When the school for the deaf had been formally recognized by the state, its first act of assistance as a rule was in the form of _per capita_ allowances for the pupils, with only occasionally a specific appropriation. These allowances were in the beginning small, but in time were gradually increased. It was usually some years before the policy was adopted of making regular appropriations. In a few cases, as in Indiana and Illinois, when it was decided to create a state institution, the first proceedings were, in lieu of a direct appropriation, the levying of a small mill tax upon the assessed property of the state. In New York benefit was allowed from the fines or licenses on lotteries, and in Ohio from the receipts of a tax on auctions in one of the counties of the state. In a few cases the schools were even located where there appeared the greatest financial inducement,[239] as with the requirement that a certain number of acres of land should be donated for the school.[240] For the organization of the new schools a small body of citizens was appointed, often the original promoters of the undertaking, to act as trustees, and to them was confided its direction, with the support and general oversight of the state back of them.[241] Now and then the trustees of an existing educational or other institution were given charge as a temporary arrangement.[242] In the material projection of the schools, little was to be expected at the beginning. With the meagre resources at their disposal, the directors had small choice in what was to be provided. In not a few cases the schools started out under conditions far from auspicious, and in some the circumstances in connection with their origin were quite discouraging.[243] The quarters secured for the schools were nearly always of unpretentious, and sometimes of humble, type. Many began in a single rented room, and a few in a church building lent for the purpose. It was only in the course of the years, as the communities grew in population and wealth, that the establishments for the deaf assumed appearances in keeping with their character. The schools for the deaf were now in being, and were ready for the reception of their pupils. But what of these pupils, and where were they? Were they found at the doors of the new institutions, clamoring for admission? The situation was hardly this. In point of fact, in nearly every case the schools were ahead of the pupils. Though in practically every community where a school was created, there were a greater or less number of children in need of an education, these children, or rather their parents, were slow in availing themselves of the privilege. It was thus that the schools when established had to wait, as it were, for the coming of their pupils, and indeed, in not a few instances, to go out after them.