Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1886-12-01
CARE OF THE INSANE.
THE NEcRoMANcY OF KINDNESS As
ILLUSTRATED, IN WISCONSIN.
Taking "a Patient out of the strait Jacket.
In Charge OF Runaway-Dcfect In the
Present Methods Of Treating the Insane.
Wonderful Man.

In Charge OF o hunnWhS-DoAOoS ga SAAo
Present Methods Of Treating the Insane.
A Wonderful Man.
It was in a parlor car en- route from
Chicago to Madison, Wis, one evening,
that the representative OF The Times was
awakened from q reverie, or semi-slum-
Der, by the sound of voice. IL was q
voice that made itself heard with distinct
ness above the roar Of the wheels and the
obstreperous rumbling of the train. IL
thus spake:
"Myers said he would take her, and
they said they wished him good luck, al
though they were sure he couldn't do any
thing with her. She was bad one ana
no mistake. They had kept her i'll soil
tarv, with strait jacket, because she'd
tear off every stitch of her clothes, ana
when she had an opportunity she'd
break every dish she could get ut. They'd
been feeding her in tin dish which was
PASSED to her through Il hole in her cell.
The only dress she could wear was sim
Ole garment of duck which she couldn't
tear Well, Myers took her into his
buggy and drove out to the farm, and the
first thing he did was to have n regular
woman's dress made for her of print, with
understanding and all complete. Then
he removed her camisole, had her dressed
in her new clothes, and took her down to
dinner and seated her next to him at his
OWN table He said to her: Now you are
to behave like n lady, and not break any
dishes. and act like other women Well,
sir, she went to eating, she behaved with
perfect prOpriety, she never offered to
tear her 1rcss or break any dishes, and
from that time on she was one OF the best
behaved inmates in the establishment"
"Myers is q wonderful man." resumed
the old gentleman, his face shining with
beneyolence There was n young German
at the ASYLUM who had an invincible de-
sire to run away. He would skip out at
every possible opportunity. They had to
keep him locked in u room night and
day, and generally with handouts.
Myers was in town one day, and the asy-
lun folks told him about this case. Let
me take him. says he. 'Whatn says
they, Take him! You can't do thing In
the world with him. He'll run away a
dozen times before you get him home.
Never mind, says he, IN risk all that
| They laughed at him, and says, Well, so
ahead and you'll sec.'
"Bimeby Myers got ready to go, but
| before driving out to the asylum he went
to carpenter shop and took piece OF
| board and had some cleats put on it SO
| that it looked like framed looking
glass, all but the glass. He wrapped
| this up so carefully in q paper and
then drove around to the hospital. He
had the handouts taken OF the young
| man, and then brought him down
! to the wagon. See here says he, y
want you to take q ride with me- The
L
Here's looking glass that my wife
| wanted me to bring out to her, and
| wish you would hold it, and be very care
| full not to break it, She would feel aw
| full bad if it was broken The young mar
took the package as If it was the mos
| fragile glass, and then they drove of
| On their way out of town Myers drove VI
to o store, and he says to the young fel
low: Here, you hold the horses while
20 in and get some things, and be sur
and don't let them get away from YOU
"He came back in q few minutes, ant
there sat the chap holding the glass ant
the horses, and seemed very proud Of hi
duty. They drove out to the farm, ant
Myers took the young fellow in to suppe
| with him, and after the meal he says
Look here, now! You've come out her
to visit ME and to stay awhile. This /
your room; there is no lock on it, and yo1
can enter and leave whenever you fee
like it. And here leading him to tn
main entrance, is the door out Of tn
house, and it is never locked, and you cal
get ont at any hour, night or day 1t i
fact, that after this the patient neve
left the premises, and never even showe
the slightest desire to leave, and he be
came one of the most valuable worker
OH the farm"
The benevolent old gentleman relate
several other incidents all relating t
what had been done by Myers. All G
. them were marvellous, and in some cases
almost miraculous. When the trai
reached Madison the old gentleman an
The Times exchanged cards. That of tn
former rcaI ANDREW e. Elmore," an
in the lower l@ft-hand corner, Estate c
) Wisconsin. state board of charities an
reform, Andrew +. Gilmore, Fort Howard
president" 1t i not long since it bega
to dawn on some thinkers of Wisconsi
that there Was some defect in the preva
ent system of caring for the insane. Tha
system Wa; the aggregation Of these pc
j | tients: the construction of enormous II
ceptaccs at unlimited cost, into whic
conduits lei from all parts of the state
This aggloincrntiOn of mania produce
great masses, which fermented, putrefied
and rOtted like accumulations of offa1
There was no opportunity for the air t
penetrate these congeries, with the resul
!: that there was offensive decomposition
The stencil from the asylums pervaded tn
land end offended the nostrils Of the ser
= sitive.
And then occurred to someone the ide
of distribution in place of accumulation
: of diffusion instead of congestion. 1
, lieu of maSsing the incurably insane
} was thought advisable to separate then
. so as to SECURE the free inlet OF air an
sunshine and to nilaw larger persona
liberty. OF this idea was the Wisconsi
{ system born. In brief, this system
one which distributes to the care of tn
counties the victims of chronic dement's
/ It was found that such cases of insanit
, as were treated in the county pool
= houses exhibited better average result
1 than those cared for by the state hoi
pitals.-Chicago Times.