LaPorte County, Indiana - Chapter 28: Charities and Corrections, 1904

Chapter 28: Charities and Corrections

The first jail of LaPorte county was a curios¬ ity. If to-day it were in the possession of some enterprising showman, he could make money by charging an admission fee to see it. It was twenty-two feet long by sixteen feet wide. It had a brick foundation eighteen inches thick, the bottom of which rested on hardpan beneath the surface, and the top of which extended some two feet above the surface of the ground. On this was laid the outer wall which was fifteen feet eight inches high, and made of square white oak timbers ten inches thick, well fittted together. The floor was made of logs, each of which was split in halves. The flat side was upward, on which were spiked two-inch, seasoned white oak plank. The inside wall began on the floor and was precisely like the outside wall, only eight inches from it so as to leave that space between them. This space was filled with round pealed hickory poles, eight inches in diameter, standing perpendicularly and close together, and the crev¬ ices between them were filled with coarse gravel to prevent the prisoners from sawing out. A two-inch plank partition divided the lower'story into two rooms of equal size. The second floor was made of square white oak timber, ten inches thick, laid on the tops of the inside wall, and upon this floor were spiked seasoned plank two riches thick, grooved together. The upper floor separating the second story from the attic was equally strong. The roof and gables were in keeping with the whole. There was no door leading into the first story from the outside; at least there was none when the jail was built, nor for some years thereafter. The entrance was by means of a flight of steps from the out¬ side, through a door into the upper story where there was a trap door through the floor down into each of the lower rooms or cells. The prisoners were let down through those trap doors. The doors were made of double plank, with a sheet of rolled iron between them, and nailed together most securely. They had stout, secure hinges, bands, bars and locks. Each of the lower cells had an oblong window in the cen¬ ter, two feet long, ten inches high, and three and a half feet from the floor. Each window was grated and cross grated on the inside wall with bars of flat iron, and on the outside wall with bars of round iron. The bars were riveted together where they crossed each other, and fitted, bolted and riveted into the walls in the securest man¬ ner possible. In the upper story were two win¬ dows twenty by sixteen inches, grated in the same manner. Each of the lower windows had a three-light, eight-by-ten glass sash in a frame, to slide away so that articles could be passed in or out. In the latter part of 1833 the contract for building this jail was let to Simon G. Bunce, who agreed to have it completed by November I, 1834. for the sum of $460. One would think that his jail was very secure. At that time it was regarded as a model of security, and prison¬ ers from other counties were brought here for safe-keeping. Nevertheless there were those who managed to escape even from this strong¬ hold; notably, it is said, two prisoners who cut their way through the lower floor - through twoinch oak plank spiked to halved oak logs and let themselves down under the building, where they knocked a hole through the brick underpinning, and so regained their liberty.

The first jail stood about where the lumber sheds of the LaPorte Carriage Company now are, and near a small pond which used to be there. According to the best information the writer has been able to obtain, this jail was suc¬ ceeded by another, a frame building which stood on the site of the present one, and which in the fifties was bought by the city of LaPorte, moved to the site of the present city hall, and used by the city for a jail. At any rate, the building which stood where the city hall now stands was used as the city jail, as is stated by the city records and also by many who remember it.

The present county jail was built in 1857. It was completed in September of that year, and much complaint was made at the cost. It is a simple structure of brick, with sheriff's house in front, and sell house at the rear consisting of two corridors, each with a row of cells. Of these, the east corridor is considered far the safer. But the whole structure is antiquated and unworthy of a county like this.

The Michigan City jail and police station are together, in a two-story brick building owned by the city. There is no jailer, but a sergeant of police is always in charge. On the first floor of the jail there are six cells; two steel ones in the front room, which are used for desperate char¬ acters, and four common wooden cells in the back room. On the second floor are the superintend¬ ent's office, and a parlor cell which is used for women and more high-toned violators of the law. Michigan City in former years had a work house in connection with the prison.

Though a state institution, the northern prison has a relation to LaPorte county, and to the city in which it is situated. Both county and city are made different by its presence. In 1857 northern prison was located in Mich¬ igan City, and an appropriation of $50,000 was made by the legislature to establish it. Chauncey B. Blair sold the state ninety acres of land, though only about eight acres are enclosed by the outer wall of the prison. The land outside is used for cultivation, and is worked by the convicts; and even extra land is hired for that purpose. About one hundred convicts are em¬ ployed in this way. By this means fresh vege¬ tables in the summer, the usual edible roots, etc., for the winter, and many other useful produc¬ tions are provided for the prison and for other state institutions. The contract for construct¬ ing the ceil house and some of the other build¬ ings and the outside wall, was let to D. J. Silver, and a part of the labor of construction was per¬ formed by convicts from the Southern peniten¬ tiary, which was built before. During the period of construction prison discipline was at loose ends. This was to a great degree necessarily the case, for there can be no prisoners in the proper sense unless there is a prison.

