Oklahoma Leader. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 7, 1903 Page: 1 of 8
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/
A
r I a-A
ONE YEAR
FOR ONLY
VOLUME 11
$1
STANDS FOR
DEMOCRACY
First, last and
All the time
GUTHRIE. OKLAHOMA, THURSDAY, MAY 7 1903.
NUMBER IS
SANITARIUM REPORT SUBMITTED DENVER COPS FREIGHT HANDLERS JOIN
MYSTIHED STRIKERS AT OMAHA!
Special InSPBCtOr From Interior Do* Search For Miss= Business Men Will Call on Governor
patent at Washington Reports in ' '
Writing Results of Official Invest!-
ing Saloonist for Troops if Necessary
gation of
for Insane
Conditions at Asylum
WHO DISAPPEARED
WITH A STRANGER
HITCHCOCK
Claimed to be a Member of
Jesse James Band of
Outlaws
A. B. Richardson of Washington, D. clean, and there was a remarkable ab- tutions of this character that have 1
C„ who on Monday of this week visit- sence of hospital odor about the wards. J seen. The patients, I was informed,'
•ed the insane asylum at Norman under In fact, I saw no evidence of unclean
the direction of Secretary of Interior' liness in any respect. There was a
Hitchcock and at the request of Gov- pood deal of painting and calsomining
-ernor Ferguson, submitted the follow- going on just at this time, which hte
ing report to the governor today: management stated was their usual
Guthrie, Okla., May 5, 1903. ^custom each spring. The interior
Hon. T. B. Ferguson, Governor, Okla- walls of the buildings were either stud
homa Territory. j partitions, or, in most instances,
Dear Sir: Pursuant to the . sugges-1 simply plank partitions of very plain
were out of doors at least twice every
day during good weather, and they!
(By Associated Press.)
Dever, Conlo,, M^iy 6.—The police
tion of the Hon. Secretary of the In-
terior and on your request, I yester-
day visited the Oklahoma Sanitarium
at Norman, Oklahoma, and spent the
afternoon and evening at the institu-
tion.
I met the resident physician. Dr.
Griffin, immediately upon arriva and
asked to be shown the patients at
once. We proceeded immediately to
visit each patient in the institution,
and I talked with quite a number of
them. I visited all of the apartments,
examined every room, examined the
bedding, and later visited the kitchen,
dining room, and place where supplies
are kept, and also examined into the
character of the meat and groceries
furnished. I also took note of the
clothing used by the patients, the ven-
tilation and plumbing, thtf number of
beds, the water supply, and the pro-
tection from fire. I inquired into the
proportion of attendants to patients,
particularly with reference to the
night service. After carefully review-
ing all the cirrumstances, I beg to re-
port as follows:
Food Supply Sufficient.
I found tree or four patients who
character. Some of the stairways
were quite steep, and all of them, of
course, wpoden and not very safe In
character.
Hospital Overcrowded.
The hospital is at present quite
overcrowded. A number of the
had the appearance of a considerable ! are investigating a case of mysterl- i
amount of out door exercise. I think jous disappearance that, rumor has it, ' 'ias E Billingsley
a little more liberal supply of furnnl-1 involves a man who while in-Denver
ture in the better male wards would ! called himself Mark Smith, but who
be serviceable and could be furnished j in reality is believed to be no other
without much expense to the manage- than Jim Cummins, whose name was
ment. If some of the benches were | associated with the Jesse James band
replaced by chairs, I think that the J of outlaws. M. S. Cunningham camo
effect would be decidedly for the bet- j to Denver several weeks ago and pur-
ter and the patients made more com- j chased a saloon. A few days later
fortable. j Smith appeared on the scene and made
Epileptics Should Be Otherwise Pro-! Cunningham's place his headquarters.
vided For. j The two men were much together and
The sewerage seemed to be satlsfac- when Cunningham disappeared about
(fly Associated Press.)
