USA > Alabama > Hand-book of Alabama. A complete index to the state, with map > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
The situation supplies every condition essential to health. The college is located at the base of the famous Red mountain, which furnishes a picturesque back ground to the site, while the fertile Ruhama valley is spread out beneath. The natural surface of the region is undulating, thus affording superior natural drainage. Large springs of pure, cool water abound, and wells are obtained everywhere with little difficulty. The temperature in warm weather is moderated by constant moun- tain breezes. Because of the cool nights in midsummer, East Lake has become a popular residential resort. Throughout the year the atmosphere is free from the taint of local disease
The main college building, recently completed, is 168 by 73 feet. It is built according to the most improved plans of
.
240
ILAND-BOOK OF ALABAMA.
architecture. The building is three stories high and embraces lecture rooms, offices, laboratory, society halls and chapel. It is heated throughout with steam, will be supplied with water and electric lights, and furnished with all the modern conven- iences of comfort. There are also two brick dormitories, and a dining or mess hall.
The geological and mineralogical cabinets contain a large variety of specimens. A handsome series of maps and charts and engravings illustrate lectures on geology, physiology and astronomy. The college has also, a good chemical, mathemat- ical and philosophical apparatus. There are in connection with the college, and in successful operation, two literary societies.
All students, over fifteen years of age, are required to join the college cadet corps, which is drilled not more than an hour a day. The cadet uniform is not more expensive than civilian suits.
The courses of study embrace: school of English ; school of Latin; school of Greek; school of modern languages ; school of mathematics; school of physical science; eommer- cial school; school of psychology and moral philosophy.
The expenses are: Collegiate tuition, per term, 830; board per month, $12.50 ; furnished room, fuel, servant's attendance and washing of bed linen for room, per month, 83. Sub-col- legiate, tuition, per term, $24; board per month, $12.50 ; fur- nished room, fuel, servant's attendance and washing of bed linen for room, per month 83. These expenses are payable September 6, and February 1, strictly in advance.
The sons of ministers engaged in the active work of the ministry pay one-half of the tuition fee.
Students who comply with the regulations of the minister- ial board, at Montgomery, are furnished $130 per session to assist in the defrayment of their expenses for board at Howard college. Such students are given tuition free.
Other ministerial students who may desire to pay their own board, will be furnished tuition free upon the presentation of licenses from their churches.
Such as may desire to enter the college as ministerial students, must correspond with the president of the ministe- rial board, Hon. J. G. Harris, Montgomery, Ala.
241
EDUCATIONAL ..
The scholastic year is divided into two terms, commencing September 15, and February 1. The last term ends the sec- ond Wednesday in June. Number of students, session ending June, 1892, was 196.
For full information and catalogue, address the President at East Lake, Ala.
EAST LAKE ATHENEUM.
This institution, located at East Lake, six miles from Bir- mingham, in Jefferson county, was established in 1890; opened its doors for its first session October 7, 1890, and was incor- porated December 5, 1890, the object of its founders being the establishment of an " institution of learning of high grade for the education of young women in the arts, sciences, and prac- tical industries." It is a private corporation, and receives no financial aid from the State, but relies for its success upon the character and high qualifications of its faculty and the thorough instruction it imparts. The management of the institution is under a board of trustees.
East Lake is a town of 2,000 inhabitants, but rapidly in- creasing ; situated on high, rolling ground, and surrounded by the spurs of the Appalachian range of mountains. Springs of pure and never-failing water gush from beneath these spurs of the mountain, affording an abundance of the very best water for drinking and culinary purposes, making the town one of the healthiest in the south.
Being on the southern extremity of the Appalachian range of mountains, it has the advantage in summer of balmy breezes during the day and cool, refreshing nights, equal to those en- joyed in the mountains further north, without suffering the rigor of their cold winters.
The main Atheneum building, which, with its equipment. cost $30,000, is 90 feet long and 75 wide, containing a chapel that will seat at desks for study 140 young ladies, a primary room that will seat 35 children, four recitation rooms, sufficient music rooms, and one large, well lighted art room. It contains a dining hall, kitchen, a parlor, sitting room, and bed rooms sufficient to accommodate 50 boarders. It is situated in a
242
P
EAST LAKE ATHENEUM, EAST LAKE, ALABAMA.
