New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-20
THEY HAD NO ULT TO FIND.
WITNESSES SPEAK WELL OF THE MAN
AGEMENT OF THE. ASYLUM

THE TESTIMONY. HOWEVER WAS GIVEN BY EN-
PLoYEs At WARDS ISLAND AND ONE At
TENDANr OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OTHERS
For the second time the State Iunacy Commission
shifted the scene of It's inquiry into the management
Of ;he city insane asylums yesterday from 'he'
heated quarters in the Park Avenue Hotter " NV
breeze-swept slopes of Wards Island Inc me vi
the inquiry was slmar'io that pursued on Wednes-
day All the witnesses called IN sutstantiat'oh OF
the newspaper charges leveed aganfs the ins'''"-
ton have now been examined. and the commission
before closing that section or the''nqurs' are
determined TO call oil the attendants ana doctors
who have been reported ~ having cri'CiSeu '"c
management OF the Institution. The majority oil
these are still employed In the asylum ana they are
as a rule prompt to contradict Haty the testimony
OF the witnesses for the prosecution
Ann Jane Brown was the first witness. She is an
attendant I'm the female asylum. under DR.. Dent.
and she had nothing that was not hattering 10 say
about his management Of the Institution ana the
way In which the patients are cared for Even Tor
the food concerning which 81 much has teen said.
she could find only words of judicous praise. Law
yer MacMahon extracted from her an exhaustive
description OF the diet. In the course of which anu
sion was again made to the diluted condensed mix
furnished the patients. General Superintendent
Macdonald here created n diversion by making
mysterious signal to an attendant. who Immediately
darted away and returned In few moments with
two glasses OF the mixture in question the com
missoners shifted IL critically, ana Goodwin
Brown even ventured TO taste 1t.
The next witness was Margaret Aiamango. who
has charge Of the building known as Branch !. Her
evidence was only remarkable for the number OF
denials she made OF statements made by Dr. Louise
Rabinovitch
Josephine Dunn. another attendant not only de-
MED all the allegations against the food and the
treatment Of patients but asserted that Dr. Rabno-
in he
in the habit of negecting sick patients u was
developed that the witness bore drudge against
believe her sick one occasion when she wished
to be treated as an invalid
Mary Dunn. another attendant startled the com
ami chn3 for hreakTast Yesterday morning Al
though she coild not find much fault with the food
scented to Dr. Dent by the attendants. setting forth
their grievances in the matter in forcibe terms
Della Quinn another nt'endnnt came mrb ior| Snl
Adele Porter. the newspaper writer. who became
an attendant FOR few days. described as having
had charge OF the bathing of number of patients;
within full view Of ward full OF patients. Ade.e
ened the movements OF OF them by dragging her
around by the hair Miss Quinn denied both these
statements with much warmth .... .,,.. ,,-o, cha
affairs OF the Institution BY Susie sherms a. Tn nS
evidently made Hp her mind to ten al she -, knew
tendants' dining-room and was able TO give ne
commission some interesting details about the
food. She described II as being OF coarse grade
and vilely cooked on one occasion the dinner
served was so nauseous that she took her portion
10 DIT Dent in his office. and showed II 10 him
DR. Dent sent for the cook and talked TO him about
It. but perccptible Improvement IN the FOOD re-
suited from her complaint. Miss sherman gave
further testimony Of a damaging nature respecting
the prevalence Of scurvy in the institution and the
lack OF bathing facilities resulting In the Improper
bathing OF patients She volunteered the opinion
that DR. Dent did the best he could with the re-
sources at his command.
The testimony resumed It's negative character
when Katie Fox took the stand. She spoke In
low timd voice confining her answers as FAR az
POSSIBLE to yes SIR" and mo. sir. She had no
fault at all TO find with DR.. Dent or the manage
rnent Of IN, asylum. and thought the 1000 was
pretty fair. -,
Supervisor Ellen Ryan was another witness VINO
favored the management OF the asylum ana had no
faults 10 find. and Edna Lewry, another super.
70 The food which she confessed WAS nI altogether
above reprOach. &c.,, ,.,.
The inquiry will be resumed at the isiaha 'h's
morning