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■ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1917THE BYSTANDER’S TOTESAsk Us Aaotli.'1 Wliat is an amphibi.n .2 Who first flew an ai:p -: ■ •the English Channel?3 Whut was the slang word lor antiaircraft artillery?4 What was the name g , special motor developed durir.g ih. war for American Aircraft?5 Who made the famous flying fortresses, later purchased by the United States army?Railroading—Are there any wood-burning locomotives in operation today? ,: .(Answers at end of these notes)We see that the Iowa legislature is going to do something ahout thij care of Iowa's mental patients . i)hc criticism has not been unduly severe.. The time has come when something . ( seems likely to be jdonfc about it; There !'I ni’e two basic causes for'the scandalous conditions at the state hospitals. First, a nigrrdly economic attitude of the slate legislatures. Second, the utter lock of public sympathy for the unfortunates.Anyone who .lives near one of these institutions knows plenty about the conditions surrounding the patients. ^ There are plenty of employees, plenty of relatives, plenty of discharged pa- ,1: tlenls, who can, and i go-1 reveal ftniich reliable information iotjut thejisordifl jv; conditions at these h06fntals.i?l£f! lastj- -ji it seems that technlckVWlllcisin hiis #, aroused public demand for'a betterment of the hospital u'Situation-vj and , public resentmenl1 agijipl, tjhe \jien)|)er^ j*. of the legislature for not allowing- adequate, fund s .for, the, care, of, patients .and .proper, ^aintenance| -of|.the iostl- J tulionsi.' ' j : '' '' w ’T' ’ ' :•* • j ;How many: v.of )our-; .readers realise that the law and procedure in Iiandf t ling mental cases are almost of i the ■ Dark Age;type.?..In the first place,«unf ■■■n ' ,der the law!.each'.Coiin£y Hit liv?h|ha$. what .is calledv a Commission: for ■ In- ;...; sanity. This commission is'composed of three members. One' is the. clerk of the court, another is a physician ' and the third a lawyer. When n -com- j plaint is made'to the commission li has a warrant made out for the arrest of the mentally ill. This warrant is i-’i'-'-d 'ii fhe hn-ds of the sheriff of the county, frbo under the law arrests the person, takes him to the court house where the Uirce-man ■ commis-' sion has meet to examine the case.The members of the commission are not experts on monta1 t*i’T'h-examine the patien* ■* ■■■ tions, his attitude- ' the questions and. cross examination of the unfortunate. Neigv!: bers of the fami’- ■■Ter evin-mce of'rp ■ vi“ty.often the arrc/'S *»■ t 1i not •.~rlt;~'ed b an itt :n-; a friend, r- even a member of the family. The commission goes over the matter and either refuses a verdict of insanity, or f.T. the other hand finds the person injLTtr.e. In the latter case the mental patient is again taken in charge by tire sheriff and taken out to the state hospital, on precisely the same basis as taking a felon to Ft. Madison penitentiary.Once committed to the hospital the patient usually^becomes a local “Prisoner of Chiton. Of course in many cases, perhaps the majority, there are friends or members of the family, who continue a real humnn interest in tlie mental patient. In too many cases the commitment is a case of sheer Good Ridan.ce,’’* * * AA sound suggestion has been made concerning the correction of this’last damning situation. The proposal is this. Do away with tlie county commission. Keep the sheriff out of the picture. Purge all suggestions of criminal procedure, instead, arrange for a state mental commission, logically a I Iowa City,• « •When It ts believed that a person is suffering from a mental Ulness, and core cannot bp provided at home or among relatives, then have Hint person, with nil Attending physician, •member or the family or close friend of the person, taken beforn the slate commission for expert .diagnosis. If this commission considers the case as tnw needing further exploration under mantel.expert*, then keep the patient at low* Oitjr for a period ofi say . six months, Rot ■ uitetor arrest - but forbservatiom.nd of that period the mental experts have become acquainted with :r.e mental condition of llie patient, and be able to tell the family or friends that the case docs not cail for commitment in a stale mental hospital. Or if menu-.! derangement is observed, and of a character that needs special treatment, then of course, the unfortunate must be placed in the state hospital for his own welfare and also of the community.* t tThere has been many a case where men and women hove been railroaded into these hospitals by relatives for the very purpose of getting rid” of them. Many, when they get old and cranky arc hard to get along with and are sent to mental hospitals for life. How children or close friends could do such a heartless thing we cannot understand. But any superintendent of a mental hospital will admit that these cases do occur and too frequently. So we see much good coming from the state wide interest in the hundreds and hundred: of forgotten men and women” imprisoned behind the stone walls of the menial hospitals of Iowa.Answers to Ask Us Another1 A plane with facilities for landing on either W'atcr or land. 2 Louis Blcriot, pioneer French aviator, in 1909.3 “Archie.4 The Liberty. ‘5 Boeug,Railroading—At last reports the South Georgia Railway Company, operating 'between Adel, Georgia, and Perry, Florida and the Live Oak, Perry and Gulf Railroad, operating between Live Oik and Scanlon, Florida were operating wood burners,
Newspaper Details
Mt Pleasant News
Mount Pleasant, Iowa, US
Wed, Mar 26, 1947
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Alix R.
NA, 12 Jun 2024
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