Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1917-02-09
CLAIMS PATIENT
WAS ASSAULTED
Sensation Produced in Legislature
by Resolution Presented Friday
Pownal Representative Would Have
Brattleboro Retreat Investigated -
Trustees Make Denial.

;hc house of representatives lost all
interest in the routine business which was
being ground out Friday, when Rep,
iesentative Frank \. Wilson of Pownal,
for % years a deputy sheriff. arose and in
PRODUCED a resolution providing for Joint
special committee to investigate the Brat
tleboro Retreat
This committee will have power to inves-
tigatc the management of that institution,
the care and treatment of persons who
have been or are now confined therein, and
as to the honest and faithful performance
of all the duties of the officers thereof, and
for the purpose said committee will be
empowered to visit the institution, to
hear evidence to compel the attendance OF
witnesses by subpoena or otherwise, and
the production of papers and books at the
expense of the state.
Mr.. Wilson was reluctant to discuss the
resolution with the newspaper men, saying
that complete and startling evidence would
he presented to the special committee if
appointed, but after time he was led to
say that the resolution was prompted by
his knowledge of conditions at the institu
ton
Mr.. Wilson cited the case of Mrs. Har-
ret Guilford, daughter of DR.. L. +. Pot
ter of North Pownal, a graduate of Boston
university and well.known musician. Mrs.
Cuilford ofter tho oIonemont of her first
husband, a Dr. Miner, was taken to the
Blnttleboro Retreat for treatment and it
is alleged that she was assaulted by the at
tendant and that one of them struck her
with an iron tube, that she bears a scar
seven inches long on her head that a num-
'.;'I. t;'I' &C., .,'' ,.i ,L,. Ill.,. L',''
SUM "n'Ii, mas e't sI"iS' anu ''i%i 1''r '"0
sceii conu'''o i WINCH o"r WIN "c.!'N'
" W. 'tiloSsi"iI ~ 81 ''o',V
!s '''''.',p .',"' a. .,,''' 49,
IooN'ne oNoi '''' '."iis'i' ,r ~ "v' .o'',' ''O
I'N pr'.onv 9.'''oN l . i.oNv ','S q
uc"'n was iel'or'eu "i''' INC cause S'"'eu
dc %p'I,cHN 49,. ~ MI.
WI G i'S"ii ,s'!Se 'I"J ~, o''cli '%'ncl
W .''9 Uuiluu, ",iu ,!n my n"''
pcc" az we lns'i.ut,on' WI, 'eS."S oeiolo
IN an u 'ne W. w.
" tne ''p''o' All 'o''' vi i"ii'oi' are 'eiie
NJ $500, ..u:., III: ,;,
- - D.: 'e''ii'e o'o' .T lio''
;.,.;, ,J :. - nsiI,, .i .l'.
~, 49," :.sa. ''li seians a -: ''"'
tt" ,.a' T 70 InI plpper tI,'ns.
s.,tos that H. IL. w..
;,,to,'',,,4 ~ ~" 'oH' sup
liant l,n hna -. Ill,
tha aIio',od ond;.; 10, ion w. D 49,,
his nanasomont ''''' '''''-
Tb;s casa oa,,,o =. ,,,l,I;o o.4o,t;o, lo4o
- III, Io,s NJ a. ~
,as;dant 81 MI -. ata4oI ,hat -
la Jaa;eIa.l a., -. a., DsttIat, D.
t,sat ~, 90 ssn 900 e., ,I,o1,ad
abusive treatment. which included acid
burns and the breaking of her law.
At that time Judge James NJ. TYLER and
Rev. +. Q. S. Osgood of the board of trus-
tees stated to The Phoenix that one
morning Mrs Guilford seemed very ncr
vous and excitable and ordered the nurse
out of her ROOM The nurse, woman,
naturally refused to go, whereupon Mrs.
Guilford seized her with the evident pur-
pose of throwing her out, The nurse,
armed with nothing but her bare hands,
the trustees said. succeeded i'll getting the
woman on the bed and qnieting her. Lat
or the nurse accompanied her to her home,
which was then in Pownal, and remained
with her 1t few weeks.
y year after that, according to the trus-
tees, a lawyer made a claim for damages,
alleging that in the scuffie Mrs. Guford's
jaw was broken. Dir. 5. L. Lawton had
an investigation made, as did the trustees
Their unanimous conclusion was that nc
''JhH vac iH''''tNN' '"' ~ ''NN' ~ "'N'N
expense OF lawsuit and the consequent
publicity they agreed to pay small sun
and arranged terms satisfactory to botf
sides, and settlement was made, al
though the trustees denied any response
bility.
Doubtless the Retreat Will be lnVestl
gated, as it receives money from tho
state treasury in payment for care Of stat,
patients and on that account is believed
to be fully amenablc to state regulation
and investigation.
A Brattleboro man who was in Mont
pelier when the Wilson resolution wal
read Friday said next morning that tn
consensus OF opinion of the legislator;
with whom he talked was that the matte
ought to be sifted to the bottom.
Mrs Hattie NJ. Guilford of North Ad
ans, Mass, who makes charges of revolt
ing conditions at the local institution, is
former wife OF Dir. Hal j. Miner, now
plactcing physician in Windsor and wei
known in Biatteboro through frequen
visits here in recent years He formerl
lived in Rutland
ID Ia. 4.