The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-09-26
AMONG THE INSANE.
Some OF the Peculiar Characters
at the Dayton, (O.) Asylum.
A Beautiful Crazy Woman who Wanted
to Bottle Mems souls-Chariey's Trip
to Cincinnati and His Game Of
Bllliards-The Suicidal
Mania Among the
Unf0rtunates.


Unfortunates.
In the past few weeks / have spent,
upon different occasions, a portion of a
day in the Dayton Asylum for Insane.
and have picked up quite number OF
matters which believe will be of in
terest. One of the first matters of con-
sequence that dawned on my mind was
the fact that any such institution where
six hundred individuals bereft of the
power Of their reason are huddled to-
gether. there surely must be skeletons
in the closet, and this thought is
strengthened by the fact that there was
aperceiyable effort on the part of all the
officials and attaches Of the institution
to be as obliglng and polite as possible,
yet they, none of them, showed any de-
sire to talk of the very matters that |
wanted to learn something about. And
this was not because of any fear OF
newspaper notoriety, as not q living
soul but myself knew | was col
Letting material for newspaper letter.
1t seems to be the even tenor of their
ways with all visitors. and indeed it
could not be otherwise, if the welfare of
the institution is to be considered, for
were they to tell the secrets of hos
pital Of this kind the people would be
shocked with amazement l know
from what learned that there are
secrets in this asylum of which even
the offic, als know nothing.
This in o;dopf ,1;aLad ~, tbrouoh - $50
porter in this city previous to my visits
to the asylum. and reproduce it here
because of its fantastic eccentricity
The young man who tells-the story is
now engaged in this city, though previ-
ously he was in the employ OF the
asylum. Among the numerous patients
OF the institution are great many who
ore allowed to wander about the
grounds. Among this number was a
young woman, who shortly after the
birth of her first child became in
sane. She was an extremely handsome
creature, who when talked to gave no
indications of weak mind. She came
from some small place in Preble County.
Before her mind gave way she was
known as a happy, vivacious creature,
who enjoyed life, but after becoming
insane she took a religious turn and then
became melancholy, and would not talk
except when it was necessary. She was
a handy person about the asylum, and
could be put at most any work. Her
name was Maud, and she probably had
more sympathetic friends than any
other patient in the institution, which
can be attributed to her beauty of face.
One day she accosted my informant,
asking him if he did not want to see her
two souls. The question, as was nat
ural, aroused the young mans curiosity.
and he followed her into the cellar of
one of the buildings adjoining the asy-
lum proper. She took him to the darkest
corner, where she held up before him
two-ounce bottle she had taken from a
crevice. and remarked:
There they are, and bound to keep
too. The one is the soul of Stonewall
Jackson, and the other my husbands"
The young man took the bottle near
er to the faint rays of light that shot
through the cellar grating, and saw that
the bottom was covered with greenish
liquid, evidently water discolored by
age. The lady maniac went on to ex-
plain there was no need of any souls
being lost; that she could save them all
it the people would only let her cut
them out and put them into her bottle.
She knew the souls home was on top
the heart, and could be cut out without
any trouble.
Stonewall Jacksop's soul was in the
bottle when she got it from the spirits,
and she had since put her husbands in.
After explaining all these things she
asked the young man for his pen-knife,
and told him if he would lay down she
would get his soul out in few minutes,
and put it in the bottle to keep the other
two company. But the young man
seemed to have no desire to have his
soul preserved. This young lady has
since recovered, and is now at home
with her family, attending to her house,
hold duties as well as any woman in the
land of the free.
A cunning maniac was Charley, the
scion of wealthy and widely known
family living in Miami County, Just be-
You'd the Montgomery County line. /
have used the term twas because he
has been cured of the particular attack
OF which he was suffering at the time
OF which write, but has since become
AAroAC 6k6in dnO 10 uOW Ill l0IudLt Oh u
private asylum in Cincinnati. He is a
mngnifcent-looking young man of not
more than thirty years Of age, and
when not suffering from the dread
afiiiction to which he seems to be SUBJ
ject. is one of the most entertaining
men possible to find anywhere. These
things say of him because know
them to be facts. When suffering from
the awful disease he is, indeed. raving
maniac, though never very threatening.
He is very ingenious fellow at all
times. and this is what always made
him a troublesome prisoner.
At night, when the patients in a ward
are locked in their rooms, they place
their clothes outside Of the door in the
hallway, SO that an attendant knows |
they are all in their places. This is
always done. On a certain night the
attendant of the ward in which Charley
was patient had performed this duty |
and retired, feeling confident every |
thing was secure and all right. But for
two or three nights previous to that |
Charley had been at work on the heavy
iron bars on his window with a file he |
had procured omewhere-evidently |
from one Of the insane who had the |
privilege Of the grounds On the night |
in question he completed his work.
fling through one bar and springing
two others so he could get out. But
there were his clothes outside the door |
and his overcoat in the clothes room at
the end of the hallway These he
needed. for it was bitter cold night in
midwinter With his file he worked
the wood away from the locks in both
doors, got his clothes, overcoat and all,
and soon was tramping through Dayton.
He went direct to the depot and got
on top the last car of the midnight ex-
press, bound for Cincinnati. So thought
ful was he that be inquired as to what
stations the train stopped at, and when
it left, Hamilton he ran forward to the
first car, and when the conductor
passed through he clambered down of
the top while the train was running
thirty miles or more an hour, and took
seat In the warm car, as independ-
sntly ~ Il b. was the President Of the