, 1865-12-07
COOK COUNTY POOR HOUSE.

and the locks taken away, The iall OF the s(resm
VII BE- neIonsh - Of ioos 70 the mile. III. dep:h
COOK COUNTY POOR HOUSE.
Annual Visit OF the Board OF Super.
vtsors-- The Insane Department
1.-The Patients--Medi-
cal Treatment.
uta=e. the new Board OF Superr1sors OF Cook
county paid visit Of inspection and observation,
yesterday, to the Poor House. Situated In the town
OF seierson, sone twelve miles distant from tho
Coa1t Aonse, N nozthpcstcriy direction. Nearly
ior1y gentlemen Wrnt out, IN carriages, at tbs
psnse Of ihe county, and psztook Of dinner, a1set
uon; they then returned TO Inc city. =
I'll tne Cook County Poor honse, its location and
lnhaoatants, hhs been 50 oftcn described In con-
IN e1e7so would be to repeat IN on told tale The
vtsitofs found there $50 inmates Of both sexes and
III ages 81 Of ~hom are intaue, Inc rest chleay old
men and WoEnCn, or h1cndless children, though
there are few adults Of bo,h sexes who arc there
because Of some bodily aiimont which incapaetates
them from iabor. The inftltntion appeaE. to be
e1cellenuy managed by Mr. chase, his vile and
ton The food given TO the inmates healthy In qr3-
rty and quAntfty, and their clothing sufficient,
though coarse, a. IL should be. Tho rooms ars well
hesud, and sppea1 to be clean, and not badly ven
The insane department is the one to which At
tsehee thc greatest tnterest, and about which the
the yisitos werc surprised to find many persons
there de.anged In mlnd. and needing constant
watching to keep them from harmIng Themselves
fe1ted fsafon Is more dangerous th1o The fer11 in
sttncts OF the tlgcI, and some Of whom, one IL al
most tempted 10 believe, il would BE- charity TO
mt n q nf rNE NJ In.
fanty In Cook county IL largely-aIarmtp.l5-on
The incEnate. In addition 10 the nfnety-two
confined In the poo1hou:e, Of whom forty
seven were unce women, there are now confined
in The Jacksonville asylum Al others, enough 10
completely d up the additional calls erected ID the
Poor House during the past summer, and nor ju,t
- to need TO be kept constantly under Lock and
key The rest are allowed. IN The day ttnc. to walk
ont into the ball and yard set apart lo5 them,
guard seainst The consequences Of sudden ont
breaks OF fuly on the PAR OF eome. Only very
feW are propsrly harmless that t. ean PC depended
upon TO behave themselves without incessaut
Wttchins.
A more melancholy walk could scarcely be taken
taan that amoEe these nnmes from whence has van
brute, and no more potent argument could BE- nd
lnced ln dttpsoof ol the maerialstic doctrine that
TIE thsnk'ng PoFey-lhe soul-ls b1i = consequent
OF tbe peculiar aggregation Of material atoms which
compose the organization. Here We have many
Cases in which The bodily tunchons at peztec,
af IN The being whose soul Ia httuued IN harmony
with the highest md poblest thoughts OF the Df-
ne the vt,al principle Is thcze Perfect in all that
constitutes the mere tntInal, yet the tntelIect-thc
@oEal :; ;Ss say wanting Is in ths
physfca1 function OF, II 20, totally denented but
enough are 10 indicate strongly The existence Of
sa .s5.ss nom s9s2 s % Ts a 49st o5
grnlc life In the human frame.
Some OF the tntonc caees In the Poor Honse are
Of morc than ordinary Interest, There IL one poor
nsnec who is said to have been an onesa singer Of
no mean ranks whet .ne cansc Of her mania Is no,
known; II may have been lore for her art, or for
She u haImiessIs H e1azed, snd Is SLOWED iibesiy
winch she aVails bersef but little. generally s,
ting in covering attitude by the door Of her cell
In one cell, securely locked, l. stcven McEitoy,
puted as the .layes Q! shree men. and now
= Ave1y danEftons character. In another cell Il one
wbose fannEs aie ~ hsd a, ihose of he men who
| rrc described IN the Gospel Is living among the
to,nbe. In her frequent its she tears iom hcf per.
