Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-06-22
THE OSHKOSH INSANE.
Burnett" Prowls Arounds the Pa.
- tents Beds at Midnight.
SOME DANGEROUS PEOPLE ASLEEP.

Or. Gordon's Great Work Along Natura,
Lines--Baths and Massage and Amuse-
ment-Night Drives Over the Prairie for
Msniacs Who Cannot Sleep-The Big
Farm Crazy People at School--One of
Wisconsin's Banner Intitutions.
Madison. Wis, June 14.-Everyone
who visits DR.. Gordon's insane hospital.
four miles above Oshkosh, is pretty sure
to run on to Cooper before he gets away
from the big plant of $50 acres, with its
$50 crazy people.
Cooper is one of the patients. He
killed his brother. He has but one leg.
and for long time believed himself
the most profane man on earth. Coop
er ats outdoors when 1t is pleasant and
swears. He certainly has ability In that
direction. 1t is not so much that his
diction is picturesque. Persistence is
Cooper's chief charm.
But pride Is sure to have a fall. One
day the wife of one Of the officials was
walking out Cooper's way. picking fiow-
ers, for the grounds are frightened with
lovely floral beds, and there are charm
ing groves in which one may stroll and
imagine himself in the land of sunshine
that Homer finally reached after his
trials. Cooper was at his usual post.
and as he has but one leg, the lady was
not afraid of him. He at once directed
some choice language to her in the ex-
nartQ tf0n that ha ~, H..
as other people did. But she went up
to him and said:
You don't seem to know how to
swear. Cooper"
He looked at her in amazement.
You have some good swearing words,
Cooper. but they lack variety"
Cooper looked thoughtful He felt
that his life had been a failure.
Now was born in Oshkosh, Cooper"
continued the lady, as she handed him
a red carnation with background of
green stuff, land when I was a little
girl used to hear the loggers coming
down the river. Your swearing, Coop
er, Is monotonous and uneventful COM
pared to what i used to hear as a little
girl"
She moved away while Cooper looked
disconsolately at the ground, and to this
day. when she comes his way, he SUBJ
sides. 1t is good thing for US all to
know our limitations.
Startling Number of Insane.
This hospital received Its first patient
in 1873. and for ten years DIR. Kempster,
whose name so often appears in Mil
waukee papers in connection with
health matters, was the superintendent.
Since then there have been five, of
whom DIR. w. A. Gordon has been at
the head for three years. He is a great
big. forceful man, whose father was a
Presbyterian minister of Pennsylvania
He was In the war; studied at Rush:
was an assistant under Kempster in the
early days, and for fifteen years has
been in care of the insane In the Win
nebago county asylum, a mile away
from the big state institution.
For it must be understood the insane
Of Wisconsin are cared for after this
fashion: The durable and criminal in
sane are cared for at the two state in
situations (Mendota and Oshkosh, with
q total OF 1000 cases), while twenty-five
counties sustain asylums of their own,
in which are kept the incurable cases,
men and women for whom nothing can
be done but make them secure and COM
Portable. In these asylums are $500
cases.
Thus DR.. Gordon knows a good deal
about insanity. incidentally, 1t may be
noted that he is prominent in the Ma
sonic order and he has a boy and girl
In Chicago university. The notable
feature Of DR.. Gordon, however, is his
originality and good sense. There are
many Of us who have ideas. and here
is a man who has a chance to carry
them out. There is a staff of 100 people
on the payroll, many of them skilled
heads of departments, and when the su-
perintendent wants to execute enc of
his ideas he presses an electric button
and they do the rest. DR.. Gordon would
have made a great railroad manager.
His enthusiasm is marked. Gordon don't
seem to know anything except insanity.
Curing People with Water.
It Ia difficult to get him to talk about
anything else. A nice, fresh "degener-
ate" he regards as you or I would a
new watch. and he loves to work over
a poor. brain-fagged woman, with his
new schemes Of rest, diet. massage,
Turkish baths. and midnight rides into
the country and see her get her balance
again. Half of his patients are re-
turned to their homes. Some time ago
he read in his foreign journals that
shock or a new sensation sometimes
cures a maniac So he conceived tie
Idea of letting patients escape. Ea sta
tions attendants up the road four or
Ave miles, and turns patient out in the
yard posting another attendant to Sc