| in 1835, | 2387 persons, |
| in 1844, | 9153 persons. |
Of those children received in 1848, 209 were boys, (192 white and 17 colored,) and 55 were girls, (45 white and 10 colored.) 140 of the whole number were from the Police and Sessions of the city, and of the white children only THIRTY-NINE were of American parentage. 127 were of Irish birth! Of 141 boys discharged, 53 were indentured to farmers, 14 to shoemakers, and 19 sent to sea; and of 47 girls discharged, 33 were indentured to housewifery. The average age of the inmates received during 1848, was thirteen and two and a half twelfths years. Seventy-seven were over fifteen when received.
New House of Refuge at Rochester.—Our readers are perhaps aware, that an institution similar to the present House of Refuge in New York, is about to be established in Rochester for the accommodation of the Western counties of the State. A friend has kindly furnished us with the following description of the buildings, &c. Mr. Wood, the present superintendent of the New York House of Refuge, is expected to take charge of the new establishment, and the discipline will probably be substantially the same. An appropriation is expected at the present session of the legislature, that will enable inmates to be received this spring. No provision is yet made for females.
“At present,” says our correspondent, “they have only erected a main or centre building and one wing. The whole length of this building is 234 feet. Main building 86 by 60 feet. Wing 148 by 32 feet, terminated by a building 37 feet square. The basement of stone, 10 feet in the clear, walls above of brick. The basement in the main building is intended for the culinary department; that in the wing for wash-rooms, bathing-room and workshops. The first and second floors of the main building are divided into four rooms, with suitable closets, and three halls, with staircases. The main hall in the centre is 15 feet wide; side halls to communicate with the wings 12 feet wide. The rooms on the first floor of the main building are intended for superintendent, matron, &c. The rooms on second story for hospitals and sleeping-rooms for the officers of the institution. The upper or third story of main building is intended for a chapel, 60 by 60 feet, the entrance to which is from the side hall.
“The first story of the wing is divided into two rooms for school and dining rooms, each 70 by 30 feet. In second story of wing are the dormitories for the inmates, two tiers in height, and 86 in number, arranged next the outside wall. Hall 15 feet wide in the centre. Each dormitory is 7½ feet wide and 7½ feet high, and is furnished with a narrow window reaching from floor to ceiling. Dormitory doors are of cast-iron open work for summer ventilation, allowing the air to pass directly across the building; in addition, each dormitory is supplied with fresh air, descending from the cornice by iron pipes, and passing through the iron doors. This building is surrounded by a stone wall, four feet thick at the foundation and tapering to two feet at the top, 23 feet from the foundation, and 20 feet above ground. The wall is 500 feet long and 400 feet wide, embracing about 4½ acres of land, and cost $12,000. The building, as above described, cost $26,000. The whole is a most perfect piece of workmanship in every respect, built in the very best manner, and is considered a most complete model for such a purpose.
“Attached are 40 acres of land, which it is intended the inmates shall cultivate, thus affording them a healthy employment, and, at the same time, furnishing a supply of vegetables, &c., to the institution. The buildings are situated about a mile from the centre of business, in a fine dry sandy soil.”
We had prepared a sketch of the proceedings at the opening of the State Reform School in Massachusetts, and of the discipline, &c., prescribed there, together with a view and ground plan of the buildings, but our limits are so contracted as to forbid its appearance in the present number.
Art. II.—MORTALITY AND CRIME.
It is not generally known, although the fact has been sufficiently demonstrated by different vital statisticians, that great annual mortality is accompanied by a proportionate increase of births, so that the population is kept at its usual average even if it does not increase. One effect of this mortality and increase of births is the disproportion between the numbers of the young, the improvident, and the thoughtless, and the older, more prudent and considerate. Mr. Slaney, in his report on Birmingham and other towns, made to the commissioners for inquiry into the state of large towns and populous districts, after referring to Mr. Chadwick’s exposure of the popular fallacy, that the sufferings caused by disease, especially among the poor, restrained the increase of population, says: “I have constantly observed, wherever the mortality was high in close, narrow, neglected courts and alleys, there the children swarmed, as if to fill up the places; and it has been demonstrated again and again, that a high mortality in an increasing country, only leads to a great increase of births.” After this preliminary notice, the reader will be able to understand the force of the following remarks on the connection between mortality, (including, of course, its physical and moral causes,) and crime.