elusive fox over hill and meadow; the distant forests that top the hills are so blue and soft and hazy in the distance that they look like silken curtains hung against the far-away sky. Perhaps it was the sight of the seven gullies; perhaps the ripening grain; perhaps the hazy forest of purest green; or, again, perhaps the Arcadian vista as a whole that induced that good resolution to come into Governor Flower's mind. Sometimes I have thought that a commemorative stone should be set to mark the spot where the Governor stood, and that the stone should have chiseled on its face the words: "It was on this spot that Gov. Flower stood on November 4, 1893, and determined to sign the bill creating this Colony." An inscription in truth like unto this may be read by any traveler who chooses to climb the crumbling walls that encircle the most ancient and time-honored village in all England-Chester, and gaze upon the inscription cut in the stone over the entrance to the Phoenix Tower, and whose legend runs like this: "On this tower King Charles stood Sept. 24, 1645, and saw his army defeated on Rowton Moor." But in the case of the Colony that good resolution, incited by the beauty of the distant view, meant victory, not defeat; life, not death; hope, not hopelessness for the waiting thousands who stood ready to share the blessings of the new charity that day to be born, for all that remained to be done was the silent stroke of a pen as it affixed executive approval. Just now, this very month, and singularly enough almost this very day, five years ago, the very first blow was struck that had for its object the putting of this vast estate of 1895 acres in fit condition for occupancy for epileptics. On the second floor of the Letchworth House, a building named in honor of the Hon. Wm. P. Letchworth, a carpenter tore away the adjacent walls on either side of one window to make room for three. The first object sought, therefore, was light, more light, and that is why blows by the thousands, by the millions, yea, countless, have been struck since then-all for light, more light. The physical light that comes from the sun was first wanted because it conduced to health and life. Light, mental light, the kind that an allwise Providence was pleased to give us in our minds, the light of knowledge, was wanted to help us do more for the afflicted ones about to come under our care; and so the Colony was surely builded. Physical or mental light, or both, were always being acquired; both were striven for, that houses might be built; fountains of water be made free as air and as pure as the human soul; that a sewerage system, embodying the latest principle, the German filtration system, might be laid out. Mental and physical light was necessary that industries might find an abiding home in the Colony system; light was needed to fit out a Hospital with good implements, instruments, tools, and appliances, and equipped with a bountiful supply of drugs, where man might be made whole. Problems of the day were studied, mistakes considered, remedies applied; all made ready for their better application by the light of another day. I have told you whose conception the Colony was, but this brief paper would n t be complete were I to fail to mention those who in the beginning bore the brunt of the burden; who gave it their time, without compensation. The Board of Managers in August, 1895, when work was commenced, was as follows: Dr. Frederick Peterson, New York city; Mr. H. E. Brown, Mount Morris, N. Y.; Mrs. Charles F. Wadsworth, Geneseo, N. Y.; Mr. Wm. H. Cuddeback, Buffalo, N. Y.; Judge O. P. Hurd, Watkins, N. Y.; Doctor Charles E. Jones, Albany, N. Y.; Mr. LeRoy S. Oatman, Buffalo, N. Y.; Mrs. J. R. Hawkins, Malone, N. Y.; Mrs. K. H. Salmon, Syracuse, N. Y.; Dr. A. S. Thompson, Ellisburg, N. Y. The officers of the Board were as follows: President, Dr. Frederick Peterson; Secretary, Mr. H. E. Brown; Treasurer, Mr. John F. Connor. Since then the Board has lost one of its members by death, Dr. Chas. E. Jones, of Albany, than whom a nobler man, a man with better principles, a man in whom the desire to do good, to help his fellow-beings, never lived. The Colony will always have reason to remember his sincere and arduous labors in its behalf. You will pardon me, a subordinate of the managers, I am sure, and permit me to digress for a moment from history to tell you a plain fact concerning this Board. If you forgive me, the Board will; if you do not, the Board will anyway, for the fact I am going to tell you is to their everlasting credit. Since it has been my pleasure to act as Superintendent of the Craig Colony under the direction and control of this Board of Managers, no member of the board has had a political axe of any kind to grind, nay, not even the smallest hatchet. Not one has ever asked me to make an appointment that savored in the slightest of politics; nor indeed, for that matter, have they ever asked me to make an appointment of any kind. They have ever acted as though I were a physician in charge of sick people and not a politician in charge of people whose function it might be to exercise the right of suffrage. Now the secret is out and my mind is largely relieved; but I still have another small secret to tell you, because it will show why the history of the Colony to this time has been what it is. Since the board has been a board there has not been among its members at any time a breach of feeling, or any unpleasant expression of the slightest degree or kind. This I say is why the history of the Colony has run as smoothly and as satisfactorily to this time as it has. If there is trouble at the fountain head, there will be trouble all along the line. But there has been no trouble at the fountain head; consequently, the way throughout has been free from friction. Do you believe the record can be duplicated? I venture to assert that it cannot. There are two fluids whose chemical properties are widely different, and yet, for all, they are fluids. One is oleaginous and smooth and its use will banish the stiffest friction between opposing parts of machinery. The application of the other will corrode the metal and will increase the friction. I refer to oil and vinegar. It is the same with men; some are wound up in infancy and their machinery of existence well lubricated with a good quality of oil. Others had a poor winding; the key was defective, the springs of little use, and they had the added misfortune of having their machinery oiled with an acid. Now, all of those among the managers, charged by law with the management and development of this Colony, are of the first kind; all provided with a good spring, properly wound and guaranteed to run without friction. The