for the coming year. For the expeditious handling of coal by motor truck, plans for a road between the power house and back wharf have been supplied by the Public Works Department.

A new paint shop, practically fireproof, has been constructed at some distance from the other buildings. A carpenter shop is to be located over the engine room in the old laundry, which has been equipped with a sprinkler system, and the old buildings heretofore used for paint shop and carpenter shop are to be razed to the ground, as they constitute a fire hazard.

Much painting has been done throughout the entire plant, but the job of which the institution is most proud is the painting of the kitchen and bakery. This piece of work, estimated by painting contractors at a cost of $800, was completed by the master mechanic of Deer Island with a gang of prisoners in less than four days and the cost to the city was merely for paints and oil.

The building of piazzas to three of the wards of the female hospital has enabled the inmates to spend many enjoyable hours in the open air. Invalid inmates may also derive benefit from the fresh air and sunshine as the buildings are now provided with ramps, which make it possible for them to be wheeled out of doors in their beds.

The building formerly occupied by the nurses as their home has been renovated and placed in excellent condition for the use of attendants and matrons, thus leaving the nurses' new home to be used exclusively by graduate nurses and pupils.

The nurses' new home, above mentioned, a building of architectural beauty, has rooms which are uninhabitable because of faulty construction. The Building Commissioner reports that the roof is in poor condition and unfitted for that type of building, and that adequate underdrains have not been provided. Storm water, finding its way behind the inside plastering, has resulted in the disintegration of finish, window frames and wainscoting. Alterations and repairs made necessary by the present condition of the building will involve the expenditure of between $20,000 and $25,000.

The sum of $20,000 has been appropriated by the City Council for the installation of laundry equipment. It is planned to establish the new laundry in the basement of the female almshouse, where it will be accessible through the subways to all parts of the institution. It

will then be possible to have the soiled clothing conveyed to the laundry without the necessity of going out of doors.

A new concrete walk, begun late in the fall, will be completed as soon as the weather permits. It is to be terraced with broad, low steps, thus making it much easier than is possible at present for the old people to reach the hospital from the boat.

A gradual increase in the number of admissions has made it necessary to open a new ward in the male hospital and to transfer the children to a building vacated two years ago. So crowded are the male wards that a portion of the library is now used for sleeping quarters for the men, and it may be necessary before the winter has closed to assign one of the female wards to the male hospital.

There has been an average of sixty children at the institution during the past year. Some are charges of the Child Welfare Division in need of hospital treatment; others the children of unmarried mothers who go to Long Island for delivery, and others are children afflicted with congenital venereal disease. No child not requiring medical treatment is permitted to remain at the island. A weekly report from the doctor on each child is rendered the commissioner, and immediate provision made for placement of those considered fit for release.

The segregation of the children in the nursery building a few months ago has made it possible to conduct the children's department as a distinct department of the main hospital, and the treatment of the children has been greatly advanced. An attendant is assigned to the children's ward, whose sole duty is individual work among the children, teaching them to walk and to talk, and helping to keep them happy. It is felt that the children's department has reached a proportion where the services of a skilled kindergartner would be advisable.

In spite of the fact that the population has rapidly increased, the number of deaths for the year is the lowest since 1900. A contributing factor to the decrease in death rate has been the establishment of admission wards, where those sent from the city for hospital treatment and almshouse cases are observed for a week, and only discharged to almshouse or hospital after a careful physical examination is made and a complete history taken.

The painstaking care given by the resident physician

and nurses and the frequent visits of the skilled visiting staff are much appreciated by the inmate population, and that they are receiving the best possible care is attested by the fact that the American College of Surgeons has placed the Long Island Hospital on its approved list of hospitals in the United States.

The work in the dental department has steadily increased. Much actual pain has been alleviated, and many sets of teeth have been made for patients who for a long time have been unable to properly masticate their food.

Frequent visits to the institution have been made by the oculist, and all in need of glasses have been furnished with properly prescribed spectacles, which have added much to their comfort.

In 1914 the Training School of the Long Island Hospital was placed on a discredited list of training schools. Since that time it has been difficult for graduates of the Long Island Training School for Nurses to register in other states. At the twenty-fifth anniversary of its establishment in June last year, impetus was given to a movement to place the school on an accredited list and give it a high standing in the community.

