Bismarck weekly tribune., 1888-07-20
]. DOING A GOOD WORK.
THE ONLY wAsHiNGToNlAN HOME
IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE ONLY WAsHiNeToNIAN HOME
a IN THE UNITED STATES.
Il is Located In Chicago. and to the
Earnest Enieavors Of Its Promoters
ent Good Character.
Especial Correspondence
CHICAGO, July 10.-There is no more inter-
esting place in this city that know any
thing about than the Washingtonian home
Chicago's Washingtonian home is, be-
ieve, the only one in the United States.
At our home new departure was taken
late last year. An industrial department in
the shape of q workshop wherein the inmates
may be employed at manual labor has been
added, and the result Of this experiment. will
be watched with interest. In fact, this home
is full of curious interest from one end to the
other, from the reading room, where the re.
formed man sits at his book to the den of
horrors, occupied by whisky maniacs, who
gnash their teeth like wild beasts and rend
the air with their outcries.
Not less interesting than the home itself
was its beginning twenty-five years ago.
The man who planted the good seed was
Rolla Law, an editor. Fitting up little
room in the rear Of his Office with two beds
and strong lock on the door, he placed in
that humble hospital two drink victims of
his acquaintance He kept them there thirty
days, and when he thought they had re-
formed he asked them to take the pledge and
told them they might CO. They signed the
pledge, and one of the men took some money
which Mr. Law gave him, did an errand to a
store near by, passing and repassing saloons
on the way, and came back with his pledge
unbroken. For twelve years before that day
the man had not passed saloon with a dime
in his pocket without stopping in for liquor.
all the remainder of his life, and became a
successful business man. The other patient.
alas! did not withstand the crucial test He
fell at the first temptation Glad to save
even one man, the friends of Mr. Law be-
stirred themselves and started the Washing
tonian home. After a time they got public aid
in the shape of share of the revenues from
liquor licenses, and now possess handsome
home which cost $100, 600. and with room for
100 patients.
The first thing that is done with patient
arriving at the home is to put him in the hos
pital. was at the home one day when q
patient came in the patrol wagon Three
policemen had all they could do to get him
up stairs. He fought like madman, de-
clared that his captors were going to hang
him, and his cries and cursings were fearful
to hear. At length he was Gained into tract
ability and confined in the strong room at
tached to the hospital. This room is in
reality a.jail The door is of heavy iron. A
few years ago the walls were padded to pre-
vent the occupants dashing their brains out
against the walls, but the leather upholstering
has been removed and the walls are now
bare It was found impossible to put on an
upholstering that the delirious man could not
tear off Often an inmate would stand half
the night picking at the leather or endeavor-
ing to loosen nail head. One prisoner man.
lged to reach the head of nail with his
teeth, and in five minutes there was not a
scrap of leather on the wall. These strong
rooms have no windows, they are as dark as
the mammoth cave.
1T would never do to put a delirious man
in lighted CELL" says DR.. Smith, the stew
ard, who has had many years of experience
in handling such patients. ''The light ex-
cites his Imagination. If there is the small
est crevice in the wall he will see in it the
most horrible things. Complete darkness
and isolation from sound are the best. The
common notion that men suffering from de-
lirium tremens see snakes and vernlln is
correct. Fully SO per cent. of them are af-
ficted with snakes and rats. Some of them
see owls Even in their more quiet moments
nearly all Of the patients think everybody is
in conspiracy against them They i'm
agine that somebody is pouring water on
them, or trying to burn them with hot irons
o1~c ctoh xx,ifh Eviv <nl,o
handle some of these men, and have been
called to the hospital in the dead of night to
find it in possession of two or three madmen.
and the nurses fleeing for their lives.
Occasionally we are compelled to use
the straight jacket. A man in de-
irium from drink is more difficult to control
than a maniac. The attendant of a madman
quickly gains an influence over him, or learns
the methods by which he can be controlled.
Not so with the man crazed by liquor. He
is full Of moods, and there is no telling what
he will do next He ,lay start out Of deep
sleep and commit deels of violence before
the attendant can summon assistance. Beer
cases are worse than whisky, and the opium
victim is the worst of all. He is tricky aid
treacherous even after he has become ra-
tional. 1t is motto with us to never trust
an opium eater. Our opium patients are
kept apart from the others. Not one opium
victim in a hundred reforms"
"What proportion of the inmates are suf-
fering with delirium tremens on their arri-
val herep
Zone in fifteen or twenty. though many
more are bordering on it. If violent a pa
tient is put in the dark room fora few hours,
but if merely prostrated from alcoholism he
is put to sleep in the hospital We dare not
deprive them Of stimulants at once, and
hence it follows that drunkards do get liquor
In the Washingtonian home itself. But for
this fatal results would follow in large pro-
portion of the cases. The men have been
without food s0 l0nor that fo instant11, tol,o