In December, 1861, a visitor relates that he was not prepared to see so much done on the premises. The outer wall surrounding the premises was very nearly completed, and one of the upright buildings was quite finished. There were between two hundred and fifty and two hundred and seventy-five prisoners there, many of whom were entirely idle. Between twenty and thirty were engaged at stone cutting in an outside temporary building, among whom was a prisoner named Lawrence who had been con¬ victed at the last term of the county court for stealing Charles Teeple's horses and wagon in LaPorte. A large number of prisoners w-ere soon to be sent to the woods and set at chopping. They had made during the year three millions of brick, and used all but about eight hundred thousand. It was hoped that enough money would be furnished the following season so that everything would be ready for commencing operations early in the spring and rushing them through to the completion of the buildings. There was need of new appropriations by the legislature, as the pittance appropriated at the last session was very nearly exhausted.

This visitor complained that the discipline of the prison at that time was very loose and worth¬ less. Prisoners were allowed by the warden to do about as they pleased. They were seen about town perambulating from early morn till late at night, apparently without any restraint. The citizens of Michigan City had signed a petition and presented it to Warden Iddings to have a stop put to all this, but thus far no attention had been paid to it. This visitor was informed that the guards had smuggled guns from the armon' belonging to the prison, and that they spent days in hunting with the convicts, and that one convict even took off his stripes and went out into Jasper county buying fat cattle for the prison.

"Truly/' exclaims this visitor, "this is a strange way to punish condemned criminals. We build a prison house at an expense of. $300,000, pay $15,000 a year for guards, $12,000 to $15,- 000 for food, in order to punish the thieves, forgers, murderers, etc., and they come up to Michigan City and have a general good time, are kept well, have all the liberty they want, and this is punishment ! Only the day we were in Mich¬ igan City one striped fellow was taken from town to the prison, drunk. We talked with the commissioners [The prison commissioners hap¬ pened to be in session at the time] plainly about this matter, and are glad to know that they will attend to it, and that they condemn the trans¬ action very severely. They should do it by all means."

This visit and these statements made by a careful observer and citizen of the county, show something of the former laxity of prison discip¬ line, and that the Northern prison has an im¬ portant relation to the county, especially in the line of morals, and that our people should be deeply interested in having the best possible ad¬ ministration of prison discipline.

In March, 1862, the board of control adver¬ tised for sealed proposals offering to build one workshop a hundred and fifty feet long, forty feet wide, and two stories high ; also a workshop one hundred and thirty- two feet long, forty feet wide, and two stories high; also buildings for offices, the contracting parties to employ all con¬ victs not otherwise engaged at 70 cents per day, and to receive in part payment the mill engine, mill fixtures and material on hand in the prison yard, at a price to be fixed by the board of con¬ trol; the first shop to be completed by the 15th

During the building of the prison the con¬ victs who took part in the work were confined in a temporary prison of brick, which was built on Trail creek, near the mouth of the inner har¬ bor. It was situated just south of the light house, and north of the sharp bend of Trail creek. After the large prison was completed, the temporary building was used by the Blairs as a packing house, then by the Michigan City Sash and Door Company, and latterly torn down.

The first warden was Colonel Seelye, then Mr. Iddings, of Fort Wayne, next Thomas Wood, who was succeeded by Hon. W. W. Hig¬ gins, of Michigan City, under whose admin¬ istration the prison first becamie self-support¬ ing; it has remained so ever since. He was suc¬ ceeded by Charles. Mayne, and then came Mr. Murdock.

Hayward & DeWolfe were the first who en¬ tered into a contract for prison labor. They were engaged in the business of cooperage. Soon after this, Elisha Murray took a contract for prison labor for the manufacture of wagons and carriages. He was succeeded by Finch & Bar¬ ker. In the year 1867 Hon. J. H. Winterbotham bought into a contract in company with Jones & Chapin, and in 1869 bought them out. The firm became J. H. Winterbotham & Sons. They worked one hundred and fifty convicts and engaged in cooperage and the manufacture of carriage and buggy bodies and sleighs. Their sales amounted to $150,000 annually. Ford & Johnson, who commenced business in 1870, were also contractors and worked a hundred and fifty convicts. They manufactured chairs and their sales amounted to $125,000 annually. Some of these firms, notably J. H. Winterbotham & Sons and Ford, Johnson & Company, continued the business, and others have since become con¬ tractors.

Improvements have been made until the prison has model manufacturing plants. The chair and cooper shops are indeed busy places. In the three chair shops there are one hundred men employed, and here are manufactured rock¬ ers, dining and kitchen chairs. The designs of the rockers especially are handsome, and indeed the other lines of chairs are up-to date in style, and substantially made. The usual grades of bar¬ rels are made in the cooper shop, where one hun¬ dred men are employed, and from 450 to 500 barrels or packages turned out per day. In the woolen mills department there are four large shops and one hundred men employed. The mills are equipped with modem machinery, and here are manufactured cloths, blankets and flannels of good, substantial grades. The shirt factory contains two shops where one hundred men are working. The garments are cut by an electric cutter which cuts one hundred and twent>-five thicknesses of the cloth at a time. There are also clothing and other departments.

The prisoner is given a task to accomplish each day, and when finished he has the privilege of working overtime, for which he is given credit, and when his time expires the amount earned is given to him. The goods manufactured at this prison have been shipped to different parts of the world. The system of bookkeeping is complete, the books in the main office must balance to a cent, showing what the expenses of of the whole institution are.

