“Letter from Raleigh” from Gold Leaf, a Newspaper published in Henderson, N.C., Thursday, September 21, 1905
Interesting News
Items Picked Up by Our Regular Correspondent at the State Capital
Raleigh, N.C., Sept. 18, 1905—The “official” investigation
into the insane asylum “sensation” has not been concluded, the board of
directors after being in session two days having adjourned to meet again the
last of this week when they will formulate their report to the Governor.
In the meantime the four asylum attendants who were arrested
and committed to jail on the charge of killing the patient Thomas Nall last month
under such sensational and distressing circumstances, have been admitted to
bail in the sum of $1,000 each. They were released from prison last Saturday
evening, the solicitor of the Superior Court agreeing to the acceptance of bond
after steps had been taken to bring this case before a Supreme Court justice
today.
Their release on bond is due to the expert medical testimony
given last week before the asylum directors by several Raleigh physicians to
the effect that according to the lights before them the patient Nall’s death
was not due to the clot of blood on the brain (presumably produced by a blow
from a club or clubs in the hands of one or more of the attendants), but to “heart
distension,” caused by excitement, over-heat and over-exertion in his race to
escape from the asylum.
The coroner of this county, Dr. T. M. Jordan, and Dr. Taylor
Chatham, who made the autopsy, had declared that death resulted from the blood
clot on the brain and the coroner’s jury so found, after hearing the evidence
of the witnesses who swore to the rough treatment the patient received at the
hands of the four attendants. Hence their arrest for murder.
They will be tried at the October term of Wake court, but
probably on a minor charge. There appears to be no doubt of their having
treated the Nall patient inhumanly, in capturing and subduing him and returning
him to the asylum. It is claimed that Nall was unconscious when several
witnesses saw him, just after the clubbing in the woods, and that he never
regained consciousness. Some of these witnesses have not appeared before the
asylum directors, but it is stated that they will voluntarily appear and
testify to what they know in court next month.
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Governor Glenn and party will return from their New England
trip in a few days. Gov. Glenn had a narrow escape from a fatal automobile
accident in; Massachusetts last Friday. Two of the party in the automobile
preceding the one containing the Governor were seriously hurt by the car
falling through a bridge.
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The opponents of the dispensary here who have been working
for three months to secure another election on the liquor question, with a view
of a restoration of the saloon system, have not yet succeeded. The board of
aldermen recently refused to order the election and counsel for the saloon
people applied for a mandamus to compel the board to order the election, under
the terms of the Watts law. The hearing of the mandamus has been set for next
week.
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There is much interest manifested in the coming of President
Roosevelt to Raleigh four weeks hence on Thursday of Fair Week. The indications
are that the crowds at the State Fair this year will break all records.
---
The colleges here all opened last week under the most
favorable conditions. King’s Business College, the leading institution of its
kind in North Carolina, opens with over 150 students. No college in the State
is growing faster or giving more general satisfaction to its patrons.
Trinity College at Durham opened with its largest attendance
in its history. The entering class is much larger than last year and the old
students have returned in larger numbers than ever before. The total enrollment
shows a marked increase over last year; in fact the dormitory capacity of the
college is taxed this year with students.
October 3rd is set apart by the trustees of
Trinity as a holiday, and on that day public exercises will be held and a list
of all the donations during the preceding year will be announced, the object
being to cultivate the spirit of benevolence and give recognition to the
generosity of the contributors to the college. The address this year will be delivered by
Hon. Henry A. Page. Trinity graduates are forging to the front in the
educational world. Recently the following Trinity men have been elected to the
positions named: R.A. Law, instructor in English at Harvard University; W.H.
Boyd, professor of history at Dartmouth College; B.R. Payne, professor in Curry
School of Pedagogy, University of Virginia, and others.
The theatrical season has opened and Manager Upchurch of the
Academy of Music has booked many of the finest productions. Three fine plays
this week—A Bunch of Keys, Tuesday; Human Hearts, Wednesday; and The Office Boy
Saturday night. Many patrons from near-by towns attend the Raleigh theatre.
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