Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Day At The Earls Wood Asylum, Red Hill, Surrey.
asylum , using the remainder of his time m the designing and manufacture of his models . Elementary treatises on geometry and naval architecture lie on the table of his private workshop , plans and drawings adorn its walls , and ingenious
devices for symbolizing his ideas are to be seen in the carved frames and other articles with which his place abounds . His face is intelligent , his manner eager , but chastened by self-respect . Yet this man is as incapable of exercising the
commonest faculties , out of his special calling , as any idiot of them all , and employed his mechanical genius in laying a trap for a former physician to the asylum , which might have injured him for life . The doctor had offended
him , and a huge and heavy block of wood was so arranged over the doorway that the first person entering would bring it down upon his head . The arrangements were completed just
before an anticipated visit was paid . The calculation of cause and effect was complete , the means taken to ensure a given result were carefully planned and executed , and it was only by the narrowest chance that the intended victim
escaped . The only other instance of spite we became acquainted with during our round was in an idiot who has a weakness for funerals , and who keeps a close mental record of all the deaths occurring in the house . This poor fellow
expressed great anxiety to follow a man to the grave against whom he has a real or fancied grievance , adding that he would kick his coffin with pleasure—a sentiment reminding one strongly of the vindictive hatred to be sometimes found among the disappointed sane .
By the time we have gone carefully through the workshops and schools , noting everywhere the same kindly discipline and the same happy expression on the faces of the inmates , the dinner hour is at hand , and we hurry to the kichen . Here are several of the idiot friends we have
already made . They have put on brown holland suits over their other attire , and are doing brave work in weighing , carving , and apportioning out the meat , vegetables , and pudding for the approaching meal . Each man and youth seems
to know his duty , and no coercion , or even instruction , is required . By an admirable system of book-keeping , to which we have done full justice during our inspection of the stores—vast shops , where all the articles of dress and food
and household necessaries are kept and given out for the use of the establishment — every ounce of meat is rigidly accounted for . It says something for the self-control to be acquired even by witless creatures , that among those
engaged in the kitchen nothing is ever missed ; and that , though naturally hungry in the halfhour before dinner , in which they are occupied with cooked meat , they never pick or pilfer , but are content to wait the regular hour . There are
three degrees of diet , each ample for its purpose . The patients on what is termed ordinary diet have four ounces of cooked meat , eight ounces of potatoes , two ounces green vegetables , and six ounces of pudding ; those on full diet have
an extra ounce of cooked meat and two ounces more pudding : while those on middle diet have each quantity slightly reduced . Boiled and roast beef and mutton , Yorkshire puddings , treacle pudding , rice pudding , and bread puddings , from
the staple of food . Everything is of the best quality , and when , after an interval , we return to the dining hall , the inmates of both sexes are busily at work . The girls sit on one side the room and the men and youths at the other , while
an attendant stands at the head of each table to give advice and see that due order is observed . All the idiots have knives and forks , which they never misuse , and though some eat voraciously , and seem to bolt their food , there is nothing
repulsive even here . For thc class named , minced meat and mashed potatoes are provided , so that the injury from defective mastication may be as slight as possible . The historical idiot has his food mashed for him at his own request , and
is humorously indignant at the quantity of fat his portion includes , calling up the steward who is with us , and inveighing against his management with a vigorous indignation which reminded one strongly of a cantankerous gourmand at a club . On the day before , this same idiot asked
A Day At The Earls Wood Asylum, Red Hill, Surrey.
