The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-03-08
|NF|RMARY ANNEX
TO THE ASYLUM

Fred C. Smith was called to presid,
at the Board of Health meeting yes.
terday in the absence of President l.
p. Pinkham, other members presen,
being DR.. j. r. Judd, David Kalauo.
kalani, DR.. ]. It. Wayson and Marx
p. Robinson.
In a message the president recon-
mended that the Legislature and the
| Governor be requested to have the
loan appropriation for Insane Asylum
buildings renewed at this session, the
balance If any to be used in establish
ing an infirmary.
With few remarks of approval, es-
| pecially of the jnfirmary annex pro-
posal, DR.. Wayson moved the adop-
| ton of the recommendation. Mr.. Ka-
lauokalani seconding the motion 1t was
unanimously carried.
1.-THE Oahu Insane Asylum requires
your attention. President Pinkham
opened his message by saying. Under
date of March l he was informed Of
ficially that the balance, $52,459, of the
loan appropriation for new buildings
had lapsed. THAT institution is over
crowded." the message proceeded, land
imperatively needs q new building for
ahShb a hSW iooih aiiu u hCW
Kitchen"
The president therefore recommends
that q request be made for a reap
preparation of the sum stated to cover
the buildings and their furnishings as
needed, and any balance to be used
to establish an annex to the Isane
Asylum to be designated as an infirm-
airy. He quotes the following remarks
nf
"At times persons absolutely poverty
stricken, friendless and suffering from
extreme physical and mental weak
ness, rather than insanity, even to i'm
becility and consequent filth, are COM
mitted to. received and cared for at the
Insane Asylum because there Is no
other refuge for them in the Territory
of Hawaii. The Board of Health will
not contest such commitments"
President Pinkham then inserts n
surgeon, to Sheriff C. p. Iaukea, which
he says the latter most emphatically
endorses" DIR. Emerson says:
I'm the performance of my duties
as police surgeon 1t devolves upon me
to examine a large number of persons
who are brought to the station house
who are held for investigation These
people may be classified as follows: /.
Victims of the liquor-habit, either In
the acute or chronic form. 2. Per-
sons found helpless through physical
debility and abject poverty. 3. Per-
sons who are subject to hysterical or
nervous attacks that suggest insanity
or that lie near to It's border land. 4.
20 nd tyNh
sons. The station house is the first
place of detention for these people be-
cause there Is no other place available.
Each one of these classes besides
the fifth furnishes its quota OF insane;
but the process of determining which
are insane and which are not, OF
searching out the data on which to
base the diagnosis of insanity. when
that is made, and finally OF gaining
the attention of the court for the con-
sideration of the case, is not q task
that can always be accomplished in
day; 1t may require several days.
Now, an insane person Is not per sc
a law-breaker, and 1t is not Just or
seemly that during the time when he
Is under investigation he should be
confined In the same enclosure with
De SuDJt'l " tlo
nifty of association with them.
again, II is often the case that
these people need special medical at
tention and nursing during this very
period OF examination, and the lack OF
1t may act unfavorably upon them.
The same facts and reasoning apply
to the physically wrecked and power
ty stricken persons the police unavoid-
ably gather In.
"The station house Is not furnished
with the means OF doing for these peo-
pie what they need to have done for
them, nor was It intended for any
such purpose. and when the attempt
is made to put 1t to such use the
result is, to say the least, unsatis-
factory,
ut has struck me that way of
relief to the present undesirable sit
uation might be found by the estab-
lishment OF a detention ward In con-
nection with the insane asylum at Ka-
lihi. At this place the suspects might
be held during such time as they were
under examination, and It might per-