A Mysterious Death at the Asylum
A state official dies suddenly at the Fort Steilacoom asylum, sparking local rumors and questions about the workplace environment.
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.
A mysterious disease has carried off two prominent persons connected with the Fort Steilacoom asylum, and people having friends employed in that institution are conjecturing about the possibility of continued association with insane men and women resulting, in certain cases, in mental derangement and death. A few days ago, State Representative Joseph Allen Shadle complained of dullness. He was the asylum accountant, and was in good health. Last Saturday morning, after a hearty breakfast, Shadle went into his office, and subsequently complained of dullness. He said to one of the asylum directors: 'Why, your face is all covered with blood. Your nose is bleeding and your face is bloody.' Shadle lapsed into a comatose condition, and was dead apparently for a long time before his heart ceased to beat. Superintendent Waughop decided that Shadle died of apoplexy, and the remains were shipped to Wauseon. Dr. Waughop denies stoutly that death was due to any unnatural cause.
“Why, your face is all covered with blood. Your nose is bleeding and your face is bloody.”
Western State Hospital in Lakewood (formerly Fort Steilacoom) remains a major psychiatric facility. The panic surrounding the 'contagion' of mental illness in 1894 highlights the historical stigma and misinformation that defined early institutional psychiatry.
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