Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-11-13
eureka Uailp 6entiuel.
TUESDAY. NovEMBER is, 1888.
Is THIS

DIR. Bergstein, assistant physician at
the Nevada Asylum at Reno, has filed a
complaint before the Board of Commits
sioners, making charges OF cruelty, in
competency and peculation against the
Superintendent. He alleges, among
other things, that the patients have been
barbarously, cruelty and inhumanly
treated. In many instances they have
been gagged for using vulgar language.
This is not the first time that complaint
has been made against the management
of the Nevada Asylum since it was estab-
lished, about two years age. When the
patients were removed from the private
asylum in this city in which they were
confined, we stated that the change
would be very apt to prove an expensive
one for Nevada, where everything politi-
cal is conducted on the hogging plan. 1t
is, therefore, without surprise that we
learn of the present trouble. The tax
ayers of Nevada would make money to
let out by contract the running of every
department Of their local government
Stockton Mail.
We ask if this ugly story, published at
the expense of Nevada, is true, and we
answer, unhesitatingly and candidly, no..
The charges preferred by DR.. Berg
stein, and published in the SENTINEL two
or three days ago, will be investigated.
These charges concern the present man.
agement. If they are s~ubstantiated, we
shall have to admit that under the super
intendency Of DIR. Bishop the Nevada
Insane Asylum has been as the Stockton
Mail describes it.
The sop thrown out by the Mail to the
Stockton people, who once enjoyed the
luxury of having the Nevada insane as a
part of their community, is neither a
substantial nor a toothsome dish. 1t
will do no good to refer to the treatment
of the unfortunate insane patients from
this State while they we're farmed out so
much per capita in California. 1t is a
notorious fact that when they were
brought over to Reno a large number of
them were bound and otherwise re.
strained in the harshest fashions. They
had evidently been kept so for economy's
sake They were made dummies of,
and thus doomed, possibly, to perpetual
insanity by cruel and fretful restraint in
order to reduce the number Of keepers to
o minimum. That's the kind of 'hog-
ging game" that was played in California.
Within a very short time after the
patients had been brought home their
bonds were removed. Every lunatic
became bodily free. The effect upon the
mind, of course, was decided. The
relief was great. LeFevre, crazed with
a thirst for blood, a tigerin human shape,
could not be allowed the use of his arms,
but even in this case there was a partial
restoration to animal privileges. His
arms only were bound, and he was
allowed to tramp in his corner of the
yard in open air all day long.
We believe that money is saved by
having our insane people in our W
State. But it is only human to care for
those u~nfortunates at home, whether
dollars and cents to only a small extent
are made or lost thereby.
The Insane Asylum is one, at least, of
the departments of our local government
that we have snatched from generous
California. 1t is not at all likely that
Nevada will ever ask California to accept
again the farming of our demented
patients.
If the present management Of our In
san Asylum is bad, the institution
should be purged; but it should be kept