Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-05-25

the wealthy man could wish. Sanitary
excellence marked all. In a suite
waS q dormitory-iron bedsteads with
spotless. clean bedclothing. Eight
o'clock is bed time. Still another room
was the hospital: eight equally attrac.
tive beds, and In one OF them a sicix
boy lying quietly. But the distFessine
part Is that these hnfertuhatess ere not
usually able to describe their feelings
TO the doctor. Kindness is the rule IN
dealing with imbeciles. 1t does no good
except with a few Of the higher grades to
discipline them-unIike a criminal or
even an insane person. Whip an idiot
and he'll commit the same offense over
again the next moment. He does not
know.
And right here is the abomination "a
the spells system, which we citizens
treat 30 lightly. Imagine the ahutters
able cruelty, by day and by night, of
turning over these u~nfortunates ia
coarse, unfeeling persons. who have nd
interest but only loathing for their
work. and do 1t only for the privilege of
being on h payrolls!
In a Room with Thirty-six idiots.
1t is useless to deny that on first en-
tering the ward the stranger is startled
There is a variety of noises. foolish
laughter, and occasionally a long. deep
bay like a wild animals. Ore big idiot
boy, with a full beard, was pushing a
hoor-sweeper round the room and his
coarse, silly laughing was %ontinuou
Another was dragging a little child
about on a toy wagon. Many pointed
at - with hiHnnttS loo - -
some little boys came and addressed
the doctor" who put his hand on their
heads n scientifically explained the
defects, all too obvious. Imbeciles
group themselves into classes. The
.~Mongoifans" have slant eyes, round
heads n a narrow forehead. Their
tongues are deep assured, their fingers
and toes are stubby, and their circula=
ton is slow. The "Aztecs,'' seen in
Shows, are "microcephalous;'' the
"megacephaius'' and "hydrocephalus,' y
with enormous heads. are other classes,
We saw two little boys on a cot-but 4
years o~ld--"infantile paralysis" They
were mutes. There they lie all day and
must be fed. They will die at Is or
20 years of gee OF lung disease OF conr
yulsiens. We saw a boy creeping lon
the h~oor-another paralytic. There are
five imbeciles in his family. Over one
half of the inmates of this ward are
paralyzed, either OF one side or in both
limbs. Only six Of the thirty-six can
speak at all; only eight can heart They
were sitting or lying near each other,
but they have little comradeship.
1T isn't as terrible as I feared" I
said. half-heartedly, to the doctor.
well, IL there is anything worse than
his on earth, I don't know where you'll
find It."
1t was, indeed, terrible. They don't
know their own mothers. They have
no memory; no nothing. They are liv-
ing c~orpses-shells of humanity. And
the "lowest grade" In the female ward
was equally distressing. OF the faces,
scarce one attractive. Most of them una
6ersized. An endless variety of shapes
of head and misshapen bodies, leering
looks, aimless gestures, meaningless
sounds-they will haunt me to the day
of my death. It was an echo Of the Old
Testament-"the sins Of the fathers
upon the children to remote genera
tions." At such a place one runs up
against the awfulness OF the violated
laws of nature as nowhere else. And
II the world of men could see and hear
these things would they shun evil? God
only knows.
Happy Scenes In the Schoo Room.
But 1t must be remembered these are
the lowest grade" idiots-the progress
sive, hopeless cases. There Is a dis
tinction between Idiot and imbeciles.
The latter are tractable. and some of
so high a grade that are tolerated in
public schools.
We looked in on a room of fifteen
boys capable of kindergarten work.
They learned like normal children and
did creditable work, and when they
sang, Tapping their little hands like
birds.
-Four little chickadees
Sitting In a tree,
One few away and
Then there were three
1t was a pretty scene. hn. one TO make
- 1911 1,NA- e. 80 t.@.. 49, ~