The herald., 1896-08-16
HOW The INSANE IRE Handled
Food Clean and Healthy but Not
From Delmonico's
INSANE ASYLUM ROUTINE
A Patienf'Is Never Beaten Nor
Cruelty Treated
Attendants and Attaches Required to Use
Them a. They Would Friend
Bsiei, Sketch Of the Disease Of InsaultysFrom
Biblical Times to the Present Day
Progress Made by nedicai Science In Correct
Ing the Disordered Punctisns Which De.
veIop Mental Mslady-An In.
teresting Story

have beensto Highlands and carefully
inspected and investigated the manage
and inebrlates that is located there and the
treatment that is given the patients.
: was not smuggled into the institution.
! got there through the regular channels.
was one of the patients for about 100 days
The fact of the matter is that 1t was un-
necessary to use any subterfuge to get me
qualified myself for admission and all that
had to be done to place me there was to pur-
tai that Should 20 there qule matter of
protection to my friends and. If possible,
to save the life left In me which was quite
There is a provision made by tho statutes
or California that when man insists. de-
spite the entreaty Of friends, upon repeat.
alcoholic glory he shall be placed under
legal restraint and an endeavor made to re-
store him. This was the section that was
applied to me with success.
Upon the petition of friend. the testi-
mony Of two physicians and two free hold
ers and my own admissions Judge Shaw
decided that Highlands was an excellent
Ipha Place for me me to % %sojourn, Here 1T was wa,
power in my character it might possibly
be brought to light SO that I could exercise
1t on demand. at some future time when 1
I do not wish any one to get the impress
sion that there is any qualification to me in
having been committed to Highlands as an
absolutely none. But the circumstances
and conditions which warranted my COM
nitment having existed-a mortifying con-
fession-the man who tries to bring about
ton.
"A soJourn Of few weeks in hospi-
tai Of the character OF the one at High
lands as a patient Is far from pleas
ant, but in many ways the experience
is full of instruction and profit. To be-
gin with. the patient is. in many cases,
cured This is the great desideratum,
but 1t is not all that is accomplished.
In the process Of being cured, while in
a state Of convalescence, one can by OBJ
servation and inquiry acquire informa-
tion which can never be obtained save
by experience as an inmate.
However, after carefully weighing all
the advantages to be gained by a resi-
dence in an asylum, I am constrained
to express my preference to be permitted
to follow the calling for which 1 am
best fitted in the outside world. Taken
1t its best, and every advantage con-
sidered, an insane and inebriate hos
pital is not congenial place of resi-
dence. But It's existence is necessary
and the provision made therefore by the
state is dictated by spirit of charity
and humanity.
received vast physical DeneHt at
Highlands and my residence there was
as pleasant as it could possibly have
been under the circumstances that ex
listed. The workings of place of that
kind are not generally understood. In
fact, but little is known of them. do
not intend to write as fault finder.
but will give the experience of about
100 days there, with a little information
collated on the subject of insanity.
An inabriata Is not reQa rded either nv
the statutes Of the state or by the law
of medicine as an insane person, but
there are various forms of intoxication.
Alcoholic intoxication is one of the great
sources OF insanity, so the authorities
ciaim.
Therefore, the state has provided that
IN some instances a victim shall be plao
ed under system of wholesome re-
etraints and treatment, even before the
intellect has become seriously impaired
An attempt Is made to rescue him before
the mind becomes totally and forever
darkened. and the unfortunate enters
upon that awful period of living death
which is absolute dementia
ANCIENT HISTORY.
In the history of the world there are
many characters who have played prom
1nent parts. characters which have dis
played abnormal intellectual develop
ment. Cases of insanity among the
early Greeks, Hebrews Egyptians and
Romans are recorded, largely due to
lntoxication\
Hercules murdered his wife and chill
dren under delusion and twice attempt
ed suicide. Saul was crazed and his
mania appeased by the music of Dav-
ids harp who was himself an epileptic.
Nebuchadnezzar labored under mental
delusion and for seven years roamed
the fields as an unclean beast. Cam
byses, king Of Persia. while insane,
murdered his own brother. Ulysses
feigned madness. Ajax imagined that
he was tormented by the furies and
suicided. Caligula and Juvenal were
both insane. Juvenal had an idea that
the moon was his mistress. The cruelties
of Nero were the outward manifesta-
tions of the inward mental disease
The first record of any restraint be-
hg placed upon an insane person was
IN the case Of Hercules, who was bound
With cords and fastened to the nearest
epot until he recovered his mind. The.
Romans stoned the insane to death. and