§ 991. Requisites for admission.-All blind persons of suitable age and capacity for instruction, who are legal residents of the state, shall be entitled to the privileges of the New York state school for the blind, without charge, and for such a period of time in each individual case as may be deemed expedient by the board of trustees of said school; provided, that whenever more persons apply for admission at one time than can be properly accommodated in the school, the trustees shall so apportion the number received, but each county may be represented in the ratio of its blind population to the total blind population of the state; and provided further, that the children of citizens who died in the United States service, or from wounds received therein during the late rebellion, shall take precedence over all others. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 992. Applicants from without the state. Blind persons from without the state may be received into the school upon the payment of an adequate sum, fixed by the trustees, for their boarding and instruction; provided that such applicant shall in no case exclude those from the state of New York. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 993. Applications for admission. Applications for admission into the school shall be made to the board of trustees in such manner as they may direct, but the board shall require such application to be accompanied by a certificate from the county judge or county clerk of the county or the supervisor or town clerk of the town, or the mayor of the city where the applicant resides, setting forth that the applicant is a legal resident of the town, county and state claimed as his residence. (As amended by chap ter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) 8 994. Object of institution.- The primary object of the school shall be, to furnish to the blind children of the state the best known facilities for acquiring a thorough education, and train them in some useful profession or manual art, by means of which they may be enabled to contribute to their own support after leaving the school; but it may likewise, through its industrial department, provide such of them with appropriate employment and boarding accommodations as find themselves unable, after com pleting their course of instruction and training, to procure these elsewhere for themselves. It shall, however, be in no sense an asylum for those who are helpless from age, infirmity or otherwise, or a hospital for the treatment of blindness. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 995. Appointment and terms of trustees. The governor shall continue, each alternate year, to appoint, by and with the consent of the senate, three trustees who shall serve for a term of six years. Two of the board must be residents of the county of Genesee, and a majority must be residents within fifty miles of said school. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 996. Filling vacancies. In case of the declination of any member of said board of trustees to act under his appointment, or of the occurrence of any other casual vacancy in the board, the governor shall forthwith appoint some suitable person to fill such vacancy, and the member so appointed shall serve out the term of his predecessor. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910) The trustees § 997. Trustees entitled to mileage; disabilities. shall receive no compensation as such, but they may allow themselves mileage, at the same rate as that paid to members of the legislature, for any distance actually traveled in the service of the school. Nor shall any trustee be pecuniarily interested in any contract for buildings pertaining to the school, or in furnishing supplies therefor. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 998. General powers of trustees.- The board of trustees shall have charge of all the affairs of the school, with power to make all necessary by-laws and regulations for their government and the proper management of the school, as well as for the admission of pupils, and to do all else which may be found necessary for the advancement of its humane design. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) $999. Officers, committees and seal. They shall elect from their own number a president and treasurer, together with such standing committees as they may deem necessary, and adopt a common seal for the school. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 1000. Secretary. The board of trustees may elect a secretary, who shall serve during the pleasure of the board, and who shall not be a member thereof, and may fill any vacancy in the said office as often as the same shall occur, and may prescribe his duties and fix his compensation. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) 1001. Treasurer's duties and bond.-1. The treasurer shall have the custody of all the funds of the school, and pay out the same only upon properly authenticated orders of the board or executive committee. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) 2. Before entering upon the duties of his office, he shall execute and file in the office of the comptroller, a bond with such sureties and in such amount of penalty as the comptroller shall require and approve, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties. as such treasurer. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 1002. Appointment of superintendent, instructors and assistants. The trustees shall have power to appoint a competent and experienced superintendent, who shall be the chief executive officer of the school, together with an efficient corps of instructors and other subordinate officers; prescribe the duties and terms of service of the same; fix and pay their salaries, and for just cause, remove any or all of them from office. They shall likewise employ the requisite number of servants and other assistants in the various departments of the school and pay the wages of the same. amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) (As $1003. Purchase of equipment. They shall purchase all furniture, apparatus and other supplies necessary to the equipment and carrying on of the school in the most efficient manner. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) 1004. Duty to provide clothing and pay traveling expenses.1. When any blind person shall, upon proper application, be admitted into the school, it shall be the duty of his parents, guardians or other friends, to suitably provide such person with clothing at the time of entrance and during continuance therein, and likewis to defray his traveling expenses to and from the school, at the tim of entrance and discharge, as well as at the beginning and close of cach session of the school, and at any other time when it shall become necessary to send such person home on account of sickness or other exigency. 2. Whenever it shall be deemed necessary by the trustees to have such person permanently removed from the school, in accordance with the by-laws and regulations thereof, the same shall be promptly removed upon their order, by his parents, guardians or other friends. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 1005. Charges against county.-1. If the friends of any pupil from within the state of New York shall fail through neglect or inability to provide the same with proper clothing or with funds to defray his necessary traveling expenses to and from the school, or to remove him therefrom, as required in the preceding section, the trustees shall furnish such clothing, pay such traveling expenses, or remove such pupil to the care of the overscers of the poor of his township, and charge the cost of the same to the county to which the pupil belongs, provided that the annual amount of such expenditures on account of any one pupil shall not exceed the sum of sixty dollars. 2. And in case of the death of any pupil at the school, whose remains shall not be removed or funeral expenses borne by the friends thercof, the trustees shall defray the necessary burial expenses, and charge the same to his county as aforesaid. 3. Upon the completion of their course of training in the industrial department, the trustees may furnish to such worthy poor pupils as may need it, an outfit of machinery and tools for commencing business, at a cost not exceeding seventy-five dollars each, and charge the same to the proper county as aforesaid. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 1006. Accounts against counties and payment thereof.— On the first day of October in each year, the trustees shall cause to be made out against the respective counties concerned, itemized accounts, separate in each case, of the expenditures authorized by the preceding section, and forward the same to the board of supervisors chargeable with the account. The board shall thereupon direct the county treasurer to pay the amount so charged to the treasurer of the school for the blind, on or before the first day of March next ensuing. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 1007. Reimbursement of counties. The counties against which the said accounts shall be made out as aforesaid, shall cause their respective treasurers, in the name of their respective counties, to collect the same, by legal process, if necessary, from the parents or estates of the pupils who have the ability to pay, on whose account the said expenditures shall have been made; provided that at least five hundred dollars' value of the property of such parents or estate shall be exempt from the payment of the accounts aforesaid. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 1008. Entitled to publications and may receive bequests and donations. The school shall be entitled to receive copies of all books and other publications which are distributed gratuitously by the state to township or county libraries, common schools, academies, colleges and societies. It may also receive in the name of the state, bequests or donations of money or any kind of property, but such money or property shall, in all cases, belong to the state, and be subject to its control; provided that the same shall not be diverted from the particular object for which it shall be bequeathed or donated. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) § 1009. Records and annual reports. The board of trustees shall keep full and complete records of their proceedings, and make an annual report of the same to the legislature, at the commencement of the regular session thereof, strictly accounting in detail for their expenditures, on account of the school, during the preceding fiscal year of the state, setting forth the progress and condition of the several departments of the school, making such suggestions concerning its future management as they may deem essential, and submitting proper estimates of the funds needed for its support, as well as for building and all other purposes. (As amended by chapter 140 of the Laws of 1910.) The state treasurer is 1010. Payments by state treasurer.hereby directed to pay over to the board of trustees, upon the war |