Testimony from Attendants, Florida State Hospital, Chattahoochee, Gadsden Co., FL File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Betty Mae James Smith, BettyMaeS@aol.com USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation. This file may not be removed from this server or altered in any way for placement on another server without the consent of the State and USGenWeb Project coordinators and the contributor. *********************************************************************** TESTIMONY FROM PRESENT AND FORMER ATTENDANTS AT FLORIDA STATE HOSPITAL George ANDERSON - Attendant at Florida State Hospital On March 16, 1961, the following testimony was given by attendant George Anderson to Committee Aide John J. Parker: Yesterday and today are the first two times this winter the patients have been out. I think the doctors and employees here tend the patients the best they can under the conditions1 I do not know of any mistreatment of patients on the "squad" during the last two or three years. Supervisors look into complaints here. I have heard of attendants abusing patients but they were subsequently discharged for doing so. It is possible for attendants to take things from patients. I believe there are attendants who should not be here. There is not a written set of rules that I Know of. The doctor is the only one who can send a patient to the maximum security ward, but the doctor or the supervisor may transfer patients from one ward to the other. I have never worked in the maximum security building. Some of tile attendants tease patients, and not all of the attendants think Mr. Dean is top man. I do not know of a definite line up of attendants between Mr. Dean and Burl Locklin. The doctors are not able to see the patients often enough. There are times when there is only one attend on a ward. I would not care to have any member of my family placed in this hospital, however, my father died here as a patient. T. W. ATWELL Attendant at Florida State Hospital On March 16, 1961, the following testimony was given by attendant T. W. Atwell to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I am 29 years of age and have been employed at the hospital since 1955. I have a fourth grade education and can not read or write very well. I have not been to school at the hospital to learn how to care for the patients. The supervisor gave me the only instructions I have had. The food has always been good here. I have worked on the Squad with William Powell. I have never seen anything out of the way while I worked the Squad. I have heard patients tease attendants and I have heard attendants tease patients. I worked Ward 6 for nearly 2 years by myself. The patients at Florida State Hospital are pretty well taken care of. All of the patients who are sick get to see the doctor. I have never heard of attendants calling the office for medical attention for one of the patients and not getting it. W.R. BUCKHALTER -- Attendant in the Maximum Security Building at Florida State Hospital On February 20, 1961, the following testimony Was given by attendant W. R. Buckhalter to Committee Aide John J. Parker: Saturday night Mr. Deese and I made our rounds of the ward. Everything Was okay. A few minutes later I found patient Stinson hanging from the bars. I did not have a knife long enough to cut him down, so I ran and got attendant Deese. We went into the cell and cut Stinson down. I began to give him artificial respiration and at one point the boy moved the fingers of one of his hands but he never came to. I continued giving him artificial respiration until the doctors arrived. I have been at the hospital ten years and have never seen or heard of patients being choked out. I imagine it consists of someone taking the patient around the neck with his hands and choking until the patient passes out. DICK CHASON -- Attendant at Florida State Hospital On March 16, 1961, the following testimony was given by attendant Dick Chason to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I would rather not say anything as I am sure you know the score by now. If I did not think you had enough information, I would talk but I rather not. Some of the patients have as much sense as we have. Some of them should be on the outside. I believe this investigation will help the whole situation here. There has certainly been some need for investigation here. We need more employees. The patients went outside yesterday and today for the first time this winter. CROFT - Attendant at Florida State Hospital On February 24, 1961, the following testimony Was given by Mr. Croft, attendant, to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I Want to say that my boy, Van Croft, Was not the one who so brutally beat patient Jack Massey. Attendants Hamilton and Brooner were also involved in this episode. Attendant Hamilton put a pillow case on patient Massey's throat and choked the patient out. He then beat him in the face and the blood spattered on another patient, William