The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-02-09
ayS|SC LETTER.
u. # Gossip from the
~ :: State Capitol.
!, From INSANE AsHLuhs'

they Are Uniawfuiiy
y who " =, ,a'- rrIsAtfal s'orls. Of s, AL
ssnsd -. ont Cost to the state
= s.' !" for the unior'a"a ;. michigan
''s' refined products Of
y " venerable Chestnut
jpsps' hio" :. RECEIVED by state oih-
.s letters ale - in the year. The
every nd a'S attorney general are Dar the
ep0r an - most of them. their CORE
rpsnts Of NV ,rmates of the asylums
ni'' 's. 0rsV who believe they are De. De,
eih' ln' sn,lv restrained and VINO ten
unla.i WIZ Of the manner in when
. 'Sates are treated. of cou, ga no
in"a', ,ss ar imaginary ana no
uts arc - ao,d 70 them. II these ON
H'l a,ooae + to investigate a., off,
y -. s preferred against a .s'S,',d have
t,s Cd attendants, they wo paSa rnat
hs anu heir entire time to these MAJ
pdsvO'e . .ssn they would not dispose
Ms and lneh ~, s Of them. Some or
p ''',sr ,II are very perplexings, r rvro
y . s one comes from a pa.ten .eemtaI
''enu - evidence whatever o, l neat
tss ~ es and no one would suspect
dsufOan.. ,,sal that anything was
BON l's ~ him. Every new governor
r' aa.s finds himself up stump upUn
SI, one of these splendidiy VII
se'n n,u,,ss He is at a loss TO KNOW
Ra 'p'S Az for the oftener he reaos the
va' :. me more frequently he receives
kpf " - Tho same person the more
@s .. Need Is he that the patient Is Ten
c " ,Ss truth, so intelligentiy does ne
m 'as oase II is an open secret that
'u' u. now governor has to investigate
W., ~ these complaints before ne Is
NV "a ~ that they are all of a piece
" "a' "assries of diseased minds.
uaw Goyernor Luce Was Fooled
M Ex-Governor Luce tell once
n,~ wos fooled in this connection.
~" ~ atter assuming the duties OF gov
. 'u, he received a most palmetto let
:. rom an inmate of the Eastern asy-
'a ~ pontiac. who complained most
~ ,s ~ being unjustly restrained
Wv ~' ~ the treatment the inmates were
~s,.o,od 10 by the attendants. Inc
, ,sts was such a perfect piece OF com
.'sI,iOn that the governor was greatly
is~.,s.Sod with it. He could not get
~ mind off the matter, and when ne
..0.lvad a second letter, apparently
,rsD more intelligently written than the
srst he was more than ever convinced
,hst the woman was telling OF actual
,buses There was not suspicion OF
Insanity or even of anything queer
shOut the letter and the governor was
Greatly wrought up. The matter both
cred him night and day. Finally ne
enid stand 1t no longer and he took the
rain for Pontiac, determined to inter-
view the woman personally and act
then and there in the premises. AS the
interview proceeded he became more
and more convinced that the patient was
b,lng vrongfully detained and that the
abuses she complained of were actually
ACCOMPLISHED. There could be no doubt
Of this, he thought, because never once
aid she display the least signs of insan-
ity. Impressed with the Importance OF
the duty which the awful details he
had heard thrust upon him, Governor
Luce arose to go fully determined tt
institute an investigation at once. A!
he reached the door he paused a mo-
ment to make some inquiries as to TIT
womans family relations. All these
we're answered promptly and intelli
gently until he asked her how man!
children she had.
struck Her Weak Spot.
well, now," she replied frankly. :"
really don't know. Sometimes l think
lis more, and sometimes less. Some
times think it's three and sometime
! think it's seventy. l guess it's sew
enty though"
The governor had finally struck he
weak spot. His investigation cease
right there, for he discovered that, not
outstanding all that had gone before
he was talking with an unfortunat
whose mental faculties were sadly i'm
paired
The fact that the cost of maintain
Ing the insane has been steadily IN
creasng in the aggregate notwithstand
ing that the per capita cost has q
steadily decreased and is now at tn
lowest point in the history Of the stat
has Induced many legislators to make
study Of this perplexing question. Ft
the calender year 1896 the total cost
lhe state Of caring for this class Of ur
iortunates was $4,000. the populatio
Oh the several asylums at the close
tne year being as follows: Kalamazoo
iiss; Pontiac, 1,055; Traverse City. !
Viz; asylum for dangerous and crimin
insane at Ionia, 220; Newberry. LOG; t
a' 1857. The per capita cost of mali
'enance Is $S.0S per week. The questic
which perplexes the legislators Is no
!" increase the enormous annual e.
pense without lessening the care whit
me patients receive and which the
eondltion makes imperative. Exper
ence In other states where costly e.
periments have been made proves col
elusively that there is nothing to
salned by following the plan often re
vnmended ofseparating the acute case
snen require constant and special cal
nvm the chronic and harmless cast
' "aicn need only custodial care al
S Snlch could be given in large nur
v veis over to the supervision Of a 81
gle attendant.
Divided into Two Glasses.
~ speaking Of this important matt
h,ecently, Secretary storrs Of the sta
S oaru OF corrections and charities. w
mas mas given the question careful stu
'.',ng the past few years, said:
AS iar as the cost Of maintenance
.,aoerhed, the insane in our state |
oetullOnQ a,