds in each room. The women do all their ov n vo rk and everything is in good order. The linen is white and ! clean, and all their beds are smoothty spread, and the rooms tidy and well kept. Two cozy rooms form the woman's hospital department, for which there are one or more occupams most of the time. There is a dining room cormectecl with this wing, the women eating and living entirely separate from the men. In this wing of the building on another iioor is also located the insane ward. Ilereareall the feeble minded men, in charge of one of the inmates 1'roni the other deparlment. There re 110 patients kept here when they become violent, only feeble minded and foolish ones who are barmless and easily cared for being retained; all others are sent to Pontiac. Themen'8department, in these details already mentioned.is almost a duplícate of the womans'department,except that there are more of them. there being as a rule twice as many men as women inmates. 1 lic COOKing IOr me Limiaiea ia m m one kitchen, and the diLf( dining rooms are served by dumb waiters. We were very much interested in the fooil proyided. -Ilst: :ls we got there last Daking of bread had been recently taken out of the oven and was still on the table, and also a pile of cookies tliat looked bigenougb tofeed a regiment. We found tbal il takea about thirty-three loavesof bread twice a week, and that these loaves are not a live cent baker's loaf, but a good big liberal loaf baked in a milk pan. Their food is plain, but good and wholesome, and liberal in quantity. They have meat twice a day. wiih potatoes and gravy. bread and butler, tea and coffee with some sort of vegetable, while in the summer freah vegetables as raised on the f arm are plenty. In order to vary the diet, Monday nighta they always nave rice; w eanesuay, aoup; l'liursdays, a boiled dinner; Fridavs, flsh i-'rirtay nights johnnycake; Saturdays, pork and beans. while three times a week they have some kind of cake, sugar or moiasses eookiea.orfried cakes. Bread puddings or similar dishes also vary the diet. Every Monday moniing the men are given a package of smoking tobáceo and a plug of tobáceo, and this must supply their wants for the week, unless they are workers. Il' workers, they are given a little more, as they deserve. In the matter of work, Mrs. Shankland says that there are always one or two women and a few of the men who are willing to do all they can, and by looking after them carefully and putting these men in charge of the different parts of the work. they manage to take the most of the work .upoi themselves. We looked very earelully as we went through, at the condition of Ihe rooms, halls, lloors, etc. Mrs. Shankland, like most good housewives, thought thinsjs were not quite so clean as usual, and said as tliey were hauling coal, a little was tracked in and so the iloors were not so white as common; but for the life of us, with our masculiue eyes, we could not lind the dirt. From one end of' the big establishment to the other, everything was clean and neat as wax, and most of the lloors clean enough to eat off. The inmates, too. looked as though they were compelled to take good care of their persons, as they looked as a rule, clean and tidy. Ve could see nothing to criticise in this respect about the building, and believe that the care exercised is admirable. Every third Friday in the month "Kr. Kflley'or some person sent by him, holds service ín the chapel for the Catholic inmates, and every Sunday anemoon a general service is iieiu. which is conducted by the different churches of the city in roration, one denomination taking each Sunday. NewspapTS and magazines tor read ing are in high demand. Oí Sunday school papers and religious papers, they have a suflicient supply, as a rule but some of the men do not care for these, and more current newspapers,if donat ed, would be appreciated. Many of the neighbors of the vicinity make a practice of bringinsr in newspapers as tliey drive by, so that they always have some. Superintendente of the Poor meet twice a month and audit all accounts and order them paid. The institution is not allowed to run any bilis. Outside of the house buildings, the bain and stock buildings are in good condition. and the reports from the farm of the Koard of Supervisors, seem to indícate that it is carefully and economically handled. When Mr. Shankland came to the place, three years ago last f all, almost all of the meat consumed on the farm was pork which was raised on the farm, but he has sold a portion of the pork and makes a large portion of the meat used lied', which isa great relief to the inmates. Mr. and Mrs. Shankland seem to be excellently well suited for this work. A talk with oi1 the men brought out the fact that they are very p ipular with the inmates. and tliat allfeel ihemselves well cared tor, and that the care is the kind of care of thosewho havesome interestin them beyoncl the mere í'act that they are hired to barely feed and clothe them. They seem to appreciate what Mr. and Mrs. shankland dolor thera. 'I here are at present about flfty flve inmates on the farm, thirty-eight men and seventeen womeo. Some of these people have been there twenty-six or seven years During the summer. some of the men will wander off and tramp about tlie country, taking care of oselves as best they may, but they wiil all be back in the fall, to De careu íor uunng uk vrmici. A number who have done this for years are getting quite old and feeble now, so that the oumber of tbosewho go ramping this year will be less than isual. The state of advancement to whieh a ïation has attained has been said to be clearly reflected in the care they ak'e of their poor. Tliose who are 'rom age, sickness or any other cause unable to take care of themselves and oust be cared for by the public, can „■.1 teil the tale of public charity. Judging from what we saw in our visit ,o the county farm, Washtenaw county ias no reason to dread anyjudgment on sueli a basis. We have not atteinpted to deal with the financia! details of the institution, hut tried to iiiowthe actual things done instead of mere results attained. We are assured :hat tliose in charge are glad to have ;hë public keep themselves posted as to what is being done.