Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-01
MORE TALES OF
CRUELTY TOLD OF
SOLDIERS HOME
PERSECUTION AND MALTREAT-
MENT RECITED
VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS PLAN
TO DEMAND INVESTIGATION
Direct Charge Is Made Against Saw
teIIe Officials of Being Respon-
sibIe for Death of 8. B.
Goodrich

Tales of persecution and mistreat-
ment of old soldiers, carried even be-
yond the boundaries of the Soldiers
home grounds, are told with increasing
frequency, forming a terrible indict-
| ment against the managers of the in
! stitution. A number of sworn, affidavits
have been prepared, attesting theifacts
Of neglect and cruelty practiced toward
the aged defenders of the nation by
| those paid by the government to give
them care.
A mass of testimony is being gath
cred by the Sons of Veterans, Daugh-
ters of Veterans and the G. A. r. post
in preparing to present the matter at
the convention in Salt Lake City for
/ investigation.
Among the affidavits received by The
| Herald Is one in which the direct
charge is made against officials of the
home Of responsibility for the death OF
one of their charges, Benjamin B
Goodrich, who served as first sergeant
of company I, Thirty-second Iowa In
fantry, through three years of the Civil
War.
In a comment on the affidavit, which
is sworn to by the widow of the man
declared to have died in agony as a
consequence of neglect and mistreat-
ment In the home hospital, the state
ment is made that Mrs. Goodrich "says
it cannot do her nor her late husband
| any good but she hopes it will be of
some benefit to her late husbands com
rades who may be so unfortunate as to
become inmates of the Soldiers home
hospital"
Wife Came to Rescue
So terrible was the effect of his treat
| ment upon the mind as well as the
! failing body of Goodrich while he re-
mained in the hospital, that his wife
had him removed to their home In Saw
| telle at III North Ninth street, and
| there nursed him until her own health
began to fail. At the suggestion that
ne return to the hospital, the sufferer is
declared to have cried out: "Pd rather
lie down here on the floor and cut my
throat and end 1t all than go back
there" The following day, in great
pain, he died.
The affidavit sworn to by the widow,
Elizabeth Goodrich, declares that the
] sufferer not only was refused treat
ment and medicine for the relief of his
sufferlngs and improvement of his con-
dition, but IVES deprived of surgical ap-
| pliances necessary to his proper care,
| and which he had been taught to use
for himself by reputable physicians.
Martin Van Buren Hurd, who was re-
| admitted to the home in June of this
year, after having been dropped from
the rolls for overstaying a leave of alb
sence, deposes on oath that he was
| forced to labor in the broiling sun,
cleaning bricks from the walls of the
old canteen, in spite of his representa-
| tions that he was in too feeble con-
! dition to perform such labor; that on
! applying to the surgeon, DR.. McNary,
| to be excused from further toll, an eX-
| cuse was made out by the surgeon but
retained by him.
Ordered Back to Work
Hurd returned to his quarters, where
the captain of company 1 found him
and asked him why he was not at
work. On being told of the excuse,
made out but not delivered to him, the
captain responded, "That's too thin"
and ordered the old man back to work
or to the guard house. On Hurd,s IN
sistence that he was in no fit condition
to work, and had been excused, he
was seized by the police, carried down
the stairs in a rough manner and
thrown on the bed in the guard house.
One of the policemen, looking down at
him, remarked. 81 guess he's dead"
In spite of injuries which Hurd states
he received from the brutal treatment,
he recovered.
After a similar experience in being
compelled to work while suffering from
bad sores on one hand, an old soldier
by the name of Dobbs Is stated to have
been excused from labor on the brick
walls of the canteen only on his agree
ing to pay so cents day to have some
one work in his place.
More outrageous in its character than
any of these cases, because of the In
excusable vlndictiveness displayed and
carrying of a misuse of authority far
beyond the bounds of the home, is that
of Howell G.. Trogden, who holds two
medals for valor in his defense of the
Union and the Constitution of the
United States.
Arrested for Complaining
For an alleged use of one of the priv
ileges guaranteed by that constitution
which he fought to uphold, the right of
free speech, Trogden was arrested in
Santa Monica. according to the affi-
davit sworn to by George Seaman,
treated in brutal manner and sent to
Jail.
The supposed offense for which Trog
den was made to suffer arrest, rough
handling which resulted in serious in
jury, and Imprisonment, was the max
ing of statements held to be derogatory
to the governor of the home.
According to Trogden's statement,
and that of George Seaman, who heard
the conversation, the governor had not
Deen In6UllOH6u, lliOuSH SoiiuibAOiiS III
the home had been referred to, when
the officer arrested him, handling him
so roughly as to cause the breaking of
his truss, and giving him great diff
Guilty in confining a rupture while being
dragged to jail The officer, he says,
offered to let him go for $40 or his
watch, but the offer was refused.
The prisoner was arraigned on
technical charge of "disorderly con-
duct" and the arresting officer ex
planned that he had been given orders
to arrest all old soldiers whom he heard
in Santa Monica criticising the gov
ernor of the home. On the assumption
that Trogden had made such use of
his right of free speech beyond the
bounds of the home, he was sentenced
by the Santa Monica justice to pay a
fine of $40 or spend ten days in the
county jail Not having the money,
and refusing to draw upon his son-in-
law, who is a wage worker with
family, he spent the time in Jail
These, and many other matters, the
officials of the Soldiers home will be
asked to explain.
CITY NEWS IN BRIEF