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A Description of the New Building

Work on the new building, which had been begun very early in the spring, was continued steadily during the months of spring, summer, and early autumn, a large force of workmen being employed. By the first of October the greater portion of the building was ready for occupancy.

The superintendent dispatched printed letters to parents or friends of deaf-mute children all over the state, announcing to them that the next term of school would commence on a certain day. He requested that all such children of suitable age and condition to receive an education should be sent to the institution promptly at the beginning of the term. To the parents or friends of those who had already spent some time at the school, he wrote requesting their prompt return.

When the pupils, in response to these letters, returned thus late in the season, they found a large, substantial brick building looming up where once had been a smooth lawn occupied by a pretty greenhouse. The greenhouse had been removed to a flower garden south of the other buildings.

The new building was three lofty stories high. The basement was divided into a large, airy ironing room, a bakery, a kitchen, a storeroom, etc. On the second floor was a spacious and elegant dining hall, which deserves more than a passing notice. The walls and the ceiling—the latter ornamented by massive, carved wooden beams—were tinted a delicate pink. The long rows of lofty windows on each side of the room were shaded by inside shutters. There were twenty-seven long tables in this room, each of which would afford accommodation for ten persons. Along each side of the tables were rows of yellow chairs. There were five large chests of drawers, with tops like the tables, distributed around the room. Upon those chests, every morning, were to be placed large tin cans, with faucets near the bottom. These cans were intended to hold the hot coffee. Trays on which to convey the cups of coffee from the cans to the tables were placed on the chests ready for use.

In a little room connected with the dining room, on the left, was an elevator which descended into the bakery beneath and was there loaded with bread, or pies, or cakes, and then they were drawn up to the dining room by means of pulleys. The elevator consisted of a number of broad shelves, which, when stationary, formed a sort of cupboard. There was a similar elevator at the opposite end of the dining room, which descended into the kitchen to be loaded with meats, vegetables, etc., which were then drawn up to the dining room. A sort of whistle, placed in the dining room wall, served as the medium to convey a signal to the servants below when more bread, etc., was wanted above.

The tables were spread with white damask tablecloths. A neat water tray, into which to empty the water from the tumblers, was placed at the end of each table. Everything was neat and tidy. The room was, in fact, a model of convenience and comfort.

Besides the dining room, there were on this floor two schoolrooms, a small laboratory, a linen room, the superintendent’s office, and, I believe, one sleeping apartment. On each side of the dining room ran a wide hall connecting with both the main building and the school building, so that the pupils would no longer be compelled to go out of doors when going to or from the schoolrooms.

The third floor contained two large dormitories, with bathrooms, etc., attached. Those dormitories, which were spacious and lofty apartments, each contained forty single beds, so white and neatly arranged as to give the rooms a very pleasing appearance. Rows of neat wardrobes extended along two sides of the room. The windows, like those of the dining room, were shaded by inside shutters.

Between the dormitories were the hospitals for those who happened to get sick. Those were very prettily furnished as comfortable apartments and were conveniently arranged for the proper care of the sick. The nurse’s room and the medicine room were the only other apartments on that floor, I believe.

The building was surmounted by a cupola, the light from which streamed down into the entry between the nurse’s room and the medicine room. All the rooms were furnished with gaslights and were heated by steam conveyed through pipes from a large furnace in back of the school buildings.

Though this new building was far from being as spacious as the main building, it added much to the convenience and comfort of the inmates, besides affording accommodation to many who otherwise could not have been admitted.