The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-04-13
The first move you make I shall put

The first move you make 1 shall put
you in the dungeon.
Sometimes he would at once aban-
don his purpose and not go back to it
for weeks; and sometimes he would
persist until he was fully convinced
that l was watching him. If the pa
tient was not of defiant spirit I would
call him out and say:
..The Great Mogul has told me all
about it."
''About what?"
'.Your plotting to kill me and get
away. Now l shan't let you take part
in the next dance"
ooh. please do! I'll never let my
self want to kill you again"
. l was hall keeper in a ward contain
ing eighty patients. and. though l had
several assistants. l saw every patient
several times day. l was allowed to
carry no weapon of any SORT and our
policy was gentle treatment Our asy-
lum was one of the first to do away
with force, except in extreme cases.
and every official about the institution
had to be constantly on his guard. The
first patient encountered when enter
ing upon my duties was man named
Thomas, who had gone crazy over the
loss of his three children by scarlet
fever. He was a well-built man of
forty, and had been there three months
without an outbreak of temper. The
doctor who attended his children bore
the same name as myself, and l pre-
sumo it was this fact which aroused
the patients animosity. saw from
his look that he meant me evil, and
was at once upon my guard. 1t was
three months before his plot came to
a head, and every hour of the interval
was strain upon my nerves The
man was rational upon all subjects but
that of children. and you might have
talked with him for an hour upon gen.
eral matters and never suspected his
insanity. He had habit, rs 1 soon
learned. of praying aloud at his bed
side, and in this way 1 learned of the
various plots he had in mind. On the
first night listened to him he prayed:
"Oh. Lord. want to kill DR.. Temple,
and want you to help me. l will
come behind him at his desk and catch
him by the throat. and l hope you will
give me lots of strength"
The next day l called him to the
desk, and after little talk l said:
Thomas. don't say word to the
people. but there is patient in this
ward who means me harm?"
as it possible?" he replied. but
showing great confusion on the mo-
ment
Yes, and let me tell you how silly
he is. To come up behind me he will
have to outwit the snake who guards
me. and he is almost sure to get Bit
ten"
"Are you guarded by a snakeP"
flush! Don't let any one know it!
Now, Thomas. you just watch every
body who seems to mean me harm,
and you will see what bad scrape he
will get into"
He at once abandoned his plan of
choking me, but was still eager for my
death. A week later one of the attend
ants informed me that Thomas was
suspected of having a knife concealed
about his person or room. 1t was not
found in his room. and when we in
vented an excuse for searching him
Their, was no trace of it; but yet knew
by his actions that he had some dam
gerous weapon. He had gained pos
session of knife from the kitchen, but
had passed it over to a patient named
Isbell, who had gone crazy over an in
vention. When an insane patient
means You mischief there is no telling
when he will strike. You have there
fore TO be on your guard every mo-
ment. and yet you must not let the
other patients see thatyou suspect any
thing. l listened at the wicket. but
Thomas prayed in whispers. and l
could not catch his words. 1t was
nearly month before his opportunity
came. During all this time. whenever
he came near me l was ready for him
and expecting some movement. On the
day his plot was ripe read the fact in
his eyes. and the most excitable pa
tients were kept in their rooms under
one pretext or another.
At eleven clock on the afternoon
I went to the workshop to inspect work
of some patients who were making
baskets As opened the door the
thought came to me that Thomas was
behind it 1t was a heavy door. OPEN
ed into the shop. and as the thought
came to me l swung it violently back
and put my whole weight against it.
Thomas was there and l caught him. He
had knife in his hand. and had not
discovered him. should have been Sc
verely wounded, if not killed. With
this failure he gave up his plotting.
got the idea that spirit came to tell
me all the news.
A few months after my arrival. we
received a pugilist as patient He
was a strong. hearty man, and had
gone daft over love affair. The first
impressions of patient decide his flu
ture conduct to 4 great exteXt The
pugilist whose name was Williams,
took an aversion to me, though for
what reason he probably himself could
not have told. A keepers looks, the
tone of his voice. the color of his hair,
the cut of his clothes, the merest tr;flc.
is sufficient to prejudice a new arrival.