The Topeka state journal., 1911-03-20
ON THE STAND.
Witnesses Tell Stories Before
Board of Control.
Allege CruelTreatmentat Hands
of Attendants.
GIVE THE INSTANCES.
One Tells of Burning With Hot
Lantern.
DR.. Biddle Not Connected with
the Abuses.
GIVE THE INSTANCES.

Some really startling testimony
showing the cruelty to patients in the
Topeka insane hospital and deliber-
ate infractions of the rules of the in
stitution and the board of control is
being brought out in the investigation
the board of control is conducting into
the affairs of that institution. Wheth
er DIR. L. c. Biddle, superintendent of
the institution knew of the cruel acts
OF the attendants and whether he con-
tenanced these acts even in the face
OF specific rules prohibiting cruelty
has not been determined. Some of
the witnesses believed DR.. Biddle knew
OF these acts of cruelty but not one
OF them told him about what they
saw.
Burning with a hot lantern to quier
n patient, the burns being so deep
that lettering on the top of the Ian
tern was branded into the skin of one
patient, splitting tobacco juice iTGo the
eyes of another patient becauae the
patient talked too much were some of
the acts Of cruelty told about by wit
uesses before the board of control
Two witnesses were examined Sat
urday afternoon. The investigation
was continued until this afternoon
other witnesses.
F. L. Phelps was the first witness
called during the Saturday afternoon
session. He was nurse and attended
ward E 6, the Topeka hospital He
said:
While bathing patients 1 noticed
patient. William McNoun. who had
some ten or fifteen round red marks on
his body. I called the other attend
ants attention to them and after we
rad examined the marks we concluded
that a hot lantern had been pressed
against his spine We could make out
The words lamp company indistinctly
on some of these marks"
McNoun is a rather unruly and con-
trary patient according to Phelps.
F. A. Ferguson of Cypress, ILL.,, r. f.
Angel of Marion, Ill, D. F. Thompson,
now a nurse at the hospital, were given
by Phelps as men who could corrobO-
rate his testimony as to the burns Jn
McNoun. Phelps had worked year at
the Elgin, ILL.,, insane hospital and six
months at the Topeka hospital. 4
night watchman at the Elgin hospital
nd told him of quieting patients 1T
night by burning with the lanterns
which the night watchmen carried.
Phelps was one of the employees Of
the Topeka. hospital who testified on
his own accord and he had no special
animus as he had not been discharged.
HSlpS dQlllllIeQ LldI ne naQ nedru
insane hospital nurses had many secret
methods of quieting, or really mis-
treating patients. The use of the hot
lantern and putting bars of soap into a
locking and using this as a clue,
twisting the arms in certain ways to
c-Ise pain but no injury, wrapping
towel around a patients neck and chok-
ing him, and not leaving any marks
We're some of the secret methods used
by nurses in quieting patients. While
all hospital rules prohibited cruelty to
patients, still Phelps admitted that the
attendants were often cruel to patients
and they did it in such a manner as
not to be detected
Phelps had no idea which of the
night watches had probably used the
hot lantern on McNoun.
One day" said Phelps. IT saw IN
attendant named Thompson spit into
4 patients eye. This was a patient
named F'riedberg who had been talk
ing good deal"
How did he happen to do this?''
oh, Thompson said, Listen to the
Sheeney talk and then he spit to-
bacco juice into Friedberg's eye"
Did you interfere in any way?''
No, there was nothing could do"
Phelps said that once last summer
there was not enough clothing in his
ward to give all the patients a change
on bath days. While he was there
no screens on the buildings and that
nearly all the patients suffered great
ly on account of flies.
One day he found the water cut
off the toilet room pipes, so he un-
wound the fire hose and found that
the hose would not hold water. Since
then $4,000 was spent in replacing
fire hose and putting in fire appar-
atus. The water pressure has also
been improved, so that there is plenty
of water for cleaning.
Phelps said that the reason that il
was so hard to keep employees at the
hospital was that DIR. Biddl. gives the
employees no consideration No en-
ployee could go to DR.. Biddle with
complaints. as all these had to &c
through the ward supervisors. He
also complained of the social condi-
tions, which he said were entirely
lacking. as the attendants could only
walk around on the lawn and keer
quiet and go to the chapel and the
weekly dances when the attendants
had to dance with patients
W. F. --cLaughlin, a painter who
was employed at the HOSPITAL for sew
eral months was the fifth witness
One patient. DIVA Beeson, who work eo
for Mclaughlin. complained abou