Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-09-19
insane ARE CLEVER
Many in AsyIums Earn EyceIla,,
Salaries.
There. Are Scores Of Luna.icx W..
Are Good Artists, and Some 4,
Them Make Big incomes BY
Their Art-Work ls
a.. Unreliable.

Il am sure" said werk,o.
mind doctor, in an interview with NV
New York Press, you would ~
amazed at the clever work tha, -
done by hundreds of men and womaa
who are hopelessly insane. soms :.
it at least is as good as that d,aa
by sane people who earn large II
comes.
Among my patients today is o,a
man whose skill with the brush vouM
almost surely qualify him for h,sS
rank If he were only in possession !,
his senses. There are few Of ,hs
great exhibitions which do NOT o.
tain one or more OF his canvases. ana
he has often received as much a. s5Oo
for picture. And yet this man !.
as mad as a hatter,' the victim =,
terrible delusions and subject to via.
lent hcmicidal attacks.
Naturally, his work is unreliable
One week he will produce mastery
and beautiful picture. with genius in
every line Of it. The next he vill
paint the most weird picture, uer.
feet nightmare in color which cur;
ously enough he always considers
masterpiece. @
And this man is no exception, for
there are scores Of lunatics who ara
quite excellent artists, and many Of
them make good incomes by their art
Several years ago an exhibition Of
pictures, the work of insane patients
Of the Bethlehem Royal hospital. vas
open to the public, and | can assure
you many Of them are beautiful
works Of art.
There. are hundreds of other luna.
tics who are just as skillful in music
and literature. One of my own "a.
tients, who is hopelessly mad on one
subject, and who is a perfect musical
genius, has composed operas and
symphonies and scores of songs which
have won considerable fame for him
and have brought him small fortune.
And know of many other insane men
and women who earn small and reg
ular incomes in the same way
There are, similarly. hundreds Of
the insane who make hobby, and
sometimes very profitable one, Of
writing. Indeed, many of our asy.
lums have magazines which are al.
most entirely the work Of the pa.
tents.
Even in our public asylums there
are hundreds Of patients who make
money by skilled work of one sort or
another. Thus, in county asylum |
know well one man who does the most
exquisite water color sketches, for
which he receives from SIS to $50
each, and he has market for Is
many as he can produce. Unfortu.
nately, like SO many mad artists be
is often unable or unwilling to finish
a picture, and thus at least four-hfths
of his work is wasted.
Another patient. former sea cap
tain, spends his time in making the
most perfect tiny models OF ships.
carved with infinite skill and pains
from bone or ivory, for each OF when
he gets IS to SO. For one very eIao-
crate and beautiful model Of cathe-
dral he was paid as much as @loV'
and it was certainly very cheap at the
price. A third patient in the same
asylum earns many dollars year oy
cutting the cleverest silhouettes OUT
of colored paper.
"Other patients are equally skllieu
in a very wide range of INDUSTRIES
from inventing toys and puzzles 70
making watches and picture frames'
and from breeding canaries and nice Z
to raising flowers. One very ingenious
man actually made clock, WIN Nv
other material than pins, buttons non
bed laths and pieces of knitting nee
dies
The women, too, are just as c'e,s,
AZ the men. / know one dementeo
woman who writes the most charn, .ls
! books for children, and verses ~.
Christmas cards, another who maAe'
good income, in her lucid noufs, y
illustrating books, and thru WY,
draws several hundred dollars yea,
from royalties on her plays. A -.
there are countless women IN ~.
public asylums who earn money
scores of ways, such as knlttins' . Ise.
making, straw plating and iea'D'