the doctor , " Is thy servant a dog that he should eat this thing ? " and even now he seems half amused at his own energy of denunciation . The dinner portions we have seen cut up and weighed are wheeled in from the kitchen—which is only
divided from the dinning hall by a door—on large hand-waggons constructed for the purpose . They have all been placed in a heated air cupboard since they were divided and put on their several plates , and , at the invitation ofthe inmate
who had tickled our hand , we taste his portion , and find it not only tender and succulent , but admirably hot . We should mention that grace is sung before the food arrives , the idiots joining their vioces together most melodiously , and that ,
though the common drink is water , beer is served in certain cases for which it has been prescribed . All this time other dinners are being eaten by other patients in other portions of the house . The food is identical in quality and cooking ;
but the manner of its serving is slightly different . The Earlswood inmates may be divided into three classes—those who are elected on the charity , and who pay nothing ; those whose friends can partly pay their cost , and who are
admitted at a commuted rate fixed by the board of management ; and those who are the children of prosperous parents , who are able and willing to pay the full sum charged . Some of the latter are what are called " associated cases , " others
have private sitting-rooms of their own , and an attendant to themselves . Accordingly a dinner table is laid for ten or twelve , or for one , as the case may be , and serviettes , water-bottles , castors , salt-cellars , and all the little paraphernalia ofthe
meal , are supplied . It is part of the education of the patients to learn to use these properly , and to behave in a seemly fashion while helping themselves . The young children , too , boys and girls , dine in nurseries set apart for them ; and it was one of the most affecting experiences of the
day to see the long row of infant faces , many of them pretty , and even beautiful , and all wellbehaved , and to know that they formed a class apart , and that their maturity would never be lightened by the ordinary enjoyments of human life .
After dinner , the inmates walked and played in the spacious grounds on which the Asylum stands , and which are , thanks to the prescience of its founders , its own property . From seven to eight miles of artificial walks—all made by
the inmates—can be traversed without once going out of the estate . It was amusing to watch the lads and men on the swings and at football . Idiots as they are , they swing and kick boldly without ever happening an accident ,
and never was cither sport more thoroughly enjoyed or more heartily played . To send one of the footballs plump into the little knot formed by the doctor , the steward , and the two strangers looking on , was considered the height of humour ,
and the laughterwaslongand loud when oneof the inmates , strongerandmoredaring than therest , sent the great leathern globe whizzing past ears and heads which were busily guarding against playful assaults from another quarter .
rhe dormitories , where each of the little girl's beds have a doll reclining on its pillow , and waiting its owner ' s bedtime ; the infirmary , where one poor damsel is dying from the effects of an epileptic seizure to which she had succumbed ,
while apparently well and happy that morning ; the kitchen and flower gardens , where inmates are busy , and in the former of which some parsnips have been stocked by idiot hands in such a way as to be a marvel of artistic design ; and
the farmyard , where the cows are being milked by the patients , and the routine of country life gone through , are all seen in turn . We could multiply indefinitely examples of the interesting and puzzling cases we met with , from the idiot
carrier who drives his donkey-cart down to the railway station daily , and brings all parcels safely back , to the idiot postman who conveys all letters to and from the post without a single error . In the course of the day at Earlswood you become
acquainted with many things not previously included in your philosophy ; and your observations form one long testimony to the admirable system in vogue there , and to the deep benefits conferred upon the most afflicted section of
A Day At The Earls Wood Asylum, Red Hill, Surrey.
society by the founder of the Asylum , the wellknown philanthropist , Dr . Andrew Reed . When this good man first founded that home for idiots at Highgate-hill , which was the forerunner ofthe present establishment at Earlswood , the scene at
the first gathering of inmates was sufficient to discourage the stoutest heart . " It was , " we read , " a period of distraction , disorder , and noise of the most unnatural character . Some had defective sight ; most had no power of articulation
many were lame in limb or muscle ; and all were of weak or perverted mind . Some had been spoiled , some neglected , some ill-used . Some were clamorous without speech , and rebellious without mind ; some were sullen and perverse ,
and some unconscious and inert . Some were
constantly making involuntary noises from nervous irritation , and others hid themselves in corners from the face of man as from the face of an enemy . Windows were smashed , wainscoting
broken , boundaries defied , and the spirit of lawlessness was triumphant . It seemed to me as though nothing less than the accommodation of a prison would meet the wants of such a family . Some who witnessed the scene retired from it in
disgust and others in despair . " Contrast this horribly repulsive scene with the beautiful calm ana loving discipline of the life at the Earlswood home ; and the weight of national gratitude felt to be due to the memory of Dr . Reed cannot be
easily overstated . The Asylum , as managed now under the board , of which Mr . Abbiss is the presiding genius , and under the professional care of Dr . Grabham , its resident physician , may be visited by the most sensitive without either fear
or pain ; the strongest feeling being that of wonder and shame that the unfailing laws of love and kindness should have been left untried upon the poor idiot until Dr . Reed took the matter up . In conclusion , it is but right to name the *
extreme economy with which this beautiful place is managed . The clothing of the inmates is , like the food , of the best quality , but , by special contracts for last year's fashions , the material forming it is purchased on the most advantageous
terms from a well-known London tradesman ; and , according to the last report of the Commissioners of Lunacy , the weekly cost per patient per head is infinitely less than would be supposed possible by those who have seen the comforts
and luxuries ofthe place . Thirteen shillings and fivepence is the sum per head given in the Bluebook , against ; £ i 6 s . ad . per head at Bethlehem Hospital , and jQi 19 s . 4 ^ d . at the Manchester Royal Lunatic Asylum .
