The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1893-11-22
BRooKvILLE MEMORIAL HOME.
A Place Where Cruelty is Dealt Out with
Lavish Hand.

was established about four years ago as
monument of the sympathy and large
heartcdness of the Woman's Relief
Corps Of Pennsylvania, has been for
saken by It's founders because IL has
been taken out Of their hands. The w.
II. &. ladies Of our town worked nobly
TO help get the Home open and support
1t for the first few years. Now they
are done with IL while II Is under
the present management, and they are
as wise In that as they were willing
workers at first.
The object In the hearts and minds Of
provide home for old soldiers, soldiers
widows and soldiers orphans, where
they could live and not have the gaunt
wolf Of despair staring at them daily,
and where they might be able TO sip
little Of life's pleasures so far as comfort
could supply IL, but the beautiful
thought, put in action, has been sullicd
by the hand Of barbarism.
The stories that are told about the
cruelty enacted at the Memorial Home
ut Brookville seem almost incredible in
an institution that is intended to be a
place Of comfort and plenty. The fol-
lowing is an extract from an article
published in the Brookville RepuJlicon
last week;
''rhese acts Of cruelty consisted in
the locking Of Ettie Paris and girl
named Sylvis in their room and requir-
ing them 10 go To bed on Friday even
ing and allowing them nothing TO eat
until the following Sunday noon. The
whipping Of demented boy, Alonzo
Jackman, by the Matron, until she was
entirely exhausted. Imprisoning child
rem between the bed stead and the wall,
showing the bedstead so tight against
them that they could neither turn
around or change their position, posi-
tion In which they were left for hours
at n time and when released many Of
them sank exhausted to the floor. That
this punishment was OF such frequent
occurrence that there was seldom a
time when some Of the children were
not in the stocks. That Alonzo Jack
man was taken from the bath ROOM led
through the halls naked and put in the
stocks and kept there two hours. That
Willie Liephart, boy three years old,
was kept In the stocks for hours at "a
time. That George Hinkley, a child
about seven years old, was kicked by
an employee OF the Home, knocked
against the corner Of Il bench and a
hole cut In his ear. That he was taken
to the Matron In this condition. but the
employee was not even reprimanded.
| That dark vault in the cellar, used
as refrigerator in which TO keep beer
when the building was used as a hotel,
was kept as dungeon, and boys and
| girls imprisoned there as punishment
| for trivial Offenses. That one little
girl was kept in this dungeon until it
| was thought, when she was released,
| that she had lost her reason from fright.
| That Samuel Spangler, an inmate Of
| the Home, was sent TO the rooms OF the
| children as late as nine and ten o'clock
at night to whip them for wetting their
beds while asleep, and that he used a
strap on their bare bodies, and that the
Matron punished the children in the
same way for the same Offense. That
the screams OF the children, while be-
| ing punished, we're heard all over the
premises and by the neighbors. Fore
ing children to eat their food when sick,
and requiring them TO eat all that was
placed before them regardless Of their
wants"
n that is not hard-hearted cruelty,
where can it be found ? Mrs. Carrie
Lindsey, of this place, had little boy
in the Home whom she clothed and
kept there with the understanding that
she could take the boy out when
ever she so desired, and q lady at
Brookville had little son in the Home
also. These two boys, with a number
OF others, were sent to an orphan school
in the eastern part of the state without
even giving the mothers an opportunity
to say goodbye or notice OF the
removal of their darlings, nor did they
know 1t until several weeks after the
children had been removed. Do you
call that a Memorial Home? All, yes,
1t is home which the inmates will
never forget while life lasts. Some OF
the old soldiers or widows draw eight
dollar pensions. Eighteen out OF the
twenty-four dollars received every three
months goes to the Home for their sup
port. The state appropriation is $4,000
annually and the Relief Corps Of the
state have been giving literally to the
institution until recently. Several
weeks ago the management asked the
w. r. G. Of Reynoldsville to give them
! fifty-dollars, but we are glad to say they
refused to give even a penny. 1t i,
limited that the Matron is a southern
lady and has no sympathy for those who
seek shelter at the Home.
II the above facts are not true why dc
the managers rest under them, and i
they are true then the sooner the Brook
vile Home is closed the better, or else
have the tyrants ousted and their place,
| flla1 hv 1aaa ho plo ,,io,,a ,nannlo