243
EDUCATION.IL.
grove of native umbrageous oaks, on a commanding site, more than half a mile from Howard College, and more than a quar- ter of a mile from the pavilion and lake. The building is well furnished with new furniture and all modern conveniences, including blackboards, wall maps, charts, globes, apparatus, and reference books. Whenever there is a demand for other buildings, arrangements are perfected for their erection. Col- lege and boarding departments are under the same roof. A more picturesque, delightful and health-giving location would be hard to find. The building crowns an eminence overlook- ing the town of East Lake, the city of Birmingham, and the Jones valley for ten miles away. This elevation is more than 000 feet above sea level, and above the water's level of the lake 140 feet. So elevated is the location that during the mid- summer the nights are delightfully cool. There is nothing to cause malaria in or near the town ; the consequence is that it has become proverbial for its healthfulness, and a favorite location for health seekers. No epidemic has ever visited it.
Boarding pupils are received into the home of the president as members of his family, and every effort is made to make this home pleasant and refining. Pupils from a distance are required to board in the Atheneum, unless by special arrange- ment with the president
While the institution is not under the supervision or control of any particular religious denomination, special pains are taken by the president, his family and faculty, to secure the most effective moral and religious culture.
The faculty is an able one, and the president is Hon. Solo- mon Palmer, who for a long period was Superintendent of Education of the State of Alabama, a position which he filled with distinguished ability and to the great advancement of the cause of education in the State.
The literary course is divided into four departments : Pri- mary, intermediate, preparatory and collegiate. Besides this course, beginners are trained in the kindergarten method. There is also a department of music and a department of art. Embroidery, hair work, needle work, wax work, bead work, blending of colors so as to give the finest effect, also receive attention, and are taught to those desiring such instruction at a cost not exceeding $5.00 per term. Stenography, bookkeep-
244
HAND-BOOK OF ALABAMA.
ing, and other practical industries will be taught as the demand for them arises.
Certificates of proficiency and diplomas are conferred in in each department.
The session, divided into three terms, begins in September and ends in June.
To promote economy in dress, as well as to prevent un- seemly rivalry and extravagance, the young ladies are required to wear a uniform when they go without the limits of the college on public occasions.
The expenses, per term, are : Tuition-In primary depart- ment, $4.50 to $6.00: in intermediate department, $7.50 to $9.00; in preparatory department. $10,50 to $12.00; in colle- giate department, $15.00 to $18.00; modern languages, each, $5.00; elocution, in class, 83.00, individual lessons, $15.00; music, on piano, organ or guitar, $12.00 to $15.00; vocal les- sons, in class, $3.00, individual lessons, $15.00; art, $12.00 to $15.00. Board, lodging, fuel, lights, and washing, per term, $45.00.
Tuition in regular course is free to daughters of ministers in the regular pastorate.
The number of pupils in attendance during the session ending June, 1892, was 189.
For full information and catalogues, address the president.
PART SIXTH.
THE ALABAMA INSANE HOSPITAL.
ESTABLISHMENT - CAPACITY - MEANS OF SUPPORT - AP- POINTMENTS - GROUNDS - TREATMENT OF PATIENTS -- MECHANICAL RESTRAINTS - OCCUPATIONS, DIVERSIONS, ETC. - RELIGIOUS SERVICES.
By P. Bryce, M. D., LL. D., Superintendent.
This hospital, which is located at Tuskaloosa, was estab- lished by an act of the Legislature approved February 6, 1852, and completed and opened to the public April 5, 1861. It is constructed on what is known as the Kirkbride, or linear plan, and was at first intended to accommodate about 300 patients. Additions have since been made to the main build- ing, and several detached buildings have been erected, exclu- sively for the colored insane. The capacity of the hospital has thus been very largely increased, and the buildings at present accommodate between 1,100 and 1,200 patients. There were, in October, 1891, 1,128 patients under treatment. The entire cost of the building, from first to last, including fur- niture, etc., is half million dollars.
