Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-13
FORCED FEEDING,
HORROR OR NOT?
ohvs;cians Call 1t Harmless and
commonplace Practice Of the
Profession
sUFFRAGISTS DlSS E N L
vomen's Party Leaders Here Sure 1t
Is Likely to Kill Alice
Paul

ororced feeding has never yet hurt Sny
.,.,,, And It's been used for time out
,',,,,d in hospitals often twice day
nsriods exceeding three years Na,u-
-.nv the patient doesn't enjoy the food. but
-. food nourishes him just the same. II
...,es any damage It's purely psyche
,.,ca, damage TO the sensbilities OF the
patient
uaf sympathetic. half impatient, thus
A.. major neutral wing" of the Philadel-
.n,a medical profession have stated thei-
y,aws on tho forcible mllk-and-eggs-
,hroueh -a-tube Outrage" as enforced on
T,ss paul In the Washington jail.
II Is easy enough to feel sympathy for
.,s might Of a fragile. high-strung woman,
hsre,y nlnety-fve pounds In weight. pas
sion.tcly resisting to the utmost" accord
~ 10 her own statement. the effort of
aouaIly determined officials to feed her
scrcibiy in the psychopathic ward where
Ia is now held isolated to increase her
Xsr,dation, SO the pickets claim. The
who,, situation may outrage all sense Of
~. proprieties, but that any danger ac-
comjanies the Outrage" is vigorously de-
Med BY those who should know.
MERE CoMMoNPLACE
.rf forced feeding could kill a patient. no
natter how sick, the wards of our hos
nitals would have been turned into ceme-
tsries long ago. stated one hospital dean.
.srhe prescribing Of food through tube
"a one o. the mere conlmonplaces of the
.ickroorr, no more regarded as brutal by
tbe internes and nurses than the giving Of
a sedatlve or a bath. It's just a matter
of hospital discretion. that's all. Not
case for hysteria.
"It has caused cases of death among the
Sim Felners? Stuff and nonsense!" this
authority insisted. 1--WE used It in hun
Sreds of cases. never with any Ill effects,
I, my knowledge
$50 long as the patient Is not resisting. !
have never known any i'll effects" was the
statement of Or. Martin L. Rehfuss, of 1884
Chestnut street, originator of the Rehfuss
stomach tube. largely used for digestive
analvses "Of course. one might conceive
cases Of stomach or intestinal ulcers where
tho insertion OF a tube with IL very stub
born. resisting patient might prove cx-
tremely irritating. That. however, would
not be the fault of the tube.
''The chief value Of the Rehfuss tube Is
10 get nourishment to the patient while
keeping the stomach at rest. Naturally. in
any case where the condition of the patient
did not warrant the use OF the method. no
physician would think of prescribing 1T
NATTER OF JUDGMENT
The same view is held by DIR. James NJ.
AnderS, lbUJ walnut street, ALSO HOteu as
4 stomach and dietetic specialist TITS a
case for the judgment Of the hospital
physician" said Doctor Anders. mo doc
Tor would prescribe it unless he knew II
was absolutely free from danger"
From this view the womcn's "pcketing
party" violently dissents a condition and
not a theory, they assert, confronts them.
But they are using tt--and she'll never
stand IT," vocifcratcd DR.. Sarah Lockery,
1901 Chestnut street. close partisan OF the
WonanS National party.
ut is outrageous. cruel and barbarous."
she repeated earnestly. 'Why. Il seems to
me almost Ike defiling the church or a ves-
tai virgin--something like that To think
Of a beautiful young woman being treated
In that manner by a lot os coarse brutal
men Not to speak of the actual danger.
You know there Is grave danger Of con-
tracting pneumonia from getting fuld into
the lar"-x. IN 81 my twenty-eight years
OF practice. ] have never seen the method
applied but once. That was in the case
OF an insane patient and most revolving it
was, assure you"
CALLS 1T OUTRAGE.
Alice Paul stand It? Never!" commented
Doctor Caroline Spencer. of Colorado
Springs herself an ex-picketer and inmate
ot Occoauan. having suffered imprisonment
there for several days. in the course Of
which her own health succumbed. II want
70 say publicly that 1t is an outrage; moth
Ing short of murder as I look at It, The
great West where I come from is deeply
fesentful Of the whole matter
The personal physician of Miss Paul while
Y Philadelphia. who might be expected
70 know her physique. DR.. Frances C. Van
Gasken, reserved opinion.
she was very delicate. always" was her
only statement and. naturally, cannot
Nand what more rugged women can"