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Page 116          Biennial Report of the State Board
                     of Corrections and Charities
                                1873
                    
                               OTTAWA
                               
      The poor-house of this county is pleasantly situated on the
    bank of Grand River, about three-fourths of a mile from the
    village of Eastmanville.  The farm is large and desirable,
    comprising about two hundred acres.  The main part of the
    building is old, but has been so many times remodeled that it
    has been almost entirely built anew.  The rooms in this part
    
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Page 117

      of the house, which are principally occupied by the female
    paupers, bear many marks of age, and do not present as tidy
    an appearance as the newer part of the house, which is mostly
    occupied by the male paupers.  There were twenty-six inmates
    in the institution at the time of the visitation, of which two
    were children under five years of age, and five were insane.
    Two of the insane persons were kept in cells very well suited
    for the purpose.  To each of them there was attached a privy,
    outside of the cell, and the excrement passes off into a
    receiver.  A very neat, small bath-tub has recently been pro-
    vided for the use of the females, and facilities for washing and
    combing are good.  Some of the rooms appeared clean and sweet,
    but a few of them looked as though they were anxiously waiting
    for white-wash and repairs.  The classification of the inmates
    and the provision for the separation of the sexes are not as
    complete as they should be.  There are good barns on the place,
    with some very convenient and ingenious contrivances for keeping
    stock and storing the produce of the farm.  An ice-house furnishes
    an abundant supply of this article during the whole season.  
    This is certainly a most desirable acquisition to any poor-house,
    especially in case of sickness.  One of the insane men was very
    vigorously at work splitting wood.  It was said that he was a
    great worker, and constantly doing something.  There is a good
    orchard on the place, and some attention is paid to raising
    small fruits.  The buildings are well painted, and the fences
    plain and good, but the shade trees are few.
    
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