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Show If CAN'T IIVB IN" HOUND HOUSES. 1 Shape Preys Upon Minds of Occu lt pants and Many Go Crazy. ,; The Mlnot Ledge Light Is famed for 1: the number of men who have cone crazy in It, and for lhat reason It is an object of interest to students of mental ! diseases. It Is, as everybody knows, a I; piece of engineering of the highest or der being in that respect only second to ; the famous Eddystono Light. More than a year was consumed in getting a foundation for It, and no high arc the tides and so terrific the storms that the entrance to the light is more than forty fet above the water. Then, one above tho other, come the five rooms occupied by the keepers and used for storage purposes, and then the watchroom, and, finally, tho lantern. Tho tower being circular and space greatly In demand, naturally everything is made to conform, so that no room shall be lost. Even the beds on which the men sleep are curved, the tables against the walls arc circular and the benches are half-moons. Everything Is round. In this lighthouse there have been at least live well marked cases of insanity, and others in which madness has been suspected and the men relieved from duty. Experts in mental diseases who have made a study of conditions at the Minot Ledge Light attribute the unusual un-usual prevalence of insanity there to Its peculiar form of structure. There la no point, they say, on which the eye may rest, so It travels round and round in a maddening whirl. They therefore sugcest that some means be devised for filling the curves and producing corners and angles. In support of their theory they cite Instances In-stances of men who have lost their mental balance during long confinement confine-ment in circular prisons, but have quickly regained It on being transferred to an ordinary room of corners and angles. an-gles. Baron Trenclc spent much of his time In prison making marks and corners to break tho circularity of his surroundings surround-ings and keep his reason from slipping away on the mad whirl of encircling walls. Casanova, an Italian engineer, who was Imprisoned in a round tower, gives much the same testimony. He says he felt great mental relief on being be-ing moved to an ordinary square room. As It Is well nigh Impossible to make much change In tho form of the structure struc-ture of the Mlnot Ledge Lighthouse, tho number of men In charge of It has beon Increased to flv In order that they may have frequent leaves from duty and take turns In going ashore for a visit to family and friends. This system sys-tem has resulted In a decrease in the number of cases of melancholia and more serious mental disorders. In fact, but for the frequent changes made In the service by shifting men from one station to another the number of coses of this sort everywhere would be much greater than it Is In some cases a man is kept In a place for only a few months, and then sent to some less isolated station for a while. To givo the men something to think of other than their loneliness, and to occupy the long hours during which they have nothing to do, circulating libraries li-braries of fifty books each are provided. provid-ed. The books arc carefully selected and changed every three months when tho Inspector makes his visit. In the collection are biography, history, travel, trav-el, fiction, poetry, illustrated magazines and in some cases newspapers. Also medicine chests are provided for relief in cases of sickness and careful directions direc-tions given for the use of their contents. con-tents. Despite the dangers and hardships of lighthouse life there are many applicants appli-cants for positions In them. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the. service there Is always a number of men to select from. And yet the pay Is small. In fact, the law provides that the average compensation compen-sation given keepers shall not exceed $G00 a year. Probably the best puld keeper In tho service is the man at Hell Gate, who gets $11200 a year. Chicago Chronicle. |