The prison was completed in 1868, but the number of convicts became larger than was ex¬ pected and additional cell room became neces¬ sary. In 1876 there were only three hundred and eighty single cells, while there were four hundred and eight-seven convicts. Steps were taken to secure additional cell room. Chiefly through the efforts of Senator J. H. Winterbotham an appropriaton of $40,000 was made by the legislature for that purpose, and in due time the work of enlargement was begun and completed. Since 1880, however, there has been little change in the institution, which could be said to enlarge its capacity as a prison. The cell houses are the same, and contain the same number of cells now that they did then ; namely, three hundred and eighty in each wing, seven hundred and sixty in all. These cells are seven by four feet in dimensions, each containing a cot with good straw mattress that is refilled twice each year. Each bed is provided with a fiber pil¬ low which is as soft as feathers and much healthier. Decided improvements have been made in the sanitary conditions of these cell houses. The walls and ceilings of the cells have been painted during recent years where formerly they were whitewashed and they can now be washed off and kept clean and sweet. The cell houses are equipped with Sturdevant system of ventilation, which is the most perfect of the kind in existence. Hot and cold air are provided, and with this system the foul air, by the use of huge fans, is forced out and pure air drawn in through large pipes located at short distances apart through the corridors. Every cell also has a ventilator. In passing through the cell houses there is not that prison odor usually detected in like institutions. The cells are kept scrupu¬ lously clean and neat and much better sleeping accommodations are provided than many of the prisoners enjoyed before entering the prison.

The two cell houses, connected by a central pavilion or guardhouse, form one large building 500 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 41 feet high to the eaves. The cells are placed in two rows back to back, in the center of these rooms, and rise one above the other in five tiers, leaving an open corridor all around the stack of cells, and an open space at the top. The temperature between the top and bottom tiers varies only five degrees even in the winter.

Immediately in the rear of the cell houses, and very convenient of access are a large and convenient dining room and kitchen, store rooms, etc. The food is abundant, wholesome and well served. The bill of fare is changed every day so there is not a sameness in it. The food is cooked by steam. In the kitchen there are two copper coffee boilers, whose capacity is 150 gal¬ lons each and a hot water tank holding 100 gal¬ lons ; also a potato steamer of 12 bushels ca¬ pacity. Another 225-gallon boiler is used for stews and a 175-gallon boiler and four smaller ones are also kept in reserve in case of emergen¬ cies. There are also two tanks used for cooking vegetables. A huge brick roast oven is used for roasting meats, toasting bread, etc. The crust trimmed off the bread when it is sliced up for the tables is toasted brown, then ground into flour and used for thickening gravies, etc. Not a particle of food is wasted. On Sundays pies or puddings are also served. The capacity of the bakery is three hundred and fifty, three-pound loaves of bread per day, and it is light, sweet and wholesome.

The prison is situated about one hundred feet above Lake Michigan. The wall surrounding the yard is twenty-six feet high, surmounted by towers. Outside the walls are beautiful, well kept lawns, a greenhouse, etc.; on the inside, a street forty feet wide runs next to the wall en¬ tirely around the buildings, except where the two cell houses are united with the administration building, which renders wall escapes impossible when a reasonable number of guards are em¬ ployed.

The prison has been repaired, enlarged and improved, until it is a very creditable Jinstir tution. The building first seen on approaching is the administration building which presents, in its new and enlarged construction, a dignified front to the institution, and forms a most con¬ venient and logical connection between the out¬ side world and the prison yard within the inclosing wall. The entrance-way is emphasized by a stone porch, proportioned to the large building and the flanking prison walls, which extend three hundred feet each way from the central axis of the structure. This porch is built of Indiana oolitic limestone, in the Romanesque style of architecture. The porch entrance opens directly into a spacious, sky-lighted public hallway which in turn forms the vestibule to the several offices and depart¬ ments of the institution. The clerk's office is on the right, while to the left is the ladies' par¬ lor and toilets. From the rear of the hallway, provided with easy risers and intermediate land¬ ings, a broad oak stairway rises to the second floor hall, which opens directly into the warden's offices, the director's temporary lodgings, the state's dining room, and the room for the board of control. In the rear of the main hallway, on the first floor, is the steel gateway, its double gates separated bv a steel-barred vestibule, with the clerk's rear office on the north side, and the guard's reading room, as well as the prisoners' library, on the south side.

The entire second story of the rear portion of the administration building, forms the new schoolroom for prisoners, with an entrance directly from each of the cell houses. This large and comfortable schoolroom is fitted up with electric lights, 124 new school desks, and all the paraphernalia necessary for its purposes. Prior to 1897 there was no regular system of instruc¬ tion. In that year the large schoolroom and library were built, and a careful system of in¬ struction inaugurated, which has worked won¬ ders in the advancement of intelligence and im¬ proved character of the men. The school is in charge of the chaplain and there are three even¬ ing sessions per week. The instruction is graded from the primary or a b c class to the more ad¬ vanced studies. There are five classes with five different instructors. Many convicts who knew not their alphabet are now able to write letters to friends. The library contains about three thousand volumes, comprising standard books treating on all subjects of a general character. Music also is taught, and there has been of late a brass band in the prison, all of which has a beneficial influence upon the convicts.

