Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1909-12-11
Utterly Incompetent to
Fill Position, Present
ment Declares.
HEAD OF COUNTY HOSPITAL
FOR INSANE EVASIVE
Would Not Admit Person Re-
sponsible in Skeleton Case.
Has Nothing to Say"


--.-
We feel it our bounden duty
to the court and to the COM
munity to express our deliberate
Judgment that Dr.. Dill is utterly
incompetent to fill the great
and responsible office which he
now holds. .
This scathing denunciation of the ad-
ministration OF Dr. Daniel NJ Dill as
head of the County Hospital for the
Insane is contained in the presentment
handed UP today by the second Sep
tember Grand Jury, which was dis
charged by Chief Justice Gummere in
the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The
prcsentmert covers the Investigations
into the asylum affairs. They are still
under inyestig CATION by the committee
on county hospitals, and the suggestion
is made by the grand Jurors that their
successors should go ahead and make
"a full and complete investigation
1t is also set forth that DR.. Dill, while
he Is not chargeable with wilful neglect,
is incompetent. both from medical
and an administrative point of view,'
and that the records are SO defective
and imperfect "as to be almost value
less" =
sixty Indictments Handed Cp.
1t Is understood that among, the sixty
indictments handed up, however, there
is none against the official who Is so
severely scored, but that they. cover,the
ordinary grist of criminal cases.
hthe CHIEF Justice did not ask for the
reading of the presentment. but sim
Ply directed Timothy E. Scales. the
clerk OF the grand iurssst 70 have
filed. r. -
DR.. Dill. @hen questioned, declared
that he hadTo statement to make. The
report recotnmends the employment OF
a competent dental, surgeon for the
Treatment of the inmates OF the several
county institutions
The jurors will celebrate their relief
from official duties with dinner at
Achtei-Stetter's December %, when the
foreman, John j. Clifford, will be re-
membered by his colleagues and Clerk
Scales will, as usual. be remembered
Also.
Grand Jury's Presentment.
This is the part of the presentment
relating to the asylum investigation:
: @'.The grand Jurors desire to present
to the court certain matters relative to
the Essex County Asylum for the In
sane which have come to their atten-
ton Most of these matters we have
not had time to investigate.
"Our attention was first directed to
the condition of affairs at this institu-
ton by the discovery. on November 1Sth
last of q skeleton in the attic of one
OF the wings of the building on South
Orange avenue, 1t has since been es-
tablisned, we are informed by the
prosecutor, that this skeleton was that
of q female; that the individual was
over sixty years of age and that the
individual had been dead from five to
ten years, probably nearer five than
ten We are crediby Informed that
the position of this skeleton was sucn
that it could not have been in the
place where it was found at the time
the electrical wiring was put in, lii
1854 We have not had time to In
vestigate this matter. So far as we
are able to learn up to the present time
Or. Dill, the superintendent OF the in
stitutfon, has made no reasonable eX-
planation that in any way accounts for
the existence of this skeleton In the
attic of that Institution He has made
the public statement that. the records
of the instifution show that since 'ss'
no female patent is unaccounted for.
If that statement is tl'ne, then this
skeleton must be from, the hodv .of
some visitor at the institution The
prosecutor. has nnhliclv stated in an
official communication to the county
s,,rervisor that he had annea'ed 20 Hr
nrj thes s,,rerjn+endentl of the ins'tfu-
tion sor ssstance IN the invesf'"atf"''
which he was s1nakire. hut thai he h"d
not ~eoAived 9vor hirn . sin"'e re'rf"'
s,,ooestion b We think This '"aftNr
should h. tharopehlv investteated ana
fer that reasnn we present 1t 70 the
court
DiGicui. s. in Getting Information.
eve have ourselves had the SAME
diflculty as the prosecutor in getting
any Information from Dr.gDill relative
to one matter which we has investi-
gated, namely, the circumstances sur
rounding the death and burial of Mary
Ann Bauer. s.45s.f
.'Frorn evidence taken by us it ap-
pears that Mary Ann Bauer was for
many years an inmate of the Essex
county asylum She had two daughters
living in this county; one IN Irvington
and one in the city Of Newark. Both
we're we'll known and had long resided
at the same address, On October 20
laet these daughters telephoned to the
institution and inquired how their
mother was doing, and We're Informed
that she is doing fine.' On November
ssth last, upon making further inquiry
as to how their mother was, they
learned that she had In fact died on
the Sd of August last, and was buried
in Potter's field on August 9Th. We
subpoenaed the superintendent OF the
ir1stitution DR.. DIN, to- appear before