The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-04-02
The Insane In Jails.
SOME IMPORTANT STATISTICS ON THIS
SUBJECT.


SUBJECT.
e,FrIcE supI. WESTERN LlIsarIe ASYLUM,
STANTON VA. March 3, 1891
/, Tothe E.fffor " The DiSpaffh
In an editorial on The Insane in Sundays
issue ef the Dispatth, you say; III MAY be that
! II ~ formerly. btlt fiie islbr considera
nie stu, AMI the legislature at its next session
viii. no doubt, he forced to mai appropriations
FOR ti,s enlargement OF one on more of the asN
lums.
lie latter of these statements is fully con-
/ fiiined by evidence which comes tome In my
official capacity. The number of applicants for
admission who are rejected for want or room
both here ana at the other asylums, is largely in
excess OF the number admitted, which shows
Of course the insufficiehcy Of the asylum accom-
moGatonS in the state. <
But the same evidence shows that the number
of the Insane confined in jails is much exc
atct. There is Oh le in my Office CORES iIantt
ence on this subject with ali the sherifrs s. M.
Commonwealth, dated in the summero7
which shows that at that time the total nj jeI
OF insane in the jails WAS only twelve ri
white and four cOlored. And | have myss4f a@
Gently addressed letters of inquiry @tlie it,
and 1ailers OF the various counties and
and have received replies from seventy
them. according to their official report
wee aes and X s White Is
and four colOred males and Il rec colorsl fA
males Ny repeated inquiries received ne
from the following countless Aceunlat, Isu
an Craig, Dekersol. Elizabeth City
Fioyds Fitvanna. FranSiin. tioochland. ssh
son, GreeneSville Halifax, Henry Isle of IS i,
sf.unenburg, Matthew's Meekfenbnrg, Nor isss
berlana, Northampton Patrick. Prince ,stae4
Prince Edward. liappahansock. ShenaI 81,
Tazeweli aud Warwick
The comparative aill1eSs of the mum ~ 81
the insane in the iaiis is due to the fact thu
superintendents have been anxious and d. lsei
III their efforts to keep them as empty as l9Ssi
bic, and have therefore invariably give
preference to applications coming from p $50
confined in them. They have done so for TWO
reasons. The first is that many of the jails or
the State disgrace to modern civilization,
and You rightly say that 1T is a great pity that
any lupatic, especially woman. should ever
have to he committed to one OF them. For the
condition of the unfortunate insane confined in
None are so helpless, none for the most part SO
friendless they. For they often aban7
doNed by their relatives who, whatever their
inclination have not the means of giving them
the care they need
The second reason for giving preference to
applications coming from the lails is that the
cases confined III them are generally those OF
epileptic insanity. They are the most danger
Gus OF all the Insane. and when admitted to an
classification; and these requirements over and
above What is needed for the ordinary case of
insanity. make it all the more ieplOrable that
they should be confined in 4 county jail.
But unfortunately the efforts Of the Superin
tendentS to prevent their being sent to jail. have
been hampered by the accumulation of old and
incurabe patients in the asy ums. On this &C
count the vacancies are by 10 means as numer-
GUS as the applicants, and see no way of REM
which is by providing additional rooms in the
existing asylums.
BENJAMIN BLACKFORD.
Supt. Western Tunatic ASylum.