New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-12-18
CITY CoUNcrL--oFFICIAL
REGULAR BIEETING.
CRY Hall. NRR ORLEANS

WORKS and Public BuIdlngs) James Levi
.Improvements) Robert Brewster Police
and H. F. Sturcken (Assessments).
Observation-Disclosures Alfred Sha,
lpubIic Accounts) and John S. Walton Il
nance
The Mayor desiraI to have a correctio
Of the minutes Of the last meeting. Til
Secretary stated III the minutes that th
Mayor had decided that " majority of tn
Council not having voted on the resolu
ton repeating the resolution authorizing
the employment Of special counsel respect
ing the claims of candidates for Office tn,
resolution was not carried. The fact wa
that before he decided the question a mo
ton to adjourn was made and carried.
The minutes were ordered corrected a.
suggested by the Mayor, and as corrected
were approved and their reading DISPENSED
with.
NIessages from the Mayor.
MAYoRALTy or NEW ORLEANS, !
| December II, 1872. /
| Torhe City Council Of New Orleans:
/ | respectfully recommend that a commit
! tee OF this board be raised, with authority
to inquire and report whe ther suitable build
! lD9s and grounds for the City Asylum for
| the Insane can be rented, bought or built
! by the city, and in what location and upon
| what terms; also, whether an ARRANGEMENT
can be made with any proprietor of pri-
waite insane asylum for taking care Of the
present inmates of the city ASYLUM. and
such other INDECENT insane persons as NAV
hereafter become charge to the city. to-
gether with such other facts as thew NAV
consider pertinent to this important sub
ject.
On the sixteenth, accompanied by Messrs.
Iurnbull and Ftzenreiter, of your board
visited the City Insane Asylum, now es
tablished in the United States Marine Hos
pltal building, at the corner of Broad and
Common streets The square is surrounded
by four drainage canals, and the ground ia
low and swampy. The gloomy aspect of
the structure corresponds with the mo
notonous and lonely scenery A building
IN such location can not be made cheerful
comfortable or healthy.
The interior is quite as forbidding and
gloomy as the exterior. The west wing of
The hospital has been rudeIy fitted up for a
purpose widely different from that for
which it was built. The narrow area is in
closed with high picketed fence, which.
with the barred galleries and the rooms
lnclOseG with lattice work of rough Ium-
Der and secured by D0nderOus. rusty
locks, must at first view be painfully sug-
gestive Of prison to the dis0rdered minds
OF patients as they enter what ought to be
curative hospital and comfortable home
II Is my belief that if the whole building
belonged to the city no expense short of
that required for new asylum would ft it
4or this use, even if its site were not an in
sHperable objection. The more violent pa
fIents are sometimes shut mp in Outbuild- |
.ngs or narrow stalls made of rough heavy |
pIanks. with the h0ars near the dauD |
ground, without proper ventilation, and |
wholly without means for heating when |
necessary. The less violent patients are |
confined singly in barred cells in the main
where ventilation is ample, but
where there are no means of heating The
patients who require no confinement are
allotted TO large rooms partitI0ned with IN
Dlaned plank lattice, and open to free cir
,uIatlon OF air, whether damp or
Try cold or hot. The rooms are mostly
without furniture, and have an un,
comfortable and dismal aspect. Even
lie female patients are assigned to
tpaltments having scarcely the com.
0rts Of modest barracks for soldiers.
the building will not admit Of Classifying
)auents according u the degree OF severity
i the. affection. The more sensitive and
intelligent are thereby denied the privacy
Which they naturally desire, and are often
w 90 ICdA anu sec IIEC tLldJ is painful
md revolving One hundred and thirtv
patients. about Che average number can IN
means b. properly cared t0g in the estabo
lshmenf as now arranged.
twithstanding the unwholes0m9 site.
he has. arrangement and the unsuitable
Laracter Of the building, and the INSULT.
lent number of attendants many of the
inmates seemed cheerful, and all were
lothtd comfortably, excepting a few whts
ave not yet been supplied with shoes. and
lew others who habitually destroy their
lothlgg. The rations are ample and
,h0lesume, and, as far as means and an
hances extend, the establishment. although
! no proper sense an asylum, has been put
l better condition than | expected to find
(, and certainly better than public gumOr
as represented.
The budget for 1873 limits YOUR anDropri.
ton for the insane to a sum by far too
mall. but that estimate does not prevent
ne Council from acquiring or renting any
,qulslte lands, OF from erecting any sUita-
IL buildings for this or any other chaIita-
lie uses.
Opposed as | am to all outlay Of public /
0ney and all increase of public debt not |
richly necessary, yet feel it duty to f
commend this unfortunate class of suffer
5 to your especial favor, and to advise
III to take prompt and adequate measures
! their relief OF any necessary cost
LOUIS A. WILT, Mayor :
The message was received and ordered O
inted.
Mr.. Lewis moved that a committee Of
rec he appointed in accordance with the
commentator Of his honor the Mayor to Q
lect site for all the charitable institu- :
)ns Of the city, and suggested that the =
lrisjaturp if nrOnrrI,- oruaaIcJ T., would