from the beer hall by the transportation clerk instead of by the treasurer in person. The number of gallons sold during the year was 40,512, much the smallest amount of beer sold at any of the other Branches. Some of the officers think this fund unduly taxed by being required to contribute to the support of the chapel (except to the salary of the chaplain), also for the support of the library. There were 34 members and 25 civilians employed under this fund, a total of 59. Of these the members received $4.796.19 and the civilians $7,374.75 compensation during the year, a total of $12,170.94, or an average salary per year each of $206.28. The pay per day for the members ranged from 25 cents to $1.04, and that of the civilians from 25 cents to $3.33. The check on business at the Home store is by means of cash registers, and the total receipts amounted to $12,070.69. The total amount of net profit from all sources was reported as being $12,312, much the largest profit of any other of the Branches. The total number of pensioners carried on the rolls Pension fund. was 2,412, or 92 per cent of the total membership. Their pensions ranged from $6 to $45, and they received during the year $204,177.47 in cash, and $86,958.43 by check, and had a balance due them of $18,813.38. This amount was due to 224 pensioners, having to their credit amounts ranging from $100 or less to $1,000 or over. Of the total number of pensioners on the rolls June 30, 1902, 1,908 were present at the Home, and during the year $49,608.34 was paid to pensioners who were absent from the Home. The supplies, etc., of this department were found Quartermaster's de- in good condition and well taken care of. They were stored in five different storehouses, which were in good repair, but not sufficient in capacity. Inventories are taken quarterly; and during the year quartermaster's property to the value of $28,109.79 was condemned, from the sale of which $1,048.91 was received. partment. The amount of property received and accounted for was as follows: From general depot.. By purchase By transfer Total.... $25,665.59 176, 898. 30 1, 745.00 204, 308.89 All the movable property and furniture belonging to the Home is taken up as public property, and such portion of it as is necessary is marked. Property returns are made quarterly and trimonthly to the president of the Board of Managers, concerning all the property received from the general depot, purchased, and otherwise acquired. The following is a statement of the transactions in the clothing account for the year: Clothing. The clothing at this Branch was found to be in good condition generally. Laundry. The laundry is quite satisfactory and ample in capacity, with 15 employees. The average number of pieces laundried per month is 19,711, the next to the smallest average of all Branches. The members are required to send their clothing to the laundry at specified times, accompanied with lists, which are verified by count in and out. Private underwear is not taken by the laundry under any conditions. Fire department. The fire department was inspected and tested, and consisted of 1 steam fire engine, 2 chemical engines, 1 hose cart, 1 hose carriage, 1 hook-and-ladder truck, 2 steam fire pumps, fire extinguishers, and standpipes. They are tested each month. No fires occurred at the Home during the year. The fire organization consisted of the chief engineer, first assistant, first hoseman, an auxiliary force of noncommissioned officers and detailed members in each company, and the hospital. The fire drill was not satisfactory. The fire was assumed to be in the bakery, and the first stream was on the proper building in three minutes, second stream in eight and one-half minutes, and the third stream in ten minutes, the two latter streams being on the wrong building (the chapel). The chemical engine was discharged in fifteen minutes, and all of the fire extinguishers were not satisfactory. ment. The engineer department, consisting in all of seven Engineer depart shops, was in good condition, especially the power house, which was clean, and the boilers and other metal parts painted. The average number of employees under this department was 67 members and 9 civilians, or an increase of 10 members and 1 civilian over last year. The steam plant comprised 4 Babcock & Wilcox water boilers and 5 tubular boilers, that are used for power, heating, cooking, etc. Their cost for maintenance per horsepower was $22.11, and the cost of maintenance for the past year was $30,798. The water supply of this Branch is obtained from the Milwaukee city waterworks, and is reported to be satisfactory. The drainage and sewerage system, which is of the intercepting system, is in good condition, needing no improvements. The Home is lighted by means of two dynamos and has 1,837 gas lights. ment. This department is well conducted and worthy of Commissary depart- praise. The dining room and kitchen were a model of cleanliness, and more free from roaches than usual in such places, as was also the bakery. They are inspected nearly every day by the governor, daily by the commissary and officer of the day, every Sunday by the inspector, and frequently by the surgeon. The capacity of the dining hall is 960, and the tables have to be set twice for each meal in order to accommodate all the members. The average number of permanent employees in the kitchen was 19 and in the dining hall 77. During the year 85 meals were given to transients not connected officially with the Home. The bill of fare for the week ending June 28, 1902, was as follows: Sunday. Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, pickles, bread, coffee. Supper: Apple pie, crackers, cheese, bread, butter, tea. Monday. Breakfast: Beef fricassee, potatoes, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Boiled shoulders, gravy, potatoes, succotash, horse-radish, bread, coffee. Supper: Corn-meal mush, milk, bread, butter, tea. Tuesday. Breakfast: Hash, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, gravy, bread, coffee. Supper: Bread pudding with sauce, corn bread, bread, butter, tea. Wednesday. Breakfast: Beef stew, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Boiled ham, potatoes, gravy, greens, bread, coffee. Supper: Peach sauce, bread, butter, biscuit, tea. Thursday. Breakfast: Beef fricassee, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Roast beef, potatoes, gravy, green onions, tomatoes, bread, coffee. Friday. Breakfast: Stewed codfish, eggs, coffee cake, bread, butter, coffee. Saturday. Breakfast: Hash, bread, butter, coffee. Dinner: Veal pie, lima beans, bread, coffee. Supper: Cracked wheat, milk, bread, butter, tea. The hospital was found in a generally satisfactory Medical department. condition. Dr. Clark, the surgeon, not feeling well enough to accompany me during the inspection, was represented by Dr. Comfort. The hospital has a capacity for 292 patients. The daily average number of patients was 237, and the total number of members treated during the year was 2,952. There were 171 deaths during the year at the hospital, 5 elsewhere on the reservation, and 18 outside of the Home, or a total of 194. Of these 182 died from natural causes, 3 from suicide, and 9 from accidents. Their average age at the time of death was 72 years. The cost of a funeral to this Branch was $13.58. This was next to the lowest cost. The number of employees in the hospital was 91 members and 19 civilians, who received on an average of $158.38 each per year for their services. The bathing facilities at this hospital are the best of all the Branches, having but 16 patients to each tub. There were 13 members considered permanently insane and 35 showing indications of disordered minds, and they were quartered in the west wing of the hospital. By way of recreation they are given rides, in pleasant weather taken to walk with attendants, and to listen to the band concerts. None were kept in close confinement or in padded cells. The facilities to properly care for them are not ample. There were 20 members who were totally blind and 44 with impaired eyesight; they all require assistance, and are read to usually twice daily by two readers. The inspection of the accounts and records show the following at this Branch: The statements prepared and the condition of the accounts in the treasurer's office greatly facilitated the inspection of the receipts and disbursements. A post cashbook, ruled on the debit and credit sides to show the receipts and disbursements under each of the heads as appears on the post fund abstracts, would lessen the labor in entering each day's transactions, consolidate the record, and expedite the examination of the accounts. The sum of $326 was collected since the last inspection from the members as commutation for penalties imposed for infractions of the rules and regulations. This custom seemingly is not in accord with the rule (paragraph 172, Home Regulations) that requires the sentence to be worked out, except as provided in certain cases, and paragraph 171 of same regulations in restricting penalties to be inflicted does not. provide for the payment of a sum of money as an alternative. The shop accounts were kept with much labor, especially the bakery, but seemingly to no purpose, as no practical use was made of the data so carefully recorded, such as the development of a relation between. the articles fabricated and those issued for the fabrication. The manner in which the record showing the distribution of imperishable property is kept at this Branch, and at some of the others, did not seem to be satisfactory, as the record did not always show the steps by which the present charge was reached. As no instructions were issued with the book, there was a lack of uniformity in the manner of keeping the record. All matters not commented upon at this Branch were found to be satisfactory. No. 6. REPORT OF THE INSPECTION OF THE DANVILLE BRANCH, MADE AUGUST 25 TO 28, 1902. Post-office. Local manager. Officers. National Home, Danville, Ill. Gen. Thomas J. Henderson, Princeton, Ill., is the local manager of this Branch, and his term of office as such expires in 1908. Governor, Col. Isaac Clements; treasurer, Maj. J. M. Barger; surgeon, Maj. D. C. Jones; quartermaster, Capt. E. B. Wheeler; commissary