McCoy. We can verify this with patient McCoy. Donald Duncan and William McCoy saW all of this. Attendants Hamilton and Brooner got together and decided to let Van Croft take all the blame. I Went to Mr. Dean, the supervisor, and told him the true story. He promised me that something would be done about the other two as well as Van Croft. Mr. Dean told me to have Van come back to the hospital in about six months and he would give him his lob back. An attendant named Pippins made patient, Williard Allen sit in a chair and inhale a cigar over and over again. When the patient began to be nauseated, Pippins hit him in the stomach with his fist as hard as he could. One time I brought a patient from Maximum Security to the white male department to see a doctor. The patient did not speak lust right and Dr. Gumanis told me to get the patient out of his office. The attendants are not allowed to give the patients even an aspirin without permission from the supervisor. 1 have often called the office to have patients checked and doctored, but could get no medical attention for them. Patient Charlie Webb in Ward I had a severe asthma attack three or four nights I went to the office to get some medicine for him and Mr. Johnson would not give me The Squad has been disbanded noW, but it certainly Was in force. They kept people back there with mits on. I have seen many patients sit on the Squad and not get fed. The patients were put on the Squad for anything -- from fighting to an attendant simply just not liking the particular patient. This Was for punitive purposes only and not for closer supervision. They put patients in Maximum Security for escaping or attempting to escape. I have seen patients get plenty of cold showers. Attendant H. R. Helms on Ward Ten throws the patients in cold showers - I have seen it. I have also seen cases where patients never get the contents from packages sent to them. I have heard of attendants using patient's trade cards. Attendant Lee Roy Lewis has done this and because of it Was moved from Ward Ten. Mr. Johnson, the supervisor, does not like for the attendants to be friendly with the patients. I think that Mr. Mills on the Grave Shift will help in the investigation. Others who might help are Owen Rogers, Jeff Spooner, June Perkins and B. J. Croft. VAN CROFT -- Former Attendant at Florida State Hospital (Marianna, Florida) On February 21, 1961, the following testimony was given by former attendant Van Croft to Committee Aide John J. Parker: Mr. Parker, I have a bad record at Florida State Hospital. Patients Eugene Boyette and Marshall Sordin took me off of ward 9. They had a knife on me; they took me to Tallahassee. The officials at the hospital do not condone the attendants being friendly with the patients. I would not consider Florida State Hospital a hospital at all. I would hate to be there for have any of my family there. 1 went to work there in November 1956 and Was fired in December 1958. 1 have seen other attendants quite often choke out patients. In fact, I have done it myself. Most of the attendants have choked out patients. Attendant Buckhalter worked on the Squad for three or four months, or longer, and I am sure he has seen some rough treatment back there. The Squad puts patients in cuffs and made them sit on wooden benches. I worked on the Squad for four months; it was a punitive ward. Sometimes patients are sent to the Squad for asssing attendants, or if an attendant does not particularly like a patient he would put him on the Squad. Beating of patients is practiced every day. The food for the patients is pretty fair at times, but they serve bone stew quite often. There are attendants who do take packages sent to the patients from home, and the patients never get any of the goods from the packages. There is also stealing from the patients' "dope cards" each week. The day shift does most of this stealing. Attendant Earl Tyus has been to work many mornings high; the hospital is no place to go drinking. There is no segregation among the patients. When I worked there, it Was hard to get a patient staffed. I believe there are men there who should be on the outside. The doctors very rarely get around the wards and the patients very rarely get to see a doctor. Attendant Albert Johnson on ward 9 will not manhandle the patients, but will have it done. Most of the attendants are heavily in debt and are afraid of losing their jobs, so it might be hard to get the ones still employed there to give you information. Patient J. B. Denmark is picked on by the attendants. It is a form of mental torture. I have done it myself; even Mr. Johnson picks on him. I have heard doctors tell patients that they would never get out. One patient Was released for 30 days and had to come back, and the doctors told him that he Was stuck there now. The morale of the patients and the attendants on Male Wards 1 through 10 is terrible. There are about 180 patients on wards 9 and 10. In my opinion the place is under poor supervision. You