appropriation is made for the purchase of the land asked for and for "completing the water supply," and it will be of excellent quality for all purposes. That at Mt. Pleasant is assured in their contract recently made with the city.

Your committee beg leave to call your attention to the non-resident insane accumulating in our hospitals, and recommend that authority be granted to send such patients to their residences, when they can be ascertained, and an appropriation be made to carry out this purpose.

We take pleasure in saying that in our opinion our hospitals are well managed and are reasonably efficient as compared with other institutions of the same kind in this country. All of which is respectfully submitted.

S. B. OLNEY, President.
L. C. MECHEM, Secretary.
MRS. L. S. KINCAID,

Committee.

2

OLMSTEAD INVESTIGATION.

HON. B. R. SHERMAN, Governor of Iowa:

SIR--In obedience to your order of October, 1882, I called my committee together at Iowa Hospital for Insane; present: S. B. Olney, President, J. C. Mitchell, Secretary, and proceeded to examine into the charges brought of mismanagement and want of care of one L. M. Olmstead, late a patient in said hospital from Clarke county, Iowa. Said charges were made by Mrs. L. M. Olmstead, and corroborated by others, that said Olmstead was discharged from said hospital in an extremely filthy, lousy condition, on or about September 19, 1882; your committee proceeded to take the testimony of the then superintendent, Dr. H. M. Bassett, who is a very competent physician in his specialty, and an exceedingly careful and painstaking officer, who made a full statement under oath as to said Olmstead's case, and and as to the condition, care and treatment of said patient during his residence in said hospital, showing conclusively that said Olmstead did not want for care, and was not filthy when he left the hospital; the charge of his family or wife not being kept properly informed is shown not only by Dr. Bassett's statement to be without any foundation, but by the regular letter book it is shown that his wife had regular reports of his case by mail; and that finally, on the seventeenth day of September, 1882, Dr. Bassett, by a critical personal examination of the said patient, became satisfied that a decline had set in that was not likely to be arrested, wrote to his wife of his apprehensions and suggested his removal to his home, as he supposed that his friends would rather have him die there than at the hospital, in the event of such a contingency. Dr. B. further says in reference to the charge that Mr. Olmstead was in such a notably filthy condition as to be ob vious to casual observation, that less than forty-eight hours before said Olmstead left the hospital he made a thorough personal examination of his body, during which he had occasion to see his legs as high as his body, and see exposed the whole of his head, face, neck and chest, and although he had no reason to suspect such a state of lousiness as his friends allege, such a condition could not have escaped his notice had it existed. His testimony is also to the effect that the said

Olmstead had organic disease that was necessarily fatal, and that his residence and treatment in hospital not only did not shorten his life, but that he was better and his life prolonged by said treatment and

care.

The testimony of Dr. Max E. Witte, in charge of the male wards, who saw Olmstead every day and had charge of his medical treatment, is positive as to his being well cared for and cleanly, and knows that he was clear of vermin when he left the Hospital.

Mr. Francis Braderick is supervisor of the male wards, and sees all the patients in his department every day; is confident that Olmstead left the Hospital in a cleanly personal condition, that his clothes were clean and that he was free from vermin; he saw that he was prepared for leaving, as he had charge of patients' clothing.

Gilbert Lyon, assistant supervisor of male wing, testifies to the same purport as the supervisor.

Elmer Alton, attendant in ward number ten, the last ward that Olmstead was in, says: "I do not think it possible that he was lousy while in my ward nor when he left it, when he went away. I feel positive about it, for he had good care and attention. We had to be in his room frequently; had to take his meals to him for two weeks before he went home, because the physician directed that he be kept in bed. We bathed him every week when he could go to the bathroom; we sponged his body frequently while he was in his room and confined to bed."

Mr. Alton says: "We examine patients quite frequently to see if any have vermin upon them." He says, "I do not believe Mr. Olmstead had vermin on him when he left the Hospital, for we made special effort to have him clean and nice when he left. We sponged off his whole body the morning he went away, and tried to induce him to put on some underclothing, but he refused to do so."

Many of the patients in this ward say that there had been no lice in this ward for six or eight months.

C. L. Simmons, attendant on ward six, was acquainted with Lewis. Olmstead, who came to his ward from ward three the first time, as also the second time he came to the Hospital. He was in a rather weakened condition when he came; personally he was in a cleanly condition. He said he came from a back ward and might be lousy, and wanted a fine comb. "I gave him one, and also examined him, and found one louse on his beard; did not find any more; he was thereafter in ward six more than two months; do not think it possible

he could have had vermin all that time without its being discovered. When he asked me for a fine comb the first time, he requested me to trim his hair and beard, and I did so. I feel quite confident he had no lice when he left my ward to go to number ten, which was about August 23d.

C. F. Kueney, attendant on ward three, does not think Olmstead was lousy when he was in his ward, and is quite sure about it.

I remember of seeing this patient myself, when in ward ten, and remember that he had a nice, clean room, and was to all appearances, well cared for; and, from all the evidence we can find, we do not believe this said patient Olmstead was ill used, but that he was well cared for and well treated, and we do not believe that he left the hospital in a "filthy" or lousy condition.

The attendants who have testified in this examination we are well acquainted with, and believe them to be truthful, reliable, and faithful attendants, who would not allow a patient to get into such a condition as charged in this case.

Neither do we believe Dr. Witta, the assistant physician, who had direct charge of the male wards, and of the said Olmstead, would allow any patient under his charge to get into such a condition as charged in this case, as my observation of him is that he is faithful in the performance of his duties in hospital.

Respectfully submitted,

S. B. OLNEY, President of Committee.