DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997               TAG: 9704030458

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   78 lines

VIRGINIA [BRIEFS]

SOUTHSIDE

U.S. launches full

investigation into

state mental hospital

PETERSBURG - The U.S. Justice Department has moved from a preliminary review of complaints to a full-fledged investigation of a state-run mental hospital where two patients died strapped to their beds.

Gloria Huntley was found dead at Central State Hospital on June 29, 1996, her arms and legs held down by leather belts. In the final month of her life, the 31-year-old woman was placed in solitary confinement and strapped spread-eagled on her back for 300 hours.

Another patient, Derrick Wilson, died in restraints at Central State in 1993.

Justice Department spokeswoman Lee Douglass said Wednesday that the agency notified the state last week about the investigation.

Douglass said investigators will visit Central State and may interview hospital officials, staff and patients about patient treatment and care. She declined to provide more details.

Likely arrow from Bighorn

battle turns up in Virginia

PETERSBURG - What may be one of the only remaining arrows shot during the Battle of Little Bighorn has surfaced at the Petersburg National Battlefield.

The 27-inch American Indian arrow was among boxes of Civil War items recently donated by a Pennsylvania man.

Horace Evans Neff, of Lansdale, Pa., said the arrow belonged to his grandfather, First Lt. Horace Evans, who fought in the Civil War. A handwritten tag Evans attached to the arrow said it had been picked up on the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana.

Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer the 7th Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in the 1876 battle. About 250 U.S. Army soldiers died.

The arrow probably was picked up after the fight, when soldiers returned to the battlefield to dig graves for the dead, said Timothy P. McCleary, chief historian of the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Crow Agency, Mont.

He said he is optimistic about the arrow's authenticity.

The arrow will be delivered to the Montana park next week, where it will be compared to other arrows from the era to verify its date. The type of metal, wood and feathers used can give an indication of what tribe made the arrow, McCleary said.

The donation also included a Civil War sword, a .30-caliber pistol, a uniform and two bronze spurs given to Neff's grandfather at Appomattox. They are on display at the Visitor's Center of the Petersburg National Battlefield located off state Route 36. Central

Giant ``rat'' from PETA

protests Gilmore's trip

RICHMOND - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals decided to dog the attorney general Wednesday with a giant rat.

A PETA member in a rat costume protested Attorney General James S. Gilmore's recent trip to tobacco giant Philip Morris headquarters, where he raised $50,000 in campaign funds.

Gilmore has been criticized by some political opponents and by the American Cancer Society's mid-Atlantic division. Most of the criticism has focused on the propriety of the state's top lawyer accepting tobacco cash while keeping the state out of lawsuits against tobacco manufacturers.

PETA, which is based in Norfolk, had a different complaint. ``Thousands of dogs, cats, monkeys, rabbits and mice suffer and are killed in smoking experiments every year. . . ,'' PETA said in a news release. The ``rat'' stood outside Gilmore's office building for an hour, holding a protest sign.

Also on Wednesday, a PETA staffer from Norfolk was arrested for spray-painting ``Shame'' on the window of NBC's ``Today'' show to protest an appearance by exotic-animal trainer David McMillan. KEYWORDS: U.S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION CENTRAL STATE

MENTAL HOSPITAL PETA PROTEST

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