sca every sIsd q clothing nd sapets about he1 m
ditrustinc IL. is.sc1ibe; Another old wgpan Is moi
cn|iT ~ NV ~ .;nssr--s uanieslat.oos," e9t rave.
s!most necessarily and ,~.sh e1tsen.- wl''ness q
1heN is one peculiarly distressing ease-a n.-
bly, beaten BY The officer that bis skull still
bears the MARKS Of the blows ratncd doxn on ii,
|
eeuI' WIZ plnckcd ont BY the staff OF ofaee; surely
thc csrcrmE,snIcs Of The case, however bad, could
ecarcey}uely such violence II smother noon, .pcr
butea,sinly not sound in mind, his head measuring
the enoruocs gir4h Of twenty six an hslf inches
he IL hydrocephnIic, and the limbs On the righi
Mis- Rosood: tic osncr Of reai estate IN ths city,
! Hhu is tutcun1ttcnt15 tCtsue. having been dis
charged several times, only to &c carned hack In
The Creai mntor1iy OF the occupants OF the Insane
walk about latleasy stand like posts against the
walls for hours together starin7 Tito vacancy; two
or three Of Tic harmless oncs, however, take fne
agreeable ptiase Of HkIng for hard work. Thrre
is one in particular who spends nearly all Of hi
iazs bnt fe aaiss mschsnielis 70 his W work a,tes e.
each meal and secma unhappy when restrained
fIem his MvoEste occupation. Ordinarily be ,akcs
| watching him he falls 10 with such perfect fnry
,oat tsey - iookins, 1t lin istt be should osef
We h1ye not tp4ee to describe au that Is OF
roournfnl interest in the insane department. We
should moi have referred to It At 20 great length
patt IN our Fysten Of cazc tor the unfortunate One
csnnoi OF couEse answer for the uniform Kindness
q those appointed 70 watch over them. but The In
Eote OF severity thsn Il nece:sa. End ,ha. the In
.ntc arc t1eatcd with lat more kindness :hsn they
ss s91s Il 1bees
1ic<c TINT 1rranty H. not always tncurablc and tha.
ills t<H frequently susceptible Of cure p1ftIal OF
cc1nn.ete under 5udicons Treatment There docs not
| rppcat to te TN adequate examination OF the
patients, nor my provision made By the county 70
improve their condition. not even 60 far A. renov.
! ipe those anatomacal dcject1 or dersDeemeats
which experience his fhowH not se11om cause in
| fnnitv. Surely under proper treatment some OF
| tle-e poor w1etchcs might be restored TO homes
and fneDd1ets be lifted from TINT slate Of lcu:al
death nhde9 winch thcar corporal tencei. worse
thnn dissolution. A physician now vtslts twice a
week 10 treat Ill well recognized bodily ailments,
but tie Is not expected, nor askea, il be be quail
| fed, to - minister 10 a mind diseased
will need to establish separate Institution for lhe
cr1e Of the FneaDtr or that tnch viii be eseceI fdl
the reception OF patients from the Northern po55os
Of the State, the one at jacksonville being kept foI
lie use Of the Southern counties. 1twonld BE- pos
fibe then to- proslde for their proper Treatment
nccn more effectively than Is possible now that ths
insane department t. subordinate to the care OF ths
general poor. Another verr desirable reform vii
be the us,ns Of the old CITY Hospital for tho rcecp
ton and uEatuent Of the sick poor Of tbe county
1t viii relieve the Poor Hopse Of much extraneou,
| occupancy and allow OF mich more efficient medl
chi attendance thsn IL now possible
| We may not close without referring 20 one I'M
poF1aut feature OF the poor hruse--she c.oihi1g Il
now all made wiit1u the wills Of the building. ant
! that for the insans is grown and woven on tn
| premises. Since the Introduction OF this las
feature the insane have mol been able 10 tear NJ
1nsde OF very rsrone FAX Ahre, and stitched to
getbvr with their oun spun thread. forming fshsi
| Stronger than the best fall cloih, but much NOR
pli1ut. The credit OF this improvement Ii dne I
| the excellent rnatrun-Mfs. Chase-nho IN tddit1o
10 her other dntief. cuts ont with her own hands n
1 lhe clothing WON By male and female IN the fnsti
tu'iou, excepting, OF coatsc, that usca bT the Al