The institution is controlled by a board, composed of seven trustees, appointed by the Governor. It is supported by the State, a per capita of $2.25 a week, or $117.00 a year, being the cost of each indigent patient under treatment in the hos- pital. Private patients, or those who pay their own expenses, are also received, the charge for this class being $25.00 per month.
246
247
THE INSANE HOSPITAL.
The receipts from the State for the indigent and the charges for the paying patients constitute the entire income of the hospital. Out of this income are paid all the salaries of the officers and employes and all the expenses incident to the care of the patients, including their board and clothing, as well as repairs and improvements on the buildings and grounds of the hospital.
The buildings of this mammoth institution are perfect in all their appointments. Connected therewith are a complete system of waterworks ; fire service ; apparatus for making coal gas ; carpenter shops, supplied with every kind of machinery for making doors, sashes and furniture; blacksmith shops ; tinshops, and a large and well-appointed steam laundry, fur- nished with drying closets and other approved apparatus; a new and complete steam bakery, furnished with the latest approved machinery, including a Vale rotary oven, a mixer, cracker machine and other apparatus. A small steam engine rotates the oven and drives the other machinery. The bakery was planned and furnished by A. J. Fish & Co., of Chicago, Illinois, at a cost, including the two story building, of about $3,000.00.
The system of waterworks, as a protection against fire, is as complete, perhaps, as any in the world, and merits a more minute description. The old reservoir, holding 50,000 gallons of water, into which the water from two large and unfailing springs is collected, has been supplemented by a larger reser- . voir, holding 1,000,000 gallons, and located immediately in its rear. The overflow from the small reservoir passes into the larger one, and is retained there for use only in case of fire. The bottoms of the two reservoirs, which are on the same level, are connected by an eighteen-inch water pipe, controlled by a water gate. Connected with the small reservoir are two Worthington steam pumps, made expressly for this work. and which are capable of forcing 1,000 gallons of water per minute through an eight-inch cast-iron pipe, which entirely surrounds the building. On this pipe, hydrants, with two openings each, are placed every 100 feet, and it is estimated that the pumps will throw six streams, through 1} inch nozzles, 125 feet high. On the line of the main pipe has been erected a brick tower, and placed upon its top is an iron tank holding 55,000 gallons
248
HAND-BOOK OF ALABAMA.
of water. This serves as a water supply for daily consump- tion and for immediate use in case of fire, until the pumps can be started. Nothing could be more complete than our present water-works, and they leave nothing to be desired in the way of a fire service.
Another feature worthy of special mention, and distinctive of this hospital, is the substitution, for the original system of separate dining rooms for each ward, of a common or congre- gate dining room, in which all the patients, of each sex and color, take their meals. These buildings, two in number-one for the men and one for the women-are 150 feet long by 50 wide, are built of brick and covered with a metal roof. They each afford comfortable seating room for 500 patients, with their nurses and others employed about the hospital. Each ward has its separate table, in order that a proper classification may be preserved. The patients are conducted to their meals in regular order, at the ringing of the bell, and, after the meal, return, in the same orderly manner, to their wards or to the adjoining court yards. The advantages of this system are very pronounced, both in the saving of labor and provisions. It also enables the supervisors to exercise a stricter oversight of the distribution of food and the feeding of the feeble and more delicate patients
The hospital is furnished with coal obtained from mines on its own grounds, which costs, when delivered on the premises, about one dollar per ton. This coal is of very superior quality for making both steam and illuminating gas. The hospital building and its yarious annexes are heated throughout by steam radiators placed in the cellars, and lighted by the gas manufactured from its own coal.
An additional tract of land, containing about 800 acres, lying on the Warrior river, two miles north of the present hospital site, has recently been purchased and supplied with all the appurtenances and implements necessary to a model farm. This large tract of land affords ample pasture for the great number of milch cows and other stock belonging to the institution. The land lying on the river affords fine facilities for farming. The original 100 acres connected with the insti- tution is conducted on what is called the intensive system of farming-that is to say manures, and fertilizers suitable to the
249
THE INSANE HOSPITAL.
several crops are used without stint, and the ground is forced by skillful culture to its utmost capacity, thus yielding an abundant supply of vegetables for table use and also for feed- ing stock.
