The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1858-09-01

4 maui up III ullnQ bHdL u USb m6
le the best of it. took his advice, strove
to get interested in putting MY room in 9
lie der, unpacking my baggage and at leng
in threw myself upon bed. But, thoug
h wearied to the last degree, there was i
y sleep for me. My eyes closed involu
D. tarily. 1t was torture. The windo
d over the door of the room, was file
If with pyramid of faces, all staring il
b tently upon me. Unable to endur
Is this, got up, and went into the hal
It Patients were moving about; but wha
It particularly attracted my attention wa
IS group of at least one hundred strang
d looking dogs at the upper end of th
] hall. It seemed to me that me
d and women were feeding aud carossin
: them, and that among the crowd tn
t heads of splendid blooded English bull
q and COWS appeared with their full front
: great, honest eyes, and delightful short
sharp, and crooked horns. Having
3 made the acquaintance of the venerable
f MI asked him what these crca
lures were alluding to the dogs. Sail
I, "M--, they all look marvellously
like dogs, except each specimen has
neck and head like human being
What do you call them?" M--kind
ly and promptly replied, "Sir, those crea
lures we called bipeds. They are Guilt
vated and cared for Dr. Gray, wac has
fancy that way. One of their peculi-
arities is, that they do not bite" AT
this assurance / was much relieved,
though Ms explanation in regard to
the introduction into the hall of the
| o,ktlo ,r,, MI ,Itocatbor olaor ~, ,os;.
factory, he assuring me that it was in
accordance with q special enactment of
the common council of Utica!
Perhaps the singular Ito me, at least)
hallucinations Of sight that troubled me
may be illustrated still more clearly BY
the recital of the following instances,
which I select from . Thousand of the
''same Sort Along one side of the
hall were ranged (ifI remember sright)
five tables, covered with table-spreads
The arrangement of these covers was
such that each table seemed &, me to be
head and shoulders of magnifcens short
horned Durham cattle.
Looking from window of the asylum,
was surprised to see regiment of
militia, in splendid uniform, drawn up
in front of the grounds. A vast crowd
of people gathered there from the city
They came in all manner of vehicles =
l marvelled to see that all the omnibu
ses drove inside of the gate, the horses
were unhitched and turned loose, and
the coaches we're turned over on their
sides. l called the attention of pa.
tient to this fact, and he replied that
there would not be another presidential
election until 1860, and that he would
then be elected. While was marvel
ling at this reply, the military pageant
disappeared, the omnibuses passed out,
filled with people in Shaker costume,
AID went iuto the reading room at the
end of the hall, where I was int, oduced
to those who were actually assembled,
and where I met multitudes of friends
and acquaintances who where not there |
I spent the evening in this place. Two
pictures, hanging in the room, seemed
te me to be windows looking into large
bazaars. One was filled with confec-
tionary, cakes, cigars, Sc, and was
attended by plump and smiling negro |
women, one of whom kindly smuggled |
into my pockets .sundry and divers ci
CARS, which formed the ground work of |
a portion of the night of trouble that
followed Having long smoked cigars
to excess, and being debarred that pre-
cious privilege IN the asylum, I was bent
on the stolen luxury of a smoke in my
room; and, before morning dawned, had
filed my boots and hat and bed with
half-consumed Havanas, and fought lus
tily every effort that was made to detect
me in the act of smoking. l4u |
The other picture was q variety store,
filled with rich goods of all descriptions,
and the attendants were all mulattoes. |
thought all this was strange, and ar
gued that it was not in accordance with |
the rules of the asylum, or the welfare |
of the patients. Still, I by no means
objected to the gratuity offered in the
shape of cigars. The temptation was
irresistible.
During this eventful evening, every !
moment of which seemed to cover the |
space of an hour, l seemed to be con-
stantly dropping articles books, eye
glass, wa:c-key, &c that L could not
pick up, except with the utmost difficult
ty, and often not at all. This troubled
me for several days. ls.7T - -lH
When it became dark, / looked out OF
a window opposite me, knowing, that
should certainly see some sort OF
spectre. I wondered first what it would
beAwhat shape it would take-and was
not at all shocked or surprised to behold,
hanging from books, two beautiful spe.
cimens of human skeletons, male and
female, and prepared with the skill and
care that characterize tho French in
this respect. confess rather admired
them, and was somewhat surprised at the
lack OF interest manifested on the part of
m marifested on the part of those OF the
strange company l was in, to whom L
pointed out the beauty tf the prepara-
tions aud the perfection Of the anatomy
of each skeleton. At the same time, |
superb dogs filled the rootn-beautiful |
lop, cared English rabbits jumped from
the fues connected with the heating |
apparatus, and the air was all astir
above my head and in the hall with in
Vulnerable birds, of an infinite variety |
of plumage and song. @ So
After the first night of my con6ne-
ment in the asylum l entered upon a
new classification, and took my meals
with new class of patients. This was
the closing chapter in my case. At the
termination of q long and delightful
oblivious slumber, arose, partook of
hearty meal, and sat down to read
paper that had been kindly furnished
me by my medical attendant. 81
sat in a rocking chair, opposite the