Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-10-24
WHEELING. w. VA. MONDAY MORNING, OCTOBER a. 1881.

those now remaining, 307 are white
males, 250 white females, 10 coloret
males and % colored females. The
deaths during the same time were IA.
.4 Suggestions.
The report OF the Superintendent
notes the completion OF the furnishing
and equipment of the northern wing ol
the asylum, which admits OF the com
plete isolation Of the male from the fe
male patients. It calls attention to q
considerable saving in the cost oi
transporting patients to and from
the Asylum by using the officers of the
institution instead OF the old plan o
paying sherifis and their guards for this
serviceT points out the evils Of the pres.
ent insufficient water supply and recon-.
mends the extension of pipes costing
about g, 600, to points in neighboring
streams which would afford an
abundant supply, and calls attention
10 minor improvements recently made
and others still contemplated.
inside Views.
Living in the wards Of an insane asy.
luul Ao thahf VI tuO upOu
these uniortuuates do year after year,
would seem calculated to confuse
-tiless'd s'dtsfnctions, even in sound
minds, between real and
imagingary things. Here are long halls
in which in day time, are congregated
from twenty to fifty patients, each hall
containing its grade OF mental unsound.
ness, from the victim OF periodical hallu-
cination, in whose sane moments no
trace OF weakness evepkan be discoveries,
10 the miserable wretch from whose ex-
!stence the shadow is never lifted.
Here is beautiful girl with the dress,
manners and air OF cultivated lady,
and there covering wreck of woman.
hood strapped to her wooden seat
and "sleeved" with canvass fastenings
to prevent her from tearing the clothing
from her wasted form. There are little
children running about like elves with
glistenlng eyes and meaningless utter
ances. and strong men ia every stage
o! dementia,.. from driveling i'd.
ocy to frantic madness that
requires constant attention to re-
strain. Most OF these people have de.
lusions which they press upon listener
with never firing yolubility. Kings and
queens, and prophets. and heresses
and seers in their own realm, they tell OF
their visions and edicts and possessions
until they might almost bring an imagi-
n ative nearer to believe that theirs was
the reality and his the deception There
is humorous side to it but it is soon
submerged by the soIrowful. The
woman who shows you two rag babies
which are fat enough to make William
Allen rise up, and tells you they are
named after the medical gentlemen con-
necled with the institution, and that she
fears she will never be able to rear them,
reminds you of the old lady outside,
who buried her sixty-five yearold
daughter with the remark that she
would "never be able to raise that
child" but the little girl who shows
you the handful of beads and tells
you they are the angels that God
has given her to keep, changes your
laughter into tears. There are men who
sidle up to you for all the world like
their unreasonable brethren on the out
side, and ask yon il you can lend them
seven dollars until they see another
man, and after them come crazed ianat-
les with ragged bibles and homemade
crosses uttering imprecatiOns that make
your flesh creep.
Defects.
The worst defect about the institution
mihper UG-:.- EtrtIelrrsr ~'Nrho'" the
periorce assigned to it The
building was designed 10
accommodates two hundred and fifty.
1t already has more than twice that
number. Under such circumstances 1t
is hardly possible that they can be per
fectly protected. | saw the room IN
which one patient murdered another
a few weeks since, and found it to be an
apartment originally intended for sit
ting room, but which had been, for want
OF other space, converted some years
since into sleeping closets partitloned
off with boards stopping short OF the
ceiling for the sake OF light and ventila.
ton. Over one OF these partitionsapatient
who had been considered lunatlc OF
mild type, climbed, and seized with sud-
den frenzy attacked the occupant OF the
next compartment. The man attacked
was old and decrepit, and before the at
tendants could reach the scene, was
killed by his assailant. The same scene
is likely TO he re.enacted so long as the
over crowding continues, although an
effort has been made to make the subdl.
visions of large rooms more secure by
the use OF iron gratings extending from
the partitions to the ceilings.
Politics and Politicians.
Among the politicians called together
by the meeting OF the Federal Court the
chances OF Senator Davis successor.
were freely discussed. In the event OF
Davis retirement it was announced that
Judge Hoge would be candidate. Part
OF the basis on which the announce
ment was made was a statement that the
Judges friends had over-burdened him
with pledge to Col. Lucas friends at
the Fairmont Convention, that the pre-
sent Congressman from the Second dis
trict would not be candidate for re-
election to the lower House.
Col Bill Thompson's proposed re-
moyal TO Cleveland was supposed 10
further clear the way for Col. Ben VIII
son. return from the First district.
Lam.