of the Merrimack county almshouse, and was built only a few years ago, the former buildings having been destroyed by fire with a loss of thirteen lives.

The superintendent occupies the middle portion of the main building, which separates the wards occupied by the male and the female inmates.

The entire building is heated by steam and is fairly well ventilated. During the past year the house has been refurnished to quite an extent, floors painted, walls dressed over, new curtains, etc. The rooms are provided with iron bedsteads, and the beds were clean and tidy. The rooms were also clean and were well whitewashed and painted. All the rooms in the institution are washed twice a week regularly, and oftener if necessary. The beds are made up with fresh clothing every Saturday, and changed during the week if needed. The bathrooms and closets were found in good condition.

A thing much needed at this institution is a separate building or ward for the children. There were forty-five of them at the institution, and in the winter there are between fifty and sixty. Many of them are as bright, wholesome, and intelligent as can be found anywhere, but they are constantly associated, day and night, with the older inmates, and in this way rapidly contract the bad and vulgar language which is used in their presence. The parents of thirteen of the children are inmates of the institution. The schoolroom is in the main building. It is suggested by the superintendent that the Snell house, so called, located a short distance from the almshouse, might be made suitable for the purpose at very small expense. It is now used for storage purposes only.

The exterior appearance is well shown in the illustration, A being the almshouse, and B the asylum for the insane. The asylum contains forty-six rooms or cells, and at the time of inspection all were occupied. This is a wooden building, very cheaply and poorly constructed, and is not suitable for an insane asylum. The floors and walls are in a bad condition. The floors leak if water is put upon them, and unless great care is taken the rooms and beds below are wet by the water dripping through. The roof also leaks into two or three rooms. The floors and walls have not been kept well painted,

consequently the woodwork has become foul by absorption, and the institution has a constant disagreeable odor. There is no classification of the patients.

The building is heated by steam, the boiler being in the basement, and the method of heating is the worst that could possibly be devised. Within a year or two the old radiators have been removed, and a line of iron pipe run along the edge of the ceiling as a substitute. These pipes keep the upper strata of air in all the rooms and corridors very warm, while near the floor it is cool or cold. It is a very unsatisfactory and improper means of heating, especially for the insane. We would strongly recommend that this system be taken out and proper radiators put in, so that the heat will be more equally distributed.

The bathtubs are supplied with cold water, but not with hot; provision should be made for furnishing the latter. The privy should be abandoned, and water-closets substituted. The one in use was found to be in an offensive condition, which, with the best of care, it is almost impossible to avoid in an institution of this character. The washing for the asylum is done in the basement of the building, and the wood and coal are stored there. There is a stand-pipe, with hose attached, on each floor of the building, for use in case of fire. The institution needs quite extensive repairing. New floors should be laid, as many of them at present are badly worn. Paint and whitewash should be used extensively throughout the building, and the outside needs painting. In fact, there is nothing about this building that can be commended for an asylum for the insane. If our suggestions could be carried out without incurring a very large expense to the county, we should certainly recommend that the building be abandoned as an asylum, and a suitable and substantial building, with modern conveniences, erected.

The asylum has a male superintendent, and a female attendant for the women. The entire institution is under the management of Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Stiles, and the inmates seem to be well cared for under their administration.

BELKNAP COUNTY ALMSHOUSE.

This almshouse is located in Laconia, about a mile from the railroad station. The location is a pleasant and healthful one,