The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-29
FLINSY FIRE TRAPS
so A ST. PETER PAPER CHARAc-
TERIZES NEW INSANE
ASYLUMS
REMOVALS TO BEGIN TODAY

TrainIOad of 100 Patients From st.
Peter to BE Removed to the AnolSa
Asylum as Near Feb. L ns the Ar
He Made Only the AbIe-BOdted
Insane VIII Be Transferred.
The board of trustees of the Minnesota
hospitals for the insane will meet in 81.
Paul within a day or two and complete
arrangements for the transfer OF loo pa
tents from the ST. Peter hospital to the
new asylum at AnolSa The transfer Will
probably be made the latter part of this
week, as it was deemed advisable by the
board at its last meeting to have the
transfer made as near the first OF the
month as possible.
Arrangements have been made to take
the .OC patients that have been selected
from the incurab,e wards from st. Peter
to Anoka by two special cars, and the
patients will be in charge of half dozen
nurses. Only such patients as are sound
in body, but whose malady is pronounced
chronic or incurable. will be taken to the
new asylum. Those who are able to do
cfIities have been provided at Anoka for
the care Of bed-ridden patients, as the
new institution is not intended in the ma
ture of a hospital, but rather as an asy-
lum farm for otherwise healthy insane
patients. The patients Will be put to
work on the farm which surrounds the
asylum, and the institution will have the
appearance of a large plantation. AS
stated. no provision, except. summary, Is
made for medical attendance. and no
place is provided for the female insane.
The new system has caused no little
complaint from the institutions where
these patients are taken from, as it takes
away the working class and leaves the
most undesirable class of patients to be
cared for. While both St. Peter and
Rochester, and Fergus Falls as well, are
glad to get rid of the surplus number Of
patients, no little criticism has been made
of the plan, which found completion in
the construction of the two asylums at
Anoka and Hastings.
The st. Peter Journal, commenting upon
the plan and the prospective early re-
moval of the 100 working patients, in re-
cent issue says:
Now. the removal of the working class
from the st. Peter or any of the large
hospitals will leave the undesirable class
to be cared for as heretofore, and that,
too, by depriving those larger institutions
Of the labor Of the physically able pa.
tents. 1t does not by any manner Of
means provide for the female patients,
whose numbers are constantly increasing,
and whose quarters are just as badly
crowded as the male wards Furthermore
1T is destined to make decidedly increas-
ed per capita cost at the large hospitals.
But by far the most deplorable cond1-
ton of all is that the construction Of
these new buildings is Of the cheapest;
they are yeritable fire traps, and their oc-
cupancy will be hazardous. The state Of
Minnesota has had fearful experience in
the past of destruction by fire of public
Ing against future construction Of these
f1imsy fire traps
Further discussing the matter, the same
paper says: 1.-The fact that they are
merely poor houses on a large scale, with
no facilities for properly caring for the
unfortunate class committed thereto will
become apparent as soon as they go into
use"
The board of trustees is not decided as
to the time when the transfer
from Rochester to Hastings will be
made, but it is quite likely that the
Hastings asylum will be opened very soon
after March 1.
When 1kis transfer is made the board
will meet and decide what course to pur-
sue regarding the construction Of the Sec
ond addition to each hospital The ap-
preparation is insufficient to complete the
work. and the question which confronts
the board is whether to go ahead and let
the legislature make good the deficiency,
or leave the whole matter to the legislature
and abandon the construction of the sec
ond addition until after the next session
of the law-making body. The matter de-
ponds very largely upon the amount of
money the board has left when the i'm
provements the farm are made, such
as outbuildings, pens, barns and wells,
and agricultural implements all pur-
chased