Page:1887 Compiled Laws of Dakota Territory.pdf/113

§§ 248-251 is or may be made for one purpose shall be drawn or used for any other purpose, and if at any time hereafter the sum appro­priated by the legislative assembly for any specific purpose shall be found insufficient to complete and accomplish the purpose for which said appropriation is made, then no part of the said sum so appropriated shall be expended or drawn from the territorial treasury, nor shall any liability on the part of the territory be created on account of said appropriation.

§ 248. All residents of the territory of Dakota, who are or may become inmates of either hospital, shall receive their board, tuition and treatment free of charge during their stay. The residents of other states or territories may be admitted to said hos­pitals upon the payment of the first cost of said board, tuition and treatment as provided by the by-laws adopted by the board of trustees; provided, that no resident of another state or terri­tory shall be received or retained to the exclusion of any resident of any part of the territory of Dakota; and, provided, further, that should any inmate be unwilling to accept gratuitiousgratuitous [sic] board, treatment or tuition, then the superintendent of the hospital is hereby authorized to receive pay therefor, and is required to­ account for the same in an itemized monthly statement to the trustees, as donations to be duly credited to the persons from whom they were received, and if the superintendent shall receive­ any money for the purpose of furnishing extra attention and comforts to any inmates of the hospital he shall account for the same and for the expenditures in like manner to the trustees.

§ 249. All patients in the hospital shall be regarded as standing on an equal footing; and the several patients, according to their different conditions of mind and body and their respec­tive needs, shall be provided for and treated with equal care; provided, that if the relatives or immediate friends of any patient shall desire it, and pay the expenses thereof, such patient may have special care and may be provided with a special attendant, as may be agreed uppn with the superintendent. In such cases the charges for such special care and attendance shall be paid quarterly in advance. The relatives or friends of any patient in the hospital shall have the privilege of paying any por­tion or all of the expenses of such patient therein, and the superintendent shall cause the account of such patient to be credited with any sums so paid.

§ 250. If at any time it may become necessary for want of room or other cause, to discriminate in the general reception of patients into the hospital, a selection shall be made as follows:

1. Recent cases, i. e., cases of less than one year's duration.

2. Chronic cases, i. e., when the disease is of more than one year's duration, presenting the most favorable prospects for recovery shall be next preferred.

3. Those for whom application has been longest on file, other­ things being equal, shall be next preferred.

4. When cases are equally meritorious in all other respects, the indigent are to be preferred.

§ 251. If any patient shall escape from the hospital the superintendent shall cause immediate search to be made for such patient, and if the patient cannot be found, he shall cause notice of such escape to be forthwith given to the commissioners of in­ sanity of the county where the patient belongs; and if such patient is found in the county, the commissioners shall cause him or her to b.e returned, and shall issue their warrant therefor as in