On the second floor is the chapel, of suffi¬ cient size to accommodate all the inmates of the prison. There is a Christian Endeavor society which meets every Sunday morning for an hour, beginning at 8:30 o'clock, and many prisoners take part in it. There is a chapel service, with preaching every Sunday morning at 10:30 o'clock, which all the prisoners are required to attend unless excused by the chaplain.

The hospital is new, in the form of a Latin cross, with all modern conveniences, and has ample capacity for fifty beds. Radical changes for the betterment of patients have recently been inaugurated, especially in the insane ward. Without doubt or contradiction this improve¬ ment, through the humane efforts of the board of charities and the present warden, has been the greatest made in the prison for years. For¬ merly the insane patients were confined in cells whfch had a tendency to aggravate their condi¬ tions ; and, as in all cases of insanity, the patients were worse during the night, making it hideous with their yells and screams, thus depriving the sane inmates who had been working during the day, of the rest they needed. Warden Reid, after careful consideration, decided to give them the freedom of larger quarters during the day, and accordingly a large, comfortable, well lighted room was provided, and the insane persons re¬ moved to it. It has acted like a charm. No wild ravings or oaths are now heard, and it is a most noticeable fact that their conditions have

The hospital consists of three well ventilated rooms. The sick wards are provided with good, clean beds, rocking chairs and stands. Here and there, scattered through the rooms, are bouquets of flowers. The tuberculosis patients are in a room by themselves, separated from those af¬ flicted with local ailments. The conditions of these patients are made better than ever before. There are on an average, about thirty patients in the hospital.

The physician's quarters contain three rooms ; an audience room, dispensary, and drug room. The operating room is equipped with an X-ray and Faradic machine, electrical appliances, up-todate instruments, an operating and a dental chair. Decided improvements have recently been made in the care of the sick and insane, and their general conditions. This has been made possi¬ ble by the physican in charge, Dr. L. H. Streak¬ er, he having had experience before coming here, in the Southern Insane hospital. Formerly there was no way of knowing the physical and mental condition in comparison with what it was when the convict entered the prison. Now a record is kept relating to these facts, a diagnosis made, and a record of the number of days laid off from work, and the cause for the same ; number of patients treated from the shop and state line, and the sick cell, also the total number of patients treated and for what ailments each day ; the name of each patient returned to work and when, and #the number of days laid off from work. The general health of the inmates is much better now than ever before. The diet of patients is regulated each day by the physician. %

In addition to these buildings, there are the bath houses, laundries, factories, machine shops, etc. The bath house has been greatly improved. Instead of the dilapidated bath tubs formerly used, there are now long rows of individaul shower baths, with hot and cold water in abund¬ ance. Every prisoner is required to take a bath once a week. The barber shop is kept in good order and the men are shaved once each week.

The entire institution is well heated by steam, and lighted by electricity, and a house has re¬ cently been completed, 84x123 feet, at a cost of

The State prison has its own independent system of water works. The pumping station is located one mile north of the prison grounds, a few feet from the shore of Lake Michigan. A 10-inch main extends several feet below the sur¬ face of the sand, out into the lake 2,800 feet, reaching a depth of thirty feet where the intake is anchored, thus securing to the institution an inexhaustible supply of water. There are two powerful pumps, either of which will furnish all the water necessary for drinking or cooking pur¬ poses or fire protection. Within the prison inclosure is located the standpipe, 120 feet high. The water is remarkably pure. The prison also has its own system of sewerage, which is a great work.

The parole system became a law in 1897, and provides that a prisoner at the expiration of his minimum sentence may appear before the board of prison parole, and if a suitable subject, he is released on parole if some reliable person will agree to give him employment for one year. He is required to report by letter to the prison au¬ thorities once each month, and at the end of that time, if he has proved himself honest, upright and industrious and shuns bad company, he is released from parole.

The warden carefully studies each case and then reports to the board the prisoner's conduct in the institution, his physical condition and his intentions in regard to leading an honest, up¬ right life, the company he will mingle with when he is released, etc., and from these suggestions the board acts.

On the release of the prisoner the warden has a talk with him in his private office, pointing out to him the error of his ways, the temptations thrown before him, and advises and directs him to lead a better life, showing him that he is his brother and friend and is interested in his wel¬ fare. This has a tendency to elevate the man to a higher purpose and to lead a better life in the future.

The chaplain is the state agent, using his best endeavors to look after the interests of the paroled man, etc., and as it is impossible for him to give personal attention to all the paroled pris¬ oners, he is assisted in this work by two regularly appointed agents - the Rev. George Link, and R. B. Oglesbee, Esq., both of LaPorte, who travel abroad in this work. By careful supervision of the paroled the amount of money saved the state, to say nothing of the good done to society, amounts to a large sum yearly. By throwing good influences around them, treating them with kindness and convincing them that an interest is being taken in their welfare, great improve¬ ment is noticeable in the prisoner. We give the following table of paroles, kindly prepared by the chaplain :

Recapitulation For The Year I903

violations - 56. Per cent of violations 16.8. Earned by men on parole during the year. . .$63,740.96 Expenses of men on parole during the year. .. 40,900.10