rapid construction and development that has gone on at the Colony has, of course, made necessary the use of money. This has been given the Colony only by the State Legislature; one man has obtained it. There has been no lobbying-this I can vouch for; no plotting—this I can vouch for; no begging--this I can vouch for. Armed with a righteous cause and backed by the purpose to do good for a suffering class of vast proportions, the Hon. Otto Kelsey, Member of Assembly from Livingston County, has secured for the Colony the appropriations it required, year by year, since its foundation. He has never asked for, nor has he received, any reward for these services. He has kept conversant with the development of the Colony, watching closely its expenditures. I think he will tell you, if you should ask him, that he knows of no extravagances that have been practiced at the Colony. Personally, I myself am familiar with the manner in which every cent has been expended here; for it has so happened that my name has been signed to every estimate, large or small. I do not today know where a cent has been spent that could have been spared. We have, it is true, done some things new to the community; some things that may have puzzled some persons of the community. Let those persons, if you please, who may have felt that we were a bit ex travagant, visit and inspect the twenty-four other great charitable institutions of this state; let them do it conscientiously, unbiased and well; then let them come back and make a similar inspection of the Colony, and I venture to assert that the Colony will not suffer by the comparison. The per capita cost of constructing buildings here is lower than it is at any other institution in the state. The Villa Flora Group, consisting now of eleven buildings and housing approximately 300 people, cost less than $390.00 per bed; while the average that is being expended today in the construction of hospitals for the insane is $550.00 per bed. I desire particularly to call your attention to the fact that the Colony is not yet finished, and that many things that appear crude today will not be so a few years hence. The finishing touches must come slowly; they will be put on largely by the hands of those who find here a haven of rest. In doing this work these beneficiaries not only apply to themselves a form of treatment that is valuable for their disease, but at the same time lessen the cost of their maintenance. I am not given to making prophecies; but I have no hesitancy in declaring here on this spot, today, that it may become a matter of history among the archives of your society, that most of the persons here present will live to see the time when the cost of keeping a colonist at the Colony will not exceed $100.00 per year. In conclusion, I desire to thank this society for having met in annual session at the Colony. It is always well for these institutions to throw their doors open wide to the community; otherwise the community will feel that there is some secret about the place, some mystery that needs to be unveiled. And now, gentlemen, it is my pleasure to hand you the keys of Craig Colony. Open every door, search every nook and corner, inspect all, see all, enjoy all; and, if you find aught that is wrong, if you find aught that is unjust, as a good citizen and one genuinely interested in the welfare of the Colony, and in the good of suffering humanity, come and tell us of it. Gentlemen of the Society, for the day the Colony is yours. The Secretary called attention to his report of deaths of members since the publication of the pamphlet in 1898, reported quite a number of memorials in his hands, and, on his motion, they were referred to the Committee on Publication. Hon. Lockwood R. Doty read a memorial of George Rogers Howell, which appears in the proper place. Mr. Doty presented the following, which was adopted by a rising vote: Resolved, That this Society expresses its appreciation of the courtesy of Dr. Wm. P. Spratling's invitation to hold its annual meeting at Craig Colony, and its obligations to Dr. Spratling, Dr. L. Perine Clark and Mr. Freeman L. Stone, for the very profitable and delightful entertainment which has been accorded the Society and its guests; and the Society sincerely regrets that illness has compelled the absence of Dr. Spratling for this meeting, and trusts that his recovery will be speedy and complete. Resolved, That Dr. Wm. P. Spratling be made an honorary member of this Society. The President appointed the following standing committees: AN OLD DOCUMENT. Opening the Navigation of Canaseraga River. At the last meeting of the County Historical Society an ancient document was presented to the Society by Clarence I. McNair, a prominent paper manufacturer of Cloquet, Minn., son of the late D. D. McNair, of Dansville. It was a subscription paper, written on old style hand-made paper and endorsed " Subscription for opening Canaseraga." We give the same below verbatim et literatim: We the Subscribers Inhabitants of the Counties of Ontario, Steuben, Genesee and Allegany from a deep conviction of the importance to these Counties of having the navigation of the Canaseraga river opened and improved, to the end that an outlet for the produce of the country may be thereby made, do severally promise and engage to pay to Nathaniel Rochester, David McNair, and Joseph Richardson a committee appointed for that purpose, the sums, or to deliver to them the wheat, beef, or pork, or to furnish the labor by us respectively subscribed; the said monies wheat beef, or pork, or labor to be laid out applied and disposed of under the direction and superintendence of the said committee in opening and improving the said navigation. September 1811. Wm. McNair six bushels of marchalle wheat. James Wallace three bushels of marchenable wheat. Henry Long 3 days work. John Metcalfe ten dollars in goods out of my store. John Hartman 10 gallons of whiskey. M. A. Troup in cash $150 for the Pultney estate & for Troupton $50. Carroll & Fitzhugh by N. Rochester their atty. produce $50. Jared Irwin fifteen dollars payable in goods out of his store. James D. McCurdy five dollars in labour. Wm. and Jno. Rochester $10 in whiskey or store goods. Canaseraga river, now known as Canaseraga creek, must have been much more of a stream than it is now to make feasible a plan to open it for navigation. It does not appear that the enterprise went any further than this subscription list of money, work, wheat and whiskey. The only "design" upon the Canaseraga of recent date has been the proposition to straighten the sinuous stream urgently advocated a few years ago by B. Kennedy of this village. That, too, sleeps with its pioneer predecessor. |