The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-02

ideal as we can get an organization OF
that kind. am very proud OF that
board and to have been associated with
1t has been the pleasantest thirsy In
my life. The men on II serve without
pay, and they have always been APP
pointed regardless OF political or re-
| ligious considerations. The board
makes regular and thorough inspec-
tions of more than 700 public and pri-
vate institutions which are under Its
| charge and which care annually for
about 10000 persons at an expense Of
about 25,00o,o00.
81 remember years ago the vast re-
ward in consciousness Of having done
work worth doing that I got out Of
being head of the State Lunacy Com
mission.
Gov. Cornell appointed me and sus-
gested that he would be grateful IL
would find out the truth about the
charge that there were more people In
the asylums than belonged in them.
went right to work. ] visited institu-
lions all over the State and talked to
perhaps 10000 inmates. I made UP
| my mind and believe still that about
half the people who bring up in the
asylums ought never to have to go
there that they could be saved il
some one interested. or who should be
interested, would find the patience and
devotion to set them straight when
they begin to go crooked. In other
words break them of the habit OF in
trospection, or fatal habit Of thinking
about themselves all the time, that
which, IN other words, next to the mis-
used knife and fork. has killed more
people than any other disease in the
world.
! Cites One Extreme Case.
! ~ cured a lot of alleged lunatics by
seeing to II that the heads OF the In
stitutions where they were confined
found something for them to do and In
the beginning forced them to do it. l
remember that in one institution I
saw in a hall what appeared to be a
bundle of old clothes. 1t moved and
I Investigated. l discovered a young
man, an epIleptic, who had so many
seizures every day that he went from
one almost directly into another. No
body paid much attention to him. He
was regarded as harmless. but hope
/ less. l decided he must be made to
concentrate his mind and work in the
open air and gave orders that he be
set at gardening. Gradually-his first
gardening attempts were pitiful-this
lad came out Of chaos into the habit OF
| concentration and Is a successful busi-
ness man to-day.
II noticed another curious thing
about lunatics. 1 discovered after I
had been talking with great numbers
of them that when outside the asylums
| began to talk with normal people
there was little difference between the
two classes, except that those outside
talked of many things and those In
| side only of one or two and generally
only one--themselves. So I may say
then that according to what you put
| in the human body that human body
/ will be, and according to what you
allow to take Judgment in the human
mind that human mind will be. Mind
] and body, then. singly or together.
! can he destroyed by food not adapted
/ to them, and thus nature be defrauded
out Of the fivescore years OF useful
activity which every man and woman
| owes her"
| The theory of his that one should
/ keep in touch with his times regardless
| of the number of his years is justified
/ in his case by the manner in which he
, has spent his last half dozen birthdays.