INVERCARGILL LUNATICS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 15 August 1910, Page 3

INVERCARGILL LUNATICS.

THEIR PADDED CELL. In giving his verdict as a result of the recent fatality at the Southland '■ "? plt , :11 , , .hereby John Hunter slu.l -lea himself in a padded cell, .Mr C. Crmekhank, S.M. (Coroner), said: -liit* cell at the Hospital has just been oirilt, is warmed bv hot air. and in°cH ''f I? latet scientific advance n cell buiklmg m modern asvlum .seems poorly designed, being reetan-ai-out-ade instead of from a central li-ht m the apex- of a conical roof It is ",„- possible to see the patient at- night Iniuugh the observation hole, but to know anything the cell must be entered tlirouK.li the door, which, bv the wav opens inwards instead of outwards. The oo foothold for any one struggling m ith a violent natient. ''.Still the celf is there for the use of the town, and the best advantage must >e: taken of it, and it is right that all U Tu e " route for sliould be lodged there, not as a kindness from the Superintendent, hut as making proper j "so o, »■ public institution built bv the puul:e monev. - I

™-}) *!! le l " n ? tl ° « bought to InlZli"\ ' i' ord . hnvi "g nlrendy to +1 thp "°sP»ta>- ho should be taken f J , i P ; >dded ce,] - T1 certificates liom the two doctors on which the committal was based, should be handed over to the Superintendent for his perusal. Duplicates or extracts should be made therefrom, and the original certificates g.ven back to the police before tnev take the patent awav again in the earlv mon„„g express for Senclifr. _ Un receiving the patient the Superintendent should peruse the certificates and then, armed with this knowledge ol Llie ca=-.e. ne should intimate to the police what in his oninion. is reonired for the safety of the parent. Tf ho thinks tlie i case is one in which the patient requires watching, he should dis-

tinctly say so; and then the duty will then lie. cast on the police to get watchmen ,if possible. 1 understand that the pol.ee prefer to watch a. patient iu their own brick cell, as the barracks, being close at hand, the watchmen can he relieved more easily. But in any case i do not see how constables can be spared for this work, as it requires two , men, relieved every four hours, and the local force is very small. The watch- | men will have to be civilians specially engaged for the purpose. There is probably one or two civilians who have shown .some aptitude as custodians of this kind, and who are willing to undertake such work at fixed remuneration As their names were known to the police, they could be roadilv engaged at any tune when required at'short notice. "As by this plan extra labour is thrown on the Superintendent, he should be given a fee similar to the committing doctors, and this fee together with the wages of the watchmen, should be paid bv the relatives and ii not, by the Department . ' "T have thus tried to give some rough outline of a plan which can ! doubtless be improved great] v upon consideration by both the Hospital Board and the police. It must be remembered that, sad as this case is "it I is the only accident of the kind "for many years, notwithstanding the fact that lunatics are passing through the. hospital m ;! , melancholy procession of uncommon numbers."