St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-10-17
CONVICTION, ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. OCTOBER II,
tom. [ ain'k mad at von hnf want


you to know, once for all, that I am
going to cut my throat, and I'll do it,
no matter how much you watch me-"
And. indeed, he kept his word.
The next day Tom was aroused by q
terrible crash of falling glass at the ex1
treme end of the ward. where is To-
Gated the wash and bathrooms. He
ran to the place, and there stood Fran
cis with his throat cut almost from ear
to ear. He laughed derisively at Tom
as he entered the room. He had broken
the window with his fist, and with .
piece of the glass cut his throat. He
had severed the windpipe, and when
he attempted to laugh a gutteral sound
was all that could be heard.
Tom grasped the gaping wound in
one hand and held it together as much
as possible to stop the flow of blood as
much as was in his power. Two Of the
asylum physicians were on hand almost
instantly. They took the patient in
hand, and by sheer force sewed up the
horrible wound, but as soon as the ma
Mae was put to bed he tore out the
stitches. The wound was sewed up
second time, and the .suici(ie's hands
incased in pair of leather mutfs, when
he managed to tear the stitches by jerk
ing his head backward and forward,
aud from side to side. He was then put
in crib. and box made to place his
head and shoulders in, so that it was
utterly impossible for him to move the
least bit. He was kept in this contri-
vance for nearly seven weeks, much of
which time it was very doubtful wheth-
er he would recover or not. After being
taken from the crib he was transferred
to ward 10. His hands for a long
time afterward were kept in the leather
muffs, but he finally induced the At
tendant. on promise to not again at
tempt suicide. to take them of. Tom,
his old attendant, upon learning of this
fact, called on the new keeper and told
him he would regret taking off the mulfs
before the week was over, and sure
enough he did. The third day after the
muffs were taken off the attendant was
in his room cutting small piece of to.
bacco off of a large plug with a small
pen-knife, when Francis sprang into
the room. grasped the knife out of his
hand, and before the keeper could in
terfere. drew it across his own throat
1t then became necessary to put him
in the crib again. where he wss kept
another spell Of several weeks, but the
doctors again pulled him through. He
never after that attempted suicide. One
remarkable feature about this mans
case was that he never attempted or
seemed to contemplate ending his life
any, other way than by cutting his
throat. After recovering from his
second terrible experience he seemed
to improve. He continued growing
better. until finally his folks. upon their
own responsibility, took him home.
where he continued doing well until
some time in May last. when he again
showed symptoms of returning insanity,
but before he grew bad enough to be
returned to the asylum. he was kicked
on the head by horse, sustaining a
fractured skull. which in the course of
a few days resulted in his death.
Many other equally as s1thrilling and
horrible truths can be picked up at
almost any insane asylum of any note.
Many more incidents that would make
very interesting reading came to my
notice during my visits. some of them
very hdicrous, others pathetic. while
the above are among the most terrible.
There is enc old man at present in the
Dayton Asylum who donated S4OO to
the institution when it was built. and
this fact is one of the very few things
he never loses sight of, 1t seems to
burn into the poor fellows very soul
There are number of the inmates who
in some way have got it into their poor
brains that they are there waiting for
payday. and the attendants tell me IL
is very touching when several Of them
become impatient and demand their
money on threats to leave. They often
claim their wives and children are
starving, and they must have their
money or they will die. 1t is utterly
for one to imagine the har-
rowing thoughts that a short study of
an insane asylum and its patients will
awaken. It must be experienced to be
appreciated.-Ida May, in .Cincinnati