National Republican., 1880-03-29
MISCELLANEOUS.
An iImost rncrcdll,Ie s,orv NJ cruc

mn f-iinObN AncIcNiDle story Oi cruelty.
a resident Of OIL City, Pa, named John
carroll, recently became somewhat deranRcd
and was sent by his family to the Dixmont
Insane Asylum ut Pitlsburg, from which he
was recently released. lie makes a remark.
able statement rs TO inhumau treatment he
received in the asylum. He says that when
lac entered the asylum he WAS suffering from
the effects Of brain fever. On undressing for
his bath, his two attendants treated him
roughly because he did not remove his cloth
Ing us quickly as they thought was neccs.
snry. lie told them not TO be so harsh, as he
was still Ill from fever, aud was suffering with
blister OH his back, which was covered with
. plaster Ono Of the men said "Oh, we've
heard Of you before" and, taking hold Of the
plaster, tore II from his back, pulling the skin
Of the blister with IL. In giving him his
bath, they rubbed his raw back with n flesh
brush, unmindful Of his pleas aud suffering
lie was then dressed and placed In n room
by himself He walked out IN the hail. when
he was put back and the door locked. He
knocked on the door with his hands. A
keeper named Harper unlocked tho door.
when l walked out" says Carroll, "he
knocked me down, aud, with three others,
kicked and beat me until / was senseless.
When | came to my senses / was In coll I
had on n straight.jacket, and was living OH n
bare, damp floor. There was no furniture in
the room. About o'clock in tho evening
wanted me to take some medicine. / was afraid
10 was poison, and refused. Then / was
beaten, but l still refused TO take the medi-
cine. This was followed by more kicks aud
knocks, and then / was chokod and the medi.
cine poured down my throat / was then left
ms | was-alone in the cel-with the straight
jacket still on. During the night managed
to get the jacket OIL. In the morning, when
Harper came in and saw what had done, he
exclaimed, with an oath, You'll pay for
thisp lie then brought in two men. They
came at me. defended myself us we'll rs /
could. They kicked and beat me, and one of
them, by the name of Lowell caught mo by
the hair and dragged me around the floor.
The Others kicked mo in the ribs at the same
time, breaking some Of them. My spine was
badly injured, and ! suffer from that still, SO
much so that am not able to do any work.
After this abuse / was dressed and put
in tho straightjacket. l was taken to an
other cell but when the blood was
washed up in the first one | was returned
TO it before the floor was dry. / was given
straw-tick and pillow and remained there all
that day aud night. The next morning came
to my senses aud understood my situation at
once. Before my mind was not clear, and any
stubbornness | showed was because of that
When the cell was opened told the keepers
not to abuse me, and l would do anything
that was reasonable Mr.. Brown, the dining
room attendant then took me to get my break
fast. l entered q room where half u dozen in
sane men were seated on the floor, eating. The
breakfast was bread, coffee, cabbage aud boiled
meat Tho next day gave Brown tho sign
of an Odd-Fellow lie answered It.. Why
didn't you give the trailing sign" when you
were being abused p he asked me. told him
| did not think Of it. When the keepers
found that was an Odd.Felow was treated
better than the other pateuts. | finally
managed to smugglc letter to a friend out.
side, giving the situation l was in, and this
resulted in my getting my release.
Harper, the keeper" Carroll says, carried
bunch Of keys that weighed between one
aud two pounds. With this he frequently
struck the inmates hard blows. He also had
n strap with buckle on ono end. This he
used on them, sometimes welding 1t with
both hands, There was u patient in the asy.
lum named Swanson, q young man from War
ren county. One morning lie could not
find one of his stockings. An attendant
seized him, and n sculllc cnsued. When
the men fell, Swanson was on top.
Another keeper pulled him off, and
held him while the other kicked him until
ho begged some one, for Gods sake, to kill
him. He was hurt so badly that he could
not rise, and lay doubled.up on the floor, cry
| ing, oh, God, take me away from these bad
men ! 1t was the most heart-rcuding sight l
ever witnessed. While he lay on the floor
Swanson had three violent fits In succession.
| When he came to the asylum he was a strong,
| healthy young man aud quite uofeusivc. In
u few weeks he was reduced to almost u
| slyplpton y