The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-01-03

AT the Hudson River Asylum out of
2073 cases admitted, there were Il bar
keepers, IS bookkeepers, 16 backsmiths,
IA butchers, Sc carpenters, 10 cigarmakers,
50 clerks, 8 clergymen. 10 aressmakers, 10
engineers, 80 factory operatives, 277 farm
ers and farm laborers, II gardeners, 10
grocers, 791 housekeepers, $50 who did
housework, $50 laborers. IA lawyers, 81
sailors, IS masons, 50 merchants, %
painters. Is physicians. q seamstresses, q
sh0emakers, p tailors, So teachers, edi-
tors. Of this number the cause Of in
sanity OF 1915 was not ascertained, but Of
the remainder % were made insane by
business troubles, TIA epilepsy, 200 by ILL
health, POP by intemperanca, 96 by loss Of
sleep, s. by anxiety and grief. 81 by old
age, 81 by oyerwork, 50 by sunstroke. II
by the opium habit, 8 by religious excite.
ment, 10 by apoplexy, 81 by injury to the
head and by poverty and privation.
NO SANE AMONG THEM.
DR.. Smith made the statement some
what surprising in view of the frequent
cutlery on the subject-that he had not
found any one Wrongfully detained in the
asylums of the state on careful examina-
ton of all the facts in each alleged case
He added;
Nothing is more surprising, On first
entering the wards of an asylum, than the
universal claim, and often vehement as
eort ion of no l,,t
insane, that they were committed through
frauds and conspiracies, and hence are
wrongfully detained in the asylum. The
stories of wrong and abuse which they re-.
late vary but little in their general char
acter. The object sought by their enc.
mics has uniformly been, as they alege, to
incarcerate them in order to c0nsummate
some yillainous purpose which their pres
ence would prevent. One is thus COM
mitted that others may secure his prop
erty another alleges that he alone knew
of the frauds Of officers of corporations,
banks or other institutions Whatever
form it may take, all the facts are mar
rated with great minuteness and with an
apparent candor, which often leads the in.
quirer to doubt and hesitate whether,
after all, the patient had not been the vie
tim of a gross conspiracy, Careful and
patient inquiry into all the facts Of nuns
dreds of cases has failed to prove
that, in a single instance, the con.
duct of the friends of patients has been
governed by improper intentions and mo.
tiyes. That conspiracies may form for
the purpose of securing the commitment
of sane persons to insane asylums is un.
doubtedly true, and is never lost sight of
in these official examinations. Every eff
fort is made necessary to discover The real
facts in each case, and to arrive at a Just
conclusion as to the mental condition of
the complaina-ts. In tie vast majority
Of instances the evidence of insanity i:
apparent on enter ing the ward. In large
number of cases a moments conyersat ion
determines the menai condition of the pa
tient. In few cases longer and more
varied conversation is necessary to discoy
er the more obscure evidences Of menta
alienation. Where there is any doubt as
to the insanity Of an individual further in
quries are m ade by examining the attend.
arts and the physicians, and by examining
| the recorded history of the case and the
certificates Of the physicians who made
out the commitment papers. In, some
| instances l have not formed my opinion
altogether upon this evidence, but have
corresponded with persons familiar with
| all the facts in the antecedent history of
patient, and even personally visited the
| locality of his former residence in search
| Of more exact information. 1t occasion
ally happens that patients allege wong
| full detention because they have now re-
covered. In some instances it has beer
found that patients have so far recovered
that they were capable OF complete care
of themselves and could do much usefu
work. But it was found On inquiry thai
they were not yet as firmly established il
health as to make it proper to allow them
! to return to their homes. Such persons
, were rarely impatient and were quite vii
! ling to remaining under treatment unit
they were pronounced recovered by the
superintendent,
FLETCHER ALLEN.