Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-11-06
BRUTALITY TO INSANE.
Highly Sensational Testimony in
the Waterbury Case.

A Patient ScRlded In n Bath Tub---One
Patient, who Was Pounded by an At
tendant, Died In Two or Three Days.
DR.. II. E. Ballard Of Burlington formerly sec
ond assistant physician at the state insane asy
lum at Waterbury, testified at length Friday be-
fore the legislative investigating committee at
Montpelier about Emma Hoyt Ellen Coffey, Misses
Williams and Gailbraith, the four patients who
were kept in bare rooms without clothing and
with nothing except one or two blankets. Some
Of them had sores caused by the straps with
which their hands were confined, but sores
from lying on the floor. He did not know that it
would have been possible to improve the way Of
caring for these woman, as they were very de-
/ structve and filthy. He had never seen DR.. Gid
dings strike or maltreat a patient and never saw
on any patient marks Of III treatment. II pa
tient used vile language sometimes a wet cloth
was tied over her mouth to stop the practice.
Mrs. c. V. Bates Of Waterbury formerly second
cook, testified In regard to the food at the asy.
lum. She said the meat and material was gener-
| ally good, although sometimes the meat was kept
| too long. The butter was bad about one half the
| time. Coffee was made In the morning for the
help, poor grounds being used, and then hot water
was put on the grounds to make coffee for the
| patients. Milk was set In two deep pans and in
| the morningA quart of cream was SKINNED of
| for Dr. Gildingss family. The skim milk was
| given to the patients
James Fife, a carpenter testified that when he
| went TO a closet to get his tools last summer he
| found a ten yearold girl stark naked and very
| white lying on the floor. The closet had no ven
tilaton. Fife had key to the closet as his tools
| had been kept there, and he saw an attendant I'M
| lock the door. Mrs Leggett an attendant, locked
| the child In the closet day later. The child had
| only a shawl over her. Her name Bertha
| May. He saw an attendant kick patient when
the patient failed TO obey an order. An attendant
| choked patient until he was black 10 the face.
| Two attendants threw patient down on the floor
| IN a room and one jammed his knees into the pa
tents ribs. MIR. johnson also il and said
hat blood ran out Of the patients mouth.
Mary Greeley, Florence Chandler, llr and Mrs.
| Nathan Warren all Of whom were formerly EN-
| ployed in tie institution, were witnesses Monday.
| The facts in regard to the nakedness Of patients
| was again brought out. Mr.. Warren had seen
patients handled roughly and kicked by attend.
ants. Gene McAllister formerly had - patients
in his charge. The men would fight and he
| would have to knock them down In self-defence.
The meat was someti mes so bad that he could
not dish 1t out and had to have a patient do the
work. He had seen patients fed with large
| spoon while attendants held them The attend
ants would get the spoon into the corners OF the
patients mouths, pry them open, hold their noses
and pour water into their mouths to make them
swallow. This was done by Mr.. Larabee. Blood
| flowed from the patients mouth. He had seen
patients kicked with the knee while going from
the dining hall to the wards. He thought that.
taking ladies and gents together" six or eight
had died. He had helped bury in the COW
pasture. II had been the custom to whip one OF
the patients with hose pipe to make him eat.
The testimony at the hearing Tuesday de
cidedly sensational. Ernest Tuthill Of Wcstmin-
| ster SAID tnAt he was formerly an attendant at
the asylum at Worcester and began work at Wa
terbury under DR.. Sylvester's administration. and
left in 1894, while DR.. Giddings was superintend
emit His duties included a general charge Of pa
tients and superv sion Of the work OF the attend
ants. The halls were 30 cold that oftentimes the
attendants were obliged TO wear overcoats and
caps. One night the mercury fell TO within two
degrees OF the freezing point and on Others II
registered 81 degrees above zero. He had com
planned TO DR.. Gddngs and the asylum en- neers,
but he had gotten little or mo satisfaction from
them. He had heard, and II was generally un
derstood. that the coal was weighed, that the
penses might be kept at a minimum During the
cold days the patients would hover about the ra.
