The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-11-11

heat all night His testimony concerning
the food furnished the asylum corrobor-
ated that of preceding witnesses. He said
he never knew of any good butter being
served there, and in some cases it was so
rank that he was unable to eat food which
contained any butter. Mr.. Wing, when
placed in the witness chair, declared that
no complaints were ever made to him con-
corning Or. Giddin g. management of
the sylum, but that DR.. Giddings himself
h al told him of cases where attendants
we're discovered abusing the patients and
| that such attendants were discharged by
his orders. The inquiry was continued this
afternoon. Concerning Fred Bowman's
testimony. reported yesterday, 1t should be
said that IL referred wholly to the butter
and not to other food furnished for the
asylum %gT2
The asylum investigating committee is
taking rest to-day to begin again with
new vigOr tomorrow morning. DIR. Graves,
the assistant superintendent during the first
part of Dr. Giddngs' management of the
| the institution, has been found in New
| YORK by the committee making the inquiry
and will be here tomorrow to take his place
in the witness chair. 1t was during the
! time that he was connected with the az, lum
| that many OF the worst of the abuses de-
| scribed by the witnesses were committed.
| II DR.. Graves tells all he knows Ia regard
to the Vermont insane asylum at Water
! bury, the disclosure will be interesting I'M
| less there has been an unprecedented
! amount of lying among the witnesses who
! have been on the stand during the past two
! weeks On Saturday morning the commit
! tee will make another visit to the asylum to
! see for Themselves concerning the heating,
ventilation and sanitary conditions of the
| buildings; also to look over the scenes
| where the horrible tales that have been told
are laid. Yesterday afternoon the wit
nesses examined and cross-eXamined were
muel Parcher, Dean Nichols and Fred
Bowman. Parcher continued the story he
began in the morning of how the male pa
| tients were compelled to work outdoors in
winter with only the thinnest Of cotton
clothes. Nichols testified that the quality
of the food furnished was so poor that moth
ing but extreme hunger would induce any
one to eat it. Bowman, who Is clerk in
M. o. Evans grocery store, testified that
he was in the habit of selling inferior butter
at reduced prices for use at the asylum,
and also that the poorest quality of food of
all kinds was what was furnished under the
direction of Dr. Giddings.
THE witnesses in the asylum inves-
tigation who testified Wednesday after
noon and this morning were Charles
d. Morgan, Mrs. e. G. Tuthill, e. H.
Tuthill and Mrs. jennie Tuthill of New
fame l.. II johnson of Duxbury, and Sam
uel Parcher of Waterbury, all of whom
were employees at the asylum, though not
all were in direct charge of the patients.
Their testimony was similar in character to
that of preceding witnesses, though prob
ably less directly discriminating DR.. Gid
dings than that offered at earlier sessions
of the investigating committee. Every one
of those on the stand told of abuses that
never ought to have been allowed in pub
lie or charitable institution, but the fault
appears to have been upon others as well
as upon the superintende Parcher, who
was employed on the asylum farm, told how
a male patient who assisted him about the
farm had his hands frozen because he was
not supplied with gloves or mittens; but
said that, after DIR. Giddings was informed
OF the case the man had a pair OF mittens,
and that other patients who worked out of
doors were supplied The witnesses we're
all sharply cross-examined by Mr. Stickney,
counsel for DR.. Giddings, and the cases of
the Town woman, the patient who was
scalded, and the one who was reported to
have died of acute Bright's disease" were
gone over in detail, bringing out few new
facts but somewhat strengthening those
previously presented. The sto y in regard
to the girl confined in a closet for day or
two was disputed by two witnesses who ap-
peared to be familiar with the case. Less
attention was paid by the committee to the
food supply at the asylum and more to the
methods of handling by the attendants, I'M
der the control and direction Of the super
intendent. The date of the death of the
patient whom some of the witnesses thought
died as the result of illtreatmeut was fixed
by Mrs. +. G. Tuthill as January 2, 1894.