Tragedy at Steilacoom Hospital
An inquest finds no negligence after a patient at the hospital for the insane takes his own 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.
J. H. Dart, a patient committed to the hospital for the insane from Whatcom last June, committed suicide on the 24th instant. When his door was opened early in the morning, he was found fastened by his neck to the window grating by his suspenders, which he had formed into a noose. He was suffering from melancholia, but had shown no disposition before to harm himself. This is the first successful suicide at the hospital for about nine years. An inquest was held, and the jury found that his death was caused by strangulation at his own hands and further that no blame is attached to the management of the institution.
“We further find that no blame is attached to the management of the institution.”
This tragic report highlights the limited and often harsh reality of mental health care in the 1880s, where 'melancholia' was treated in isolated wards. It serves as a stark reminder of how little support structures existed for vulnerable individuals compared to today’s standards of mental health reform.
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