The number of pupil nurses has gradually increased until now there are twenty-six in the school. A salary of $300 and uniforms attracts girls who are unable to give their time for nothing. A standard curriculum is being followed in their teaching, and arrangements are being made to secure the best obtainable superintendent of nurses. Within a few years it is hoped that the training school will be unsurpassed. The co-operation of the graduates and visiting medical staff has been secured to the end that rapid progress may be made.

Not

The work of the social service agent has grown apace during the last year and its value is inestimable. An additional worker should be added to the force. only must the social worker do many things to satisfy the minds of the old people, but she must also see to the proper readjustment of unmarried mothers and their children in the community; prosecute cases against reputed fathers, and arrange for the transfer of other children of the institution to boarding homes or suitable institutions.

This report would not be complete without touching upon the industrial work which the inmates of the female almshouse are carrying on in the industrial room es

tablished a year ago. Much of the clothing of the Child Welfare Division is made by these women, who also make all of the shirts for the men of the institution, sheets, pillow cases, nightgowns, dresses and underwear of the inmates, and do all the mending of the institution. It is planned to further increase the number of workers by installing machines that unmarried mothers may be taught useful garment trades.

The inmates have been entertained during the year by the Knights of Columbus, by the minstrel troupe from the House of Correction, and by several musical groups. Except during the hot months, motion pictures have been provided weekly. From the Cleveland Trust Fund, victrola records, pictorial magazines, and fruit, candy and other delicacies are supplied the inmates of the female almshouse and hospital. At Christmas time they were visited by the Agnes Parker Post of the Daughters of the American Revolution, who carried baskets to them laden with good things.

The visits of such kindly people and the visits which your Honor and Mrs. Peters have made are milestones in the lives of those unfortunate shut-ins, whose appreciation at all times is sufficient compensation for the kindness shown.

The spirit of the institution is excellent. The kindly offices of the Catholic and Protestant chaplains, the attention of the employees and the interest of the people of Boston in their charges have all been contributory causes to this splendid morale. The Long Island of today, as an almshouse, is without a peer, and as a hospital ranks with the best.

PENAL DIVISION.

As

A sincere attempt is made to effect the rehabilitation of the city's offenders. Prisoners are furnished with excellent food, employed in useful occupations, supplied with suitable books, both from the institution library and the Boston Public Library, instructed in the school of letters, and are given the best medical attention. was stated in the last annual report, hospital cases are treated at Long Island. This year all dental work has been done at Long Island, and the service has proved more satisfactory than that accorded at Deer Island in its own hospital.

The spiritual needs of the prisoners are cared for by three excellent chaplains, who hold weekly services for the inmates of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths.

Upon release, gratuities are given the men that they may again get a proper start, and in most cases work has been secured upon discharge. The department has been most generous in the granting of paroles under strict supervision. The department has collected $3,452.80 in nonsupport cases from men on parole, thus preventing the breaking up of families.

An endeavor has been made to place the industries of the House of Correction on a firm basis. The short term prisoners make impossible the establishment of industries in which vocational training may be carried on. However, an experiment with the shoe industry has proved most successful. To this department are assigned men serving long term sentences, and their progress in shoe manufacture is most pleasing. An average of twenty-four pairs of shoes are being manufactured daily for the House of Correction, Long Island institution and the Child Welfare Division.

Pending the construction of a new laundry at Long Island, the laundry work of that institution is being done at Deer Island, thereby affording employment to an average of twelve men. It has been possible within the last few months to increase the number of men employed in the sewing room to forty-two. The outer garments of the inmates of the House of Correction are made here, as well as overalls, shirts and caps. An order has been received from the Long Island institution for several hundred inmate suits. This will furnish employment for about six months and make it unnecessary for the city to secure its clothing from the State Prison. Until February of last year there had been no work done in the cutting of stone for some years. The department has striven to wipe out an indebtedness to the Public Works Department, and in February, March and April 1,200 feet of edgestone were cut and shipped to that department. The average number employed during the year on industries was forty-six, and a profit of $11,914.97 was realized. This amount is an increase of $7,439 over the gain made in 1920, which was the first gain shown in the industries at this House of Correction since 1917, when sixty-nine men were employed at a profit of $4,059.86.