may talk with John Croft, Earl Williams, backyard, and Mercer, assistant on tie swing shift in the backyard. DEESE -- Attendant in the Maximum Security Building at Florida State Hospital On February 20, 1961, the following testimony Was given by attendant Deese to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I was the last person to see patient Red Stinson alive. I have been employed at the hospital three years this April and have been on Maximum Security approximately a year and a half. For the past two or three months the doctors have been making rounds at the Maximum Security Building pretty often, but prior to that they did not come very often. a patient wants to see a doctor, the attendant calls the main office and tells one of the supervisors. Sometimes a doctor will come and sometimes they will not. I would not call the Maximum Security Building a hospital. All of the patients are not on medication, just some of them. Dr. O'Conner comes to check the patients to see if they can be moved from Maximum Security. Dr. Gumanis previously Was doing this. I have never seen anyone choked out. JAMES DUFFELL --- Attendant at Florida State Hospital On March 16, 1961, the following testimony was given by attendant James Duffell to Committee Aide John J. Parker: The patients are getting better food since this investigation started. The patients are being treated better since we have been here. It seems that the attendants have changed since the investigation began. I have never mistreated a patient. I worked on the receiving wards 3 1/2 years. You can get more out of a patient by sitting down and talking with him than by yelling at him or ordering him around. The best thing to do is to talk to a patient like he is a human being. Not all of the attendants here do this. Mr. Dean has the welfare of the patients at heart and will not put up with attendants mistreating patients if he knows that it is going on. However, he can not be every place at once. The charge patients are good to work with. I have never asked one to do anything for me that he has not tried to do. I have been working white male 17 months. I have never been hit by a patient whatsoever and I have been among the very worse ones. I believe that the patients clothes should be changed more than once a week. The men who work get to change their clothes more often than the ones who do not work. The house boys get better clothes. As a rule, the patients wearing overalls are not allowed to go to the dances. Yesterday and today the patients are outside for the first time this winter. Yesterday, the Budget Commission Comm. came through and today the Governor was here. I have never worked the squad, but I have heard of brutality there. The supervisor and the doctors are the ones to put the patients on the Squad. I have heard of patients packages being missing. There are attendants here who should not be working in a mental hospital. The attendants do not get enough schooling in the two week course offered here to tend the patients needs. The doctors are not in close enough contact with the patients. The records are not kept as they should be on the patients. The doctors do not check with the attendants to determine the progress of patients. If the attendants would be nicer to the patients, the patients would be nicer to the attendants. I would not want any of my relatives over here under present conditions. J. H. EDENFIELD --- Attendant at Present at Florida State Hospital On February 24, 1961, the following testimony was given by attendant J. H. Edenfield to Committee Aide John J. Parker: Mr. Parker, I am afraid to talk to you, because of losing my job. I have no education. I cannot read or write. The hospital is run pretty well. My main gripe is the low salary. I have heard of patients being choked out, but have never seen this happen. I have worked in the Maximum Security Building. While there, I never saw an attendant do any thing out of the way. I have seen some packages come up missing, but do not know where they went. I just know that the patients did not receive them once they were signed for. I would not want any of my people sent to Florida State Hospital if they became mentally ill. The white male department does not have a proper medical treatment area set up. The Doctors do not go on the wards each day. It is true that the attendants report a patient's being sick and no medical treatment is given the patient. The patients are not checked as they should be checked. I was on White Male Department for two years, and did not see a Doctor in all that time. The patients do not go out in the winter time. They go out almost every day in the summer time. There is no segregation at all on the wards. JAMES HINSON -- Attendant at Florida State Hospital On February 27, 1961, the following testimony Was given by attendant James Hinson to Committee Aide John J. Parker: Mr. Parker, there have been threats made to both the patients and the attendants about us seeing and talking