The Parker post., 1917-09-22
GREAT RESULTS
ARE ACHIEVED
THROUGH THE WORKINGS OF
THE LATEST APPLIED METH
obs IN TREATMENT OF INSANE
PERSONS.

OuL Ol Ine lnRy DlacKn0SS OIL COLL
plete mental eclipse into the dawn of
returning consciousness and reali~
zation of surroundings, miracle is
! being worked at the Arizona State
Hospital At least it seems like
miracle to the layman, although the
specialists in charge say that it is
the natural working Of the latest ap-
piled methods in treatment for the
insane, says the Gazette.
Roscoe Dawson was, for many
years, and until seven years ago,a
reporter on the Gazette. He left to
continue his newspaper work in Full
lerton, California. In the fall of
1913 he was re-engaged for a place
on the Gazette staff, but before going
to work was taken i'll, recovering his
physical health only to find his mind
apparently gone.
After a few weeks his case was
pronounced hopeless and he was
committed to the state hospital,
where for four years he never spoke
a single word or ate a single mouth
ful Of solid food, all of his nourish-
ment being administered forcibly
through a tube. His condition was
pathetic, his mind q blank, he was
totally unable to maintain a connect
ed line Of thought, no matter how
simple.
Shortly after the new administra-
tiOn took charge of the hospital the
attention of Superintendent John r
Walls was directed to the Dawson
case, and he, together with DR. HOl-
land, made a special study of the
pe@tient. Failing to find a thread
upon which to hang a hope Of sue
cessful treatment, it was determined
TO resort to hydrotherapy, or the
science of the use of water in the
treatment of disease.
Accordingly the patient was given
an ice-cold bath, the theory being
that the shock of the water at vary
ing temperatures will arrest the at.
tention Of the wandering mind, and
make it capable of connected
thought. Once the ray appears 1t is
seized upon, developed, enlarged and
encouraged until the whole mind is
again capable Of connected thought
and its expression. This, the doctors
say, is really a system Of re educa-
ton.
The experiment worked. In the
thrOes of the first shock there was a
series of gasps, and finally an artic-
ulate expression, the first In years.
The patient has been made to think
Before he was permitted to leave the
water glass Of milk was given him,
and he was taught to drink, connect
ing the modus operandi with the
liquid. This was the first act Of
voluntary feeding since the confne
ment
A few days ago Dawson was visited
by his former employer, whom he
recognized and with whom he talked
Today he is eating as we'll as anyone
and his vocal chords, so long disues-
ed, are being carefully lured back
into normal channels; step by step
he is being reborn in the things that
he lost behind the black curtain
which descended four years ago. The
re-educatiOn will not be as tor
child, because the patient has not
forgotten how to talk, the use of cor
rect English, or the mystery of the
written words.
In discussing the treatment which
promises to restore to health and
competency useful worker, Or.
Walls explains the use OF hydi other
apy as highly beneficial agency in
certain types of cases, not only be-
cause of its improved hygiene. but
also because it sOothes the high
nervous tension, reduces the blood
glands and muscular and nervous
system of the patient to new and
better activity. In other words, it
acts as a sudden and beneficial shock
to awaken the minds and bodies
gone to sleep.
While the desired result will he by
no means immediate, DR.. Walls eX-
presses the confident opinion that
Roscoe Dawson will, in the course
of time, be restored, come into pos
session of the full use Of his mental
faculties, and score another triumph
for modern practice.
Mr.. Dawson Is about IS years of