The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-03-02

Peddlers ............. 2lGlass-maker.. 49,. 1
Ttnsmiths. 4Chfese movers. ~
BARRIERS and hair Nooccupation... 10
workers in stores. 3 Total 4so
At the Hudson river asylum out OF
1913 cases admitted, there were II bar
keepers. IS book-keepers, 16 black
smiths, IA butchers, Sc carpenters, 10
cigar-makers, 80 clerks, 9 clergymen,
10 dressmakers, 10 engineers, 20 fac
tory operatives, 277 farmers and farm
laborers, IL gardeners, 10 grocers, 791
housekeepers, $50 who did homework,
$50 laborers. Is lawyers, q sailors, 18
masons, so merchants, rs painters, 10
physicians, 81 seamstresses, 2l shoe
makers, p tailors, 38 teachers, 8 edit
ors. OF this number the cause of in
sanity of 1918 was not ascertained. but
of the remainder % were made insane
by business troubles, IVA by epilepsy,
200 by ill-health, 202 by intemperance.
So by loss of sleep, IS by anxiety and
grief, GA by old age. 81 by overwork,
50 by sunstroke, II by the opium habit.
9 by religious excitement, Is by apo
plexy, "a by injury to the head, and z
by poverty and privation.
DIR. Smith made the statement
somewhat surprising in view of the
frequent cutlery on the subject-that he
had not found any one wrongfully de-
tanned in the asylums of the State on a
careful examination of ali 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
assertion of patients that they were
never 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 relate vary but little
in their general character. The object
sought by their enemies has uniformly
been, as they allege, to incarcerate
them in order to consummate some vii
famous purpose which their presence
would prevent. One is thus committed
that others may secure his property;
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 inquirer to doubt and hesitate
whether, after all, the patient had been
the victim of a gross conspiracy. Care
full and patient inquiry into all the
facts of hundreds of cases has failed to
prove that, in a single instance, the
conduct of the friends of patients has
been governed by improper intentions
and motives. That conspiracies may
form for the purpose of securing the
commitment of sane persons to insane
asylums is undoubtedly true, and is
never lost sight of in these official ex-
aminations. Every effort is made neces-
sary to discover the real facts in each
case, and to arrive at a just conclusion as
to the mental condition OF the complain
ants. Inthe vast majority of instances
the evidences of insanity are apparent
on entering the ward. In large num-
Der of cases a moments conversation
determines the mental condition of the
patient In a few cases a longer and
more varied conversation is necessary
| to discover the more obscure evidences
of mental alienation. Where there is
any doubt as to the insanity of an indi-
vidual further inquiries are made by
examining the attendants and the
physicians, and by examining the re-
corded history of the case, and the
certificates of the physicians who made
out the commitment papers. In some
instances have not formed my opin-
ion altogether upon this evidence, but
have correspondent with persons famil-
lar with all the facts in the antecedent
history of the patient, and have even
personally visited the locality of his
former residence in search of more ex-
act information. In some instances
it has been found that patients have so
far recovered that they were capable
OF complete care of themselves. and
could do much useful work. But II
was found on inquiry that they were
not yet as firmly established in health
as to make it proper to allow them to