with you. I understand Burl Locklin is the one who made these threats. Attendant Homer Barrentine is an overbearing fellow; he does drink. There is no segregation at all on the wards. Also, there is no reason for choking out a patient. An attendant named Dewey Durden Was fired for choking out a patient. Mr. Durden stated that a patient jumped him and during the scuffle the two of them fell across a chair, and the arm of the chair left a mark on the patient's arm; that he did not purposely harm this patient. He also stated that during the scuffle attendant Croft came up, but gave him no assistance with the patient, instead he started reading a newspaper. Then another patient got Croft to help Durden. Mr. Durden said if the attendants would help each other when a patient lumps them, there would be no reason to get rough with the patients. Mr. Dean would not hear Durden's side of the story. This scuffle happened on January 25, 1959, and on the 31st Durden Was fired. Attendant Eldon Cook told Durden that Locklin got him fired. Attendant B. E. Barfield is a good man. He does not mistreat patients and whatever he tells you is reliable. It is impossible for an attendant to work at the hospital br ten years and not see or hear of choking out. The only time I have ever seen Dr. Rogers in the wards is the day he came through with you. The doctors do not go through the wards as they should to check the progress of the patients. Dr. Char seems to be a good doctor and has the patients welfare at heart, but I cannot say the same about Dr. Gumanis. The attendants can call the office for medical attention for an ill patient and not get any form of attention. It all depends on the mood the supervisor is in when you call as t6 whether the patient will get medical treatment or not. I have given medicine to patients when I Was not authorized to do so. I have been to Mr. Johnson for medicine and Johnson lust snapped my head off for asking. All of the patients are not given medicine. I would not want to be a patient here. Packages are taken from patients by attendants. The Squad was rough. Men were put on the Squad for almost anything. I have seen patients slapped around, made to sit on wooden benches and not allowed to go to the bathroom when they wanted or needed to go. I suggest that you talk with W. F. Nelson, Sneads, Florida. His phone number is LY-34062. Dewey Durden lives in Cypress,Florida; his address is P.O. Box 4 in Cypress. ALVIN MERCER - Attendant at Florida State Hospital On March 16, 1961, the following testimony was given by attendant Alvin Mercer to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I have heard of patients being "choked out", but have never seen it. The patients are not getting the treatment they should be given. There are patients who have not seen a doctor for months at a time. It seem the only time they get to see a doctor is when they get sick or have someone on the outside who is interested enough to write and request that the doctor see them. There is no segregation on the wards. I have heard a lot of complaints from patients about their packages being stolen but have never seen an attendant actually take anything from a patient. There is not a doctor or nurse here after 3:00 P. M. in the afternoon. I do not think the attendants receive enough training in first aid to render to the needs of the patients. Yesterday and today have been the only two times the patients have been out in the fresh air and sunshine since the beginning of winter. The supervisors or the doctor had the authority to put a patient on the "squad". 'There were patients there who should not have been put there. I think they need the Maximum Security Building as long as there are criminal patients at the hospital. If we had a nurse or two to visit wards one through ten, I think it would help the morale of the patients and the attendants. We have attendants here who should not be working with the patients. I refuse to name any of these. When a patient was put on the "squad", he was made to sit on wooden benches. Sometimes three or four patients were allowed to get up and walk around the ward or porch. I have seen attendants tease patients. ordinarily an attendant who is good to patients, is not Mistreated by the patients. I would not want any of my family put in here, if I could help it. JASPER MORRELL - Attendant at Florida State Hospital On March 16, 1961, the following testimony was given by Attendant Jasper Morrell to Committee Aide John J, Parker: I have never seen a patient abused or choked out. However, I have heard of patients being choked. I do not think it is necessary to choke a patient out. I am now working on Ward 9, but I have worked on the "squad", While I was on the "sqad", patients were made to sit on wooden benches. I have never heard of patients being abused there. It was used for closer supervision of certain patients. Doctors used to go through the "squad" every now and then9 I have heard patients say that they were missing