Omaha, Neb.. May 6.--Chief of Po-
lice Donahue personally took charga
of his force today and was on the
streets all forenoon directing the
movements of his men. Several of
Anangements are being made toi,i,„ ,
give Secretary of Interior Hitchcock ' COmpt° ,leSan opera-
who will visit Oklahoma noon, a royal "°nS thls mornln w"& part of their
welcome to Oklahoma. Late yester- waBons, which were driven either by
day afternoon Governor Ferguson 'heir owners or foremen. Each.wagon
selected a committee who will have was accompanied by from one to four
charge of hte arrangements on re policemen who prevented any violence
ceptlon and entertainment consisting to drivers. The congestion at the
I of William Grimes as chairman of the freight depots was partly relieved
j committee, with I'nited States Attor- when the wagons got to work. At each
ney Horace Speed, Judge J. J. Boles, of the depots Is stationed f. large squad
Jamei R. Cotting- °f police and detectives.
Several
ham. Leslie G. Nlblack and Frank H hundred strikers and their friends
Greer- also gathered at the freight houses.
The committee on general arrange but ofTered no violence to the men.
ments appointed by Governor Fergu who were handling goods. A confer-
son last evening met this morning in ence was held at 10 o'clock between
the office of Secretary Grimes. L. G. ' the teamsters and freight handlers
Niblack, F. H. Greer and J. R. Cot- leaders, as a result of which the lat-
tlngham were absent, due to their ' ter were ordered to quit work at noon,
being out of the city. Secretary While the employers say they will re-
Grimes was made chairman of the sort to a call on the governor for
committee and C. E. Billingsley secre-' troops, if necessary, the authorities
tary. It was planned at the meeting think they will be able to meet any
to give Secretary Hitchcock and par- emergency which arises without the
i " ^ " * *'6 infill 14 1 OAp |/vul UU Ca UU He
dormitories had more beds in them lory at the time of my visit. I noticed ; a week ago Investigation brought to j - — - •
than they should have. The officers no odor from the cess pool to which it j light the fact that he had told his ba--1ty a public reception in the territorial aid of militia,
recognize this, and there was in pro- (lowed, and was informed that there1 tender that Smith was really Cum
cess of construction at that time a had been no complaint from
frame building to accommodate about source for some lltle time.
sixty patients, which they stated would Some criticism might be made as'the police fear that he has met with !1X186(1 of
be completed within two or three to the classification, but with the num- fouj play. They are trying to locate Fergllson waa appointed to ascertain
weeks. When this is done it will re- ber of patients that the management Sir.ifh Cunningham came from ithe number in the PartV nnd the exact
lieve the situation very materially. has now to provide for I do not see Booneville, Mo., and several letters
I visited the laundry and sewing | how any improvement can be made in from there await him.
room, and found perhaps a dozen pati- j this respect. With the additional
office building the day the partv visits
w IWU.V WIUJIU ' tto i can/ W.lUl- I .
this mins. Cunningham had a consider- U" lne' t0 whlch every citizen of Ok-
able sum of money when last seen and ma iS lnVlted' A comra,"ee com-
posed of Horace Speed ard Governor
Woods, Coffelt.
Grant. J. H. Decker.
Kay, Jere Johnson.
Noble. A. H. Boles.
Pawnee. B. S. McGuire.
Osage Nation, O. A. Mitcher.
Ponca and Otoe Reservations,
ELECTIONS
(By Associated Press
Baltimore, Md., May 6—The bat-
ents at work. I think employment of j building which will have two wards
the patients might be carried to a j in it, there can be considerable bene-
greater extent with advantage. It is i fit derived from a re-arrangement of
recognized as a commendable char- the classes.
acterlstlc of any institution to find a It is unfortunate that the institution
good porportion of the patients em- must receive epileptics, idiots and im-
ployed. It is a great aid to treat- beetles of all ages. I found a few i ,.,u„ o.—ine oai
ment and tends to Improve hte pati- j children in one or two of the wards, lots in 324 electio npreclncts give Mc-
ents in every way Of course the em- which, of course, it is not advisable to Lane (Democrat) for mayor a plural!-
ployment should be adapted to the keep among the adult insane. You y of 520 over Wachter (Republican),
condition of the patient. j will best know whether any other ar- The ballots in the remaining four pre-
More Attendants Needed. | rangements can be made under pres- cincts are still uncounted, owing to
date of arrival in the territory and at
Guthrie. A committee, who will .have
in charge the decorating of the terri- Jensen.
