New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1915-09-29
DELEGATES VISIT
INSANE HOSPITAL
SEE ATTEMPTS OF STATE TO
IMPROVE CONDITIONS OF
UNFORTUNATES.
MINNESOTA RANKS HIGH IN THE
CARE TAKEN OF MENTAL
DETECTIVES.

An interesting and instructive day
was spent Monday at the hospital for
the insane at St. Peter by delegates to
the Conference of Corrections & Chari-
ties and men and. women of New Ulm
to the number of about 80. The fore
noon was spent in visiting the various
buildings on the grounds and in in
specting the various wards of the
hospital.
The first building visited was the
nurses home. This building is three
stories high and has Accommodations to
house one hundred nurses. In addition
to the sleeping apartments the building
has two parlors and three stenopraphic
rooms. Nurses must undergo a three
years training course before they gradu-
ate. The next building visited was the
tubercular ward. This is a one story
building provided with an open porch.
Twelve women and thirteen men were
receiving treatment for tuberculosis in
this ward at the time of the visit of the
delegates. The next building visited
was the detached ward south. This
building is occupied by women exclusive
ly. The main building was reached
from this ward by means of subterra-
mean passage.
The main building contains the office,
the main kitchen and the infrmary.
Besides ten regular employees in the
kitchen, twelve patients assist in doing
the work of preparing the meals for the
patients, This building also contains
the assembly hall with space where
all the meetings and entertainments
Etforssthe. patients are held. The main
building contains most Of the patients.
both men and women being housed
there. In the dining room most Of the
tables are supplied with china, but
there are some that are not. The
visitors were told that some of the
patients are in, the habit of breaking
the chinaware and for these patients
aluminium ware has been provided.
The last building visited was the
detention hospital. In this hospital all
newly arrived patients are placed that
have been committed by the various
probate courts Of the immediate vicinity.
of St. Peter and also such patients as
come there either voluntarily or are
brought there by members of their
families without a formal commitment.
In this building the sifting-out work is
performed, After they have been there
for some time commission is appointed
to examine into their insanity and if
this commission is satisfied that a
certain inmate of the institution is
really insane he will be formally COM
mitted. Those who are considered sane
by this commission are returned to their
respective homes. Attention was called
to the fact that it was not generally
known that people who are believed
to be insane may be admitted to this
detention hospital without a formal
commitment from some proper court;
and it was suggested that wider pub
licity be given to this feature of the de-
tention hospital.
To those of the party who had never
visited an insane hospital before, the
passing thru the various wards proved
quite depressing. It gives a person a
feeling of sadness to see hundreds of
the human family bereft of reason; to
see them, having in many respects lost
all the attributes of human beings, and
showing lack of all human intelligence.
Quite number of the patients look
sickly and emaciated, and seem to take
no interest whatever in their surround
ings. Others again are quite active
and talkative and Immediately pounced
upon the visitors and tried to tell them
all their troubles and besought them to
use their endeavors to get them out
from the place where they do not right
fully belong.
An excellent dinner was served to the
visitors at II o'cock. Preceding the
luncheon and Immediately following it,,
DR.. r. M. Phelps, superintendent Of the
hospital, gave the visitors very in
teresting talk on the general scope and
character Of the scenes Of mentally
deficient patients; and also endeavored
to answer some Of the questions that
people are usually in the habit Of asking.
The superintendent stated that practi-
cally all letters that are written by
patients 50 out to the persons to whom
they are addressed. In cases, however,