some of their stuff from the lockers. The supervisors and doctors vrere the only ones who put patients on the squad. HARVEY PATE -- Attendant at Florida State Hospital On February 13, 1961, the following testimony Was given by attendant Harvey Pate to Committee Aide John J. Parker: On Christmas Day in 1959 one patient choked to death because there Were not enough attendants on the ward. You can check with attendant Jesse Morrell who was on the ward with me at that time. I do not think the pay scale for attendants at the hospital is high enough. have been an employee here for 12 years and am now making less than $2,500 a year. Mr. Leon Beauchamp in the commissary can give you a lot of information, if he will; also Mr. Brogdon and Turk Roberts. Political pull is terrible over here. You can get by with anything if you know the "big brass." Capable attendants are not hired. There are attendants with little or no education, and those who do not care about the welfare of the patients. JAMES PERKINS --- Former Attendant --- Marianna, Florida On February 21, 1961, the following testimony was given by former attendant James Perkins to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I worked at Florida State Hospital for two years about two and one-half years ago. I worked on the white male wards They did have the Squad. When the patients became upset they were put on the Squad. I have seen attendants choking patients out. Anyone saying that they have never seen a patient choked out is lying. I have had to carry patients to the hospital for beatings they received. The attendants do take packages from the patients. I have heard about attendants getting things on the patients punch cards from the dope stand. They just need better supervision there. I would not consider Florida State Hospital a hospital at all. There is not much medical treatment, care or love administered there. Some of the patients do not get medicine at all. I think they need someone to look after the patients. The feeling for the patients is callous and hard. I know there are attendants there that do not have the patients good at heart. They pick at the patients and agitate them until they get the patients upset. It does not do any good for an attendant to turn another attendant into the supervisors for mistreatment of a patient, because nothing is done about it. I have seen attendants Harley Sheppard and Earl Tyus get the patients so mad they would go all to pieces. The patient would then hit another patient0 I have seen the attendants let the patients commit homosexual acts with no effort made to correct or stop this. There is no segregation at all on the wards. Attendant Earl Tyus comes to work with a hangover all the time. Nathan Tipton also drinks and comes to work drunk. You might check with James Barfield, Ward 5, 2nd shift. He may give some information. Herndon Tharpe, swing shift, is a good attendant. Johnny Odom is also good to the patients. I would be willing to appear before the committee if necessary. JUNE PERKINS -- Former attendant at Florida State Hospital (Lyndale Chicken Farm, Chattahoochee On February 21, 1961, Mr. June Perkins, a former attendant at Florida State Hospital, gave the following testimony to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I worked at the hospital from November 7, 1955, until March 29, 1957. 1 left because I could not stand the treatment given the patients there. The attendants gave some of the patients a bad time and I have seen brutality to the patients. The patients would be put in strait jackets and then put on the Squad; attendants would hit patients with their fists. Most of this mistreatment goes on in the Maximum Security Ward. Burl Locklin knows a lot about this and has seen a lot of it, but he doesn't do a thing to stop this abuse. Attendant Reuben Dunnaway does not treat the patients like human beings because he knows he has the advantage d them. lf the patients get "riled up" about mistreatment, then the attendants will work them over. If a person is not too sick mentally when he goes there, he will be before it is over. The morale of the attendants and the patients is low. I have seen attendants choke out patients. Patient Leo Gravel was cuffed and hot water Was turned on him by attendant Pilcher. This patient Was in bad shape mentally. Pilcher Was fired by Bailey for this. It would not be possible for someone to work there for ten years and not see choking out of patients. Some attendants take packages from the patients. The attendants who do this stealing hang out around the front section of ward 9; hardly any packages get past them. I have heard of attendants taking cards of patients from the drink stand. Burl Locklin has told patients that they would never get out. That place resembles a prison more than it does a hospital. There is no segregation on the wards at all. It would be punishment to put a fairly sane person on the real bad wards, The patients were put on the Squad for punishment, not