Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum,

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 846, 18 June 1910, Page 5

Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum,

June 9, 1910,. \ "To the Editor 'The Dominion,' ' ■ Wellington. , "Sir,—'Solitary confinement is a.; form of unspeakable torture,' said the' 'Daily Chronicle' in discussing. the, v matter. 'The middle ages hardly rivalled, it .with the 'maiden' and " the. thumbscrew. It should not find a*, place in any prison system of thotwentieth century. , "If you receive this, please help., mo by making us public aa possible... I have been kept in solitary confinement in a specially-constrncted cage,. surrounded by high walls, and quite, secluded from public ken for nearly eighteen months. Friends who call here are told that I do not wish to' see them, and all correspondence, even with, inombers of my family,' has been stopped. ■"Troubled greatly by . colds, boils, chilblains, etc.,' resulting from bad . drainage, lack of fresh ,air and sunshine—cannot obtain any satisfaction from officials in chargo unless I' , promise to keep silent on. alien questions. This, however, is a 'moral impossibility.' The danger is far greater than the fools constituting 'gov-i eminent' suppose. Bacial adultery is the greatest of ell national crimes and all history (ancient as well as modern) shows that it has been fraught with the utmost misery and disgrace. It is no mere political matter—essentially one for the Church to consider. What is the use. of preaching the commandments if those who try to maintain them are allowed to be tortured into desperation, madness, or death by ignorant' and corrupt people? "Trusting you will regard it more., as a privilege than a duty to assist.' the cause of humanity by exposing such monstrous outrages with all thepower at your disposal. "I remain,

"Tours most anxiously, ; "LIONEL TEEEY." ; The matter being one of public concern,; '. Terry's letter was .brought under .the no-l tice of the Hon; G. IWlds (Minister in, ! Charge of Mental Institutions), who de-i clared that for the most part it contained; exaggerated or untrue statements. That: Terry was now confined in a special, structure at Sunnyside was true, but: : ;Such a precaution iiad .become absolutely] 'necessary, it would 'bo y renieniberecl ■ that; , Terry escaped from various institutional during the early period of his incarcera-l tion, even although.he was in the con-) stant charge of two attendants. So do-j tcrmiiied was he to make his escaped that it was not safe for both, of tlioj attendants to withdraw their attention] •-" from him for a single moment. In view) of tho precautions which had, therefore,] to bo token to prevent him from cscap-l ing when he was treated like an ' inmate, tho cost of his maintenance! proved unduly heavy. Then, later, ho' ■ became ah inmate of a portion of thei Lyttelton Gaol which had been specially; declared a mental hospital,, in order that' he might bo kept there. In a way, he, might complain that he was in solitary* confinement there, but, as a matter ofi ; fact, everything possible was done for his . ; comfort. After a time he Get up such! fierce yelling at repeated intervals that he disturbed the comfort of other in- , r\ mates of the prison,-and it was thea ■ decided to make special provision for, ' him at Sunnyside. The structure in , which Terry was now incarcerated consisted of a small building > and airing- j cenrt, which were secnrely fenced; it \ would not be misdescribed if it were called ) a huge "cage." Within its walls Terry had : ample walking, , space, and sufficient ground to enable him to do some special gardening. Not only did ho grow flowers,, : but, being a vegetarian, he preferred toi , grow certain varieties of peas and bean'3l ;• for his own use/ Mr. Fowlds went on to" eay that Terry's statement that none ; of" his friends were allowed to see hinv' .. or correspond Avitii him was net in ac- - j cordance with fact. As regards his com- j plaint that he was afflicted with various forms of illness, well, all he could say; i in reply was that that was tic first he: ; had heard of the matter. If Terry had; . ; been unwell from any cause, he would) ; have made his ailments known long be- ; faro this. Nothing was more certain ; than that the cause of any ailment from • which ho might have suffered wae not j bad drainage or lack of fresh air and ; sunshine. As had been the case when I Terry was al other institutions, he was: ..; being treated as considerately as was < possible. Even now, if he .were given as, ' much freedom as formerly, he would be. sure to attempt to escape again, for ha , ■ had intimated time and' again that he, intended to do so if he got the chances ' To counteract Terry's efforts in this direction, one attendant was even now always ! on guard in the viciuity of the place : in which he was confined. In conclusion, ; Mr. Fowlds remarked that if any press representative .wished at any- time to . inspect Terry's quarters lie would be . '. ' only too glad to havo the necessary. au-> thority issued. AVe may say that tliis offer will be ; taken advantage of by a Dominion ; sentative. ■ ■■ ■ j