WELLINGTON LUNATIC ASYLUM INQUIRY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 362, 12 March 1881, Page 3

WELLINGTON LUNATIC ASYLUM INQUIRY.

At the Asylum inquiry, since out last, the evidence was mainly denials by attendants that th©7 had ill-treated patient?, and statements by visitors to the Asylum that they had not witnessed anything of "the k|i)d. The, .-poly important evidence was the foilo.wi.ag:— •' Duncan CTatricrbn; saddler, said : I knew the witness M'lkosli before he Trent to, the Asyluniy.where I also saw liim four times. He never oomplaiufidto me about his.treatment. The Chairman ; Did*he appear to you to be a man requiring restraint ? Witness : I could not «ay, really. He seemed all right while I wss speaking.to.Jiini. He spoke about getting away. That seemed to be his principal object. The Chairman : DA he appear to y«u to bo-a lunatic requiring specific-.treat-. .. in a special part of the Asylum 1 v Witness : I should think not. The Chairman : Bid you see him wear a strait waistcoat ? -..Witness I believe he did. Tiie Chairman : The only form his mmia appeared to. take, then, po far as you could see, was-that he wanted to get out of the Lunatic ? Witness : That isjjvhat',-I thought,, at. the time. '',''-' . . Cross-examined' ;'-When I visited M'lntosh he spoke quite rationally to me. He-bail-a wild-looking .eye then, TOlder-looking than at present. Timothy Carrol, police constable, *aid : I was a warder at the Asylum' from the beginning of July, 1878, till. September of the same year. - M'lntosh "Escaped during my time, and was brought, 'back by Constable Stewart between 7. r .and 8 o'clock in the evening. I happened to be out when he was ..'brought back, and when I returned ho was in bed. I was present when he had his shower bath, as also were Whitelaw and Cooke. M'lntosh was in the bath about 10 minutes. There was just; room for an ordinary man to remain in the bath. Cross-examined■■: I never told anybody he was in the bath from 15 to 20 minutes. I saw M'lntosh come out of the bath. He looked helpless. Whitejaw opened the djor, and.M'lntosh staggered out into: my arms. In my opinion he must have have suffered ] severely. My recollection as to the actual time he was in tha -bath is necessarily indistinct at tins date. It been possible for him to escape from the shower bath. Erom what I saw of-him he seemed., rational enough. He was in my ward. I had several consultations with him. He always evinced a desire to get clear of - the. establishment. I never saw him violent. Re-examined : I am perfectly prepared to swear that.at the time M'lntosh had the bath it was impossible for him .to «scape £om the shower. I never ./measured the bath. \ To the Chairman '■: The object of the bath was to give a lunatic a bxth against his will. If a patient consented to take a bath.quietly he was put in the plunge - bath. To Mr Woodward :T don't know of any special reason 1 why *M' In tosh should itavie been compelled to take a bath'at Id o'clock at night. So far as my personal opinioii goes, ■■ I don't '-•think M'lntosh was mad at all. He was kept in an enclosed yard', ttpoh which a soli-: tary call opened, for about a fortnight. Except at night he was kept in a straitjacket. His meals were taken to him.-' On Wednesday's he would be compelled ] .v to remain in the cell. I left the- Asylum L because I didn't like the work. I had L no reason to complain of the super■wintendent's conduct, nor that of any of J the staff; Several quiet patients were L kept in the back ward in iiay time. Two B or three minutes is the usual length of I have ever kept a patient in the FJ ( showpr-batb. ■**,.' John Cooke, warder, said : About 18 B*.months ago Schultzo took another ■ .patient's porridge, and, after refusing ■l/to give it up, assaulted me, striking and IKf kicking me and trying to choke me. The KjLattendants, Harvey and Little, dragged H|Eim off me. No unnecessary violence Kfwis used. I remember assisting at K, M'lntosh's shower-bath; It is the Bjpaeustom to give patients a bath when enter the institution.. M'lntosh Bp>-was kept in the bath for five or six Tli3 jackat was placed on him ; Tvas'uoiu*. about it: It was the only which we could a man like M'lntosh in the Asylum. he climbed •over the wing even with strait jacket on.- ' W i Examination continued. —The only r waay to keep M'lntosh was eithei to lock ilim up in a cell, or put him in a strait jacket. I never-set patients to fight, iior have I known others co do so. I mave been 17 or 18 years in the Asylum at Dunedin, Hokitika, and Wellington. The patients here are treated as well, as elsewhere. The Chairman : Are we tc understand that the only way to keep a patient in the Asylum wfroivants to get out is to keep him in ay cell, and put him in a strait-jacket, ? Witness': Yes ; s man like M'lntosh. on«/vho wanted to' escape of the I -whole nufuiber during' your time ? ■ Witness : Yes ; I swear that. Con- ■ stable iCan'ol's statement to 'ths effect A that M'lntosh staggered into his arms | out of the bath is untrue'.