for medical cause or closer supervision. I have seen attendants there punish the patients by not permitting them to go to the bathroom or get Water. Attendants Hinson and Tyus beat the patients and slap them around. Patient Billy Morrison is one that Was beaten by Tyus and Hinson; Billy is a good boy unless you try to run over him. Attendant Monk Barfield is bad about slapping patients. Attendant Earl Tyus comes to work drunk. Attendant Paul Ferguson comes on the job drinking. Both of these try to sleep it off on the job. It seems they can get away with anything because the supervisors stick up for them. Patient Milton G. Thomas Was not liked by the attendants. They took his money, Squad and sent him to the jail for no reason at all. Ward 7, day shift in charge had this done. Anybody would be unhappy over there. Patient Bret Brinson Was a real bad mental case and would just hit you. The attendants would keep him up all night. lf a normal person stays in this environment he would be crazy before long. When they get word someone is coming, they will fix up certain wards and take them through there. But after they leave, it goes back like it Was before. The food over there is terrible. They serve bone stew all the time that your dog would not eat. The fish they serve is often spoiled. Former Attendant June Perkins -- Page Two From November 17, 1955, to March 29, 1957, I never saw a doctor on the wards. The doctors will not always see the patients when the patients request to see theme Once there Was a patient, Milton Thomas, who 9ot in a fight with another patient. Patient Thomas' hand Was broken and I carried him down to the doctor's office. The nurse on duty, Mrs. Parks, snapped at me to give the patient an enema. I told her it Was not his stomach giving him trouble, but a broken hand. She taped it up after my telling her this. She does not have the patients' welfare at heart. There are not enough attendants to properly look after the patients. 1n the winter the patients do not go out at all. In the summer, they have to stay outside all day. Even the patients who feel bad are not allowed to return to the wards to lie down. In fact, the attendants are told to keep the patients from lying down in the daytime so that they will sleep at night. Sometimes there are patients so sick they can hardly hold their heads up, yet they are forced to stay up. During the time I was working there Dr. Rogers never came through the wards. Dr. Rogers takes the word of the attendants and supervisors and does not stay in close enough contact with the patients. Sometimes the attendants rather than make their rounds will get involved in a good poker game. Thus, close supervision of the patients is not kept. I would like to see things straightened out over there. John Croft and Ed Boon may be able to help you. I will be willing to appear before the committee, if necessary. Another thing, they hold the patients' mail up. They run the mail like it were a prison rather than a hospital for the mentally ill. Edward Gray and T. W. Atwell may be able to help you. Gray may be working at Apalachee Correctional Institution now. JOHN ROBERTS Attendant at Florida State Hospital On March 16, 1961, the following testimony vras given by attendant John Roberts to Committee Aide John J. Parker: I feel like there is much room for improvement here (Wards 1 - 10). I Have been at the hospital for 14 years. For the last 11 months, I have been on the wards. Prior to this time, I worked in the kitchen. I know more about the way the kitchen is run than the way the wards are run. I have never seen patients teased, arid patients being choked out. I have relieved on saw no abuse. I have never witnessed or heard from patients. I have never seen or heard of the "squad" and while there, I of attendants taking packages The food has greatly improved since 1950. The food is good now. There are patients working in the kitchen who should not be there. They are untidy ones. I Do not believe a patient should be working around food unless he is an exceptional one so far as cleanliness is concerned. I do not believe we have enough doctors here to adequately look after the patients. I believe that a few nurses would help. The two weeks training school is fair but it is not adequate to teach the attendants what they need to know about looking after patients. JEFF R. SPOONER -- Attendant at Florida State Hospital On February 24, 1961, the following testimony Was given by attendant Jeff R. Spooner to Committee Aide John J. Parker: Mr. Parker, if it cost me my job for talking to you I do not care. If it will help to improve conditions for the patients at Florida State Hospital, my purpose will be accomplished. I saw patient Jack Massey being mistreated by two attendants. One day, 1 witnessed attendant Harris twisting patient Massey's arm behind him as they came out of the dining room at breakfast, and with every other step Harris Was kicking Massey. The hospital is one big mass of family ties, that