New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-19
c,rE THE PLACE GOOD NAME
At THE WARDS ISLAND IN
,,rsrrGAT1oN FLATLY CONTRADICT
OBVIOUS TESTIMONY.

I, Macdonald. Goodwin Brown. OF
DR.. oa'V senator Henry A. Reeves. constituting
eounseh macy Commission. resumed at the PARK
the S'A ,J,,el Yesterday morning the inquiry INTO
Avenue ~ ,,oeed 10 exist In Connection with the
The Of the city asylums for the insane poor.
ranAes-,csedings opened with discussion between
The PRIV. ,ne commission with regard to the
e0 ~ the inquiry and the future olec"o" II "ou',
Eope -, Edwards, The Herald" counsel, read
,ake ".a.~rnent reviewing the causes leading up
lo"s ,.,s,ication and defining the position occu-
70 IN, THE Herald" in the matter.
pea " ,ssion decided to leave the matter In the
~" - Us counsel. ex-Judge John ID. McMahon.
nah', ,,,ed 10 conduct the case in an orderly way,
VIZ the same time expressed the hope that
b'' 1,..ards would not dissocate himself from
the case ,,,,oa was Ra,nb Mcneil. an engi-
I"'.,,loved by Architect Eidtz to supervise the
".uotl,n Of steam-heating and electric-nghtng
ia'a in the Wards Island buildings prior 10 the
N', insane pat!ents being removed there from
",.,rs Island The witness said that he had
pr,sn1cd a system OF heating with the radiators
r.. near the windows. so that the heating would
p,,hneI with improved ventilation. but Dr.
- the medical superintendent of the male
Inn .",nu had not appeared to place high value on
S.,ration In fact from various conversations
with him. the Witness Came " '"e 0o"0'"' W "
-, N, believe in il.
n, Mcmahon asked the witness IF he mad ever
~ any Of the Commissioners OF Charities and
ac,on on Wards Island. and he replied that
~ ony occasion on which he either saw or heard
80 AZ them was on one morning when the ferry
-, m which he was accustomed to cross TO the
800 was missing and he It out in the channel
,s nm and down with one of the Randall =
,-.ra boats He informed that Commissioner
ss.sbv was having some fun out In the boat.
va,garet A. Brennan. who has been one of the
,o, superyisors IN the female asylum for eight
,.,s was the next witness Her testimony was In
s,-sct contradiction to that given by DR.. Rabino-
r,cb and the o.her witnesses who testified during
,ss early part OF the inquiry. Mr.. Mcmahon plod-
a., o.,sn,lv oyer the old details relating 10 putrid
sod l.ire tment Of patients. the prevalence of
..synin and other abuses. only TO be met at every
vslm'n With prompt and placid denial According
~ the witness the meat was never bad, the pa
,snts were never washed In dirty water mistakes
we're we're never made 10y the insane kitchen help fine
,soo,sconbs were never scarce and vermin. in con-
s,nance plentiful and the institution was In all
ssassTt' decorous managed place Mr. Nc
,Son became tired Of the monotonous denials after
while and turned her over TITO to Duncan Edwards
Nj EdTsT5 e Of the medical stan
wards Island under Or. Dent was next called. He
spDsTsa fu Of the Institution He denied having
seen any cases Of scuryy there. although he had
heard Of in waTf b U Wne saS MIR ms EDWARDS
dacsd him TO admit that he had heard good deal
about sc1y Sg the e a ibe lack of
vegetables. - . , .
sfer leading Dr. Bashore on to saying that
Wards Island was an excellent place. the lawyer
suddenly asked him II he had not characterized II
az n bum place" and he flushed deeply as he adj
mrtsd that he had He said that he did not use
his hypodermic needle oftener than once week.
Emma Glenn was another witness who wanted
n give the institution a good character. She has
been an attendant there for eighteen years and Is
now in charge OF a pavilion containing sixty
ns,isnts She gave specific denals OF the testi-
mony Of Adele Porter the newspaper woman who
snsnt some DAYS on the island an attendant.
and who was assigned TO duty as a subordinate to
the witness. $500, ..,..
EMPLOYED in Dr. Dents office testified TO having
assisted 10 draw w the attendants petition for
better food She said that the food had been
greatly improved in quality during the last two
months. 49,, , =.
Wards Island when the examination OF doctors
ana attendants employed and of the records OF the
Institution will be proceeded with