dtators and vent pipes, as their cotton clothes af
forded little warmth In extreme weather. He
had never seen Dr. Gddings strike a patient. but
the doctor was always having trouble with his
help He had seen him frighuully angry and
considered him very exctable and subject 10 bad
temper. He did not know that the doctor took
morphine, but said that he was more eXcitable in
the morning than night and often appeared in the
morning with bad looking eyes He had known
of cases where attendants abused the patients.
An attendant named Ed .Grout was one day
bathing patient named Somerville, who came
from Montpelier. Somerville was Is years old or
older. When Grout told the man 10 get out Of
the bathtub he refused, and Grout, getting mad,
attempted TO scald him out. He turned on the
hot water, and when the water was three or four
inches deep In the tub and the patient still refus-
ed to get out the attendant lifted him out OF the
tub Mr. Tuthill did not see this, but was called
TO attend the man in his room. His flesh was
fairly cooked en- the bones Dr. Giddings said
that 1t was bad thing. but did nothing more
| tnan investigate the matter a Ilttle. The attend
ant was not discharged for that offence. He
stayed several months. At another time a man
named Fitzsimmons from Richford was pound.
| ed by an attendant named Burke so that he was
obliged to 20 to bed. He was In great pain. Tut
hill reported this 10 DR.. Gddings and he gave
him something, as the man was grooming and
time that il was a bad job and II the matter got
out be, Gddings could not stay in the institution
10 minutes The patient suffered Two or three
days and then died. Burke stayed a few months
and resigned.
The witness testified that he did not see the man
pounded and saw no marks on him. Dr. Graves
assigned the cause Bright's disease. He car
ried medicine to the men, but he did not remtm n.
Der taking any TO FtzsimmoBs, nor did he know
that he had been given any particular food. The
man was conscious until the night he died. but
did not leave his bed alive. Burke had admitted
to the witness that he had scrap" with Fitz.
simmons. The witness further testified that he
was at the asylum when the Town woman died,
that he kept the key 10 the dead room, that the
woman was put in there with cloth over her
| face.and that the Key to the dead" room had
been taken from him at that time by Dr. Bidwell
The next time he had seen her she was in a casket
Never knew Dr.. Bidwell Gddings to take
charge of dead before, as he had always seen to
1t. The key was given back TO witness after the
woman was buried. About three months before
her death il was understood among the employees
that the woman was pregnant. Witness had
never been instructed to try to discover the
father Of her child. Her death occurred Nov 6,
| 1898. Record entered on case book November IS:
she has had enlargement of abdomen for some
Tina Attendant thinks it is progressive" The
The witness testified at some length as to the
way patients were treated at the Worcester asy.
lum, and said that there patients were always
clothed and had beds TO lie on The destructive
ones were fastened TO their beds but not so that
they could not turn over.
Cross examination lasted for upward Of an
hour and brought out the statement from the
witness that he had trouble with DR.. Giddings;
that the doctor had called him liar and that he
had been practically discharged. Redirect exam,
ination brought out the fact that he and Giddings
had exchanged diplomatic courteses" when
GiddnPs called him liar, and al-o that DR.. Gid.
dings had refused to allow the witness TO escort
the doctor through the asylum.
Mrs Ernest TuthIll was employed at the asylum
from the time the first female patients were ad
mitted from Brattleboro until October, 1895 She
was at first an attendant and later supervisor
The patients complained of cold. DR.. Giddings
was brutal once with a Mrs. Larabee He pried
her mouth open with a spoon repeatedly and be-
fore he finished, the dish of milk from which he
fed her was crimson with blood Mrs. Lackey
who had thrown dish down the food elevator
was choked by DR.. Giddings. Then he threw her
backwards over the iron fOotrail Of the bed Ut.