The evening world., 1894-05-03
BROOKLYN NEWS.
Says HIS MOTHER WAS BEATEN
Mccarthy Thinks She Was
Clubbed to Death in a Hospital.
May Make Charges Against the
Kings County Institution.


for commission merchants, who lives at
2 Atlantic venue. Brooklyn. makes
grave charges against the Kings County
Hospital at Flatbust, in connection with
the death of his mother, Margaret Nc
Carthy. which occurred there April e
last.
Mccarthy says that he has reason to
believe that his mother was dubbed to
death.
Il took her to the hospital IN April g."
he avs "and when l called to see her
on the two subsequent Sundays l was
denied admission. The reason assigned
for this was that the patients were
quarantined on account of smallpox.
Other visitors, however, were admitted.
and l learned that the quarantine rule
was never enforced in the case of rela-
tives. But for some reason which I could
not understand at the time, but which
permit me to share this privilege.
ION April Fl l received notice that my
mother had died the day before. To
my surprise. when | again called at the
poor mothers body. Dr.. John A. Ar
mold, the medical superintendent Of the
hospital, told me hat the rule prescribed
that nobody hould see the dead until
Nv NiiuNt tohN 60 sf>iA AoA
burial
"'But she was my motherr I ex-
claimed, and l know that this rule,
like the one relating to the quarantine,
is not always enforced. You certainly
won't enforce 1t in the case of a man
h comes to see the dead body of his
mother
"'Well, I can't allow you to see it, re-
piled DIR. Arnold. Mccarthy states.
&c! returned later that same day. with
eight friends and Undertaken Matthews.
The body had by that time been pre-
pared, and my companions and / were
permitted to gaze upon its face.
~, nWhat J. saw struck str u n me speeches..
the mouth was distorted out OF shape.
and looked as If the jaw-bone had been
broken, n on the face there was a
friends and / could draw only one con-
clusion from all this; namely. that my
mother had been beaten to death in
When THE Evening World" reporter
called at the hospital yesterday Supt.
Arnold was not IN. The physician in
charge. however, said that Mrs. Nc
Carthy was insane when taken to the
She n her daughter were brought
here together" he said. The daughter
o %as r whi1e Mr to M Me insane was asy kept IN N
the insane reception ward for observa-
ton. Her mind wandered and she spoke
in a rambling, often incoherent, way.
Sometimes she grew violent. During
such a frenzy one night about two
weeks before her death she leaped from
her bed and fell face downward to the
against a chair, that stood beside her
bed. My attention was called to this
the day after it happened. AS far as ]
could Judge the blow on the eye did not
charge had said, Mccarthy exclaimed;
Why, my mother lost her only daugh-
mothers insanity, there is no truth in
it. She was perfectly sane when she
entered the hospital. nor had she at any
The reporter called at the hospital
again. This time DR.. Arnold was
In. He was very affable. and showed
at the service of the reporter.
The doctor in charge here yesterday
said the reporter, Stated that Mrs. Nc
Garthy was brought here with her
mented; that the daughter was sent to
the insane asylum and Mrs. Mccarthy
detained in the insane reception ward
she jumped from her bed and. in that
way, injured her eye"
Perfectly correct" replied DR.. Ar
"But Mccarthy says that his mother
hadn't had a daughter living for the
last thirty years." queried the reporter.
"Oh, yes said DR.. Arnold, II forgot
to say that the doctor who spoke ia
you yesterday got Mrs. Mccarthy mixed
up with another patient, but as for the
insanity part and her having hurt her
eye by jumping from her bed, these
statements are correct.
The whole affair" he added, 'is
really, absurd: If m brutality had oc.
CURED here I would not wait for an
outsider to make complaint. ! would be
the first to sift the matter in order Ia
get at the truth and punish the offender.
The woman's eye was only a little dis.
colored from the fall. and her mouth
was a trifle crooked. as the natural re-
suit of the rightly of death. Our nurses
have been with us for years and have
always proved themselves not only
efficient, but courteous. 1t all amounts
to a tempest in a teapot. ] have not
ordered an investigation because ]
deem the whole affair too trihing."
At the office of the Commissioner of
Charities and Correction. Chief Clerk
Joseph Short, jr., said that no complaint
had yet been made there. He expressed
himself as convinced that DR.. Arnold
was too strict a disciplinarian to per-
nit any act of brutality on the part of
his su~bordinates to go unpublished.
Mccarthy says he is going to try to
have the body exhumed and examined;
and If 1t is found that his suspicious
are justified. he says he will lay the
matter before the Distrjct-Attorney.