Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-12-13
TRUSTEES WILL
ASK FOR S4QO.OOO

The commission of lunacy appointed
a year ago is busy carrying out its in
structiOns to investigate the various
insane asylums of the State, while the
State board of public charities is equ-
ally active i'll figuring on the appropri
ations the Legislature shall be asked to
make this year to the various Ch1rit-
able institutions of the State. DR.. J.
Nicholas Mitchell, secretary of the
State board of lunacy, was in Dauyiile,
Sunday, December 2nd, and looked uv-
er the hospital for the insane. On
Thursday he was followed by G. ".
Ryan of Shamokin aud P. G. Bolye OF
Oil City, members of the State board
of public charities. who also closely
looked into the wants of the institu
ton.
At meeting of the State board of
iunacy held in Philadelphia Saturday
DR.. J. Nicholas Mitchell made re-
port, which embraced what he discOv-
cred in Danville and elsewhere The
report in part reads as follows:
1.-The excess of patients dt Danylllc
is $50; at Norrlstown, 632 and at Bar
risburg, 80. We have no money to care
for these patients, as the appropria
tions were cut off by the governor. ]
recommend that this commission ask
the legislature early III the session to
appropriate 5000, 600 for the purpose Of
relieving conditions of the insane.
In future buildings for the insane,
the wards should be built on the cot
tage plan Patients should be placed
i'll small, airy buildings, scattered ov-
er the ground, instead of being herd
ed in one large building.
"There are 1873 more insane patti,
ents in the State hospitals than there
is room for These patients are not
properly housed
II do not mean, however, that tn"
insane are not properly treated. With
the facilities at their command, the
various hospitals are doing good work
The semi -hysterical statements made
from time to time that the insane aIe
not properly treated, that thew are Gem
PEELED to lie on bare floors, are not so.
1T is true that patients sleep i'll the
corridors, but they sleep there on cots.
The only danger arising from these
over crowded conditions would be III
case of fire, when, with the corridors
crowded with the sleeping insane, risk
Of great loss of life would be incurred
"There is an increase this year Of
7l3 patients where i'll former years
the increase was only 800. The county
care of the insane has reached the linn
il, and today both the State and couu-
ty institutions are overlooking. There
must be a remedy. The number of in
sane will increase every year, and we
must look to the future" "
The trustees of the hospital for the
insane here will ask for an appIopria-
tion of some $4OO 900. The appropria-
tion of So, 600 made by the last legis-
lature for temporary buildings, which
were never erected, will 90 back to the
State. To relieve overcrowding here
the trustees will ask that a female in
firmary be erected and the building
serving as an infirmary on the male
side be greatly enlarged by the build
ing of an annex and by adding another
story.
Not only Dr. Mitchell but the two
members Of the board of public char
tiles who followed HIM expressed them
selves as heartily in accord with the
plan to erect a female infirmary and
to enlarge the male infrmary. Their
recommendations to the Legislature
will be accordingly and it seems alto
gether probable that the trustees will
get all that they ask for.