ASYLUMS FOR DRUNKARDS

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 67, 3 October 1872, Page 3

ASYLUMS FOR DRUNKARDS

At the time of our visit to Binghampton there were patients, all there, we believe, without exception/either voluntarily or at the instance of their friends. There were then no committed patients. The comfort, order, and harmony that pervaded the place were remarkable, while the readiness with which the somewhat stringent regulations were obeyed was not less so. Prayers, morning and evening, are read bv the chaplain'; hymns admirably snug, music, plaved, and the choir conducted by patients. Ihe meals were taken in common, and varied in no respect from those in all the hotels in America. There was an admirable library, billiards, smoking rooms, and all the comforts of a club, while each individuals room was for the time being his own, and decorated according to his taste or fancy. The most remarkable feature was the absence of all appearance of being patients, while the readiness with which they all combined to help each other was admirable. One of the rules is, " that no one goes beyond the grounds, which are very extensive, till kc has by eight weeks' sojourn and obedience shown to the dent his power to restrain his appetite for

dr nk," a id then he has to leave for certain dayd and hours. If Jio comes back, as is sometimes the case, bavin" broken his promise and got liquor, his leave is topped; and if he goes out in violation of this re«tr ction, he is dismissed. We witnessed a touching instance of the influence brought to bear by one pa ient on another. We heard one pay, " Come along ; wo have got our leave to go to the town to-day ; let us b: away," The other replied, " I wish to go ; but I doubt whether I can keep out of bar if I do. •' Well,'' was the answer, "we will not go to town, but we will lie o!f into the woods, and be back to dinner ; " and they were. During our stay the Liter try Club held its weekly meeting, and presented a very remarkable scene. The president wa-> a dintiriguirtlnMl Southern ofliocr, who at the battle of | BjU's Kun commanded a battery that kept the j Northern hosts in eheek for hours ; he discoursed of | t ie in- ifc ition, and wliat it had done for himself and j <thers, in the somewhat llorid style ol American i oratory, but which was good evidence of the j calibre of his intellect, and how greatly its preservation was to be desired. Another told us how lie had " graduated in drink in every country in the world;" how British beer and gin, the French absinthe and eau de vie, Chinese samshoo, Mexican j) ilf|ne, &c., had been swallowed wholesale by him in their respective countries. He also had fought in the ti-nt nl field, and had passed through the bloody war that- ended with the murder of Maximilian. Of such materials as these were the inmates composed, and it may well be imagined that, reason and argument would go "far to rule such men; but we had to ask them the question, How far do you who go beyond the grounds, and. down to the town, retrain ftom drink? Their answer was, Many break down, and t.'i re are the recurring paroxysms ot internal craving f drink, against which all arguments, all entreaties, a-e futile, and the most solemn promise as the idle w nil. It is for such as these that the talented and c uitious superintendent, Dr Dodge, asks for the power to turn the key upon them. Such detentions need not be long; each recurring paroxysm will be shorter and less intense, while medicine and diet will aid in curtailing it. No such power, however, exists at Binghampton, except for committed eases; and if a pat.ient breaks out, the only resource is his dismissal. Here let us remark that not one single superintendent, even those who regard the " parole " system as the best, but asks for the power to lock his patient's door. As at Binghampton, so at Media, near Philadelphia, the patients belong to the upper and better middle classes. Like 'Binghampton, it is charmingly situated, and has for its superintendent one of the most, instructed, experienced, and cautious of those physicians who have turned their attention to the subject in America. Dr Parrish, while giving the parole system every credit., declares his desi e to be able to prevent the going out of bounds of those who are driven by the rcc irrijig craving for drtnk to break their most solemn vows- He says, that the very fact that the patient knows that such a power exists wiil in most cases suffice.—Mvc ni Han's Magazine.