Attendance And Cost Of Maintenance

The average population of the prison is 850, and among this class are some of the most noted criminals in the land, yet by actual observation and statistics from other state prisons there is a less number of incorrigibles and troublebreeding prisoners, in proportion to the popula¬ tion of the same, in the Indiana State prison than in any other penal institution in the United States. This state of affairs has been brought about by the improved discipline, kind, fair, just treatment of prisoners, and in a large measure showing the influences of good reading, teach¬ ing, music and other humane interests taken to elevate the character of the prisoner. They are taught by words and acts of officers and keepers that they are men with feelings and their better natures are appealed to and aroused, which make them take courage and resolve to lead better lives when they leave the prison doors behind them. There are only three prison¬ ers at the present time in the third grade wear¬ ing the stripes. This is indeed a fine showing and reflects credit not only on the inmates them¬ selves but also on the officers of the institution. Whipping has been abolished and the only pun¬ ishment now used is confinement in a cell.

For several years there was an institution in LaPorte called the Northern Indiana Orphans' Home, conducted by Mrs. Julia E. Work. It was - and still is, for it is still flourishing though moved to another county - a worthy example of this progressive age, and of what woman can do when she has the opportunity. Mrs. Work pos¬ sesses the qualities requisite for her work, being naturally kindhearted and sympathetic, but at the same time a woman of great native intelli¬ gence, enterprise, executive ability, and force of character. She was born in Plymouth, Indi¬ ana, November 12, 1845, coming into this busy world at a time well calculated to develop the best that was in her, and to combine the elements of her character into a well-balanced, useful woman. In the year 1879 s^e removed from Plymouth to Mishawaka, St. Joseph county, In¬ diana, where she organized the St. Joseph Coun¬ ty Orphans' Home, and became its matron. In 1889 the name of the organizaton was changed to the Children's Aid Society, and Mrs. Work continued as general secretary of the same until March, 1891. At about that time sixteen gen¬ tlemen saw an opportunity to buy the Walker mansion, situated in east LaPorte, near the Lake Erie railroad, located on ten acres of ground de- lightfully situated, for $8,000. These sixteen men organized themselves into a company and bought the property, each taking a share of $500. Then the Northern Indiana Orphans' Home was organized, with Mrs. Julia E. Work as super¬ intendent, and the following executive board: Hon. E. H. Scott, president; Dr. George M. Dakin, first vice president ; Miss Mary Etherington, second vice president ; Mrs. H. D. Morrison, treasurer, and George C. Dorland, secretary. Mrs. Work had become deeply interested in the work of child-saving, and after her years of faithful service at Mishawaka she entered into the work at LaPorte with vigor. Under a con¬ tract the company that had bought the property, rented it to Mrs. Work direct for an annual rental fee of $480, or six per cent, interest on the investment. Mrs. Work got the entire receipts of the home, paid the bills, and received no salary. Thus it was her own enterprise, to con¬ duct as she chose. Whatever profits there were, belonged to Mrs. Work. Like any other busi¬ ness, the larger it grew, the more profit there was in it. The Northern Indiana Orphan's Home was opened for business on the 7th of March, 1891, and up to 1893 had received two hundred and twenty-nine children, one hundred and forty-six of whom had been placed in perma¬ nent homes. Mrs. Work had contracts with twelve or more counties to take care of children committed to her charge. The method of con¬ tracting varied with different counties. Some counties paid her thirty-five cents per day for a certain period, and transportation ; others paid her a direct fee of $35 for taking each child, and transportation to the home. Both meth¬ ods amounted to practically the same thing. The books of the institution showed that no child was kept in the home longer than three months, except where specially ordered and paid for; and in a number of instances Mrs. Work took the child directly from the county to its permanent future home, without taking it to the Orphan's Home at all. On an average, the stay of each child at the home was about two weeks. Under the contracts with some counties, all the orphan charges were received ; while with others only sound-bodied charges were taken. In cases where feeble-minded children were received, they were paid for by the counties sending them, and then Mrs. Work took them to the state institutions. Homes for orphans from this institution were found principally in states west of the Mississippi river, by agents acting for Mrs. Work. Those agents found homes for children, and then drew on Mrs. Work to fill the orders, and were paid a regular commission for their services. The majority of the children were under five years of age, and in view of the cause in which Mrs. Work was engaged, the railroad corporations were liberal to her, and transportation bills were not large. Parents had to sign a regular form when turning over their children, and the family receiving a child was required to sign an agreement, and furnish recommendations signed by three responsible citi¬ zens. Mrs. Work conducted the home on the theory that for every homeless child there is somewhere a childless home, that some agency is needed to bring the two together, and that she would be that agency. She held that home life is far better for a child than life in an asylum. In cases of illegitimate children, the curse of the parentage is lost among strangers, and op¬ portunity is given for the child to grow up a useful and respected citizen ; whereas if it were compelled to grow up where it was born, it could not rise above its disgrace. During one month thirty infants from New York were placed in homes in Rochester, Indiana, for the same reason that Indiana children are sent to Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. On the same plan Mrs. Work held that Iowa children would do better in some other state. The Northern Indi¬ ana Orphan's Home was a model in every re¬ spect. The building was large, roomy, nicely furnished inside, and had splendid accommoda¬ tions for the children. The meals given them were good and wholesome, the beds were clean, and the sleeping apartments and sanitary ar¬ rangements all that could be desired. A short distance from the home, and on the grounds, the township trustee had an excellent schoolhouse built, which was maintained at the expense of the township, though used almost exclusively by the orphan children. That schoolhouse has since been moved away, but in those days it was an interesting place to visit, and numbers of La¬ Porte people used to go there and listen to the exercises of the children, especially on Christmas and other special occasions. A hospital, former¬ ly a school building, was on the grounds, and was used in isolating children having contagious diseases. Everything was provided for. In one sense of the word the home was not a charitable institution, but a private concern operated as private schools and similar enterprises are. But in view of the work it was doing, it was a chari¬ table institution in a larger sense than a private school is, and was so regarded.

