Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-08-21
FACTS VS.. FICTION.
AS some muskets so contrive it
Off To miss the mark they aim at,

| Oft to miss the mark they aim at,
And though well aimed at duck and ploVer.
Bear wide and kick the shooter over.
The following communication the
exception that the correspondent publish
es the full name of the patient alluded to
! where we use only the initial letter-ap-
peared in the Richmond Whig of Sunday
last:
{ When the Coalition party obtained power. fou
years ago 1t found in the Western lunatic Asylum
two superannuated physcians-one in charge OF thu
| MAZE and the other the female department These
We're removed and their places filed by younge
men of superior qualifications A howl, the like
OF which was never before heard, went forth abou
the removal OF experts and the placing of mex
perlenced physicians in charge of the unfortunate
/ insane.
, Those experts, socalled, were reelected by the
them it is said is over seventy five, and the othel
oyer eghty years OF age viii give some facts t
these Democratic "eIperts''
| Notes of The physical and mental condition OF
each patient are kept by the assistant ply sican in
| charge, and the night nurses also keep reports
| The physician also notes his treatment in each
case. give notes below of the assistant physician
| III the female department in the case of Mrs
E. June 2ith, is72 some ten years before his
| removal by the Coalition Board
JUNE rs. 1872 Mrs e running about &C
| lively COnium has little or no effect
J.. ''27th-E--, Squibb's FL Ext. Con. increased
Sobu -E--, SQulpUS IT, EAU COlluIu 10 ut
increased to drachms tomorrow morning.
81 died at 40 P. NJ
Living witnesses tell me she fell in the yard soon
after taking this last dose of Fl. Ext. Of Con1um
and died as above stated. The dose of Fl Ext.
Conlum is from to 20 drops. The dose prescribed
l9as poisonous one, and no doubt caused hel
Another case occurred May l5th 1882. in the
hands OF the same physician, who was retained two
| months by the Coalition Board:
MRS. T--.-Got morphia, grains "a, and hyos
clama. grains A
her asleep at three visits the last at $3.50 A. M. AT
5o'cock was discovered to be dead"
| was told the Superintendent seeing the effects
the expert thought he krsew best. few days ago
called to see Mrs. J-,--C----o of Augusta coun-
Western Lunatic Asylum. She is the wife of a
Democrat. She told me she had been pulled out Of
into the hall, She was badly hurt and was put to
ped. In1s same expert was her physician. She told
him what had happened She was repo ted a case
husband visited her and called the Superintend-
ents attention to the case, and it was found the
hip joint was dislocated and the limb shortened
some four inches. An effort was made to reduce
it, but it failed, aid she cannot walk step
A representative of this paper took this
communication to the authorities Of the
W. l.. Asylum and asked if they had any
facts to give in contradiction. He was
answered that the record of the Asylum
itself, as kept by former authorities. in
Guiding the Coalition physicians who
were there, furnished the answer. The
following statement is made up Of entries
from the records Of the Asylum, and our
representative after reading them verified
their existence by an examination of the
records themselves
Witness says he will give ''facts" to
show how the unfortunate insane have suf-
ferred By the superannuoted "enperts" who
were re-instated by the Democrats IN
Apri', 1884.
So-called ''fact" No. 1.-The death of
Mrs. E. on June %, 1872, was caused
administered by the same assistant physlc-
ian in the female department, who was
re-appointed in April, 1884. In proof OF it.
witness quotes the records.
But The records show that the quantity
of Fluid Extract of Conium taken by Mrs.
E. on the day of her death was pre-
scribed by DR.. StrlbIinq. The prescription
is entered in the prescription book IN has
oeon handwriting.
witness" says that drachms ct the ext.
given was "a poisonous dose. But the very
same page Of the record from which he
quotes, shows that q drachms of it were
taken. on the day Mrs. E. died, by
boy fifteen years old, and that it produced
no effect or him. And it may be accepted
as a certain fact that DR.. Striking knew
what was poisonous dose of Conium.
So-called s'Fact'' No. 2-Mrs. T.
death on May 18th, 1882, occurred in the
hands Of this same assistant physician"
from a dose of grain Morphia and grain
Of Hyosciamin.
The dangerous Ingredient in this dose
was the hyosciamin. It kills quickly, if
it kills at ali. But the record shows shat
a week before her death MIS-. T, while
in an excited state, had taken one-tt5rd of
a grain OF hyosciamin for two successive
nights without any effect. And she was
still highly excited when she took the ! of
a grain. Mrs. T took on 18th May,
with impunity, precisely the same dose
that is said to have killed her ON the 10th.
Witness" says that Supt. Robt. Hamil-
ton saao the effects of the first dose and
advised Its discontinuance. But Mrs.
f. was his patient-the records show
that she had been admitted subsequently
to his election as Superintendent, and he
ought to have ordered a discontinuance of
what he "saw'' was a dangerous prescrip-
ton.
Witness 5nsinu0tes chat Mrs. E died
from a fatal dose of medicine. But the
following item is entered up on the official
records of the Asylum, in the handwriting
of the Coalition physician who kept those
records. Mrs. t. died May 16, 1885.
Cause of her death, puerperal naania.'
So-called "Fact" No. 3-"Witness" in
sS1auates that Mrs. g. was crippled by
rough treatment after the present medical
officers were reappointed On April 18th,
1884. and then he states positively that
''she was reported a case of rheumatism
and SO treated for six weeks.''
But the records, in the handwriting of
the same Coalition physician, show that
she was treated for rheumatism three
months before the Democratic physicians
were reinstated, and that after their rein
statement, neither rheumatism nor any
remedy for it is alluded to at all in con-
nection with Mrs. C's--- case.
The following affidavits and certificate
onnpndQH m tho ahouQ f.,t
This day personally appeared before me, q Nota-
ry Public for city of Staunton, NJ. A Stanly,
G. ID Bear, Lizzie Martin. E. j. Silling and Jennie
Brown, employees of the Western Lunatic Asylum,
do oath IN fnlln Sta anntc 20