A TOWN OF LUNATICS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11637, 15 August 1905, Page 7

A TOWN OF LUNATICS.

The Antwerp correspondent of the London. Daily Telegraph writes: — I have recently visited 'one of the most remarkable institutions of the Continent, situated not far from Antwerp, where the demented are cared for as tenderly as little children, under the supervision of the Belgian Government. Glieel is literally a town of fools, a town where fools dwell in peace with each other, stroll about the streets, take their noonady refreshment at the cafes, and go about their daily routine with perhaps more common sense than a great many worthy citizens who bear the reputation of being healthy in mind as well as body. The township shelters about 1500' lunatics, who are taken as lodgers by j;he townsfolk, though all dangerous cases are passed- en to outlying districts or Confined in the asylum, Gheel harbouring only the harmless. > The treatment of tho patientfi is but a moral one, cures being due to the kindness and tact of the townsfolk. " 'The fees for taking in the "innocents," as they are called, vary from .£l2 to ,£l2O per annum, according to the degree of luxury in which the patient is kept. No matter how much he pays, however, he is the spoiled one of the family, for,- the people of Gheel understand the mamgement of insane people better than any Other known community or institution. This is due tc hundreds of years of experience handed down, from father to son-. The patient is really the guest of the house. He is given the arm chair and the befit seat at table, and enjoys the most attention, so that he grows to value the esteem in which he is held to such an extent "that he will make the greatest efforts to master his disease lest he should forfeit his privileges. ■' At the Ghesl inns the landlords nhow the greatest politeness and consideration towards the "innocents," humouring all their fancies, and often appearing to carry out the realisation of some of their wild fancies. The spectacle is a curious one, and a visit to Gheel as strange as Alice's -visit to -Wonderland.' *