The Jailhouse Gas Leak Incident
A young woman suffering from a mental health crisis dismantles jail plumbing in a desperate attempt to end her life.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mary Baltus, a young woman recently over from Germany, was adjudged insane yesterday by Judge Lichtenberg and committed to the asylum at Steilacoom. The woman was troubled with the delusion that everybody was trying to do her harm, and she became very violent just before her arraignment in court. The door leading to her cell was left unlocked by the jailer, who thought that she was harmless. It was not long before she discovered this, and she went out into the corridor. She seized a window pole, and knocked away the gas fixtures, breaking off the pipes, thus causing gas to rush into the apartment. Then she proceeded to tear up her blankets, and was preparing to hang herself when Jailer Monroe, who heard the noise, rushed in and after a sharp tussle succeeded in overpowering her. He then relieved her of everything with which she could harm herself, and placed her in a bare cell until she quieted down. The jailer with difficulty stopped the flow of gas from the broken fixtures.
“The door leading to her cell was left unlocked by the jailer, who thought that she was harmless. It was not long before she discovered this.”
This incident reflects the precarious and often inhumane treatment of those in mental health crisis during the late 19th century, a time when 'asylums' were the default response. Today's Seattle struggles with the same intersection of criminal justice and mental healthcare, moving away from confinement toward modern crisis response protocols.
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