The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-04-20
WHY L1eHTkEEpERs co MAD.
Living In Circular Houses A Great
 Strain On The Mind.

Living In Circular Houses A GreaE
 Strain On The Mind.
 The Minot Ledge Light is famed for the number Of men who have gone crazy in 1t, and for that reason it is an object Of interest to students of men, tai diseases. It is. as everybody knows, a piece of engineering of the highest order, being in that respect only se- cond to the famous Eddystone Light. More than a year was consumed in getting foundation for it. so high are the tides and so terrific the storms that the entrance to. the light is more than forty feet above the water.
 Then, one above the other, comes the five rooms occupied by the keepers and used for storage purposes, and then the watch room and finally the lan- tern. The tower. being circular and space being much in demand, natural ly everything is made to conform, so that no room shall be lost. Even the beds on which the men sleep are curv- ed, the tables against the walls are circular and the benches are half moons. Everything is round. A.
 In this lighthouse there have been at least five marked cases of insanity, and others in which madness has been suspected and the men relieved from duty. Experts in mental diseases who have made a study of conditions of the Minot Ledge Light attribute the un- usual prevalence of insanity there to its peculiar form of structure. There lis no point, they say, on which the |eye may rest, so it travels round and round in nladdening whirl.
 They therefore suggest that some means be devised for filling the curves land producing corners and angles. In support of this theory they cite in stances of men who have lost their mental balance during long confine- ment in circular, prisons, but have quickly regained 1t on being transferr- ed to an ordinary room of corners and angles. 55.s. fs. .-
 Baron Trenck spent much of his time in prison made marks and corners to break the circularity of hissurround- ings and keep his reason from slipping away on the mad whirl of encircling walls. Casanova, and Italian engineer, who was imprisoned in round tower, gives much the same testimony. He says he felt great mental relief on be- 1 ing moved to an ordinary square room As 1t is well nigh impossible to make much change in the form of the struc- Lure of the Minot Ledge Lighthouse, the number of men in charge of 1t has been increased to five, in order that they may have frequent leaves from duty and take turns in going ashore for visit to family and trends. This system has resulted in a decrease in the number of cases of melancholia and more serious mental disorders. In fact, but for the frequent changes made in the service by shifting nner Der of cases of this sort everywhere would be much greater than it is. Tn some cases a man is kept in a place for only a few months, and then sent to some less isolated station for 8 while. s"
 l To give the men something to thinl of other than their loneliness and tc occupy the long hours during which they have nething to do, circulating libraries df fifty books each are pro Ivided. The books are carefully select led and are changed every three months when the inspector makes his visit. II the collection are biography, history, travel, fiction, poetry, illustrated mag. izines and in some cases newspapers Also. medicine chests are provided fol relief in cases of sickness and carefu directions given for the use of theil lcontents, &#
 Despite the dangers and hardship: of lighthouse, life, there are many ap plicants for the positions in them Whenever a yancancy occurs in th' service there is always a number. O men to select from. And yet the pa, is small. In fact, the law provides tha