Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1910-04-28
STATION IS UNIQUE
Railroad Porters Near AsyIums
Have Peculiar Experiences.
Some Harmless inmates Allowed to Co
at Large and Are Frequent Visit
ors-Make Singular Inqulr.
lee Of Employees.

London.-Unique In its way Is the
station Of Coulsdon, small roadside
halt nesting in the Surrey hills some
six miles south of Croydon.
Coulsdon is the station for three
great lunatic asylums-the London
county, Caterham and the Surrey coun-
ty-institutions which between them
shelter just under 5000 lunatics.
The porters at Coulsdon are tall,
strong, mild-mannered men, and be-
yond learning his official work the sta
ton master has undergone a special
training in the treatment of the insane
at the hands of Sir James Moody of
the London county asylum.
Some Of the station hands have some
odd experiences to relate.
Taking them on the whole, the lu-
natics we get here are exceedingly well
behaved" said one of them, land less
than six months ago 'unloaded' some
200 or more from one special train and
saw them all installed in the asylum
brakes without the slightest hitch Of
any kind occurring.
vi INC OlHcI ldlluB uOW6NST, Sill
gle lunatic passenger will often prove
fractions, even though his mania takes
no more dangerous a form than sit
ting down suddenly in the waiting
room, exclaiming that he is the prince
of Wales or Edward the Confessor, and
firmly declining to move until he ina
gines that everyone has had time to
realize the Importance of the occasion.
But all my experiences have not
been quite so mild.
Some years ago, for instance, two |
unhappy men dashed into the station |
in state of semi-nudity, ratified on the
booking office window, and threatened
the astonished clerk with sudden and
violent death if he did not quickly pro-
duce two tickets for the north pole.
Then only last Saturday evening a
well dressed woman, with far away
look in her eyes, walked into the office
and asked for ticket to Croydon. Be-
fere she could be supplied an asylum
attendant ran in after her and seized
her from behind.
"A violent struggle ensued and II
was some time before we could pacify
the woman and arrange for her return
to the asylum.
Many of the harmless cases are
given the complete run of the neigh
borhood and it is no unusual thing for
some OF them to call in here and ash
for ticket somewhere. .
Their manner or their dress. how
ever, always betrays them, and our in.
practice on these occasions h
to give them the ticket they ask fer,
show them into the waiting room and |
then quietly communicate with The a
asylum officials.
I'm nearly every case they return S
Placidly enough
Despite the easy access to the rail- Q
way line here | cannot recall any case
Of actual or attempted suicide. S
But the inmates do occasionally ]
stray on to the metals and have before b
now been found sketching the bridges f
rom underneath or gazing in profound ]
abstraction at signal post But they d
have always managed to stand quite C
out of danger h
Regularly about four days a week n
'or years one old man used to come to n
he station and ask endless questions a
about the type of the engines, the E
line, of the trains, scan timetables g
and so on. @
But one other regular caller we still "
He tiptoes into the station n
most mornings of the week and, with Il
IN air of intense mystery, buys a daily ei
PAPER. Then he tiptoes out again.
You can see for yourself" conclud-
I'd the official, that the lunatics here
ire not really very dangerous" b
And he pointed to a small plantation D
llmost adjoining the station, where n
Lree lunatics with a uniformed at. il
were engaged in cutting trees. ii
With immense delicacy of touch two IL
If them were employed in setting a h
adder against tree, while the third re
white-bearded old man wearing a
lark opera cloak and a felt hat-was A
tune and beating time with n
small rusty saw. n