The herald., 1896-07-27
The Highland Asylum

Editor Herald: In your last Sunday
issue Of The Herald another of those ar.
ticleS appeared abusing the officers II
charge of the Highland asylum, and
cannot refrain from replying to it, If yos
Will kindly give space in your valuable
paper for the following:
As former employe of the institution
In the capacity of attendant in the vio-
lent ward, with full access to the other
three male wards, think am capa BILE
after carefully taking note of everything
| while in there, to reply to Mr.. j. A. Col
| ter and others, and will say that If ever
any charges were malicious and untrue
their charges Of cruelty and brutal
| treatment in the management of said
institution certainly are so. Any man
living, whether sane or insane, when de-
| prived of his liberty, will always resent
1t and try to make trouble, but, never
thelesS, / can, without making a mis-
take, single out at least fifty out of sew
enty-five of the patients in said asylum
today who would all be willing to tes-
tify as to the fair treatment received
there.
A thing to be considered very serious
ly. as it Is always misleading to the pub
lie eye. and very hard to deal with for
the officers in charge. is the periodical
case of insanity. For instance. a patient
Is received raving mad, filthy beyond
0eSCilptlOIl, anu uudple 10 take care Oh
himself in any way. He will only con-
tinue in that condition for a week, when,
in a way, he will get his senses back
and Immediately insist on being liber-
ated. His relatives. when hearing of
his condition, seldom listen to explana-
tions, but also insist strenuously upon
setting him free to take him home, and
the doctors. hard pressed, will some
times accede to their wishes and release
him He homo and In fbrpo
four weeks )ss rawlings will be on again,
and he may even commit murder dur
ing that period. What are the conse-
quences? The public will simply de-
nounce the doctors for letting a man
out without being cured. but do they
stop to think who prevailed on those
doctors or what howl was raised before
the man was released? Threats are even
made at times of exposing in some news
paper the injustice of keeping a sane
man confined. To all appearances. he
looks sane and rational enough at the
time, but experience has taught these
men that he is only another of those
periodical cases. Still. they are unable
to act. being, so to say, fettered down |
by a public. which is always watching |
and trying to find fault with a thing it |
does not understandable running of an |
insane asylAn. Here are also a good |
many men, formerly attendants in the |
but dismissed from its SER
vice for cruelty or carelessness, who,
out of pure revenge. will condemn the |
place to anybody who will listen, and,
strangely enough, they are always be-
ieved.
AS to Mr. j. A. Golfer, he was released
before I cana. but. after what I heard
rom other patients.who were there dur
ng his time, he was given every advan-
age the men in charge were capable of
extending him. He came there mental
md physical wreck, as insane a man as
vas ever brought in there, but he made
| wonderfully. quick recovery and only
ell back once, when he was returned
rom the convalescent ward to the sick
ward. This transfer. which was abso-
utely necessary, he still seems to resent.
Wy only explanation of his consistent
lbuse of the place must be that his
brain Is very weak yet, and that some
insane delusion must still be following
'iYIs 10 rieaNh. ga So .he-is-o -6t e,ihisct to
oody Is sadly mistaken If he thinks that
IAN be done with kindness alone. II
entirely thrown away on him. The only
way is to be firm, even stern, TO hlnl' SO
as to make him succumb to any rule
Ie is cunning enough to know when ne
,as found his master If he. on the
other hand. gets an idea into his head .
hat he can overpower you, ne VIII XIII
YOU the first chance he gets. The treat
ment at the Highland asylum is. in my |
opinion as good as any in the Unlteo
States and far better than good many
and defy anybody to say that any cru
city is pra .ticed there. NO one VINO
knows anything about the istitution |
and wants to be truthful and fair, can
have anything but praise for the star
of officers, who are daily doing their ut
most to keep up discipline and good Or
der.
1 say, with Mr.. Golfer, to the men IN
noyer TO Investigate. 1t is high time |
YOU were up and doing, and l am sure
no obstacles will be put in your way as
everything there is open to investiga-
ton. but know the result will be that
they will only verify my opinion $50
end this unjust abuse heaped upon the
ir stitution and It's officers. Very re-
spectfully, -ro>-
Los Angeles, July "a, 1896.