The lawn in front of the building contains about forty acres, and is beautifully laid out and adorned with grass, shrubbery and trees.
The management of this hospital is conducted on the most approved modern principles. Its distinctive features are the absence of all mechanical restraint, and the employment of a large per cent. of its patients in useful and congenial occupa- tions. We clip the following touching these important points from a late report of the superintendent :
"TREATMENT OF PATIENTS.
"There has been little, if any, change in the treatment of patients since the abolition of all mechanical restraint, ten years ago. Every year's experience since that notable event has impressed us more and more forcibly with its extreme wisdom and efficacy. Our hospital wards have .now the appearance of a large but well conducted family circle, in which all the members are actively engaged in some useful work or pleasant pastime. The effect of this rational and home-like treatment of the patients is simply marvelous. We can now open our ward doors and allow a large number of our patients to go in and out at pleasure, without the least appre- hension that such a privilege will be abused. Our wards are as quiet under this system, and their inmates as pleasant, peaceable and friendly, as those of any well ordered private family. It is rarely the case, as our neighbors can testify, that unusual noises of any kind are heard to emanate from our wards, even where the most disturbed and excitable classes are kept.
"Under this system the abuse or rough treatment of patients by nurses, of which we used to hear so much, has almost ceased to occur. Nurses are still occasionally dismissed for dictatorial or discourteous treatment of their patients, but these offenses are seldom, or never, of an aggravated character, and under the old system of restraint would never have been noticed. Patients are never, or very rarely, confined to their 17
250
HAND-BOOK OF ALABAMA.
rooms except in extreme maniacal conditions which require quiet and repose. As a disciplinary measure isolation is seldom necessary, and as our supervisors' monthly reports show, is rarely resorted to. The great changes in the social and industrial life of the hospital which have sprung up under the new regime are indeed perpetual sources of gratification and wonder. Truly, as visitors often say to me, we observe very little that is at all distinctive in the life and habits of the insane in a well conducted asylum for their care. It would really seem that there is little, if any thing, more to be accomp- lished in the care and treatment of the insane in the best of these institutions. Progress in this direction seems to have caught up and kept pace with the general advance. Let us see to it that we take no step back ward.
"MECHANICAL RESTRAINT.
"It was determined ten years ago to introduce into this hospital, if practicable, the system of absolute non-restraint, which has been so successfully practiced in Great Britain under the auspices of Dr. Conolly and his followers. . The idea embraced in this system is that the insane, in public hos- pitals, can be controlled and treated more humanely, and with better results, without the use of straight-jackets, camisoles, muffs, wristlets, restraining chairs, bed-straps, crib-bedsteads, or any other of the various appliances commonly known as restraining apparatus. How this experiment has succeeded my reports for the last ten years will amply testify. During this long period, with a household averaging nearly a thousand patients, there has been no resort whatever to any species of mechanical restraint, for either surgical or other purposes. Not a vestige of restraining apparatus of any kind is to be found about the premises, nor has there occurred a single case in the wards of the hospital, during this long period, which seemed to justify or require its use. Instances have occasi- onally occurred which to others, might have appeared to call for such applications ; but in no single case have they failed in our hands to yield to milder measures. I had a patient a short while ago who persisted in stuffing towels and articles of bed- ding and clothing down his throat with a view to self-destrue- tion. I was apprehensive at first that this case, which was the
251
TIIE INSANE HOSPITAL.
worst we have ever had to deal with, would prove intractable. and that we might finally have to resort to extreme measures ; but a few days of constant watching, by day and night, entirely dispelled this fear, and relieved our patient of his self-destruc- tive proclivities.
