The retreat wards, with accommodations in each wing for eighteen patients, show in this particular how little the old method of strict confinement is to be employed in the new institution.  That proportion of the total insane population of 1,500 is regarded as all that it is necessary to sequester to prevent the disturbance of the rest.  Hollow walls, sleeping room windows opening into small areas, and corridor space between the several divisions are features which make the per capita cost of the construction comparatively large for these two cottages, but which, it is believed, will prove to be wise ones.

All of these buildings are as complete from a hospital standpoint as can possibly be devised.  Outer walls wind and moisture proof, and inner walls of brick, with an absolutely protected air space between, insure strength and warmth.  An interior wall finish of the hardest and most non-absorbent materials known for such uses is a valuable hygienic provision, and both safety and salubrity are further conserved by an absence of any hollow spaces between floors and ceilings, or in stud partitions.  No vermin retreats, no harbors for rodents, no channels for flame exist.  Heating is accomplished by indirect radiation with the steam supply from the power house, but there are many open fireplaces to add to the complete stack and flue system of ventilation.

Attached to the central group and completed are the kitchen building, the laundry building and a dwelling house for employes, which are so disposed in the rear of the group as to make a courtyard of value for the resort of patients, as the main buildings protect and shelter it.  These buildings are ample for their work when the institution’s full capacity is attained.  The kitchen building is a particularly interesting one.  All of the cooking is to be done there, and a system of subways, with tracks on which food cars are run, connects it with all of the groups.  An idea of the magnitude of kitchen plans for such an institution may be got from one single fact.  The pantry is a lofty room, 20x32 feet.

The calculation that 80 per cent. of the insane of the district would be in the chronic stages of the disease explains the provision in detached cottage groups for this proportion of the patients.  A great proportion of these are feeble and helpless, requiring constant attendance night and day, but attendance that can be given cheaply and efficiently in associate day rooms, dining rooms and large dormitories.  Detached group No. 1, which is completed, is an infirmary group for patients of both sexes of this class.  It is chiefly one story in height, and the plan permits an abundance of sunlight and air for every room.

Detached group No. 2 is intended for 185 men of the chronic insane class, who require more than ordinary care and observation.  Detached group No. 3 is composed of two-story buildings for 322 women.  It has several large work-shops.  Occupation is one of the main reliances of the planners of the institution as a part of the treatment there.