Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-07-26

their sprawling occupants. The cell
ings slanted, and often Their as only
one window to four beds. The corridor
was much darker than on the lower
floors.
"where do the attendants Sieep:" the
doctor was asked.
"Anywhere! with the inu,atesi
wherever they can aud a corner"
The disastrous effects of the conges-
ton. as IT appeared to the Evening
STAR reporter, are these;
Failing on In Cures.
The inmates cannot be properly han
died.
"The falling off of our proportion G.
cures is very perceptible." said DR.,
Evans.
After fifteen or sixteen hours Of
watching and working on the wards.
with the prospect of a few troubled
hours of sleep in some corner of the
crowded rooms and corridors. the at
tendants are o in the position TO dc
what they ought to for the inmates,
however they may wish to.
The patients cannot be rightly CLASH
fled, despite every effort of the medical
staff. A violent patient cuts loose Mt
night and disturbs the rest of nm en-
tire dormitory and affects everyone in
II.
A man became violent in a crowded
room a few nights ago. He tore apart
his bed by brute strength, and brand
ishing half the heavy frame, he deiied
the attendants.
The room was pitch-dark. There is
no electric light, SO that the turning OF
a switch would suffice. and the maniac
was directly under the gas Jet.
Come on" he tainted, derisively,
You can get me, but I'll kill one OF
you frst."
Rushed with Mattress.
DR.. Evans begged his men to stay
out of the room, At length a gigantic
attendant rushed in with a mattress
in front of him. After warding off
three blows, he wrapped the mattress
around the man and carried him ut.
Properly separated from the rest OF
the inmates this would matter little,
But In the crowded conditions of the
hospital II Is a disastrous occurrence.
IT is impossible to maintain the
standard of sanitation and ventilation.
RSoioto WV NV bNh1AoA Nii
cheney, the congestion would make the
outbreak of an infectious or contagious
disease uncomfortable, since isolatio.
is impossible.
The FIRE risk IN appalling.
July Fl a fire started in the cupola
of one of the buildings at midday.
After doing some damage it was .eX-
tinguished.
az that Are had started In n crowded
section at midnight. said DIR. Evans
.threc hundred inmates might have
been burned TO death, and through ouI
Anticipated gas system we are always
threatened with inc ndiary fires. sew
eral of which have been started"
Unhandy F~ire-Escapcs,
The nre-escapes are like great SER
pentine tubes, in which the men and
women can fall or throw themselves
in any attitude. But the danger OF
panic, combined with the necessity OF
unlocking all the doors, is what
frightens the attendants. Two of the
four wards on each floor do not have
any Horoscopes at all, h patien 5
having to pass through corridors &c
one OF the other two wards.
The fourth trouble due to the con
Kestion is the dihicuity In securing help
Working fifteen hours a day, iron
6 in the morning till 3 at night. per
forming laborious and often disgust.
ing work, the attendants nerves are
strained to the breaking point. In d
very short time they leave the hos
pital.
when the right is assumed by any
State of depriving individuals of theil
liberty for the protection and good OF
the public at large DR.. Evans eN-
claimed emphatically, "it assumes the
c%orrelative responsibility of properly
caring for or maintaining such persons
And the only logical relief that cal
come. from u logical standpoint, is the
construction of a new institu ion, pref
erably in a farming district, on tbs
cottage plan. This should be done ant
done Immediately, or the already APP
palling conditions will steadily ant
rapidly become worse. We do all W,
can, and yet there is no provision o
law known to me which would enabl,
me to stop the o~vercrowding.
"And it doesn't require a philosopher
to under stand that this overcrowdinl
defeats the very objects of the hos
pital in the curing OF a reasonable
number of the inmates