New-York tribune., 1872-08-31

ingdale, is furnished Dy. ouI ioPo4
LODGE for Dangerous Patients, In whch ne
was first confined at Bloomingdale Is closer,
more secluded prison than the Iomps or oihg
Sing. Criminals are less securely guarded 'nan
TTnfortunates. And it is as difficult for sympa-
tbisinp friend to penetrate 1t to aid patent
90 for the patient himself to escape. Ihe
doctors visit the halls once a day only
m hear complaints and applications, and
scora of patients in each ward are expected TO
teu their stories in the two or three minutes
allotted to each. All this is simply criminal,
ond has no excuse In the pitiful plea of Sc
curity. 1t is mismanagement unworthy any
nublic prison for Correction or Detention, and
more severe upon the patients than the DIS
ciplne of the worst Prison for Punish
ment in the State of New York.
No perfect or proper Asylum or Hospital
for the treatment of special diseases, and
particularly of insanity, can exist without
strict adherence to well considered system
of classification. The report which we publish
to-day is conclusive proof that there Is no
such system pursued at BlOOmingdale. Inc
proof is not in the assertions OF the writer;
it lies in the fact that he, feigning nothing
appearing quiet person, without even &C.
centricites, daily visited by an expert
physician, and constantly watched by pro-
4" fessionaln keepers, was kept four days IN the
excited wards, surrounded by dangerous
maniacs, without suggestion of removal.
And during all this time the ward was
never once visited by the Chle1 rhy-
sician or Superintendent DR.. Brown.
The Bloomingdale Asylum is private In
stitntion. owned and conducted by personal
| enterprise. 1t is evident, also, that IL B
| n speculative institution, and that 1t Is MAIN
| tanned ut a profit at the abuse and expense OF
| the unfortunate boarders The lowest rate
per week charged is $40. Now 1t Is evident
| from the plain, brief, and careful statements
| of the reporter, that the accommodations are
not better than can be had in any second
class boardng-house in this city for seven dol
lars q week. room and meals included. AS for
the other conditions, the food is not particularly
| nutritious. the supply of the costlier materials
ia small and grudgingly given, the food is not
clean, nor is it well cooked, and the attend
| ance at table is simply beastly. The CONVEX
sation of the keepers while serving at table
| is not fairly reported, but 1t is because their
| disgusting language cannot be expressed IN
print and il is impossible to describe 1t.
| Uttered in a public bar-room, some OF the
| words reported to us by the reporter as re-
peatedly spoken by the attendants while
serving at table in the Asylum, would have
subjected the speaker to summary and violent
| election at the hands of the most besotted OF
| proprietOrs.
The constant punishment of an imbecile
youth by forcing him to perform the duties OF
| menial; the violent burling of harmless
| idiot half across room for the Offense OF not
| knowing which way to turn; the brutal beat
ing of an old and blind idiot for protesting
against rude treatment the toasting of poor
! boy naked in the sun while confined In what
] is nothing other than an iron cage these are
among the instances of cruelty which the re-
porter cites as having been witnessed by HIM
self. Others are also named, but none are of
such painful nature as those enumerated
| above. Weihave vainly endeavored to imagine
| plausible excuse for these acts OF violence
| which we have not the heart to recite in de-
| tail. They appear to have been wanton acts
done in moments of passion by the keepers,
and were not necessary apparently to the
maintenance of any system of discipline, Tor
| discipline and classification alike seem to have
no part in the BlOOmingdale management.
But we are less disposed to hold the keepers
morally responsible for these acts OF
cruelty than to condemn DR.. Burrill
and the Governors for their frequent recur-
renee; for it is always sure to be the case In
these large institutions that the man will imi-
| tate the master, and the keepers in the Lodge
are apt followers OF DR.. Burrill. 1t may
| appear invidious to name DR.. Burrill as the
responsible physician to the exclusion of his
superior, DR.. Brown; but it must not be
| forgotten as one of the explanations, and the
primary cause, in fact, of the demoralza-
| ton in the management of BlO0mingdale,
that DR.. Brown for years past has been kept
by the Governors lobbying at Albany and else
where in the interest of the Asylum.
We have still more to tell of the manage
ment of this Ayslum, and the worst features
of the case have not all been related. The
physical labor of writing up the story, particu-
larly where few notes were used save those
made under painful circumstances, renders it
! impossible that the reporter should complete
the whole in time for a single issue. His
weeks residence in the ward for quiet patients,
| undetected under the very eyes of DR..
Burrill, still remains to be told. We have
| further to announce that we have obtained an
| insight into the management of another insti-
tuition as large as that of Bloomingdale, and
hope to be able, during the coming week, to
| furnish facts which will compel its refoTma-
| ton. From all parts of the country encourag-
| ing letters and assistance reach us, and the
cordial support of the great majority of the
respectable journals of all parties (for extracts
| from which we can find no room to-day indi-
Gates deep and widespread interest in this
refOrmatOry and humanitarian movement.