The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-04
THE GREAT UPLIFT ::
M.-curing the Insane
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By Frederic ,. Haslzin.


 tuition here at Toledo Is not so up-to- eate as many of the ones that have l been patterned after it. but the pres tge 1t established for itself a quar- ter of a century ago in the face of op- position etiIl remains.
 The wide charity of the national mind toward the unfortunate and the the care of the insane as in the care O. the blind, the immigrant the little children and the delinquents. The harsh measures of the old straight jacket. days are passing with awak- ened intelligence. Of course, the vio- lent patients must be restrained in some fashion, and be under constant surveillance. Here 6 oueerly sleeved jacket is used that holds the restless arms down at the sides for awhile, and causes no pain to the wearer. and the remoteness of the cottages from one 1 another allows the cries and calls to l carry less far, and pfoduce less exctf- l ing influence on other patients than l when they are herded in the same big building in adjoining cells. | Every two or three hours each of these violent ones Is taken for an out- door airing, and the telling effect or the air and sunshine is found in the long nights sleep that follows. In ad- dition to the blind sleeves" there are restraining sheets" by means of which | the patient is comfortably tucked in bed, and while. he can turn about and stretch his limbs at ease, he cannot thresh about and either, injure himself i or wear out his physical endurance as he would unrestrained The new Ideas developed by modern philanthropy are I making even restraint comfortable, wholesome and step toward cure, where under the old regime It became a punishment. menace to health and a detriment to cure.
 Heredity leads among the causes of Insanity. Environment Is listed among other causes. The largest per cent of the insane in the United States Is drawn from the class known to census Ienumerators as laborers and servant4 These constitute 41.6 per cent of all the inmates Of hospitals for the insane. The people engaged in agriculture, in transportation and in other outdoor tcallfngs. furnish 22.5 per. cent. and the manufacturing and mechanical indus tries, Is per cent The largest per cent
 age of women patients in the nations
 hospitals is from the farms-the mo-
 notony of the remote rural existence the petty cares that opprees the dwell
 lers in the slums of the country being often too much for them.
 Malnutrition coupled with a weak constitution, has caused an exceptional liy large number of cases of diseased mlHoBt anu a BTAIILylnBly idrBe uAthUSS of these have been cured by natures simplest process--wholesome food, out door life. good sleep and freedom from noise and worry. 4 great number of women have gone insane at child birth, and others as result of disease. It has been found in the hospital here.
 as elsewhere, that an operation per- formed by skilled surgeon has inva- riably resulted in the restored physical health of tho patient, and very often in I eonsequenee, the mental health has been wholly or partially restored.
 The number of preventab1e cases. of insanity in this coHntry may be reck- I oned at 10 per cent of the entire num- ! ber or nearly 1s.000 in all. For this 1 per centage represents the number of l patients in the nations hospitals for the insane, and in private homes; who I have gone insane through the effects of alcohol. Some of these patients have lost their minds through too frequent potatfons on then own account: others are there from no fault of their own. They are the victims of crime of the l most crimson hue, for their parents 1 have transmitted mental disease to them as a result of incorporate lives. | One of the most pathetic cases here in | the Toledo hospital is that of a young epileptic girl whose father was a con frmed drunkard and who transmitted | l this disease to her, so that she came 1 into the world hopeless mental wreck 1 a disappointment to her people and a care on the State. Tn this instance. as in many others of a like nature. the parents appear indifferent to the fact that the fault is theirs, they only mur- mur that the hand of Providence i, heavy.
 It Is claimed by students of the men l tally defective that the first born in nearly every French peasants home is an imbecile, or mentally unfit in some way, and the cause is found in the fact | that the first few weeks of its parents early married life had been spent in | continual bout of feasting anl merry making, always drinking more wine | than was good for them. Such children 1 were born of the spirit of intemperance | and became unwilling charges on the | State. This is one of the biggest argu- | ments for general liquor legislation. | It will not only protect the innocent, | but save to this nation alone about 16,- 900 men and women that in all prob ability would make good and upright citizens. From a financial point of | view, the saving would be something worth considering. since the annual ex- penditure for the insane of this country is $21 100000 in the public institutions alone. Of the feeble minded who are not classed in the census of the insane there are about 15,000. in the United C1dICSs anu a SECdL pcA CSHNdBS OA lHtS6 may be traced to the liquor cause, and added to the needlessly lost citizens
 It was former superintendent of the Toledo hospital who invented a bath tub for the use of insane patients to prevent the many serious accidents that have caused deaths from scalds and burns. when patients meddIed with the wrong faucets. This invention was so arranged that when the water reacheu a certain temperature an automatic de- vice prevented the entrance of more hot water. He also perfected device for preventing the escape of gas when investigating patients tempered with the fixtures. These were characteristic achievements of the Toledo hospital and of the men who made 1t the model of it's kind-one of the nations biggest inspirations in uplift work among de- fectives. Copyright, 1908. by Frederick J.
 Haskin.)