The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-25
A MuRpERous LuNATIc.

A MURDEROUS LUNATIC.
 That was terrible event at the State Insane Hospital at Concord, N. H.. on Thursday morning last, when a Mrs. Seavey, one of the patients, kill ed two other patients, seriously in- jured another and also wounded one of the nurses. The weapon used was a towel-roller. and the tragedy occur red between i and o'clock Thursday morning. Mrs. Seavey had not been considered a dangerous patient. but the event proved that appearances may be deceptive in such cases. Comment ing on the affair The Manchester Union says:
 It is easy to say that such an oc- currence ought to be impossible, but 1t Is by no means easy to suggest how 1t can be foreseen or prevented. It Is obviously impracticable that every in- sane person should be isolated, and if it were practicable, it would not be desirable. In most cases the patients are undoubtedly benefited by associa- ton. At the same time no human wis dom, no degree of professional ssiI ssiil change may come in the mental condi- tion.
 These remarks probably apply to the insane everywhere. Mrs. Seavey had been in the hospital or asylum four years, during most of which time she had been in what was called the con- valescent ward, and was looked on more as a patient who needed treat ment than as one requiring restraint. Lately she had developed condition of settled melancholia, and had been removed to the ward where the trag- edy occurred, and in which there were several other quiet patients. There seems to have been nothing to indicate that she might become violent. or to cause apprehension on the part of the nurses and attendants.
 How or when the desire to commit such crime was conceived or devel- oped no one seems to know. It seems that every half hour during the night the wards are inspected by watch man for the male patients and one of the nurses for the female inmates Miss Fiske, the nurse, went into the ward where Mrs. Seavey was confined and was attacked as soon as she was inside. Her screams brought e assist ance, and then search revealed two dead patients, with their skulls crush ed, and another one badly hurt. | As stated, there was no reason to apprehend that Mrs. Seavey might be- come violent, and no one seems able | to explain it. After it was all over and she had been removed to another ward she settled down into her former dejected condition, and appeared to have no recollection of what had oc- cured. During the brief period be- 1 tween the visits of the nurse she was seized with a sudden frenzy which caused her to become a murderess, | without knowing what she was doing, or else. with the cunning which some times characterizes the insane, she had carefully planned the affair and car ried 1t out at the first opportunity. Her selection of the hour and the weapon would indicate deliberate de- sign and careful calculation as to time and method.
 As The Union argues, it is impossi- ble to foresee and guard against such ! occurrences. for no human skill or foresight can tell that an apparently harmless insane person may not be- come violent almost in a moment and without the least warning, and com l init some such deed as that at Concord. It is obviously impracticable to keep each patient In solitary confinement, but when not thus segregated 1t is irl~ possible to foresee or guard against a tragedy. It Is doubtless true that the mildly insane are benefited by com pany and by association with each oth- CT. yet the incident at Concord shows that supposedly harmless patient may become dangerous and wholly irre- sponslble maniac. Nobody can fathom the disarranged mind or forotell it's action,