ain a preponderance of single
rooms, the purpose being to keep patients separate until their
classification is decided upon.

The buildings planned but not yet constructed of the central group
include two cottages for convalescents and two one-story retreats for
noisy and disturbed patients. In both cases the plans are the most
complete and progressive ever made. In the first the degree of
construction is reduced to the minimum. Convalescents are to have
freedom from the irritations of hospital life that often retard
recovery. Great reliance is placed upon that important element in
treatment, the rousing of a hopeful feeling in the mind of the patient.

The retreat wards, with accommodations in each wing for eighteen
patients, show in this particular how little the old method of strict
confinement is to be employed in the new institution. That proportion of
the total insane population of 1,500 is regarded as all that it is
necessary to sequester to prevent the disturbance of the rest. Hollow
walls, sleeping room windows opening into small areas, and corridor
space between the several divisions are features which make the per
capita cost of the construction comparatively large for these two
cottages, but which, it is believed, will prove to be wise ones.

All of these buildings are as complete from a hospital standpoint as can
possibly be devised. Outer walls wind and moisture proof, and inner
walls of brick, with an absolutely protected air space between, insure
strength and warmth. An interior wall finish of the hardest and most
non-absorbent materials known for such uses is a valuable hygienic
provision, and both safety and salubrity are further conserved by an
absence of any hollow spaces between floors and ceilings, or in stud
partitions. No vermin retreats, no harbors for rodents, no channels for
flame exist. Heating is accomplished by indirect radiation with the
steam supply from the power house, but there are many open fireplaces to
add to the complete stack and flue system of ventilation.

Attached to the central group and completed are the kitchen building,
the laundry building and a dwelling house for employes, which are so
disposed in the rear of the group as to make a courtyard of value for
the resort of patients, as the main buildings protect and shelter it.
These buildings are ample for their work when the institution's full
capacity is attained. The kitchen building is a particularly interesting
one.