Show A TALE OF CRUELTY THE dispatches lately included one from chicago giving details of horrible cruelty practiced in an insane asylum in that city the facts relating to one case that of a robust patient who was treated with such inhuman barbarity that he died within ten days lays after entering the institution were brought to light by a 4 reporter of the chicago times humors had been current regarding tile the inhumanity practised practiced upon the patients inquiring reporters had I 1 waited visited the asylum in their professional capacity but were treated courteously and the institution was shown them in its dress parade condition the enterprising scribe of the times was determined to get at the real facts and for this purpose feigned insanity was arrested was examined or tried by judge E H glary ary in the county court and sent to the asylum the reporter was placed in the same room as a man named burns the one who died from maltreatment in substance the following is the story as it appeared in the chicago mcco of april mth burns was brought to on hospital tuesday night ni ht A april ril 9 the th e reporter for the avnes 8 who investigated tj gated the detention hospital and nd jefferson efferson asylum was at the former institution under the name of w charles hunter when burns was admitted and was with burns for two vo days in the hospital they were ere consigned to the same ward at the ne asylum and were put ut to together ether aa n a 4 little room containing cont containing aiding only only two cots for a week they were roommates every night during this period the ul reporter made burns bums his special harie when bedtime bed time was announced bounced ced he would go to burns bums take hini avat to their room and assist him in dressing in the morning he would aid the poor fellow in putting plus his clothes he did this because jae n understood the man and because he e nad had reason to believe that his room toom roommate mate would be beaten if the Ottel adante performed the duty at no tune time was burns violent in anyway neither did he ever resist the attendants even when they beat him the resistance of self preservation which nature would ordinarily inspire was not equal to that an infant would have made under the same circumstances after they had been examined by drs kiernan and shubert robert burns the reporter and another patient tient were taken to ward D W r Z this is the hospital ward of the asylum and is supposed to contain those patients who in addition to their asa insanity y are re not physically well there were eighty four patients in the ward at that time and the new arrivals made the number eighty seven during the day the inmates sit in a narrow hall about feet long at each side of the hall are settees like those ordinarily seen in the waiting rooms at a depot when the new arrivals entered the eighty four men present were sitting on the settees or walking up and down the hall all day long the patients tramp to and fro along this hall ball some mumbling the mad mou things of maniacs some with their heads down feebly tot jeering bering with trembling limbs some walking briskly for exercise por far a few moments the strangeness of the scene and the crowd of men confused even the clearheaded clear headed reporter he could only appreciate the general effect but could not analyze the details Is it any wonder that burns was also confused immediately after the three new patients had entered the ward burns bums was ordered to sit down he stared blackl blankly at the attendant and started to walk along the hall he was gushed pushed violently by attendant croghan who said 11 damn you sit down after looking around in a vague and helpless way for a moment he arose again but had only taken a rew few steps when attendant richardson seized him and flung him down on the settee at least twenty five or thirty other patients were pacing the hall and there was no reason why burns should be compelled to sit still after richardson had flung him on the settee attendant croghan returned and shaking his clenched list fist in the mans face he said mid you sit there you or PU ill break e very every bone in your body you P it is quite certain that burns did not comprehend a word said to him and that chedid not know what he was expected to do his only sensation at that time was fear he started to walk again when attendant richardson chardson Bi ran after him caught him by the collar from behind behina and flung him on his back and kicked him as he lay on the floor when burns got up richardson chardson Bi who is a large man weighing pounds or more kicked him in the stomach knocking him backward upon one of the settees set tees attendants croghan richardson chardson Bi and pitcher then pounced upon him and pounded him all of this time the poor fellow only said oh oh oh then although it was not the hour for such duties croghan decided that he would dress a sore on the mans left leg A loose jointed fellow named billy rushed to the scene and also struck burns white while a muscular patient named phillipe held one of nis his hands and beat him about the shoulders the billy referred to is ar aa overgrown boy of 19 who has been an inmate of the asylum for five years he is a simpleton but is permitted by the attendants to bea beat the patients in order to dress the sore on burns leg it was thought necessary to remove his heavy shoe this was done and the poor fellow not knowing what was coming began to moan croghan used the vilest language im imaginable anable and finally jumped on the itch beside burns bums anti and kicked him in the side until it seemed the mans ribs ribe would surely be broken while croghan kicked him in the side richardson kicked him in the stomach A powder was put on the mans I 1 leg eg and he winced like one in pain croghan then picked up his heavy shoe and struck burns on the head with the heel one blow cut a gash nearly two inches long from which the blood poured freely croghan then ordered simpleton billy to bring a bucket and a large sponge the settee was covered with blood and even the floor was stained with the fluid that had spouted from burns head bead A few moments afterward a chair was placed laced in the center of the hall and turns burns was forced into it croghan then cut the hair immediately around the wound on the head and dressed it with a salve and a cloth the next morning bums was again seized and the wound in his head dressed croghan took a roll of bandages and made a skullcap which entirely covered the mans head and concealed the wound burns wore this cap day and night for nearly a week burns had no desire for food and had to be led into the dining room when the meals were ready the dining room was furnished with rude benches and the inmates were obliged to sit wedged so close together ther that they could hardly move we the strong patients would rush in first and by the time burns came the seats would be full it became necessary for him to mount a bench and crowd his way in this would cause him to hurt his leg and he would hesitate the hesitation was always sufficient provocation for blows twice the reporter took burns to the dining room and led him to a seat in advance of the crowd upon these occasions burns ate heartily the simpleton billy struck bums nearly every day after the first dressing the maws leg was neglected for nearly a week one day thirty five of the patients WM were taken out walking under the charge of attendant richardson the reporter was with them when he returned he found burns stretched on the cot in their little room and croghan was dressing his leg the reporter did not enter the room but took special pains ins to walk past the omen open door broghan croghan called simpleton billy and richardson all three of them struck the prostrate man this was the first time that burnap screamed his yells could be heard many feet away he was in bed two or three days after that and when he apin again came out he was a wreck of or nis his former self when he entered the asylum bump probably weighed pounds he was about 6 5 feet 7 inches tall and a man of unusually strong physique within ten days he had changed wonderfully his face formerly ruddy became a sickly sallow and he looked like a man who had had a low sickness uh one day the back porch or cage as it is called was being scrubbed burns wanted to go out but the floor was an inch deep with water and the reporter prevented him from going he pushed burns way away from the door and the man moaned as if he were hurt the reporter took him by the arm and led him bim to the wash room he then gently pressed on his chest cheat and ribs ribe with the he tips of hw his lingers fingers every time the pressure was applied burns winced and heagy weakly groaned the next day after burns re the beating in the little room the re reporter was moved from that arwin and given a cot at the other ond end of the building for two tw days taw th door of the room where burns lay waa wa kept locked most of the time and ad an investigation of his condition was impossible at the postmortem post mortem examination examina ion lon held hald yesterday it was found that the body was in a horrible condition on the abdomen was a great bruise black J blue and yellow this had been covered with a court plaster to conceal it the breastbone breast bone was broken as if it had been hit with a 9 hammer and the twelfth rib was waa fractured in the flesh was the nark mark of a mans manis man Is boot heel a tale of unmitigated villainy to almost past belief it Is a striking and revolting instance of mans mane to man 11 and illustrates the fA familiar millar phrase that truth is stranger than fiction 01 it equals if it does not surpass the villainy pictured by the imagination of the author of valentine vox as having in an english insane asylum |