Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-25
,etween the fire of the contending par

between the fire of the contending par
ties.
England was the only other country
which did anything for the relief OF the
distressed The British Red Cross sent
a money contribution of $4,000 and
few hundred dollars were received from
France and Belgium.
Hospital for Insane Founded.
The only hospital for the insane in the
near east was founded in 1896 at As
furiyeh, near Beirut, in the mountains
Of Lebanon, Syria, by the venerable DR..
Theophilus Waldmeier a Swiss mission
airy, who is still in charge of the fnsti-
tution-a man of noble character and
venerable appearance. 1t is an interna-
tional benevolence supported Jointly by
American, English Dutch and Swiss con-
tributors with Offices at 1O1 Provident
building Philadelphia, and at 30 Queen
Victoria street., London. Henry w. Jessup.
81 Nassau street, New York. is the treas
urer, and among the trustees are Dr.
PENNSYLVANIA Hospital for the Insane and
DR.. Robert III. Chase, superintendent OF
the Friends Asylum for the Insane. at
frankfort, Pa. as
The hospital is situated upon delight
full eminence, facing the Mediterranean
sea from three sides. The grounds com
prise thirty-four acres, upon which there
are ten buildings. Five of them are cot
tages each accommodating from twenty
five to thirty five patients; the others are
for business purposes and the residences
of the superintendent and officials.
About 125 patients can be accommo-
dated. and the institution is always
crowded Many of the patients are self
more than $4,000 has been received as
fees from the inmates, and the revenues
from this source are increasing annually
as the people of Syria become more and
more convinced that insanity is dis
ease and that insane people are not pos
sessed of the devil, as they have believed
ever since Bible times.
The recovery rate has averaged more
ally increasing for the reason that other
than incHables are now being brought
there for treatment.
Syrian Nurses in Charge.
The direct care of the patients is in the
hands of Syrian nurses and attendants
under the supervision of DR.. Harry
Thwaites medical superintendent, and
DR.. Waldmeier, the founder The salts
factory nature of their work shows that
there is plenty of good material among
the natives for such practical relief or
the thousands of unfortunate men and
women who are confined to pens and
dungeons and often bound with chains
to keep them from doing injury to them
selves or to their friends and neignbors-
DR.. Thwaites, in writing Of his work
recently, says that one of the most i'm
portant results of the hospital at AS
furiyeh has been to turn the tide of pub
lie opinion as regards the status of the
insane and to revOlutiOnize the barbarous
and cruel methods that have prevailed
through all that part of the world I'm
their treatment.
During my short residence he says
II have received patients with bruised
THEN ankles and wrists. marks Of the
chains that were used to bind them
and other evidence of dungeon captivity;
and in one instance heavy cnain had
actually to be removed from man after
his admission. He was a sheik, who
until he lost his reason, was held in high
repute, a man of power and command
ing influence, whose reputation and in
fuential position even could not save him
from such barharous treatment the mo-
ment that he was suspected of demo
niacal possession.
1.-The majority of our patiens hail from
Beirut and Mount Lebanon. but some
have come. from remote, towns in Asia
Minor and Palestine, and from the Hau-
ran. a very wide portion of the Turkish
empire being thus drained"
Modern Ideas Adopted.
DIR. Waldmeler and all others who are
interested In the institution are also very
much encouraged by the effect produced
upon the public mind by the human and
scientific treatment of the insane Iron
chains. he saws, have given way. to
T. eedcni. atrocities and, crueities to Chris
itianalOve and kindness; exorcism to sound
reason: dur. geons to Clean. airy rooms:
and. ignorance and superstition to the
light of the gospel and civilization. Many
of the poor insane, specially women. are
kept in their houses in lonely rooms Or
subterraneaH. dark. damp vaults. where
they pine away. Others are, sent to con-
vents. where they are treated as being
possessed by demons. subject to eXorcism
and atrocities. In this .countr.-. where the
superstition and ignorance OF the middle
ages Still rule. the insane have still to suf-
Ter. because We cannot take. them all into
our hospital. and in many cases super
stitipn prevents people from. bringing their
stricken relatives to us in time. while
there is still hope of a cure. Some are
sent to the DEVILS Cave at kuzheya. l
know OF a poor patient having
been there for some time: the relatives,
expecting immediate cure at Asfuriyen,
became impatient ard removed him from
us straightway to the cave at kuzheya