The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1917-09-28
DESCRIBES BRUTALITY ii AIT At THf :
MEDICAL LAKE ASYLUM
Inmate of State Institution Says Patients
Are Abused and Sometimes Beaten
to Death


munication in the Echo telling Of the
conditions in which she found her
husband when summoned to his bed
side. There were bruises add other
marks on his body which the atten-
dants did not satisfactorily explain.
Last week the Echo received the
following communication from one of
the inmates. The charges should be
investigated at once. The letter will
be found interesting.
Medical Lake, Wash, Aug. 10, II
Mr.. Editor
Dear Sir: I am a patient in the
Eastern State Hospital at Medical Lake
where I have been for nearly six years.
I read the letter OF Mrs. Estabrooks
which you recently published in a
paper received by Daniel Delong, a
Leavenworth man who is patient in
the same ward with me.
I wish to say, and Mr.. Delong will
back me up in the statement that
there are no words strong enough to
describe the terrible, horrible, butality
with which the patients here are treated.
sometimes even beaten to death. Mr..
Delong has seen patients beaten to
death and would swear to it in court.
If patient will not do as the atten-
dants want him to or does something
which they do not like they just kick
his feet out from under him and send
him to the floor and then they kick
and stamp on him until he is black and
blue with bruises. II he complains to
the doctor, who pays no attention to
complaints, they beat him half to death
for telling the doctor. An attendant a
few days ago, told Mr.. Delong, who
was sitting beside me at the time, that
he would kill him if he complained to
the doctor.
The superintendent only comes
around to see the patients four or five
times year and then pays little atten-
ton to them. A doctor generally comes
in the ward every morning, but he just
asks the head attendant it Everything
is all right and the attendant says yes"
and that is all there is to it. Sometimes
the doctor stops to talk to few OF the
patients.
All letters are read and no letter is
allowed to go out which reflects upon
She institution in. amy way. am writ
ing this in my room at night and will
pray to God that he may find some way
for me to slip it out.
I was not very insane when l came
here, just heartbroken over the loss
of girl, but the doctors have refused
to let me go because they know that I
will raise howl about the brutal treat
ment OF patients. A patient who got
out OF here about four years ago started
an investigation which resulted in the
discharge OF the superintendent and
the placing Of the assistant superinten-
dent in charge which was decided
change for the worse. The new sup
erintendent says that he isn't going to
allow any such investigation to get
started again.
I do not mean to say that the doc
tors are brutal, they just don't give a
darn. The patients are mostly lot of
insane men and the doctors pay goes
on just the same no matter how the
patients are treated.
People think this is a hospital for
mental and nervous diseases when in
fact it is simply hell hole of brutality.
There is no treatment except brutal
beatings and chokings.
I came here from Seattle all alone,
bringing my commitment papers with
me, thinking that was coming to a
hospital for treatment and found my
self in this horrible hell hole Of brutality
where men are treated as they used to
be in the Siberian prisons.
They could not treat convicts in the
penitentiary as they treat these poor
insane men because they would COM
plain to people on the outside. But
few OF these patients have the intelli-
gence to complainant then, who
would believe crazy mani
Dan belong has lot Of friends in
Leavenworth and they ought to come