The Ordway new era., 1913-08-29

The system in vogue there con-
sists in no restraint but that
OF kindly surveillance except in dan
gerous cases. The colony is in VII
lage surrounding a church dedicated
to st. olympic. the patroness of the
insane.
The insane patients are not referred
to as mad. Always they are the
sick." the malades. They are boarded
IL the homes of the Inhabitants IL or
der that they may enjoy the freedom
and intercourse of family life. the
benefit of which is one of the funda-
mental ideas OF the system. Nearly
every house in the colony contains
one or two "malades"-more than two
not being allowed by the medical au-
thority in chief.
This fact makes visit to Gheel
somewhat weird" says writer In the
Queen. "One constantly meets pa
tients and never knows whether one
II speaking to sane person or not.
AS was taken round by the wife Of .
nurse was very probably taken for
the newest arrival in the colony.
Enjoy Perfect Freedom.
population are people from all parts
OF Europe-England. France. Holland
and Belgium all send patients kere.
Ny guide kept pointing out to
me a patient in the street. or house
where dwelt one or more of the
malades.
"A woman standing here, man
walking there. an old man with =
scythe returning from harvesting-an
were aliens, but all were enjoying
perfect freedom, walking about like
the rest of the world, working II they
liked. or resting II they liked. though
all were known and looked upon with
kindly commiseration as sick In mind
II not in body.
In the railway station / noticed a
man walking up and down very i'm.
patiently waiting for the booking Of
fice to open; he, too. like SO many
others. was mot quite all there" and
this was one of his daily customs.
believe ticket OF some kind
was given him, and he walked away
quite happy, as the patients in this
queer colony are all known to the in.
habitants and their idiosyncracies In
dulged with kindly tolerance as far
as possible
MY guide, too. seemed quite amused
when l expressed fear of accidents.
seeing that the station and lines, both
Of the tram and railway. are open.
found out afterward that there had
been up till tben but four fatal acci.
dents to the patients on the railway at
Gheel, one OF which was due to q sud-
den 1T of suicidal mania. Epileptic
patients. by the way. seem to improve
here, andtin twenty years. out of no
fewer than 5000. only once bad there
ever been an attempt on life, and that
not serious one.
"It must not. however, be thought.
that the dangerous patients are al
lowed perfect freedom at Gheel. On
straint In the Hospice, where they are
cared for by the kindly. sweet faced
Sisters of Charity. But confinement
Is only resorted to in those cases
where 1t is absolutely necessary.
"The history Of the Belgian system
10 interesting. az the treatment OF the
insane in the manner sketched is pure.
ly Belgian both in its inception and
its realization. 1t has been copied by
other European nations, as well as
America. but England has held aloof.
though Scotland tried It some years
ago. The colony has been in existence
IT Gheel as such since the beginning
Of the last century. though legend
places It's origin very early indeed.
1T has been visited by all the great
mental specialists of Europe. who
have. Of course. found fault with 1t.
but have. nevertheless. often taken
hints from 1t. 1t consisted, at my visit.
OF sbout 1000 maladies. out Of which
number an average OF about sixty
only were sequestrated. the rest enjoy
ing perfect liberty. as have stated
above.
How System Originated.
"Ths system originated at drst In Q