Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-01-18
THE oTTUMwA COURIER: THURSDAY. JANUARY IS, 1900

and most favorably tried. The larger
the number of patients to be cared for
in county Institution, the better. the
facilities for care, the better the clas-
sification of patients, and the more
likely they are to be visited frequent
ly by some physician. My private opin-
ion is this, that every insane person
ought to be visited every day by a ply
sician, and that insane persons should
be cared for by attendants or nurses
who have skill in dealing with derang-
ed persons. The proba bilities are that
it will be long time before we will
attain to the condition just secured in
the state of New York, so that all in
sane persons requiring public care, can
be cared for in institutions owned by
| and conducted under the direction of
| the state.
do not make any bitter fight
against the construction of county asy-
| lums in populous counties where the
supervisors and county officers and tax
payers are anxious to build them, and
vote taxes for that purpose, and to care
for the insane at less expense than can
be done at state hospitals"
DR.. Carroll, of Jacksonville, Ill, says:
I'm reply to yours of the I'd ult. will
say l think it entirely practicable to
care for chronic and harmless num-
Der OF insane persons in building on
your county grounds; the usual troub-
lie in the care of insane persons by the
| county, is that the board of commission
ers are so penurious that they do not
and will not furnish help enough to look
after the inmates properly. 1t would
be wise to build larger than present
| needs, as such room is always needed
sooner or later, and your building
should be so planned to admit at least
three classifcations, if possible. Say, a
noisy class, filthy class. and more.
orderly and better behaved class. If
you build for both sexes, you really
ought to build for about thirty-six Of
each sex, and with six attendants,
three for each sex.
II think you could very well care
for large part of the insane of your
county,"
DR.. Gray, in his reply, says as fol-
lows: "The experiment that you pro-
pose to make of erecting county hos
pital, to care for your insane, will have
its success largely depend on the man
charge. There is no earthly reason
why OAC man SStJaOU idhC care VI III
sane people as well as another man, if
/ he is equally competent.
"The civil service examinations of the
last few years have been bringing a
better informed class of young men in
to the insane hospitals. but there is yet
a great deal to be done to raise the
standard of these gentlemen, and they
are still far away, as a class, from the
proper treatment Of insane people, as
cases of general medicine, simply aft
flicted with disease of a cerebral in
stead of an abdominal viscus.
"If.you will give me more in detail
the conditions of your problem, I can
answer your questions more intelli-
gently; for instance, as to how much
politics there is in your county board,
how much they are willing to spend,
what the qualifications are of the man
who is to take charge, whether he is
to have assistants and proper nurses
in one word, whether he is to be an
unhampered physician, or medical
politician"
Thus, the majority of these alienists
of experience, do not condemn, the -un-
dertaking, but justify it with only rea-
sonable qualifications. The majority,
if not all, of the county boards, are as
a rule, broad minded, large hearted
humanitarian, as well as business men,
and are not more likely to ignore in
telligent requirements in the superin-
tendence and help of their hospitals,
than state boards are. And in rea-
sonable time in the more populous
counties may be expected to make an
equal, if not better showing of the
per cent of betterment than state hos
pitfalls. In this, Wapello's county hos
pital, since April, 1898, have been adj
mitted eighteen males and fourteen
females, total thirty-two. OF this num-
! Der one female had died, four dis
charged, three considered safe, and one
known to be with her husband and
caring for her household cheerfully
land intelligently. Six males have been,
discharged, two are known to be self
supporting, and the others were and
are yet, so far as known, safe and
harmless. Ninety per cent improved
physically, a fair per cent mentally,and
a large majority are contented and ex-
press themselves as not wishing to re-
turn to state hospitals.
With this showing and the DISPOSE
ton of the county board and the ma
jority of the people to provide for the
necessary expenditures, we are justi-
fed in asking the states indulgence in
this undertaking.
Very respectfully submitted,
w Coor1o N n