The home grew to such proportions under the charge of Mrs. Work, and the children she was handling became so numerous, that she found it necessary to enlarge her accommoda¬ tions. Failing in her attempts to purchase the property she was occupying, at a figure which she thought was reasonable, she decided to leave the county. Owning a farm in Marshal county, near Plymouth, consisting of three hundred and sixty acres, she erected a building there suita¬ ble to her needs, called it Brightside, and moved the Xorthern Indiana Orphan's Home to that place on February i, 1899, where it has remained and grown so remarkably that Mrs. Work has been compelled to add a new building every year. The buildings are lighted with electricity and have modern conveniences. That is the work this woman would have done if she had remained in LaPorte. It was an interesting sight when Mrs. Work took her school to church, as she was in the habit of doing every Sunday - interesting both to those who attended church and to those who saw them on the way. The children of the home ate food, and wore clothes and shoes and consumed other things, and when they were gone the grocers and butchers and merchants discovered that there was a vacancy. To take thirty or forty children away always does make a vacancy.

''This country is in need of wives that know the difference between biscuits and battenberg," declares Mrs. Work. "Too many of our modern young women lack the knowledge of practical housekeeping, and I am going to see that none of my girls go away from here without knowing how to do what a modem housewife should do. That is my idea of the wifely wife." the southern outskirts of the city of LaPorte, on Michigan avenue. This institution was en¬ dowed by Mrs. Ruth C. Sabin, who contributed for that purpose $58,000, the same being the balance of her fortune after making other be¬ quests. The home was opened in the fall of 1889 and has been in operation since that time. It has accommodations for twenty-two inmates. When these notes were taken by the writer there were twenty-three inmates, one of the ladies con¬ senting to take a relative into her room for a short time until there was a vacancy. Several had made application for admission, which had been granted to three and they were waiting for vacancies. The home is built of brick, in a very thorough and substantial manner. It has elegant large high-posted rooms, spacious hallways and staircases and is heated by steam and kept at a pleasant temperature. It is cool in the summer end warm in the winter; an inmate of the home need not be sensible of the changes of tempera¬ ture without. The dining hall is large, well lighted and cheerful. The food is abundant, of the best quality, properly cooked, well served, and all the culinary arrangements are conven¬ ient, sanitary and kept scrupulously dean and neat. The best of medical attendance is pro¬ vided. The home has modern conveniences and protection from fire. An atmosphere of com¬ fort pervades the entire institution. A piano is in the upper reception room. In the winter, plants grow and bloom in the spacious halls, and creeping vines hang in festoons down the central court. In the summer, flowers bloom and the, lawn is green out of doors. Religious services are held at stated times in the great hallway, which are supervised by a committee of LaPorte ladies appointed for the purpose ; and as the dif¬ ferent ministers of the city all respond cordially when called upon to officiate in those services, each inmate of the home is very likely occasion¬ ally to have the services of her own church. Be¬ sides this the inmates are free to attend the services of their own churches wherever and whenever they please, if able to do so ; and if not, the carriage of the home serves them in this re¬ spect so far as it can be made to do so conven¬ iently.

third goes for help, another third for food, and the balance for other expenses. Any elderly lady of good moral character and habits, who is ac¬ cepted by the board of management, can become an inmate of the home for the rest of her natural life, by the payment of $500 at the time of her entrance and nothing afterwards. This amount however, does not cover the expense of caring for her. It is necessary to put $2,500 with it; or in other words it requires the interest of $3,- 000 to care for each inmate. But there are some who have not paid this amount. They are in every way worthy and nice people, deserving and needing the home and desirable for the home, and they have been received. As instances of this there are seven who all together did not pay over $400. A few special cases have been taken for nothing. How is this? How can the home be sustained at this rate ? Very easily ; and this is what has made the home a success. From the beginning it has been the policy of the manage¬ ment to make the home of such a high character and so desirable, that wealthy people would seek to become inmates and put their money into it. In several instances this has been the case. Even Mfs. Sabin herself, who made the original be¬ quest, at first retained her own residence but finally gave it to Wabash College and went to the home and passed her days there. When the home was first orgnaized a committee visited similar homes in Chicago and elsewhere and ob¬ tained their methods, rules, etc., but it was soon found that the Ruth C. Sabin home could not be run successfully by applying a cast iron rule to every case, and that there must be some flexibility about it. This policy has saved the home. To become an inmate is so desirable that several ladies of some wealth made application. The reply was, "We can not take you because you have enough to take care of yourself.,, "But we want to come." "Well, then, if you who are more than able to pay the $500 admission to come into this home, you must make it possible for some special cases to come who can pay only a part of it, or none of it. In other words, you must put your money into the home." Accord¬ ingly several have done so. One lady paid $1,000; another paid $3,200; another paid $1,000 for herself, and $500 each for four more, and then brought a niece from a distance and paid