" I take the greater pleasure in recording each year the un- broken success that has followed the practice of this system of non-restraint in the Alabama Insane Hospital for the reason that there has arisen of late, both in this country and abroad, a decided reaction against the extreme views of Dr. Conolly and his followers. Many of our ablest and most experienced physicians, in charge of the insane, hold that it is possible to carry the non-restraint principle too far, and at too great a cost. The majority of our American superintendents have openly expressed and advocated these views; and under the leadership of such eminent men as Doctors Savage and Yel- lowlees, of Great Britain, many of our confreres across the water, we are sorry to say, are rapidly joining the ranks of the reactionists.
" The evil to be feared with regard to the employment of even the minimum amount of mechanical restraint, is that its legitimate and judicious use at first, will almost surely lead to its abuse in the end. ITuman judgment, under the most favor- able conditions, is often unreliable and erring ; but more espe- cially is this the case when dealing with a problem so variable and complex as the one we are now considering. Under this milder system of government, which, for ten consecutive years, has been in operation in this hospital, we have been rewarded with the most gratifying success. Nothing has occurred dur- ing that comparatively long period of time to change our opinions as to its safety and utility. On the contrary, as I have reported on so many previous occasions, the experience of each successive year serves only the more surely to strengthen and confirm these impressions. The comparative order and quiet that prevail among our 1.100 patients, so evident to every one who visits the hospital : the industry, cheerfulness, and spirit of contentment which are every where apparent ; and the absence of all complaints of ill treatment or neglect of any. kind, as well as the universal feeling of confidence and respect evidenced for both officers and nurses, are some of the fruits of
252
HAND-BOOK OF ALABAMA.
this system which we would not willingly forego. We are therefore not prepared to abandon it, nor to break our long and honorable record by a hasty or uncalled for resort to manual restraint.
.OCCUPATION, DIVERSION, ETC.
" Carlisle, in one of his masterly treatises, remarks that ' work is the grand cure of all the maladies and miseries that ever beset mankind.' Had he been writing with special refer- ence to the insane, he could not have made a truer observation. If there is any one thing more than another calculated to des- troy the peace and tranquility of the patients, and the orderly quiet of the wards in which they reside, it is a life of enforced idleness. The idle man or woman, whether in or out of an insane asylum, is either miserable or mischief making; and this is especially true of an insane person who is willing and has the capacity to engage in some congenial and suitable oc- cupation.
" The rule here is that all must work except the sick or the acutely insane, and the result is that more than ninety per cent. of our women, and seventy-five per cent. of our men are regularly engaged in some useful and pleasant occupation. The women patients and their nurses make all the clothing for both men and women in the house. They spin thread from the raw cotton ; knit all the socks and stockings worn by the plainer class of patients; make hundreds of patch-work quilts ; work in the laundry, ironing room, and other outside departments, and assist the nurses in performing their work in the dining rooms, wards, etc. The men work in the garden, on the farm, in the shops, and in nearly all the outside depart- ments. It is more difficult, however, to find suitable or con- genial occupation for the better class of men, and for this rea- son the percentage of workers falls below that of the women.
" By far the best and safest work I have ever found for the average insane man is moving soil in a wheelbarrow. He can perform this work in the open air, and at an easy, go-as-you- please pace. Working alone as it were, and with an imple- ment which cannot be turned to harm, he is in little or no danger of being imposed upon, driven too hard, or injured by other patients. One of my patients very wittily as well as wisely remarked to me that he thought 'a crazy man and a
253
THE INSANE HOSPITAL.
wheelbarrow must have been made for each other.' Hundreds of our male patients are engaged every day in terracing and grading the grounds of the hospital, and we still have enough of that kind of work left, I am glad to say, to keep them em- ployed for many years to come.
" Amusements have also their place in the regime of every well conducted hospital for the insane, but they are of little importance as a remedial agent when compared to work. Our large amusement hall is opened nearly every evening in the week after tea for the diversion of the patients. Dances, in which all the patients are encouraged to engage, occupy two evenings in the week, while the others are devoted to games, exhibitions, readings, music, or other pastimes of a suitable character. Long walks on the lawn, in the woods, or the sur- rounding country, are taken every day by the men and women, when the weather permits ; and out-door games of all kinds are frequently resorted to by those who prefer that kind of ex- ercise.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.