The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1905-01-27
THE CIRCULAR HOUSE.
Shape Prays Upon Minds of Occu-
pants and Many Of Them
Go Crazy.

The Minot Ledge Light is famed
for til, number OF men who have
gone crazy in It, and for that reason it
is an object of interest to students OF
mental diseases 1t is, as everybody
knows. a piece Of engineering OF the
highest order, being in that resptct
onisr second to the famous Eddystone
only second to the famous Eddystone
Light. More than year was con-
sumcd in getting a foundation for It.
and so high aie the tides and 50 ter
ri!ic the storms. that the entrance &c
the ,:gh IS moe than forty feet above
tho water
Tl,en one :.oovc al: other, coil'
the five rooms occupied by the keep
ers and used for storage purposes,
and then the watch room. and finally
the lantern. The tower being clrcu-
lar and space greatly in demand
naturally everything, is made to COLI
form, so that no room shall be lost.
Even the beds on which the men
aeeo are curved, the tables against
the walls are circular and the bench
rs are half-moons. Everything is
1euhd
I'm this light house there have been
.; least FIVE well marked cases OF IN
sanity, and others in which madness
has been suspected and the men re-
Eexed from duty. Experts in mental
diseases who have made study OF
conditions at the Minot Ledge Light
attribute the unusual prevalence OF
Insanity there to its peculiar form OF
structure. There is no point, they
say. on which the eye may rest, SO
It travels round and round in a mad
1eaing whirl.
" Hey, therefore. suggest that some
means be devised for filling the curv-
es and producing corners and angles.
In support of their theory they cite
Instances of men who have lost their
mental balance during long conhne-
nent in circular prisons, but have
quickly regained it on being ranster-
red to an ordinary room Of corners
aad angles.
Baron Trenck spent much OF his
time in prison making marks and cor
..ers to break the circularity OF his
surroundings and keep his reason from
slipping away on the mad whlrl OF
encircling walls. Casanova, an ltal-
ian engineer, who was imprisoned in
a round tower, gives much the same
testimony. He says he felt great
mental relief on being moved to an
ordinary square room.
AS it is we'll nigh impossible to
make much change in he form OF the
structure of the Minot Ledge Light
House the number of men in charge
Of if has bten increased to tive, III or
der that they may have frequent
leaves from duty and take turss 60
Jag ashore for visit to family ana
and friends. This system has result
ed in a decrease in the number OF
cases of melancholia and more SER
ious mental disorders.
In fact, but for the frequent changes
made in the service by shifting men
from one station to another the num-
ber of cases of this sort everywhere
would be much greater than 1t IS.
In some cases a man is kept in
place for only few months, and then
sent to some less isolated station 1or
while
To give the mei: something 10 think
of other than their loneliness. and to
OCCUPY the long hours during which
they have nothing to do, circulating
libraries of fifty books each are pro-
vided. The books are carefully Sc
lected and changed every three
months when the inspector makes
his visit. In the collection are biog-
raphy, history, t.avel, fiction, poetry
illustrated magazines and in some
cases newspapers. Also medicine
chests are provided for relief IN
cases of sickness and careful direc-
tons given for the use of their con-
tents.