The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-11-24
ARE NO CHESS PLAYERS AT WARM SPRINGS;
FACTS ABOUT THE STATE INSANE ASYLUM

There are no chess players in tn
state asylum at Warm Springs. Thi
statement is made by the custodial
of the mems department, Mr.. Lands
There are checker players in plenty
Cribbage is we'll represented. Their
are some players of the great Ameri
can game of poker and one of then
feels himself so proficient that in hi
more rational periods he begs tn
authorities to let him come up t,
Butte SO I can trim a few of thos,
Holsters in a little game of draw
He promises solemnly, Il will com,
right back after I have had a cracl
at those wise ~Johnnies."
Mr.. Lands does not attempt tt
explain the absence of chess players
among Montana's insane. He merely
states the fact as he finds it. He
wouldn't hazard an opinion as tt
whether chess playing kept the facul
ties alert and normal or whether il
"just happened that way"
There are 1,450 inmates of the
state asylum at present. Of these
1000 are males and 450 women and
female children.
A number of Butte people visited
Warm Springs recently and were ac-
corded the privilege of inspecting the
institution from cellar to garnet. The
ladies of the party, according to one
of their number, were disappointed.
1--WE didn't find things at all as we
expected" she said. Gwen DR.. Scan
land didn't conform to our expecta-
lions. He doesn't have the 'furtiye
manner that fiction has always as
sociated with the heads of such in
stitutions. He doesn't wear a black
frock coat or a string tie and his hair
does not hang down in his eyes.
Says He Is Bald
do you know" and she dropped
her voice to a whisper as if she were
imparting something of which she
was ashamed, "the man is bald"
According to the statements of the
visitors the institution is not an ag-
gregation of d~ungeon-like cells with
hoarse-voiced, horse-faced keepers
striding about with an OK goad in n
hand and a ~bludgeon in the other,
driving covering inmates into far
corners of their cells with kicks,
curses duQ DlOWS.
The building bore a resemblance
to a hospital rather than a place of
detention.
A large, high, white-painted cor
ridor extends throughout the length
of the mems building. The floor is
of Dutch thing. 'The best kind of
floor for a place of this kind" said
the custodian, because it will show
dirt quickly. 1t is hard to keep
clean and therefore we are always
at it. A place like this demands abb
cleanliness"
On the lower floor there are rooms
with single beds, rooms with double
beds and in some instances, small
wards. Every room is an outside
'oom with Montana sunlight casting
patterns on the floor and the
autumn breezes blowing gently in
the screened windows.
There is an operating room, the
inest in the northwest, and labora-
DRY said to be one of the best in the
These rooms have rounded
$50 that any dust that hap
to blow in will blow out again.
Every instrument known to surgery
every device that makes for
cleanliness and efficiency is on hand.
A vocational department has also
established by the federal gov
'rnment and 26 eX-service men who
re suffering from she'll shock are1
nrolled. Twenty of these are fed
raj; six are state. The government
an assistant instructor.
High Compliment from u. S.
"Dr. S. of the federal government
las paid us a high compliment" said
n official. "He has charge of Iowa,
he two DakOtas and Montana. He
as stated u-nequivocally that Mon
ana is the best institution in his dis
riot. We appreciate the compliment
ecause this medical inspector is one
t the most thorough we have ever
cen. He is so exacting that he runs
is pen knife along the creases of the
utcher knives where the blade Joins
he handle to see if there is any dirt
the creases." s
The United States medical men,
fter making a complete inspection
f the asylum, 1t is stated, had but
ne recommendation to make. This
as that all radiators be screened so {
hat an epileptic may not place a {
and on a hot radiator during an at s
S
On the second floor there is a sun {
orch and a number of wards, in
of which there are beds for 20 t
nd in others 40 patients. On the /
orch a crowd of men were standing S
nd sitting about, quiet and well be- t
aved enough. The gathering looked c
Ike so many working men resting
fter dinner. Some greeted visitors e
olitely, some seemed absorbed in a c
rown study, while others looked as S
they were tired from hard labor.
The sick + in the hospital quar- Y
II in bed. The whole atmosphere is q
ne of peace, quietude and content r
lent.
'It is a remarkable fact" said Mr.. o
andis, as he stood in the center of v
wed 20 acres in an adjoining field N