National Republican., 1876-04-11
INSANE AsYIva 1NvEsr1sAr1oN.

| The investigation into the conduct and expendl-
| lures Of the Insane Asylum was continued yes.
terdaY by the Committee on the Expenditures oi
| Interior Department.
! pr.CH Nichols, superintendent Of the Gov.
| eminent hospital for the insane, was called and
| testified that hewas appointed to his position by
| President Fillmore. Army and navy patients are
admitted TO the institution on the orders Of the
Secretaries Of War, Navy, Treasury and Interior
upon required certificates Of insanity. Civil pay
patients are admitted at the request Of the near
est relative guardian and the certificates of two
practicing physicians. One case Of dipsomania
was admitted, as it was considered stage Of in.
sanity.
CONCERNING THE PATIENT MARSH.
Mr. Marsh is an inmate now; is considered insane;
was given employment but was afterwards re-
turned TO the institution because he returned to
the habit of drinking. He is not legally volun-
tary patient, but in sense he is. After being in
the institution few weeks he requested to be
discharged. j hesitated, because all former dis
charges were unsatisfactory. / consulted the
physician and his father as TO his conduct, also
with his wife and others, all of whom opposed his
discharge, for the reason that he would renew his
habit Of drink and become dangerous. At a later
period he concluded TO stay for year, and de-
c:ded it would be proper to keep him. In that
sense he has been a voluntary patient. He was
permitted 10 leave and was returned again. 1
think he rs now with us for the fourth time. Wit
ness did not think that Mr.. Marsh was possessed
of any estate previous to his first admission. If
he had any estate his wife would be obliged to
nav for his support: did not know that Mr.. Marsh
had transferred q house and several lots TO his
wife, which she now possessed, but was under the
impression that what property his wife has is in
her own right. In reply to the question whether
Mr.. Marsh was not detained because he would
piled that he did not think that exactly. He con-
SdeTed him of unsOund mind from drink, and that
his mind was impaired in strength.
OTHER pIPsoNANIACs..
He thought that there were q Ealf dozen or
more other patients similar to Mr., Marsh, not all
supported by the Government, but flve or six so
supported, none of whom have been there long,
not more than three or four months. we nave, he
said, one man who has been there several years;
discharged, but sent back again. In the last two
years there has been improvement, but his mind
is weak, and he is considered insane. a person
confined for dipsomania can be discharged by the
institution: his friends can get his dismissal, or
the Secretary of the Interior, a writ of hGbeGS
corpus: and there is q provision Of law by which
the friends can give bond, that they. viii take
care of them, and take them out Ihe afhdavit
by which a dipsOmanac is admitted must say he
is insane: he must be in n condition that lustihes
2 sworn certificate of insanity: lie should be dis
charged upon professional judgment that he is
restored At frst they furnished nebriates with
liquor. being obliged 10, but cut it of in two or
three days. DIR. Nichols stated that he was de-
eidedly opposed TO admitting such a class of pa
tients into an insane asylum, and always had
been. He thought ward ought TO be separate
for them, but it was impossible now on accUunt Of
number. We consider, he said, the certificates
the only plan OF admittance. II he saw no evil
dences of insanity, would thoroughly and imme-
diateIy investigate his history. We have had
only one patient taken out on writ of hdbeGs
corpus
Any patient could apply for writ of hdbeds
corpus. When patients are found TO be nOn-resi-
dents Of the District, if admitted by the Secre-
tary Of the Interior. we institute proceedings to
have the case remedied.
TURNING PATIENTS LOOSE.
We have never permitted any patients TO be
turned loose.
DIR. Nichols was asked to give the truth Of the
statement that patients were turned loose in Vir-
gnia last June, and replied that the responsible
iy rests with the authorities of the District, and
they must have the dismissed patients taken care
Of In this case the Commissioners of the District
communicated with the chief Of police to take
steps to find their home and friends: He con-
them until warm weather, in the meantime in
viting him to visit them, which he did. Three of
these patients were from Maryland. In June the
chief Of police told me that he would have them
taken home at night, because they would suffer
less from the heat. They were let out Of the car
had no authority to prevent their going, and
although they turned up all right, yet if l had
any idea Of what happened should have pre-
vented it.
The Commissioners were responsible for their
removal: thought that they left the time of the
removal to MAJOR Richards. They went about
O'Clock, and had about twenty miles TO go. They
did not take them near the town of their resi-
dence, Upper Marlboro',) alleging that they lost
IntlT way. NJ ptIsOu lIOln the luln dCcOnpa-
nCd them; two policemen went with them beside
the driver. These people were insane. One was
considered a dangerous patient, but he had i'm
proved. He found his way home, and his friends
made no complaint. The other man was cOlOred,
and il was debatabIe whether he was insane or an
imbecile. The third person was a colored woman,
the place Of conveyance. We never sent any pa
tients to New York, Philadelphia or Pittsburg.
One man was sent 10 Philadelphia, but witness
did not send him.
REPLY To OTHER CUAPGEs
Dr. Nichols continued: My rule is TO visit the
patients personally once a week, and / average
that; generally visit on Sunday. Sometimes /
rarely a day passes that | don't visit ward.
Thirteen is the largest number Of patients con-
hned in one room, and there is only one room
tory is not far from Is by 50 feet. II was neces-
sary TO cOnfine that many in one room. The thir-
teen are probably hOpelessly insane. Witness
said: know all about the complaints Of bad food
i examine the food in the kitchen at least once
week, sometimes Oitener. We buy butter Of n
medium quality, y cents per pound. Occasionally
there will be little about the hoops that will be
bitter. tub Will occasionally not be very good.
The steward must inspect every keg of butter.
wards, and it is for their interest that they dis
tribute it good. We have an excellent house
keeper and assistant, and it is not true that un-
Wholesome food is often sent TO the wards.
There were no complaints of tainted meat.
Though remember some years ago the farm
hands sent word that their meat was bad in
vestigated the matter and found no cause for
complaint. 1t was cOrned beef, and they were un-
used 10 it. We buy meat by the car load, slaugh-
tering one at a time. The meat is kept in a room
for the purpose, with ice enough to keepit. The
patients do not frequently.hght and iniure each
other. We had one patient killed by personal
violence year ago last May, the only one in
twenty-One years. He was a cOlOred soldier. An
epileptc patient went into the bathroom. As
he passed the cOlOred man he struck him with
piece Ol crockery, which caused his death.
ABOUT THE BUTTER.
Mr.. George NJ. Oyster has given testimony he
fore the committee that the butter furnished by
him to the asylum was furnished at times at con-
tract and at other times not, but that it was
always of a good quality: that what he sold as
New York print was New York print. and not .
'.Ohio grease as one of the witnesses testified.
He said further that he never charged the asy-
lum any more than lie charged his other regular
customers, and positively denied that any bad
butter was ever supplied by him.
The examination was postponed until 10 o'clock
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