, 1876-12-23

feet TINT the person demanded WAS not In his
custody set still holding tho order Of commit.
e"' Il an, and t,e1 astaS swn,s + ,s:tis't ..ss 3
his client to return. which he did When
the writ was returnable, the patient
wns produced In court, .whero his sanity was
Dr. Brown maintained that he waa tnsane, US
10 the commitment. Thc tfisct'sfgctl patient
ha no feares. .gsinst a T., the .nakfrs II tho
ti'teatcs OF tho. physicians, and ho remedy
agatnst the phystctans who had sworn away his
liberty, a. they could plead that theY believed
tlc 'sn IT.. to oH s tas'aue and Il they made %i;;
another casc In which the lecturer was profess
si0nally Interested, WAS that uf
A rKNFECTLT SANE LADY,
= years Of ayc. Snc was lady pos
sasssa sn9s 81 s ss, Ts sn s :Sn r.
mother TO bo confined In tho Dloon!nytla,e Asy-
lum as u lunatic She sent for Mr.. Townacn1,
vito. on APPLYING TO see her, was met by tho
same fe,r,nu1a, or, that + would !, 1e danger;
out tabeas,. which, being served on
MIN forthwith, tho Doctor evidently not relish.
tnE ~ exposure +, the courts. The lady spent
atcly. following her retcase, and there was not
tile slfghtcst doubt as to her sanity.
An 1argLLtoENT "LuXATtoh
We found IN tl!e peraon Of htr. Jasper 7. Van
Week, .r,r' rstIrea , brokef possessed q ,argY
vii Il ,one fsantean iy anons sss wns 's Wora '
two physicians, they ninde cut the necessary pn-
pcrs to secure hta commitment to Bloomlng,iRlc.
ARMED with these documents. two stulwart tiletl
seized upon HIN while llc 1sas walking alone,
him In tho Asylum. For two months llc WAS 50
overwhelmed nnd distressed by being thue torn
from his home and robbel Of his liberty that lie
sSa sy,S ny n t1 Ct sssPg 1 s not
proved by making notes Of what lie, saw,
his expSrlesnces, , ,E'nasIy h managed ts
eSmu1isate sSnt with 1.sasrn H. T9wnscna and
He did not, however, npp!y to tho managers Tor
IN Interview, - hu Ind dome OH pruvioug occa-
sions, but eoatrivcsl to meet his client III the
grounds. Being satisfied as to bis sanity, hu
next morning to find Arr. Van Week there be-
fore hin. His Interview with lin, III tho asylum
grounds Ind beeu observed by sonc Ut tho at
discharged him rather than encounter Mr.
Townsend In tho courts. This was clear ad-
mission that tic man who had tcen rubbed 1f
his rights was perfectly sanc, and that l!is SAINT
Week made good asr Of tho information ho had
0btaincl, and co-ol,oratc1 with hir. Townsend
to secure the rclease Of other
PERFECTLY SANE PATIENTS.
Among tlloso thus released through their it,
strusnentalsty was Rosa MeCatc, Sister Of
who had been sent to tho Asylum by her sister
because she insisted TINT u priest Ind taken
improper liberties with her. When DR.. Brown
learned that an attempt was being mnde to 90
Blarkwefl's Island Asylum. {Anotllcr praettcc
which, accnrlihE to Charles Rcalc, Ia much III
roguc IN Enrlanh to'tiidc alleged iunatirs from
thcir frIends,, tho manaEcrs OF such institutions
being IN coilus1ou to- prevent their being re-
stored TO 1fberty.) habcas corpus, however.
secured her presence In court, where every ad-
va"tagc was tinker, OF tho "iaw'a delays" to
prevent her release. Finally sMo was dis.
charged, and no question Of her sanity las ever
been antertatnrd since.
sronsxs or ATTENDANTS.
Among tho attendants ut BtoonaLngdalc were
Mr.. and Mrs. Irwin. Mr.: Townsend stated
ttat these persons, dlsfusted With tho cruelty
Asylum voluntarily at the Same timc Mr. Van
Vicck did. They flad served ns nttcnda,, is as
means OF earning living, but, being possessed
Of little humanity, they preferred takinE their
those walls IL participating In tho cr,eities
and outra4cs perputrated wI&1iin. They liayo
made afli0avits charging the Asylum people with
ignorance, Inattcnt!on, and gro8a abusc Of thu
patients. They affirm TINT tho food is bad,
tie rooms not properly vcntilatcd Or heated; !;
that tho female attendants are lewd In their con-
duct; that blasphemous aud Indecent language
Is frequently showcrcd upon the patients; that
mon practices: Their a1,idavits, which Nj.
Townsend read, specify numerous cases where
patients were subjected to thcao indtgnities.
They charge that sane pcrsons arc frequent in-
mates Of tho Asylum, and arc subjected 10 the
same treatment ~ those who arn really Insane.
Also, that persona whose mental dcrangemcnt
consists simply Of some cecentticity Ut habit
arc confined With violent funatics, Whose paEux-
ysms arc 60 fearful a to require that thoy be
PATIENT WAS POISONED
by the doctor giving lin medicine. According
to their story, the gatIent had been slys, but
vs.; some nssins as @ ssnt him
doctor whs summoned hc sa!d, ~ didn't
| mean to give tll!s man any medicine;
but let hi,n dc, hi, ), fr!snds h wy be glad
To- Kss sa o. @ a' The Patient dnS
charge that the rooms occupied by tho patients
are often In tho tlltbcst condition, and the pa-
Eents made To perform tho noet mental service.
They mention tAst Col; =; ". pspeyster, who
choked on one occasion till the blood strcatned
from hla nlouth. Thpso former servants Of the
institution were not dtschnrged, but left OF their
own volition, receiving certificates Of character
! Townsend deems tlle1n entirely worthy Of
credit as have also tho courts before which they
have testified III several cases. DloonfnYdae Ia
| private asylum, the charges for taking care Of
patients being III Aceortluilcc with thu supposed
tneaus Of tho friunds who bce,,lne Responsible
for the payments. But these former strvanta
say that they arc All treated with Tho same dis,
comforts. whether they ! ay u or $J5 per week.
hlra Irwin testitlca to extreme brutality shown
by Mrs. stoseusou. All attendant, towards
tho fcmalc .pattsnts- One Of these, who had
been cholSed black AMI blue BY this woman, was
found III flames, having set tlfe TO her bedding
! IN order to el'l her misery.
/ NIL. JuLIu8 CHAMBERS,
| q Journalist, followed Mr. Townsend, relating
! iis expericpce. Ilo was tho reporter whom tho
1tteuas sent to Investigate. tlie Bloon!uglaIe
Asylum some years ag0. Assuming To be In.
sane, 10 reality found two phystcians to certify
that l,e really was 10, After Witch !,e Was duly
trate. lie tcmuine!l fl:re ten days, when i,c
was released on hahcas corpus. Ilc wrote hlA
experiences at the tins, which attracted muci
attention. liz cofroborated Alr. Townsend BY
asserting that great cruelty u praet!cca upon
tho patients, and that Ignorance and lack oi
Judgment arc characteristics Vt tho attondants.
lad food and miserable treatment were the
daily PORTIONS Of tlIe inmates.
Thcse ase strong assertions to DO publicly
k+s& -t&N.A t-,nk2