The Commissioners add a note , too , to their mention of Earlswood , stating that a considerable part of its expenditure , is due to the large proportion of attendants required for helpless children , and for educational purposes and trade
teaching . But Earlswood must be seen to be appreciated . Its charity is of the broadest , for it lends a helping hand to those who can partly pay for the accommodation of an afflicted child , without affixing to them the brand of pauperism .
This is perhaps the wisest and the kindest of the many wise and kind rules adopted by the management , and results in procuring a home for many an afflicted creature whose struggling parents would otherwise be cut off from help ,
and who are utterly unable to provide adequately for their poor son or daughter at home . But , we repeat , Earlswood should be visited freely , and without the faintest anticipation of aught
shocking or repulsive . Indeed , the impressions it leaves behind are respect and liking for the kindly idiots , and a shrewd suspicion that lower moral natures may be found among the weak and selfish of the sane .
HOLLOWAY ' S PILLS . — Any dyspeptic sufferer , aware of the purifying , regulating , and gently aperient powers of these Pills , should permit no one to cloud his judgment or to warp his course . With a box of Holloway's Pills , and attention to its accompanying "Directions , " he may feci thoroughly satisfied that he can safely and effectually release himself from his miseries without
impairing his appetite or distressing his digestion , liy aiding natural nutrition this excellent medicine raises the bodily strength to its extreme limits , and banishes a thousand annoying forms of nervous complaints . An occasional resort to Holloway ' s remedy will prove highly salutary to all persons , whether well or ill , whose digestion is slow or imperfect , usually evidenced by weariness , listlessness and dispondency . —[ Advt . ]
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Day At The Earls Wood Asylum, Red Hill, Surrey.
asylum , using the remainder of his time m the designing and manufacture of his models . Elementary treatises on geometry and naval architecture lie on the table of his private workshop , plans and drawings adorn its walls , and ingenious
devices for symbolizing his ideas are to be seen in the carved frames and other articles with which his place abounds . His face is intelligent , his manner eager , but chastened by self-respect . Yet this man is as incapable of exercising the
commonest faculties , out of his special calling , as any idiot of them all , and employed his mechanical genius in laying a trap for a former physician to the asylum , which might have injured him for life . The doctor had offended
him , and a huge and heavy block of wood was so arranged over the doorway that the first person entering would bring it down upon his head . The arrangements were completed just
before an anticipated visit was paid . The calculation of cause and effect was complete , the means taken to ensure a given result were carefully planned and executed , and it was only by the narrowest chance that the intended victim
escaped . The only other instance of spite we became acquainted with during our round was in an idiot who has a weakness for funerals , and who keeps a close mental record of all the deaths occurring in the house . This poor fellow
expressed great anxiety to follow a man to the grave against whom he has a real or fancied grievance , adding that he would kick his coffin with pleasure—a sentiment reminding one strongly of the vindictive hatred to be sometimes found among the disappointed sane .
