Swansea and Glamorgan Herald, and South Wales Free Press. — 1862-10-15 (Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales)

GLADSTONE ON THE AMERICAN WAR. PROBABLE RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTH.  SUICIDE OF A GENTLEMAN IN A PRIVATE LUNATIC ASYLUM. A somewhat lengthened inquiry was held on Wednesday before Mr. Malthew, deputy coroner, at Grove Hall Lunatic Asylum, Bow, touching the death of Mr. B. Ward, aged forty, a patient of that establishment. John Ilill, an attendant, said that the deceased was a private gentleman, and had been an inmate of the gentlemen's ward for some time. Ile had great conversational powers and spoke rationally. On Thursday evening he watched his opportunity, and contrived to squeeze hissself through a ventilating aperature in the dining-room window, only a few inches in width. He then dropped down into the flower beds, and by seine weans gut over the lofty walls surrounding the grounds. An alarm was immediately raised, but he got clear off. No trace mild be di:covered until next day, when he was seen accidentally by the barber of the establishment in Mileend, walking into London. The barber, recognising him, came out of his shop, and to his dismay accosted him, and asked him to return to the asylum. Though overwhelmed at the sudden upset of his plans, he made no resistance, but allowed himself to be brought ba and was given into witness's charge. Witneas, to amuse him, took him into the garden, and he there said that after he had escaped over the wall he determined to throw his pursuers out of their reckoning, by walking to Woodford, which was about seven miles in the opposite direction to London, and thus avoid the road they would be shiniest sure to suppose he had taken. When he got to ‘Voodfurd he took lodgings, where he spent the night. The next morning, however, he considered that if he could get into London he should be more likely to escape notice, and he accordingly set out early to enter it unobserved, and he should have succeeded perfectly but for the accident of Gilbert, the barber, spying him from his shop as he was passing in the morning. He said that he had set his heart on accomplishing his escape. Shortly after this conversation witness turned his back for a moment, and directly afterwards missed the deceased. Supposing that he had again tried to escape, witness had the grounds searched, but without avail. Upon the house being searched, however, he was found hanging to the cornice of his bedstead by a new rope, which he must have bought while in Woodford. The body was warm, but life was extinct. Dr. Alonzo Stocker, medical superintendent, said that the deceased when brought back by the barber from the Mile-end-road seemed extremely agitated. Ile said that he was led to make his escape by a vision which told him that his wife was dead. Witness took front him a small penknife of his wife's, and gave instructions to have him carefully watched, which the attendants appeared to have dune, except for the instant in which he gave them the slip. The coroner remarked that it ought to be rendered impossible for any lunatic to commit suicide in an asylum. Dr. Stocker said that if precautions of an extreme kind were carried out, the place would partake of such a prison-like aspect that the curative treatment of the patients would become impossible. There were 100 or 200 patients in the establishment who had been admitted as suicidal, butithe cheerful unrestraining system had such an influence on them that the present was only the second instance of suicide that had been accomplished. The jury regretted that the attendant should have lost sight of the deceased, and recommended that the patients for the future should be searched. They returned a verdict that the deceased destroyed himself whilst in an unsound state of mind,  • -