torial offices and who will ask the Payne, A. C. Scott
citizens of Guthrie to decorate their
. , , , ' • i ° xixauts uuuer
had a good many complaints to make' I noted the proportion of attendants ent conditions In the territory
about the character of the food and
its insufficient quantity, and about the
■character of the building. I asked
quite a number of others as to the
same matters, and the very large pre-
ponderance of testimony was that the
to patients, and in some instances I j would be any better,
think there should be a moderate in-
crease. Particularly is this true of
the night force in charge of the un-
tidy and disturbed classes. I would
suggest that, at least one additional
that
Those children,
fod supply was sufficient and of very ! attendant be employed in the male de-
good quality I stayed to the evening partment for the special purpose of
meal, saw all of the patients who were looking after the untidy patients and
able to come to the general dining j making the necessary changes during
room at their meal, and It seemed to 1 the night.
be, I should judge, sufficient and j I would also suggest that there be
about what is usually furnished for a little more liberal supply of bed-
supper in the ordinary institution. It
consisted of a very good quality of
bread and butter, which I was told
was butterine but seemed to be a
good grade; coffee, Syrup, and prunes
ding, that some of the pillows partic-
ularly be renewed, and that a rather
better grade of mattresses should be
disputes among the judges. They
now in possession of he board of elec-
tion supervisors who announce thatJ
the boxes will not be opened until to
morrow. It is not thought probihle |
that the count of these ballots will
I may say, were apparently well taken
care of and comfortable.
Mild Forms of Restraint.
As to the amount of restraint used,
I do not think it exceeded that ordi- materially change the resutl
narily used in institutions of this char-f
acter with a like number oi patients.
I think there were but three patients
in restraint when I was there, and the
form used was the mildest possible.
being simply a leather belt about the | A flgUt is ^ betweon Contractor
business houses at the time of the
secretary's visit is composed of the
following: Chairman, J. M. McConnell,1
C. H. Woods, J. J. Houston, Robert
M. Carr and J. B. Thoburn. |
Committee on securing conveyances
for the party while here:
H. E. Asp, J. J. Boles and C. E,
Billingsley. •.
Committee on arrangements of ho-
tel accommodations:
J. J. Boles W. M. McCoy and C. M.
Barnes.
The committee on invitation and re-
ception is as follows.
Beaver county, Tom Braidwood.
Woodward, Ed Wiggins.
Logan, Frank Dale
Kingfisher. J. V. Admire.
Garfield, G. D. Orner.
Canadian. Tom Reed.
Blaine, W. R. Kelly. ,,
Oklahoma. S. Douglas.
Cleveland, D. R. Boyd.
Lincoln. John EmbrJ\
Pottawatomie, Cash Cade.
Day, C. F. Stevens.
Dewey, R. C. Brownlee.
Roger Mills, P. C. Hughes.
Greer, J. H. Trotter.
Kiowa, Omer Benedict.
Caddo, J. T. Randlett.
Comanche. H. D. McKnight.
Washita. Frank Cook.
Custer, G. T. Webster.
