The tunnel connecting to the main heating plant should be completed at an early date. I will not advance any argument for this change further than to furnish a statement of the expenses necessary to simply boil a little coffee and cook oat meal once a day for the hospital building during the month of June. It should be expressly understood that these figures apply only to the summer months; in the winter the expenses are proportionately more: Coal...... Wages for fireman Appropriations necessary for the above changes: Changing heating and ventilating of hospital WATER CLOSETS. .$48.05 25.00-$73.05 $2,500.00 900.00 The condition of the water closets in the main building is too well known to require description here. A plumbing system that will effectually prevent the escape of sewer gas is not the only requirement necessary in closets subjected to the use that these receive. Something above the regular plumbing practice is advised. The plan I have in mind may be briefly stated as a series of the hopper pattern stools placed in a row and connections made with each through the floor into a pipe that increases in area to each connection. This pipe is then carried on down, making similar connections to the closets below, increasing in size in proportion to the connections made. At the lowest floor or basement, the waste products are trapped off into the sewer through a line trap located outside the building. I would employ a small enclosed electric fan to assist the natural draft of a flue to discharge the foul air out of a roof. A system of this kind dependant upon a flue alone, has been in successful operation for over thirty years at the Hospital for Insane, Osawatomie, Kan. WATER WORKS. Each additional building to this institution has decreased our water service and places us in a very unsafe condition in case of fire. At present it would be impossible to furnish both hot and cold water to the top floor lavatories without the assistance of a small pump. A pumping station should be placed near the river, or where water may be supplied in unlimited quantities, equipped with duplicate boiler and two compound jet condensing steam pumps of 150,000 gallons capacity each. This water should be discharged into a pair of long cisterns or underground reservoirs located near the power house, and from here it should be elevated into a tower or tank as is needed, by a pair of fire pumps located in the engine room, one being kept in continual operation and in this way deriving a benefit from the exhaust steam and also having the advantage of large storage capacity where it will be kept pure and cold. Water system complete with pipes, pumps, and boilers, $18,000.00. ADDITIONS TO POWER HOUSE. We want a new and fire-proof roof for the boiler house. It should be raised about six feet, with means for ventilating in the peak. The breeching from the boilers passing within a few inches of the timbers makes it very unsafe, and I understand that it has caught fire at two different times in the history of the institution. Fire-proof roof to boiler house and completion of engine room as per former specifications. In conclusion I want to say that I am not unmindful of the courteous and kind treatment that has been shown to me in my capacity as engineer. I thank you, Col. Horton, and through you, the Board of Control, for the favors I have received. Respectfully submitted, CLAYTON A. DUNHAM, CHAPLAIN'S REPORT. SIR: I most respectfully present to you the following report, as chaplain of the Iowa Soldiers' Home. On April 1st, 1900, I commenced my work as chaplain of the Iowa Soldiers' Home. Everything was to me new and largely an experiment. In harmony with the expressed wishes of the members of the Home, we established but one regular public service for the Sabbath, which was appointed at 3:00 o'clock P. M. It was our plan to make the services as attractive and influential as possible, but there were several serious obstacles in the way. First, we had no choir and were without suitable material out of which one could be organized. Second, the chapel was far from being a comfortable place for divine worship. Its light was bad, its ventilation worse, and its location worst of all. The defects in the chapel could not be easily remedied. They were organic. The only thing we could do was to make the services so inspiring in their nature that physical obstructions should be overcome. But this was impossible without music. We at once sought the acquaintance of city pastors, their choirs and Sunday schools. Our needy and urgent condition was laid before them. Their response was cheerful and generous. The result is that our congregations at the Home have enjoyed the best music that the city of Marshalltown can furnish. No congregation in the state of Iowa has had so great a variety or more inspiring music. The singers have visited regularly the hospital, and three song services consisting of bible reading, prayer and songs have been held in as many different wards, as a rule, every Sabbath day. We have sustained a weekly prayer meeting on Thursday in the evening. The sacrament of the Lord's supper has been administered every three months. Many other services have been held by members of the Salvation Army and other enthusiastic religious people. Out of the seventy-five deaths which have occurred during the sixteen months of our stay here, forty-six have been buried in the Home cemetery, for each one of which public religious services have been held. We have written many letters to friends of the sick apprising them of the condition of their loved ones in the hospital. We have also written many letters for those who are paralyzed, blind or helpless. We have visited the sick, looked after those who are well, prayed with the dying, and endeavored to cheer on and encourage all who are trying to do right. We have done what we could to command the respect of all and to restrain those who are led captive by the drink habit. We are cheered to know that some have been converted, and quite a number have made improvement in their lives. Two things are imperatively essential for successful religious services at the Home. First, a new convenient chapel. And second, an appropriation for music, To C. C. HORTON, Commandant Iowa Soldiers' Home. JESSE COLE, Chaplain. No. 2--SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME, DAVENPORT. To the Honorable Board of Control: Under the provisions of law and by requirement of the Board I herewith submit the Eighteenth Biennial report of the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, covering the period from June 30, 1899, to July 1, 1901, and it is with feelings of pleasure and thankfulness that I call attention to the favoring conditions afforded by a kind Providence and a generous state, under which we have so agreeably passed the last two years in the Home. The following tables, though not complete, show some interesting facts in regard to the population of the Home: It will be observed that the total number present on July 1st of the present year was 439, five greater than one year ago and six less than at the beginning of the biennial period. This decrease is five less in the number of girls and one less in the number of boys. The number of county children supported in the Home was 174 on July 1, 1901, and two years before 185, showing a loss of eleven in this class. The total number of soldiers' children was 265 against 260 two years before, showing an increase of five in this class. There was an average attendance of 445* during the last year of the biennial period and 448* during the first year, showing an average decrease of three. The total enrollment for the two years was 634. There were 189 admissions, 194 dismissals and one death, leaving the number at the close of the period 439 TABLE No. 2. AGE AT TIME OF ADMISSION, (FROM THE OPENING OF THE HOME). Total.. Average age Total. |