New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-02-26
HOSPITALS FOE THE CHRONIC INSANE.
rr,RrHER ACCOMMODATIONS REouIRRD-shooAl
THEY BE At POUaHKEEPsIEf

.,,,,,,r, .ccowvopATIoNs REQuIRED-sHOULD
THEY BE At POUaHKEEPsIEf
The State Board of Charities In Its annual
r.nort IN the Legislature in January after presehns
statiscs from various institutions for the treaten' VI
the ms made the following statement: Ihe re'u
sbow that the State institutions for tho Insane. po'n
acute and chronic little spare room ana INA.
there ia AN immediate pressing demand Tor aadtohai
accommodations this class The county lnstu'io'
having the custody of the chronic insane only arc nearly
ali full ard there arc also considerable numbers OF III
sane In the county poorhouscs, for whose ovessh' anu
care no proper facilities exist The question there1oro
presse. ITSELF what further provision shall DC maae ny
the State for its insane, and now can 'hi' oo oe'
most readily accomplished"
By the oensu. Of 1880 the insane population OF NOW
York State was a. Ill while the same year the eta.e
BOARD reported only 1857 in State, city ana county
asyums and in city and county pOor-houses. In nnAs
provision for the insane not now In lnstitu''oS 'n
says that not only should consideration DC gwen " ~
ing access easy for patients, but also for the ie'
large portion of whom are without means OF |h0 "
make long Journey in order to visit them. Az INC
counties bear the expenses of their insane poor IL DC
comes question Of importance to them that the asy
lums for chronic should BIO near. VI inc s'A'y
counties of the State in $780, lying along o
Hudson and north Canada constituting what is cacu
the eastern tier contained population OF
paid nearly threeourths Of the States taxes Inc o'ner
emit provision by State In the eastern tier OF
is for $50 patients while for the remaining coumeS , se
state has accommodations for $3.50 patients en-
Commissioner in Lunacy 1882. reported that the twenty
two counties referred to had an insane p9puooo0a an
$685. while thirtyeght counties had Only So n
sane The situation of the present asylums for the
chronic insane at willard and Bnghamton entail heavy
burdens the eastern counties Tor travel anu s
fatigue and exhaustion of the patients c,. n,.
The Board Of Supervisors OF Dutchess County ma has
adopted the following resolutions and similar aco n'
b. taken by the Supervisors of Suffolk klohnohe W
ster and Albany counties. and by the Adermon OF ls
civ In the judgment OF this Board there Ia great need
of State Asylum at accessible point on tue uuso
River making special provision Tor tne o,oo rinn
of this Board the interests Of the public would oe pes
served by making such asylum department. or nran1 1
OF tho Hudson River State Hospital and suniclehuy
ample provide for all the chronic insane poor oil 'ho
eastern portion of the state" .u
The hospita mentioned is at Poughkeepsie centrally
reCard IN OF the Eastern
counties. The present accommodations are LOT orr orr
patients. The managers In their annual rePoit w.
legislature present some strong reasons Tor adaoI
appropriations for buildings They say that "ltn WI
matured plans and specifications they can cFect "a
an average expenditure OF $500 for each patient Inc
following extracts from late report - ne scnelie
respectfully ask the attention OF the Les'aluIei 10 ue
signed to make not only WISE Hherdl,, auu
comprehensive provision ior al GA tSo Goat ~
tie state OF the necessary buildings second Inc cost 10
the counties for the maintenance OF patents me lse
experience at the willard Asylum for the Chronic insane
aud In the NewYork City asylums attests the TACT thi
within certain limitations the greater the increase IN
number Of patients the greater Is the decrease IN te
p1r cnD cost OF support Thence the first step I'm the
direction OF economy would involve making provision
for the treatment OF large numbers OF patients under
preponderaiing numbers OF chronic cases the weekly
cost support would not exceed 81 or 81 90 while Tor
the and occasional OF acute insanity tue weekly
rates would he higher. Thus, many fanes OF moderate
means who seek public aid. would be able TO pay
numbers who now at county expense would be mH-
terially essened-"