of subsistence, Capt. John W. Newlon. These are the same officers who were on duty at this Branch at the preceding inspection, except Maj. J. M. Barger, who assumed the duties of treasurer on December 31, 1901, vice Maj. William C. Tuttle, resigned. The period of construction at this Branch has passed, General conditions. and the débris caused by construction has been removed from around the buildings. Only a little grading remains to be done before the thoroughly finished appearance of this Home will become fully apparent. Roads and walks have been laid out and lawns prepared, and young trees have been planted and ornamental flower beds set out, and the conservatory was being enlarged. It was observed, however, that some repairs are already required on several of the barracks, while the buildings are still new. This is especially the case with the walls, particularly in the attics. Considerable plastering has already fallen in some places, and in other places it was badly cracked. The progress made in administration was found to be beyond what had been anticipated; and the degree of interest shown in the performance of duty was not expected, for it is not easy, at a new Branch, to reach in so short a time the results that had been attained here. The lines of management as laid down at the Marion Branch seem to be closely followed at this one, and a better guide could not be found. Complaints were made by some members that clothing had been stolen from them. Every effort should be made to prevent this being done. Buildings and grounds. The reservation consists of 320.56 acres of land, none of which is leased, and it is situated near the town of Danville, Ill., from which this Branch takes its name and with which it is connected by convenient traveling or transportation facilities. The grounds are gradually being adorned and beautified and already present a very attractive appearance, especially for a new Branch. The barracks, 14 in number, are of brick and are arranged in the form of an ellipse near the north end of the Home reservation. Thirteen of them were originally intended to accommodate 170 men each, and 1 to accommodate 225; and at the time of inspection they were actually occupied by an average of 140 men each. None of the members were sleeping in basements or on floors, but 419 of them were sleeping in attics, and 9 employees were sleeping in the storehouse, stable, library, mess hall, and memorial hall-places not originally intended for sleeping. The dormitory floor space per man, in square feet, is: Highest, 95; lowest, 71; average, 83. The dormitory air space per man, in cubic feet, is: Highest, 1,608; lowest, 550; average, 1,070. The dormitory window space per man, in square feet, is: Highest, 26.5; lowest, 3.5; average, 15. The 14 barracks contain altogether 84 bath tubs, the bathrooms being conveniently located; and there are other bath tubs at the Branch as follows: Fourteen in the hospital, 4 in the guardhouse, 2 in the nurses' quarters, and 1 in the power house. There was an average of 17 men to each bath tub, and the facilities at this Branch for bathing seem all that could be desired. The toilet-room facilities seem almost as good, the average of men to each urinal being 12, and to each hopper, 6. Toilet paper is reported not to last for the full time of issue, and newspaper was used in the closets. The system of ventilating the barracks is by fire flues, and they are heated by low-pressure steam heat. They are lighted by electricity, the current being obtained from the Danville Railway and Light Company. The beds and lockers were found in good condition. Improvements. Since the previous inspection the following permanent improvements, which were then being constructed, have been completed, and are now occupied, to wit: From the general fund, 1 barrack, cost $35,000; 1 lodge and gateway, cost $5,000; 1 memorial hall, cost $35,000; and from the Ward fund, 1 chapel, with separate rooms for Catholics and Protestants, cost $20,000. Only one permanent improvement was in course of construction at the time of the present inspection-a greenhouse and propagating house, cost $5,000, to be paid from the general fund. The cost of repairs (not construction) during the year was reported as $27,039.80, and the most considerable repair was said to be an elevator extension in the storehouse that cost $595. The greenhouse, now under construction, is the only permanent improvement authorized for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903; and the improvements that will be needed for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904, are reported as an ice-making machine, estimated cost $24,937.50; additional concrete walks, estimated cost $12,120; additional fencing, estimated cost $3,485; and grading, estimated cost $10,220; total estimated cost, $50,762.50. Population. The total number of officers and members present and absent on June 30, 1902, was 3,013, of whom 2,216 were present and 797 absent. This was a net gain in population of 776 over the preceding year-much the largest gain of |