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ISAAC RAY, M. D., SUPERINTENDENT AND PHYSICIAN.

EDWARD R. CHAPIN, M. D.,
ASSISTANT PHYSICIAN.

MR. JOSHUA S. TURNER, STEWARD.

MRS. LYDIA J. MAYNARD, MATRON.

REPORT.

To the Governor and Council of the State of Maine :

In obedience to the provision of the act of March, 1843, the undersigned Trustees of the Insane Hospital, make their report to the Governor and Council as follows:

As soon after the appointment of Trustees as notice could be given of the time and place of meeting, they met at the Hospital and proceeded to fix the compensation of the several officers of the institution, and to determine their tenure of office to be during the pleasure of the Trustees, and to make the necessary appointments.

The salaries of the officers were fixed as follows:

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per annum, and in that proportion for any time less than a year.

Doctor Isaac Ray was appointed Superintendent; Joshua S. Turner, Treasurer and Steward; and more recently Edward R. Chapin has been appointed Assistant Physician, and Mrs. Lydia J. Maynard, Matron, to fill vacancies.

At their first meeting the Trustees settled the Treasurer's account, and made a schedule of all property belonging to the institution, and took a new bond of the Treasurer and Steward for the faithful discharge of his duties. Since that time the Trustees have made monthly visits and reports, quarterly settlements of the Treasurer and Steward's accounts, and now as many of the Board as could be convened, have visited the institution, settled the Treasurer's accounts, and make our report. And it is with pleasure we state, that on all occasions we have found the buildings and rooms in good condition, every part of them neat and clean, the patients as comfortable and well provided for as persons in their condition could be, and the officers and attendants vigilant and prompt in the discharge of their respective duties.

The farm and stock upon it have been well managed and taken care of the improvements extended, and a good deal has been done in blasting rocks, grading the grounds in front of the buildings, and in improving the orchard-and it is gratifying to know that while much of the labor has been performed by inmates of the Hospital, it has been done by them voluntarily and cheerfully, contributing not only to their comfort and recreation, but improving their health and mental condition. The deminution of products of the farm this year from what they were the last, is to be ascribed to the season and not to any want of good management.

To carry into effect the purpose of the legislature for which a part of the appropriation of last winter was made, and to obtain that full supply of water at the Hospital which is so essential to the comfort and restoration of the patients, the Trustees obtained conveyances to the State from Ellis Toby, of his spring and right forever to dig and lay and repair an aqueduct in his land, for which one hundred dollars were paid; from Wm. Smith, of the right to dig, lay and repair an aqueduct across his land forever, for which twenty-two dollars and fifty cents were paid; from the executors of Robert C. Vose, and from Hon. John Otis, of the right to dig, lay and repair an aqueduct across their respective lots forever, for which they required no compensation other than the pleasure of contributing to a benevolent object.

Having thus secured the perpetual right to the water, and to lay and repair the aqueduct, we proceeded to procure leaden pipe of a large size and superior quality, and to dig the trench and lay the aqueduct. The whole distance is one mile, and it is believed that all parts of the work have been faithfully done, and at as small expense as any similar work was ever done in our State.

The aggregate cost of the aqueduct exceeds a little the sum named for that object, but this is to be attributed to an unexpected payment for the right to lay the aqueduct across Mr. Smith's land, which was not at first contemplated. Another object of the appropriation was the purchase of a carriage for the use of the patients' which has been effected.

And here the Trustees feel it to be their duty to state, that, although the legislature granted two thousand dollars to the Hospital, to be expended under the direction of the Trustees, they have been permitted to receive from the Treasury only sixteen hundred and fifty dollars, and are informed that the balance will not be paid to the Treasurer of the institution, but is retained to pay the services of Trustees. We protest against the right of any officers of the government to withhold or divert any part of a grant made by the legislature to the Hospital, to be expended under the direction of the Trustees of the Hospital, and respectfully ask that the sum thus withheld may be re-appropriated and go to the object for which it was originally intended.

The balance due the Treasurer and Steward in Decem

ber, 1842, was

36 60

The balance due him on settlement to 30th November, ber, 1843, is

206 70

The debts due to the Hospital, December, 1842, were

3,104 32

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And although there are a few unsettled bills against the Hospital at the close of every year, the amount is small and does not vary much from year to year. From this exhibit it is seen, that in the last eleven months the debt against the Hospital has been increased $170 10, and the debts due to it have been increased $569 50, and thus it appears that, after meeting all the current expenses of the institution (aside from the salaries of officers, which are paid by the State) its financial condition is now better than it was eleven months ago, by the sum of $399 40, but a deduction of about two hundred dollars should be made from that sum to make the stock of wood on hand and paid for equal to what it was in December, 1842.

It is also to be kept in mind that among the credits of the last eleven months is 1650 dollars received from the State, and after allowing the cost of the aqueduct, $1,119 32, and of carriage and

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