By the time we have gone carefully through the workshops and schools , noting everywhere the same kindly discipline and the same happy expression on the faces of the inmates , the dinner hour is at hand , and we hurry to the kichen . Here are several of the idiot friends we have
already made . They have put on brown holland suits over their other attire , and are doing brave work in weighing , carving , and apportioning out the meat , vegetables , and pudding for the approaching meal . Each man and youth seems
to know his duty , and no coercion , or even instruction , is required . By an admirable system of book-keeping , to which we have done full justice during our inspection of the stores—vast shops , where all the articles of dress and food
and household necessaries are kept and given out for the use of the establishment — every ounce of meat is rigidly accounted for . It says something for the self-control to be acquired even by witless creatures , that among those
engaged in the kitchen nothing is ever missed ; and that , though naturally hungry in the halfhour before dinner , in which they are occupied with cooked meat , they never pick or pilfer , but are content to wait the regular hour . There are
three degrees of diet , each ample for its purpose . The patients on what is termed ordinary diet have four ounces of cooked meat , eight ounces of potatoes , two ounces green vegetables , and six ounces of pudding ; those on full diet have
an extra ounce of cooked meat and two ounces more pudding : while those on middle diet have each quantity slightly reduced . Boiled and roast beef and mutton , Yorkshire puddings , treacle pudding , rice pudding , and bread puddings , from
the staple of food . Everything is of the best quality , and when , after an interval , we return to the dining hall , the inmates of both sexes are busily at work . The girls sit on one side the room and the men and youths at the other , while
an attendant stands at the head of each table to give advice and see that due order is observed . All the idiots have knives and forks , which they never misuse , and though some eat voraciously , and seem to bolt their food , there is nothing
repulsive even here . For thc class named , minced meat and mashed potatoes are provided , so that the injury from defective mastication may be as slight as possible . The historical idiot has his food mashed for him at his own request , and
is humorously indignant at the quantity of fat his portion includes , calling up the steward who is with us , and inveighing against his management with a vigorous indignation which reminded one strongly of a cantankerous gourmand at a club . On the day before , this same idiot asked
A Day At The Earls Wood Asylum, Red Hill, Surrey.
the doctor , " Is thy servant a dog that he should eat this thing ? " and even now he seems half amused at his own energy of denunciation . The dinner portions we have seen cut up and weighed are wheeled in from the kitchen—which is only
divided from the dinning hall by a door—on large hand-waggons constructed for the purpose . They have all been placed in a heated air cupboard since they were divided and put on their several plates , and , at the invitation ofthe inmate
who had tickled our hand , we taste his portion , and find it not only tender and succulent , but admirably hot . We should mention that grace is sung before the food arrives , the idiots joining their vioces together most melodiously , and that ,
though the common drink is water , beer is served in certain cases for which it has been prescribed . All this time other dinners are being eaten by other patients in other portions of the house . The food is identical in quality and cooking ;
but the manner of its serving is slightly different . The Earlswood inmates may be divided into three classes—those who are elected on the charity , and who pay nothing ; those whose friends can partly pay their cost , and who are
admitted at a commuted rate fixed by the board of management ; and those who are the children of prosperous parents , who are able and willing to pay the full sum charged . Some of the latter are what are called " associated cases , " others
have private sitting-rooms of their own , and an attendant to themselves . Accordingly a dinner table is laid for ten or twelve , or for one , as the case may be , and serviettes , water-bottles , castors , salt-cellars , and all the little paraphernalia ofthe
meal , are supplied . It is part of the education of the patients to learn to use these properly , and to behave in a seemly fashion while helping themselves . The young children , too , boys and girls , dine in nurseries set apart for them ; and it was one of the most affecting experiences of the
day to see the long row of infant faces , many of them pretty , and even beautiful , and all wellbehaved , and to know that they formed a class apart , and that their maturity would never be lightened by the ordinary enjoyments of human life .
After dinner , the inmates walked and played in the spacious grounds on which the Asylum stands , and which are , thanks to the prescience of its founders , its own property . From seven to eight miles of artificial walks—all made by
the inmates—can be traversed without once going out of the estate . It was amusing to watch the lads and men on the swings and at football . Idiots as they are , they swing and kick boldly without ever happening an accident ,
and never was cither sport more thoroughly enjoyed or more heartily played . To send one of the footballs plump into the little knot formed by the doctor , the steward , and the two strangers looking on , was considered the height of humour ,
and the laughterwaslongand loud when oneof the inmates , strongerandmoredaring than therest , sent the great leathern globe whizzing past ears and heads which were busily guarding against playful assaults from another quarter .
rhe dormitories , where each of the little girl's beds have a doll reclining on its pillow , and waiting its owner ' s bedtime ; the infirmary , where one poor damsel is dying from the effects of an epileptic seizure to which she had succumbed ,
while apparently well and happy that morning ; the kitchen and flower gardens , where inmates are busy , and in the former of which some parsnips have been stocked by idiot hands in such a way as to be a marvel of artistic design ; and
the farmyard , where the cows are being milked by the patients , and the routine of country life gone through , are all seen in turn . We could multiply indefinitely examples of the interesting and puzzling cases we met with , from the idiot
carrier who drives his donkey-cart down to the railway station daily , and brings all parcels safely back , to the idiot postman who conveys all letters to and from the post without a single error . In the course of the day at Earlswood you become
acquainted with many things not previously included in your philosophy ; and your observations form one long testimony to the admirable system in vogue there , and to the deep benefits conferred upon the most afflicted section of
A Day At The Earls Wood Asylum, Red Hill, Surrey.
