The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-03-01
State Hospital for the Insane.

w ulle waiting LOT a braln AT waterbury
one day this week RECORD representative
visited the State Hospital for the Insane for
the purpose OF making a brief call upon one
OF the patients. Ii was not in the reporters
mind to get facts for any "write up' of the
institution, and the many changes and i'm
provements that have taken place there.
The material for such an article is album
dant, and this is reserved for a future time,
as IL is believed detailed description of
the progress that has been made under the
efficient management OF DIR. II. w. Page
would he of interest to RECORD readers.
The following observations, afterthoughts
of call not made for the purpose of secur-
ing notes for "story", are jotted down for
what they are worth.
The newspaper man was met at the door
OF the administration building by polite
lady attendant, and ushered into the pri-
vate Office OF DR.. Page. On making known
to the superintendent the object of his visit
Attendant j. M. Townsend was summoned
with instructions to conduct the scribe to
the patient he desired to see, and after
wards to show him over any part OF the in
stitution he might like to visit. Mr..
Townsend is one Of the veteran attendants
no survived the upheaval when DR.. Gid
dings was removed from the superintendent
cy OF the asylum. His long and faithful ser
vice there has made him familiar with
every nook and corner OF the institution
and has given him personal acquaintance
with every one Of the male patients. That
Mr.. Townsend has the confidence and affeo-
ton OF these unfortunate people was evi.
dent on every hand. Visitors to the asy-
lum who wish to obtain fund OF informa-
ton regarding the daily life of the patients
their habits, occupations and recrestions
as we'll as knowledge of individual pa
tients are fortunate II they are consigned to
the guidance of Mr.. Townsend.
One of the first impressions made by a
visit to the various wards, an impression
that deepened during trip OF an hour or
more from the wards where many of the
patients seemed to casual observer to be
as sane as the attendants, to the more vio-
lent and the criminal wards, is that the
institution is overcrowded. Could the
cheese pairing legislators at the session OF
1898 who opposed the measure to appropri-
ate an additional sum for the further en-
largement Of the asylum, and to provide
proper quarters for nurses and attendants,
could the men who opposed this ap-
preparation simply because it ,oas an ap-
preparation bill, and they felt themselves
in duty bound to swat" it, visit this in
stitution and see the straits that DR.. Page
and his assistants are put to to furnish &C.
Communications for the more than five hun
dred helpless people under their charge, it
is believed their conversion would be as
sudden and thorough as was that of Saul OF
Iarsus. Wards that are built to accom-
modate eighteen or twenty patients have
thirty eight and forty crowded into them,
and In many Of the more crowded wards it
Is necessary to remove the beds and bed
ding to side rooms during the day to pro
vide room for the patients to exercise and
be comfortable. The State Hospital for the
Insane at Waterbury is crowded from one
end to the other and the call comes daily
for accommodations for more patients.
With such state of affairs Vermont can
Ill afford to be anything but liberal in ap.
propriating such sums as the superintend.
an md nrxrfua
With recOllections OF former visit to
this institution some four years ago, in the
winter time, in mind, and with a remem-
brance Of the chilly temperature in some
wards and the 'smelly" condition of others
still lingering in the reporters memory, the
radical changes made for the better made
by DR.. Page in the matters of heating and
ventilation at once attracted attention, By
a system Of electric motors in the basement,
connected with the heating apparatus the
temperature can be raised very rapidly in
any one ward, or any number OF rooms, so
that rooms that are too cold to be comfort
able for the patients are thing of the past.
The temperature is regulated by these mo-
tors 30 that it is uniform throughout the
building. This, with the perfect system of
ventilation that has been put In under DR..
Pages direction makes every ward comfort
able, and as free from unpleasant odors as a
private parlor.
A careful observation and inquiry among
attendants and patients will convince any
one that under the administr alton of DR..
Page the patients are comfortable, properly
clothed, have an abundance OF good food
and are never abused. A life time of ser
vice among these unfortunate people has
convinced Dr. Page that kindness goes much
farther toward their restoration than does
harsh treatment, aud should any attendant
at this institution 30 far forget himself or
herself AZ 10 use unnecessarily harsh treat
ment toward patient, instant dismissal
would surely follow. DIR. Page has proved
himself superintendent who superintends
aud he is personally familiar with the care
and treatment that is received by every
patient at Waterbury.
Another noticeable feature in the admin
istration OF DR.. Page has been the gradual
removal OF harsh res RANT In former
years al the Waterbury asyl um all manner
OF devices, relics more or less OF primitive
times, were employed to restrain violent
patients, and some of these were almost
brutal in their character and effects. DIR.
Page knows q better way, a knowledge