Strife Between Contractor
And Library Board
waist and wristlets fastened to this. Vandenburg and the Carnegie library
which would allow of considerable boara. War has been waged the
movement oi the hands. I found one paat few weeks an„ today J™
patient at night in a covered crib The ,,
furnished, especially to the better class I patient was talkative and restless and S he , contractor to com-
of patients. While the plumbing was jit was thought necessary to Shim T ^
e. there was nn ... .. . g or the dedication exercises now
Fifty Years the Standard
- - , ' u j me plumbing was;it was thought necessary to keen him ♦ „ , ,, * 1
There was also furnished to most of very defective, there was no especial in the crib in o*ier to keep hm In , ! , d0diCatlon exercls€
them a cereal, or something like blanc iodor in the lavatories or closets 1 bed. I found onT other Sent with X Ti b°ar"' Th"
think it would be reasonable to ask a : handcuffs on at night, and it was in ' r f beon °°mPleted accord
rather better arrangement in the way stated that this was necessary because Z he . h Vandenbur* C,aimS'
of water closet facilities for the untidy the patient had broken out through a 1 orde^ cma, T ha''
cslasses in some of the detached build- window a few months ago and on f 1 W cver' The
ings. This Cass will not take care of reaching home had proven to be quae ,h7ch "U board'" M ^ U'e 1
■mselves, and thefacllitles for nroner damrernnn tn hi* - 6 board claims waa 'niprop-
mange. I also remained and saw the
aptients after they were in bed, going
through a number of the wards and
looking into the rooms after the pati-
ents had retired.
Medical Care Good.
I believe that the management is
doing as well as they can do with the
equipment they have furnished them.
The medical care is as good, I think
themselves, and thefacilities for proper
care of them should be rather better
than is now provided there.
Water Sup.ply Insufficient.
I was also somewhat impressed with
as could be found in any Institution of the rather insufficient supply of water
dangerous to his relatives. This is a erly laid. This the contractor denies
minimum amount of restraint, I should j and says the work was first class
say, for the number of persons now The boan, ref
under care at the institution. building wW,e ln ^ ^
Management Commended. because of this the dedication exarcis-
like character. The patients all land the ^ ^ *? P,anned for AP*> 22 ™re '"defl. ,
spoke very kindly of Dr. Griffin, even ease of fire The addition of i i ^ i ■ • ir C'a" lnipressed me as mtelj- PostPoned. Meanwhile hte con-
those who had complaints to make lor so chemical firj Uh* f ! ^ int!'"ST 3nd Capable men' troVers>' had b*en '^ing ire until
otherwise. !,he wards wmild it semTi ll, COn;iderabl* "^ence the today when Robert W. Ramsay, act-
I found very feV sick patients, not I quite an advan age as most firr'th J T T TT ,0°klng ^ ^ f°r the hoard' Contrac-
ore than h„!f = rtn7fln „„„ II.... . B .'.ES most flres that the welfare of the patients, and with tor Ed Murphy to complete the work
, o ■- • -u uiuoi in ca i licit
more than half a dozen, and the gen- occur in such institutions can be ex-
eral physical condition of the patients , tlnguished without much difficulty
was very good. The entire equipment j with proper facilities when thev are
of the hospital is quite cheap. The ] first discovered.
bedding is not quite what 1 would sug-
gest It should be. The best mattress-
es furnished are of excd^lor, and there
was usually one sheet on each bed.
The pillows were of cotton felt, and
in a number of Instances had become
lumpy and, I should judgs, rather un-
comfortable. The bedding was all
Take it all in all, I found that the
immediate management of the Insti-
tution was evidently interested in pro-
viding proper care so far as their
facilities afford it, and were humane
and thoughtful in looking after the
patients. The medical treatment is
fully up to that In many other insti-
— J w V.VJ11Jic lilt? worn
the few suggestions I have made I do j and prepare it for final acceptance,
not know that any further improve- Mr. Murphy hopes to have the work
ments can be made in the situation— 1 finished in about two weeks and the
considering the temporary character j board will refuse to pay Mr Vanden
o fthe present arrangements. Were burg for the work that was done on
the institution a permanent one, I the tiling.
would advise a rather thorough over- -
hauling and re-building of the hospital, j The Jet well has reached a depth of
It ought to be made more substantial ; 200 feet and there Is a strong odor of
in character, but naturally with the gas; almost as strong as that raised
temporary arrangements such as now i by the sewer scandal at Guthrie not1
(Continued on page 8.) (long since.—Wichita Eagle.
Awarded
Highest Honors World's Fair.
Highest Tests U. S. Gov't Chemists
PRICE BAKING POWDER CO.. CHICAQOL
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Niblack, Leslie G. Oklahoma Leader. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 7, 1903, newspaper, May 7, 1903; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc121624/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.