The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1889-08-16
RALEIGH INSANE ASYElTN.
A CHAPTER OF EXPERIENCE nv
VIM. A. GUTlRIE
He Writes Effectively and Strongly OF
Il Cryin: Need in the Raleigh Insane
A>Vium.

| DURHAM, N. G., July %, 1889 ! fee
very grateful to you for kind EXPIRE ssion
of commendstion recently Published il
your paper concerning my testimony il
| the Grissom trial, and l am thereby in
| drcad to write you some things relating
to my experience as a patient in the Raj
elgh asylum, with the hope that you Will
| lead Cf, that the whole press of the State
may follow, in correcting and removing a
great evil in that institution
The evil is ths-the building there is
entirely unsuited to the condition of nerv-
Gus patients, as my experience amply
proves, and it is crnelty refined to put a
nervous patient in it.
| Either an addition to the present build
| ing, with dead walls between to cut OF
the noisy patients from the others, or a
| separate building should be provided in
the nature of a hospital, so that the nerv
! Gus patients could be isolated and away
| from the noises and disturbances natu ally
| incident to the building now used
Ny own experience is the best illustra-
ton | can make as an argument for the
| necessity indicated.
| l was patient in that institution from
January Gath to February goth, 1888; four
weeks, lacking one day. From Saturday
| night, January Goth, 1888, to Saturday
night. February Sd, 1888, did not sleep
single moment, either night or day for
two weeks; and from the very moment of
awaking from sleep on the night of Feb
ruary Sd, began to improve; and contin-
ued to improve; and as soon as | became
able to sleep Two nights in succession
was discharged. Sleep and quiet was the
only thing nature required from the first
to effect cure. My friends placed me i'll
that institution, when 1t was crowded to
its full capacity, and even beyond its ca
pacity, just before the MorgantOn Asylum
WAS completed; and | was Of necessity
placed in I, ward with tweniy five or thir-
ty other patients many of whom We're ray
ing mad, and nearly ali of them at differ
ent times night ara day, making noises Of
some sort, some cursilig, some praying,
some talking. others crying cad scream
ing. while myself, needing nothing but
sleep. nnd mat 10 sleep. "!,t NY su
roundings, wa6 absolutely tiNp">s bl,
Having Slept none fol tour day, ana
nights liiCr 10 my admission, | therefore
grew more and more restless and nervous.
owing to my surroundings, and | never
did S. eep un;il from loss of appetite and
INABILITY 10 cui, became physically eN-
hausted. Ca February 3D., | finally be
came delirious myself from loss Of sleep
the time and remembering now distinctly
what then trauspired) l wouId ,ut my
index fingers into both ears and thereby
try to exclude the noise; hut / c0u1 even
then, with my fingers in my cars, Gis-
tinctly feel through the nerves of the
body, the noises all around me-
The diotinctness with which | could
hear the voices about mt made the build
ing seem to be whispering gallery. My
skin became so sensitive that | could not
bear particle of clothing on my person,
and even q small ring on one of my fin
gers seemed burdcnsome to me- and had
to pull it eff. Such was my condition
with such d surrounding the bare
statement will show to the most feeble
mind outside the institution that ever
lost sleep for a single nlght-the cruelty
of such accommodations to a nervous pa
tent in my nervous situation.
| shall always believe that If on the Ii ght
of my admission the accommodations had
been such that could have had a room in
some quiet place, where would have been
separated from the noises and the unpleas-
ant reflections suggested 10y my surround
ings, | could have soon slept, AID, within IL
week, at most. reached he state of cOnva-
lescence which required nearly four weeks
under the circumstances, to say nothing
Of having to suffer the most excrucating z
| torture possible for the human mind to
| conceive | saw the time that ! would
| have freely given, if in my power the
whole world, if had owned it, for one
| hours refreshing sleep; and would not
go through with that four week horrible
eXperince again, for a fee simple title 70
the State.
take great pleasure now, in looking
back at it and rejecting about it, that the
torture | suffered was not the fault OF the
Superintendent, or his assistant, or the
attendants, but of the accommodations for
patient in my situation. Will not the
press of the State, then, in the interest of
humanity, unite in an appeal to the tatri-
otism of the people and their philant hropy
to see to it that the evil spoken of shall be
| removed, and such accommodations as |
have suggested provided.
How many aged men and delicate fc
! males not blessed like myself with a vigor
Gus physical constitution have, under like
circumstances, succumoed TO nervous and
physical exhaustion there, have no means
of knowing, but this | do know, that the
hardshipS | endured when a mere boy Just
cut OF the University, in the active service
OF the State, in the civil war, and at the
last of it for nearly four months in the
Federal military prison at Point Lookout.
Maryland, were ali as nothing in comparl
son to the four weeks Of suffering at The
Raleigh ASy lum, the gleater portlD. Ht
which | am satisfied mig}t, under proper
cOnultIOuS. taV" b,.- y aV.lrui.
No amount oi klndne>, on the p,,ri u
the management can remedy this defect
1t quires the expenditure Of public n W
ey Ill providing better accOmmD3atloi5a
The architect Of the MorgantOn Asylum
has had al eye to this IL the construction
Of that building and it is in keeping with
the progress Of the age. ! visited the Nor
Canton Asylum last October for the pur
pose Of carrying patient there for treat
ment, and spent three or four hours with
DR.. Murphy, the uperintendent, in going
through the building and strolling about
the premises, and there | found the build
ing SO arranged that nervous patients
could have suitable accommodations, and
be kept as quiet and free from the noises
Of the other patients as may be desired.
For the State to confine nervous pa
tient in the Raleigh Asylum, as was, and
compel him to submit to the noise and
disturbance of the noisy patients there, is
the most shameful cruelty of the age; and,
| in comparison, the condition of the vilest
convict in the penitentiary is Infinitely
better. | spoke of it at the time; and if it
| could have been done, | would gladly have
accepted a transfer from one institution to
the other.
What would be thought Of mother
whose child being sick, racked with pain,
au6 tOs Sad hy feyer IF She Shoul la nor onl V