The New York herald., 1922-11-13
STATE TO SIFT CASE
OF ASYLUM HEIRESS
Massachusetts, Board Will In
quire Into Holding of
Dorothy Gordon.
SHE STONES CAMERAS
Hospital Head Says Uncle and
Guardian Fight for For
tune Only.
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Special Dispatch to THE New YORK IInasLD.
! Boston. Nov. 12.-The Massachusetts
Commission on Mental Diseases will con-
duct a sweeping inquiry into the commit
ment OF Dorothy Davis Gordon, heiress
10 more than 100000. to the McLane In
sane Hospital at Waverly. where she Is
kept while her guardian. William +. Jar
dine. and her uncle John Gardner of
New York. fight In the courts over the
question OF her control, Gardner is seek
Ing to have Jardine removed and himself
/ appointed.
! DR.. George N. Kline, head OF the Com
mission on Mental Diseases, will instituts
J the inquiry.
THE manner OF Miss Gordon's COM
mitment 10 the institution" ne said. will
be inquired into. If anything irregular
or wrong is found we will pursue q
| course of suitable action"
Miss Gordon, the central figure in the
| bitterly contested court fight for guar
| dianship of ha- person and property.
| was, according TO DR.: Frederick II.
| Packard, superintendent OF the Mclean
Hospital, a mental defective from birth
| and since becoming an inmate Of the
| institution ,has had n violent suicidal
mania at times. has tried to gouge out
her eyes, bite herself, dig her flesh out
over the veins and strike at nurses
In straitjacket Six Months.
DR.. Packard has produced the official
records OF the institution, which show
! that Miss Gordon had been kept in a
straitiacket almost every niSht since
she was taken there by Jardine on
March %, 1921. Sometimes this restraint
| was imposed even during the day. Every
right for six months Miss Gordon was
fastened into a camisole which re-
strained her hands and arms is its
sleeves. This was kept on until 8 80 in
the morning.
Since September "a no restraint has
been placed on Miss Gordon because.
Or. Packard explained. her condition
has improved, although he contends she
is still insane
According to Dr. Packard. Miss Gordon
is an anent, y person born with de-
fective mind as distinguished from one
who was once normal and afterward be-
came 1emeated. That was probably the
reason. he said. she was not able TO get
along in the public schools. When she
left the hospital after her first stay
there sine still had this mental defect, he
thought. In his opinion her mental con-
dition had decreased since her first
attack
The first time she was in the institu-
;on she improved after several months
and was taken out. Tho second time
she entered as voluntary patient.
stoned News photographer.
"She read the document providing FOR
Ter admission as voluntary patient
and signed g." said DR.. Packard. "She
gradually grew worse and now Ia insane.
Evidently she wss about ready 20 have
an attack when she came here. She has
tried to bite herself and strike at the
nurses. To-day we let her out for a
short time, but we had 10 take her in
because she began TO throw stones az
the newspaper photographers.
Her uncle visited her once. and it
upset her We asked her the next time
if she wanted to see him. and she said
10. Hc brought plant which we gave
10 her. She asked whom II was from.
and we told her it was from her uncle.
She threw It from her and smashed
e."
Miss Gertrude Cornish principal at
n fashionable girls school. The House
in the Pines in Norton. said Dorothy
was sane and normal when she left that
school. though five days later the girl
was tearing her hair and raving at
the Mclean Asylum"
Says Fight Is for Fortune.
Or. Packard said last night that the
battle before the courts is not a fight
on Dorothy's insanity, but for control
of the Gordon fortune lie said he did
not believe that IL John Gardiner, her
uncle. was made guardian he would take