The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-08-08

| The term OF iGlenesS a. this Instftutto,
| was so short that little can be iearrie,
from our experience, except that during
| the few weeks the prisoners were NOR
excitable. less obedient, and not so wei
| physically
| DR.. Edward c.. Sp,tzka said that al
authorities agreed as to the i'll effects o
idleness in prisons. but they agreed ais
in saying that many cases OF insanit!
in prisons were partially due to cause.
| and predispositions which ante-datec
| the Imprisonment.
With many" he said, there has ex
.sted either hereditary or acquired pre-
| disposition to insanity before the crime
was committed. Then there is elias:
| With whom the excitement and anguisi
connected with a crime-remorse, the
uncertainty and suspense pending tria
and coayiCtion-are causes which migh
do much toward unbalancing the mind
even II they were previously healthy
persons. The latter series of causes are
most likely 10 operate on those whose
crimes are not N a moral sense feiGni.
ous, hu. the outcome Of passion. II
either Of these two classes the experience
OF prison physicians IS that the worst
outbreaks of insanity occur IN the first
three months Of incarcera ton, and with
gradually decreasing frequency till the
end OF the first year. Those who be-
come insane after the first year, and
VINO have passed the ordeal of examiaa-
tons and the first shock Of incarceration
may be regarded as owing their insan-
.A<
and prison surroundings
This number has been variously esti-
mated. Sentimentalsts have made it as
high as one in every thirty-seven, an esti-
mate which is due TO errors in statistical
methods. Extremists, on the other SIDE
have made the number one in every $500.
My impression is that insanity occurs more
frequently in the case of long term men
than in class known as short term prison
ers, and a fair average would be only
slightly greater in the ordinary un;mprison-
ed population. One in 80 or $50 would be
a fair estimate.
''Those who, like Deibruck and kim
have studied this matter closely have found
that an Overwhelming majority OF cases
Of the insanity in prisons is due to the
Pennsylvania. or solitary confinement. sys-
TEN. or other factors involving monotony.
1t is known that such surroundings favor
the development of Authorizations Of hear
ing. Add to this that even the most de-
spa;ring convict has some faint hope OF
being pardoned or favored by an unex-
pected turn of the wheel OF fortune, and
his broodings and disappointments, togeth
er with the fancied sounds, are likely to
develop decisions of persecution. He fam
cies that he is being bounded, railroaded,
watched and deprived of his privileges for
Interior ininical purposes.
1T has been found that in the treatment
of the insane one of the best preventives
of decisions is occupation. What is rene
dy in the asylums for developed insanity
should be ten times as efficient as a pre-
ventive in cases where insanity IS likely to
develop, and this, think. answers the en-
tire question of the desirability of the en-
ployment of prisoners. even # no other
reason existed"
DR.. Spitzka referred to the report made
by John Baker, physician TO the Penton-
vile prison. This report shows that after
the convcts who were predisposed 10 in
sanity had been sifted out of the $500 who
were sent 10 the English local prisons In
one year, fiftythree became insane. OF
these, twenty showed symptoms of insanity
in the first two weeks, twenty-eight within
six months and five later than that time
and before the expiration OF the year.
MY experience with prisoners is limit
ed" said the doctor, "but as a physician I
came in contact with a case which is worth
mentioning at this time, because il shows
that In order TO be effective the nature OF
employment for convicts should be consid-
cred To put feeble old man who only
real labor has been clerical at the cob
bler's bench or in a stone PIT, particularly
under an exacting and thoughtless task
is an absurd proceeding. and one
case Of that kind was followed by the sui
eide Of a prisoner while suffering from an
attack Of depression. 1t is the experience
Of alienists and prison physicians that the
fewer the mental resources the prisoner
possesses, leaving out the question his men
tai status the better is he able to resist
the influence of silence and of Incidence.
These men are tho men also who are well
adapted for coarse or mental labor, but the
other class, always a minority IN prisons.
should be provided with higher order Of
bor IN the performance of which they
would naturally become interested, and thus
lessen the tendency to mental collapse"
Denver. Col. Aug. GA special to the
Rocky Mountain News from Cheyenne,
Iyyo.. says: Governor w. A. Richards |
,eceivei an cfficial communication today |
rom the secretary OF The interior to the |
.ffec, that the treaty with the Shoshones |
,nd Arapahoes for the cession OF ten |
niles square OF their reservation near |
he Big Horn Hot Springs, had been du- |
V ratified. and the land is now subject |
o settlement. under the laws Of the Uni |
ed States. The agreement was signed |
" 2s9 Indians, on April n. 1896 and rat |
fed by congress on June T. 1897. The |
ands are described as follows: Begin |
ling at the northeast corner OF the res |
.;vation, where Own Creek empties INTO /
he Big Horn river. thence south ten /
niles, following the eastern boundary |
{ The reservation. thence due west ten /
niles. thence due north o the middle |
!. the channel OF Owl creek. thence toi- |
owing tha middle q the channel 70 the /
,oint OF beginning Also me mile square |
he hot springs.
Chicago. Aug. 6-Borden. another o.
he phenomenal Morelio band .: 2-yelr-
Ids. was the only favorite 70 win today |
Tor the inconsistent running OF MS
,orses. emphasized by Peppers perform
nee today. Louis Essell was banished 1
rom the course.
Every failure carries a glllde-book 10 sue
esS in its inside pocket.-Ram s Horn.