is why it is in such a mess. An attendant can call the office for medical attention for one of the patients needing it and not get it. Mr. Ralph Tipton, in many cases, does not send medicine when a patient needs it. However, Hinson, an assistant medical man, is loyal and has the patients' welfare at heart. B. J. Croft does not and the only reason 1 have not reported Croft is out of respect for the boyKs father0 On various occasions 1 have seen attendant Jimmy Stewart use cruelty on patients. One particular time Stewart Was making out the drink stand run cards. A patient who did not understand what Was going on asked Stewart some questions and Was told to shut up and get out of his Way. The patient still did not understand and Stewart jumped up, grabbed the patient, and choked him until the patient fell to the floor. When he saw I Was watching him, he turned the patient loose and began to curse about the incident. There are quite a few choke outs. Through the years it has been a common practice to choke out. It is impossible for an attendant to say that he has never seen or heard of choking out. It is a lie if one says this. I do not think an attendant should work in Maximum Security too long because a good employee there is branded because of mistreatment of patients by other attendants. I have seen patients choked out until they became black in the face0 Countless drugs are wasted in this hospital. They are not taken by the patients but are saved until they reach a dangerous quantity. I have every reason to believe there are attendants who have permitted homosexual acts among patients. It is a common joke among the attendants. Attendant Ham, on the 3 - 11 shift, jokes about this practice. Attendants J 0. Bailey, Grady Jones, yard foreman, and several other attendants call the patients "queers" and other crude names. Instead of discouraging this practice, they joke about it. I told them not to use this language with reference to the patients. In the Fall of 1959 1 walked in Ward 1 and caught two patients in bed together. I chased one of them out. Attendant Jimmy Stewart, who was in charge of Ward 1, told me he did not see any reason in doing this because it would happen again as soon as your back Was turned. I told Mr. Dean about this and Dean talked with Stewart about it. Since then, Stewart has tried to break these things up. Attendant J. 0. Bailey on several occasions asked one little patient, a moronic boy, how many times that day he had sex relations with me. 1 told Bailey to stop saying this and Bailey cursed at me. I Was on the Squad for only one night. I did not see any mistreatment or brutality then. However, 1 do know that this ward is used for punishment. Attendant H. A. Mercer could tell you a lot if he would. He told me that he has seen patients marched out after lunch and tied to the benches on the porch. Even if they needed to, they Were not allowed to go to the bathroom. Mr. Mercer carried Water to the patients while they Were strapped to these benches and it made the other attendants mad. Mr0 Dean is basically a good man; he simply cannot see all ti is going on in the wards. There is no segregation at all in the wards. When an investigating group is to come through the wards, it is a common practice to cleanup the wards or places to be visited. Wards 1 through 10 are not run as hospital wards. The patients do not receive proper treatment; there are no progress charts made on patients; and it appears to me that the doctors take care of the patients who have interested persons on the outside and let the others go. Patients are not staffed often enough, and there are not enough attendants to look after the needs of the patients. The food is pretty bad. I have seen attendants tease patients. Attendant Williard Cook teased patient Sam Tarpley into a rampage and finally Cook almost choked the patient down. I do not see any excuse for an attendant ever choking a patient. Charmichael and Poole are good attendants. I have seen quite a few packages taken from patients. Patient L. J. Hall received a box of Hershey bars and attendants Ralph Williams and J, D. Johnson took all of this candy from him. They asked me if I wanted some. I told them yes and took all of the candy out of the box and carried it home with me. I put it in my ice box and took two bars a day back to the patient until the candy Was gone. I did this to keep the two attendants from stealing all of the patients candy. It would be my suggestion that a punch clock be installed. In this Way, packages could not be carried off the wards unnoticed. In the network of kin folks employed at the hospital, a patient can easily be framed. The criminal patients require so much time the noncharge patients are neglected. A social worker at the hospital has been trying to get Dr. Rogers to see me, but so far he has not called for me. The social worker told me he wanted to feel Dr. Rogers out before he gave him my name. So far, Dr. Rogers has not asked who wanted to see him.