Arizona republican., 1890-05-27
IN THE ASYLUM. A Visit to the Territorial Institute Yesterday. The Building Seems to be
 Falling to Pieces. What Has Not Been Done With That Eight Thousand Dollar Appro-
 priatiOn-Tried to Escape.

Arizona Insane Asylum, J. A. Bacon,
 inventor"
 That does not mean that J. A. Bacon
 invented the Insane Asylum of Arizona. It is merely the legend that appears
 above the patent gate to the insane asy- lum grounds-a gate, by the way, that is not at all in keeping with the fences
 leading up to it, nor yet with the grounds into which it gives access.
 A reporter for THE REPUBLICAN visited the Territorial asylum yesterday, in company with the members of the new board of commissioners-who went, however, in their individual and not in their official capacity. The last legisla- ture, it will be remembered, made an appropriation for the improvement of the asylum grounds. There are one hun dred and sixty acres belonging to the in stitution immediately surrounding the building, and the amount appropriated would be amply sufficient to transform this entire tract into veritable garden. It has not been so transformed, how ever, and for very obvious reason. The board recently retired, by order of the district court, based its pretensions to continuance in power upon the claim that the last legislature was not a legal lpdy and, that the legislature not having legal existence, it followed that the appropriation had no existence. For this reason no draught was made upon the fund provided, and the grounds were not properly improved, As a result of this-while it is fact that cotton woods have been set out along the drive leading to the front of the building, and @ number of orange trees have been planted in the front yard, the patients have no grassy, shaded park in which to take the air, but when they desire to go out for change from the close wards, are turned into an enclosure called yards, surrounded by high brick walls that effectually shut off from them whatever breeze that may be stirring. The sun beats down hot into these yards, baking the ground and treblv in- Creasing the heat by the reflection from the earth and the walls, and there is no shelter from this save in whatever shade the walls may cast, and in this shade the heat is almost equally un- bearable. Patients, therefore, save those whose disOrdered intelleCts do not per init them to distinguish the difference between heat and cold, do not volun- tarily frequent this yard save early in the morning before the suns heat be- comes too intense for comfort.
 Under the present management the building itself Is kept perhaps in as good condition as pOssible-but the building is disgrace to the Territory.
 The reporter, in going over the Terri tory yesterday, first walked around the building to inspect the engine and pumping apparatus. Rounding the corner from the front, the reporter was rather taken back to come upon a Chi naman piling wood who at once prOstrated himself to the ground before the visitor, and then rushed to shake hands very effuSively.
 The engine was found in good condi- tion, but the pump is sadly out of repair and should be replaced at once. In fact, 1t would be to the credit of the Territory, ac one of the party remarked, if the whole structure could be torn down and entirely rebuilt.
 Upon the inside the building seems to be literally crumbling away. The ceil- ings are gradually falling, great areas being left on both upper and lower floors where the lath is exposed, and every door-frame in every ward should be taken out at once and replaced with frames built in a more substantial .manner-that is, if it is the desire to keep patients confined in the institution. There is not door in cell or corridor now that strong man could not lift out bodily with lit tie effort. How much easier it would be for a maniac, with a maniac's strength, to pull down these doors, can readily be imagined.
 Indeed, such cases have already oc- cured there, although the facts have seemingly not been reported to the pub lie. outside.
 The attendant who showed the re- porter through the asylum, not knowing for whom he was acting as escort, related two such incidents.
 "All these dOors," the attendant said, in the first ward visited, at the same time seizing and easily shaking the wooden barred entrance to one of the cells, 'are insecure. Why, not long ago that Chinaman there, pointing to patient who Crouched, gibbering in one corner, "broke open the door of the cell and, making down the corridor, would have broken through the outside door, had he not been caught. He was nearly through the transOm as 1t was."
 This was in one of the wards on the ground floor and, in the corresponding ward in the east wing of the building, the attendant showed his insecure doors and fallen clustering, and re- marked:
 "Why the outside door is no more secure than the others. It was only the l other day that one of the patients broke | out end, getting clear of the building, was not overtaken and recaptured until | he had run half mile."
 These conditions obtain in every | ward in the building and, on | he upper floors, the fact that the roof | leaks adds very greatly to the discomfort | of the patients in wet weather.
 There are now in the asylum about | seventy-two patients, ffty-seven men | and fifteen women, and of these the | greater number seem to be confined in | the building the greater part of the | time. This confinement, however, seems | to be very largely iarcical under present | circumstances, as no patient, were he sufficiently reasonable or sufficiently | frenzied, could be kept in the asylum against his will, provided the vigilance