Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1907-01-10
LUNACY COMMISSION
At HOSPITAL

hospital for the insane at this place
Tuesday and conducted thorough
investigation, not only as relates to
overcrowding and the condition Of the
| buildings, but also as to management,
| the pay and treatment of employees
and as to whether or not the State is
not being defrauded by the adm tting
of patients into the hospital as indig
| mt insane who have estates or rela-
tives who are responsible for their
maintenance Some deplorable facts
were unearthed and it is quite evident
that radical recommendations will be
made along at least several of the lines
of inquiry.
| Of the lunacy commission the fol-
lowing gentlemen were present: Hon.
Henry F. Walton, chairman. Hon. Ed
ward f. Beidelman of Dauphin; Sen
ators Milton Hiedelbaugh of Lancaster.
and James f. Woodward of Allegheny
City. OF the board of hospital trustees
| the following were present: |. x.
Grier, Esq. H. NJ. Schoch, Hon.
James Foster. of Danville; DR.. B. H.
| Detwiler, of Williamsport; Howard
| Lyon of, Hughesville, and G.. r. Van
| Allen, of Northumberland DR.. H. L,
Orth, superintendent of the hospital
! for the insane at Harrisburg, was also
present. Newspaper men were on hand
! as follows: Fred A Long, Thomas F.
Logan and Ben X. Raleigh, represent
ing respectively the Philadelphia
North American, the Inquirer,
and the "Egening Bulletin. A rep
resentative of the AMERICAN was
also present. John r. X. Scott, Esq,
of Philadelphia, accompanied the COM
mission as attorney. Harris Lightly,
of Philadelphia was stenographer. In
| addition to the above the county COM
missioners and the local board of poor
directors were present by request.
| The commission did not arrive at
| the hospital until nearly II o'clock
and as soon as practicable got down
to work. Every inquiry was conducted
| in the most searching manner. There
was no mincing of words, nor was
fthere any special consideration shown
for the standing or position of the per-
son questioned: The commission had
no fault to find with the management.
nor with the capability of the board
of trustees The fragrant defect of the
| hospital, aside from the lack of room,
that impressed the commission was
the antiquated type of building
1t will interest the people of Dam
vile to know that the big institution
here, which, viewed from the outside,
is the object of much local pride, was
Tuesday pronounced the worst, the
most obsolete and Objectionable OF all
the hospital buildings in the State.
Chairman Walton in an interview
with the AMERICAN representa-
tive. after the investigation, express
ed his disapproval in these words ::
''The building is wholly unfit for the
purpose and | would recommend that
the whole structure be torn down, and
replaced by new buildings construct
ed according to modern ideas. I would
recommend that the building be torn
down wing by wing and the new
structure completed in sections, to
take over the patients gradually "
He regretted hat the temporary
buildings for which an appropriation
was made by the last legislature had
not been erected. These structures, he
said, embodied modern ideas and
would have improved conditions very
much.
At noon the lunacy commission,
| board of trustees and all others pres
ent had dinner at the institution. DR..
Meredith, the superintendent, was the
| only witness examined during the
morning session. The bulk of the work
was done in the afternoon.
DR.. Meredith made very good inn
preston on the commission, revealing
that lie was laboring conscientiously
with considerable odds against him to
care for and benefit the insane charges
committed to his care. In answer to
! questions, DR. Meredith stated that he
! is 54 years Of age, that he is graduate
of the University of Pennsylvania,
class of n. He has been connected
with the institution for twenty-eight
years and has been superintendent for
eighteen years His salary at present
/ is $4,000 annually. having been raised
from $4,000 about year ago
The capacity of the institution, DR..
| Meredith said, is equal to 500 male
patients and $50 females. At present
| there are 6S3 men and 6l3 women at
! the instituation As result of the
overcrowding the patients sleep in the
corridors aud other unsuitable places.
The chairman explained that 1t had
come to the ears of the commission
that large numbers of patients are
committed to the hospitals of the State
as INDECENT insane when they have
estates or relatives who are response
BILE for their keeping 1t was the in
tent of the law, he said, that no
person is to be committed in this way
except actual paupars. As the result of
the loose and illegal way in which in
sane are committed to the hospitals
the State is annually defrauded out of
large sums of money. Iuasmuch as the
commission is determined to get at the
bottom of the matter the request Is
made that persons throua hout the
State come forward or communicate
with the chairman who know of patti
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