society by the founder of the Asylum , the wellknown philanthropist , Dr . Andrew Reed . When this good man first founded that home for idiots at Highgate-hill , which was the forerunner ofthe present establishment at Earlswood , the scene at
the first gathering of inmates was sufficient to discourage the stoutest heart . " It was , " we read , " a period of distraction , disorder , and noise of the most unnatural character . Some had defective sight ; most had no power of articulation
many were lame in limb or muscle ; and all were of weak or perverted mind . Some had been spoiled , some neglected , some ill-used . Some were clamorous without speech , and rebellious without mind ; some were sullen and perverse ,
and some unconscious and inert . Some were
constantly making involuntary noises from nervous irritation , and others hid themselves in corners from the face of man as from the face of an enemy . Windows were smashed , wainscoting
broken , boundaries defied , and the spirit of lawlessness was triumphant . It seemed to me as though nothing less than the accommodation of a prison would meet the wants of such a family . Some who witnessed the scene retired from it in
disgust and others in despair . " Contrast this horribly repulsive scene with the beautiful calm ana loving discipline of the life at the Earlswood home ; and the weight of national gratitude felt to be due to the memory of Dr . Reed cannot be
easily overstated . The Asylum , as managed now under the board , of which Mr . Abbiss is the presiding genius , and under the professional care of Dr . Grabham , its resident physician , may be visited by the most sensitive without either fear
or pain ; the strongest feeling being that of wonder and shame that the unfailing laws of love and kindness should have been left untried upon the poor idiot until Dr . Reed took the matter up . In conclusion , it is but right to name the *
extreme economy with which this beautiful place is managed . The clothing of the inmates is , like the food , of the best quality , but , by special contracts for last year's fashions , the material forming it is purchased on the most advantageous
terms from a well-known London tradesman ; and , according to the last report of the Commissioners of Lunacy , the weekly cost per patient per head is infinitely less than would be supposed possible by those who have seen the comforts
and luxuries ofthe place . Thirteen shillings and fivepence is the sum per head given in the Bluebook , against ; £ i 6 s . ad . per head at Bethlehem Hospital , and jQi 19 s . 4 ^ d . at the Manchester Royal Lunatic Asylum .
The Commissioners add a note , too , to their mention of Earlswood , stating that a considerable part of its expenditure , is due to the large proportion of attendants required for helpless children , and for educational purposes and trade
teaching . But Earlswood must be seen to be appreciated . Its charity is of the broadest , for it lends a helping hand to those who can partly pay for the accommodation of an afflicted child , without affixing to them the brand of pauperism .
This is perhaps the wisest and the kindest of the many wise and kind rules adopted by the management , and results in procuring a home for many an afflicted creature whose struggling parents would otherwise be cut off from help ,
and who are utterly unable to provide adequately for their poor son or daughter at home . But , we repeat , Earlswood should be visited freely , and without the faintest anticipation of aught
shocking or repulsive . Indeed , the impressions it leaves behind are respect and liking for the kindly idiots , and a shrewd suspicion that lower moral natures may be found among the weak and selfish of the sane .
HOLLOWAY ' S PILLS . — Any dyspeptic sufferer , aware of the purifying , regulating , and gently aperient powers of these Pills , should permit no one to cloud his judgment or to warp his course . With a box of Holloway's Pills , and attention to its accompanying "Directions , " he may feci thoroughly satisfied that he can safely and effectually release himself from his miseries without
impairing his appetite or distressing his digestion , liy aiding natural nutrition this excellent medicine raises the bodily strength to its extreme limits , and banishes a thousand annoying forms of nervous complaints . An occasional resort to Holloway ' s remedy will prove highly salutary to all persons , whether well or ill , whose digestion is slow or imperfect , usually evidenced by weariness , listlessness and dispondency . —[ Advt . ]