The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-18
ANOTHER HI TRAGEDY ! [;
IN 9 LOWER 4 ON ! R, THIRD ]
INSANE PATIENT KILLS ANOTHER
IN ST, PETER.
Fred Strub of Ramsey County Desper-
ately Beaten with a Heavy Polishing
y: Block-Coroner's Jury Holds Off
cials Blameless, but Finds that More
Nurses Are Needed.
Special to The Journal.

special TO Inc journal.
st. Peter, Mimi, Sept. 1s.-Another TRACED,
has been added to the melancholy record o.
Lower Third the ward for. ''yolents'' at thu
St. Peter. state hospital for the insane. In
desperate encounter between two Of the inmates
Fred Strub received internal injuries whicl
caused his death yesterday. He terribly
beaten with heavy polishing block, and there
was never the slightest hope for his recovery.
Strub was patient, supposed to have beer
a tramp. committed from Ramsey county. Moth
Ing is Known OF his antecedents, but he Is satt
to have made a practice of annoying the Other
inmates. and nearly all OF them cordially de
tested him. 1t is believed this habit Of irri
tating his fellow patients led to his murder.
Story of Fatal Encounter.
None OF the attendants witnessed the fata
assault Ordinarily there are two nurses OF
duty In the ward where Strub is confined BID
one Of them was sent to the county fair II
help manage squad of patients. About :3t
o clock, while the nurse in charge of the fla
was temporarily engaged in the sick room, he
heard commotion in the hall. Running out t,
quen the disturbance, he found Strub crouch
ing down one knee, while another patient
Ricetti stood him brandishing a polishin:
block. huge block of wood weighing abou
| twenty-five pounds, which is covered with fcl
| and with which the floors polished twic,
daily.
After quiet had been restored the attendan
questioned the belligerents regarding the caus,
of the trouble, and Ricetti replied Il wa
trying to kill this fellow; he's a Jew and
hate him. l knocked him down and took
punch at him with this Strub corroborate,
this statement by saying: ''He knocked me dowl
with the block and kicked me all over, and In
going to have him arrested
Gravity of Case Not Understood.
AS incidents of this sort are of FREQUENT oc
currence in this particular ward, where are con
fined the hopelessly and violently insane, and a
there were no outward marks to indicate tina
Strub had been injured. the attendant though
little OF the incident and resumed his regula
duties. At O'clock when he went about til
ward taking the temperatures of patients
Shrubs condition was such that the patient wa
Immediately put to bed. Even then the nurs
did not realize the gravity of the case, and, a
he was alone in the ward, did not report |
to the, office.
An hour later when the house physician, DR.
]. H. Hoyt, visited the fat on his tour of dut
he discovered that three of Shrubs ribs wer
fractured and that there was air under tn
skin of the chest and near the arms indicating
that the mans lungs had been punctured II
| caused Strub to be removed to the sick ward
but at 5:15 yesterday morning he died.
Lungs and Liver Pierced. =,
| After his death the case was reported
Coroner G. F. Merritt and yesterday afternoo
he empaneled jury consisting of G. Amund
son, W. G. Gresham, A. j. Holmberg Fran
Ransom. J. G. Hulett and Emmett Nutter, an
held an inquest at the hospital. When d
| autopsy was performed it was found that tire
| Of the patients ribs had been. fractured, a
stated, and that the broken bones had pierce
his lungs and lacerated his liver. ~
Several witnesses We're examined before tn
! jury, and 1t returned a verdict to the effec
that Strub came to his death by wounds inficte
! by other pa tients in the same ward; that the
| did not find any negligence on the part of tn
officials or employees, but that they did fin
that the institution was greatly in need of NOR