$1,000 for her. One lady on becoming an in¬ mate gave the home her property, which was valued at $10,000. The home realized $9,000 out of it. In this way the home has been sustained. Out of the original $58,000 endowment, $26,000 was spent for the ground and buildings, and since that time over $40,000 has been spent for the care of the inmates. The endowment has in¬ creased $10,000, or from $58,000 to $68,000. The home has never asked assistance, it has never wanted for anything, and every year has added something to the permanent fund. The board of management are seeking to make it absolutely self-sustaining. They are as follows:

During the winter of 1900 a few sisters of the order of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ visited LaPorte with the object of locating a general hospital. Arrangements were later made to secure the frame building situated at the cor¬ ner of Second and E streets, and in March, 1900, six sisters of the order occupied the building and began refitting it for hospital purposes.

Previous to this time the building had been occupied by a private family and used as a boarding house. While the needs of radical structural changes were apparent in order to properly fit the building for hospital uses, few were made at first. The structure consisted of a ground. floor with six rooms, a second story with seven rooms, a garret and cellar. The cellar had to be refitted with stationary tubs, stove, etc., for laundry purposes, while the garret was fitted up as a drying and storage room. The ground and second stories were arranged for hospital wards, and living apartments for the sisters. Thus, as rapidly as possible, the building was transformed into a beginning hospital and its doors opened to the public.

It soon became apparent that the hospital facilities were inadequate and that more room was needed to meet the increasing demands upon the institution. Plans were instituted for chang¬ ing and rearranging the interior so as to increase the number of beds. With the financial aid of friends of the institution such changes were made as were thought would meet the demands for at least a year. A number of rooms were added and the capacity increased to twelve beds by crowd¬ ing. To do this necessitated the sisters fitting up the garret for their own sleeping quarters. These changes were made in October, 1900, and the anticipated increased demands are shown by the number of admissions during the second six months, which was forty-seven.

From the beginning of the year 1901, the capacity was taxed and still further enlarge¬ ment made necessary. Early in April the ad¬ joining property on E street was purchased and the house occupying the same moved and joined to the present hospital building, where it has been fitted into living rooms for the sisters who had previously been forced to occupy the garret.

Further plans were submitted and an exten¬ sion to the original building begun April 1st. The extension added seven rooms for patients, an operating room, physicians' room, anaesthetic and antiseptic rooms, a chapel, bath rooms and closets.

The hospital can care for twenty patients without serious crowding, has a complete modern operating room, and a diet kitchen separated from the hospital proper. The building is pro¬ vided with modern baths, and heated by hot water system. This hospital is a blessing to La- Porte. Among its patients have been num¬ bered far more Protestants than Catholics, which shows that it is not a bigoted concern; and a poor and needy patient unable to pay the usual fee, is not turned away. It is supported by vol¬ untary contributions, is doing the work of Christ, and is well worthy of support.

interurban street railroad, the first imposing building to come into view is the new St. An¬ thony Hospital. It is a fine-looking building and one of which Michigan City has every rea¬ son to be proud. The building is constructed of stone and brick, the foundation and first story being stone, and the rest brick. It is three stories high and has a large basement underneath and an attic. On the first floor are the doctor's room, drug store, twelve private rooms, one ward, a telephone room, two parlors, a linen room, a serve-kitchen, two toilet rooms, and two bath rooms. On the second floor there are. twentytwo private rooms, a serve-kitchen, a linen room, two toilet rooms, and two bath rooms. On the third floor there are seven private rooms, three wards, an operating department, with tile floor¬ ing, in the northwest quarter section, a chapel in the northeast quarter section, a linen room, servekitchen, two toilet rooms, and two bath rooms. A dumb-waiter connects the kitchen, which is in the basement, with the three serve-kitchens. In the basement there are, besides the large kitchen, the sisters' sewing room, and sisters' dining room. The hospital is not yet finished on the in¬ terior but will be completed about the middle of October, 1904, and will be able to accommodate about seventy-five beds. The building, it is cal¬ culated, will cost about $75,000. Father Blakemann is the priest, and Father Miller is his as¬ sistant.

The corner stone of this hospital was laid October 11, 1903, at 2 o'clock p. m. by Bishop Herman J. Alerding of the diocese of Fort Wayne. The ceremony was preceded by a parade of societies of the men of St. Mary's and St. Stanislaus parishes, clergy, city officials and guests.

After the bishop had blessed the corner stone and the Rev. John Bleckmann, pastor of St. Mary's church, had deposited the documents in the receptacle, the bishop spoke relative to the work of charity to be established in the city by the Sisters of St. Francis. Addresses were made by the Rev. E. M. Laycock, of Indianapolis ; M. T. Kruger, mayor of the citv; the Rev. Richard Wurth, Lafayette, and the Rev. E. J. Wroebel, of Michigan City.

