Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-05-26

.Aett
tare worked by electricity and can be
managed by the pushing az q button.
The hospital runs IT'S own farm and
dairy and 1t is only by doing this that
the authorities are able TO conduct
things In the able manner they 10.
The state allows but $12 a month for,
each patient. and out OF this meager
sum must be paid the salaries or th@
attendants, the wardrobes. the food.
In fact everything. They are often at 4
pinch to make both ends meet. but this
rs usually smoothed over by careful
and economic management.
Alcohol Causes insanity.
Upon hearing the eques for an In
terview regarding the Workings OF the
asylum, DR.. o, G. Wniheit. assistant
superintendent, gladly consented and
led the way 10 another apartment.
which, like the others, was elegantly
and tastefully furnished.
The first thing" said he smiling and
bringing out a box OF cigars, lis that
my experience has proved to me that
smoking in moderation does not affect
the brain. VIII you have a cigar?
How about alcohol, doctcrg'
"Ah!" said the doctor. tapping the
desk with his forefinger, there Is
where the trouble lies. This asyiuru
Is peopled for the greater part by those
who have been driven here BY alcohol
and heredity. / should Judge that
nearly three-fourths OF the cases here
are due to these two causes OF course.
various causes are often given by the
relatives and friends. Some say love
affairs, others domestic differences.
but TO my mind, neither domestic or
love troubles would AFFECT d person
with a normal brain to such an extent
as to make his detention lin an asylum
necessary. / find that there are other
causes behind those given and though
such a thing as the f~ickleness of a
sweetheart may In a sense be the last
straw for a person already affected.
l do not believe IL Is the only one. or
course there are individual cases where
a mans whole. life Is wrapped up In
some object and when that object is'
taken from him. he develops into d
~liinatic: but even In an Instance or this
character / think there is q streak OF
degeneracy In him when he Is SO wrap
ped up IN one thing AZ 70 be obliyious.
to the world around him.
Have you any religious m~aniars?.
he was asked.
Why Religion Wrecks Minds.
"Quite a number. To properly I'M
derstand this phase Of affairs you must
remember that the maniac In his first
stages Is always attempting TO reason
out something which he cannot un-
derstand and which Is battling even TO
the normal mind. Many a man has
gone 20 the asylum through attempt
ing to work out an invention. A per-
son with a weak brain who gets re-
ligion, as they say, may lose his san
ity. l mean that brand OF religion
which strongly appeals TO the emotions
al side. Now the question OF religion
10 a bathing one--at least to me--and
! think that even t~heologians or the
country Will have 10 admit that there
3 10 "a uroaf daal ahrsff ~ xxtFfnk
be understood. What ia the life after
death? What is the future? What IL
the best way to enter the after world2
These are questions which nearly every
many has at one time or the other dur
ing his life tried to solve. Now, the
sane, healthy minded man finds that
THESE questions annot be solved on
this earth, and ms life goes on, stops
boihering about them.
"Fhe weak minded person. however,
Keeps on n very soon his disordered
imagination leads him TO believe that
he has the solution. Once believing
this, IL Ices not take very long for the
patient TO believe himself connected In
some direct way with the divine pow
ers and IL this stage of reasoning Is
continued the patient finally comes 10
believe he Is an ornnipotent being.
Trivial Matters Unbaiance Minds.
1--WE nave one woman here who IL q
religio-maniac, Shortly after she left
a religious institution where she had
been educated she developed mild
forms of insanity on the question OF
religion. One day she prepared TO
wash some clothes, but as It was a
cloudy day, she hesitated about COM
mencing the work. Finally she decid-
ed TO wash. Soon after she started
her work the day cleared up and the
sun shone. Not long after, washing
4 "A - 0ya.a - - rnl - 49, 80
decided not to wash and on that day
~itfrained. As her mania Increased, she
remembered this occurrence n at
once put it down 10 the fact that
she must a something to do with
the weather and therefore must be
somebody divine. So you see Ii does
not take a very elaborate system OF
reasoning for these people to reach
their conclusions.
visions Of the Epilsptics.
Another type Of reIigio- IS
the e~pileptic. These people frequently
have visions and while IN that state
seem to travel through beautiful lands.
where flowers and fruits and birds
abound. They naturally think this IS,
the heaven of which they have heard
so much. Immediately they begin to.
question their minds. Why are they,
and no others. allowed to see heaven?
The answer Is natural: because they
must be above other men; they must
be divine.
"Stiil another type OF reiigio- maniacs
IL those whose insanity makes them
think that they are being prosecuted
by everyone. They ask themselves the
reason of this persecution and by al
process OF reasoning not difficult to.
understand, come TO the conclusion:
that the world is against them. be-
cause ii is below them. Was not the
Christ persecuted2 Was he not called
madg BY degrees they come 10 think
that they are being prosecuted because
they are above their fellows
For some time a discussion has been
going on In Iowa as to whether farm
life causes insanity Ii was argued by
n good authorities hat the loneii-
ness rreys upon the minds of farmers
and undermines them. When asked
whether the monotony OF farm lifa
causes insanity. DR.. Willheit replied In
the negative. He sai9 that his expert
ence had beer that the@e is more In
sanity in the cities than In the country.
Hygenic conditions In even the poor
est farm homes are vastly superior to-
the slums Of q big city. In these days.
he stated, the arlne connected as he
Is with the cities and big toNq1S With
telephones, the rural delivery Ind ofh&f{
facilities, ~ x1oraV "a <oufh W{<N [&<