This hospital was erected and is sustained under the auspices of the Sisters of the Order of St. Francis, of Lafayette; though some of the wealthy people of Michigan City, who are not members of the Catholic church but identified elsewhere, subscribed very liberal sums for the purpose.

The law of 1901 authorizes the appointment of a board of six members in each county by the judge of the circuit court. The board shall have the care and supervision of neglected and depend¬ ent children under fifteen years of age, and shall have the power to take under its control any children abandoned, neglected or cruelly treated by their parents, children begging on the streets, children of habitually drunken or vicious and un¬ fit parents, children kept in vicious or immoral association, children known by their language and life to be vicious or incorrigible, juvenile delinquents and truants. The members of the board shall have the power, by leave of the cir¬ cuit court of the county, to commit such children to orphan asylums, or under order of the court, such children may be indentured as apprentices or be adopted without the consent of the parents of such child by the consent of the board filed in the circuit court ; or such children may be in any manner disposed of by said board as the circuit court, upon written petition may direct, provided that in committing children to the reform school for boys or to the industrial school for girls, the court shall be governed by the law regulating commitments to those institutions in very par¬ ticular.

A few years ago a petition was circulated, first in Michigan City and then in LaPorte, and the requisite number of signatures obtained, ac¬ cording to the statute, and Judge John C. Rich¬ ter of the circuit court appointed the County Board of Charities, of which until his recent re¬ moval to another pastorate, the Rev. R. H. Hart¬ ley, D. D., was chairman. This board has done a great deal of good in the ways above indi¬ cated. Before this board was organized, some of the good ladies of the county used to associate and of their own accord take such steps as seemed necessary in such cases ; and several young girls have thus been rescued and sent to Magdalen homes, or into other corrective and helpful associations. LaPorte county has done her duty in charities and corrections.

In the thirties, a few years after the organi¬ zation of the county, the commissioners made provision for an asylum for the poor. They pur¬ chased land and built a county poor house and from time to time improved the possession as circumstances required. The poor farm origin¬ ally consisted of the southeast quarter of section twenty-two of Center township, the left hand lower comer of which extends into Pine lake. One of the men who served longest as superin¬ tendent of the county infirmary was Joseph M. Hoffman, who served sixteen years, having been selected by the county commissioners for that position in 1873. It is said that during his ad¬ ministration holidays were observed, and Sun¬ day services held regularly at the poor farm. The southern half of the poor farm was pur¬ chased by the Pine Lake Cemetery Association as stated in the preceding chapter. After this it was found that the farm was not adequate to the county's growing needs, and hence on February 7, 1886, the present county farm was purchased, which contains large tracts in sections three and ten of Scipio township. After a new and com¬ modious home had been erected for an infirmary, and other buildings had been provided, the poor and those who cared for them were removed to the new establishment, which has ever since been conducted successfully. Among the most satis¬ factory administrations was that of Mr. Concannon. The total cost of maintaining the poor farm for 1891 was $3,500. Besides this there is the township poor relief in which Michigan township in 1891 stood at the head, relieving 223 persons ; Center came next, relieving 197 ; then followed Kankakee with 20, New Durham with 13, Noble and Cass with n each, while those of the other townships were not as many as ten each. The total was 528. Considering popula¬ tion and everything, LaPorte county has little poverty as compared with many other counties. And this has been so from the beginning. The same industrial conditions, bringing poverty in their wake, have not prevailed here. The "slums" are not in the county, to any great ex¬ tent. In an early day, in Michigan City, the for- eign element was limited to a few Irish and Ger¬ man families. There was but little suffering from poverty. Even what existed was caused more by sickness or misfortune than anything else, and the needs of the sufferers were soon found out and relieved by those who were more fortunately situated. In December, 1848, a benevolent socie¬ ty was formed by the ladies of LaPorte, a fund was raised, and a committee appointed to make a canvass and discover those who were in need ; but little poverty was found. In December, 1896, the writer enjoined his Sunday-school to come to their Christmas exercises not merely to receive presents but to give them. The result was that he had a chancel full of produce, cloth¬ ing, toys, etc., and some money. He resolved to place it all himself personally, that he might tell his Sunday-school about it. It took him four days of hard work. But he did not find much poverty. He found some suffering and want, in the cases of wives and children where the father was intemperate, but none from en¬ forced idleness. One instance which had been reported to him as one of the most needy cases, was that of a woman whom he found in her barn milking her cow. She owned the cow and sold milk for a living, but said she was glad of all she could get. There is a charity circle in La¬ Porte, and doubtless also similar organizations in Michigan City. The one in LaPorte is com¬ posed of some of our best young ladies, who have been instrumental in doing some real good. But speaking in general, poverty is not here. Even in a rural and farming community some will be improvident, or really unfortunate, and the com¬ munity will have to help them. In proportion as that community approaches to the condition of a city, and industries and factories come, bringing with them the improvidence which too often ex¬ ists among the laboring classes, poverty and suffering increase and there are need of chari¬ ties and corrections. It has been so with Mich¬ igan City, and probably it will be so with La¬ Porte. New factories are coming, there is a new influx of strangers and of the industrial classes, and the rural, quiet days of LaPorte are past.