The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-03-18

ToRY-THR NATURE OF HIS INsANTY-A
LAWYER FooLED By A LuaAT1o.
Augusta papers come TO ls Allsd With
Che details Of theescape. tho arrest and
subsequent return to the asylumsin this
Fcityof lunatic.s As thisscas once be-
fore attracted public attention, and
created considerable comment, We deem
it matter Of sufficient public importance
to give the details Of ;he case, a5 isT as
our space will allow. With this view,
We sent our reporter to the asylum, where
the following interview took place, which
will throw much light upon the subject:
Reporter-It appears that one OF your
patients took French leave OF you few
nights ago, and has created quite q sem
sation in Augusta.
DR.. Ensor-Yes; Mr. Benz Ohaires,
Jr.. ono OF our inmates from Florida,
made his escape from the institution on
last Wednesday night.
Reporter-How did he effect his az
cape?
DR.. Ensor-His room was upon the
fourth story Of cross section of the
building, which overlooked the main
building, which is but three stories high.
He hoisted the window, removed the
iron guards and emerged upon the roof
OF tho main building and made his way
to the ground by means Of the scaffold-
ing OF nm additional wing to the asylum,
now in process OF erection. Once on
the ground, lao scaled the walls by means
of ladder which he found in the nm.
completed wing.
Reporter-He was quite systematic.
DR.. Ensor-Yes. You could not have
done better. The insane arc often .very
shrewd aud cunning. The bunting or
perversion OF one faculty of the mind by
disease seems sometimes to develop
others, or, at least. to make than more
acute and more active.
RspoSter-It seems that some are, or
have been. inclined to doubt the insanity
ot Mr.. Ohaires.' 81"
DR.. Ensor-This does not surprise ma
There ls no subject upon which the geue-
raj public is 30 much at sea, as that of
insanity. The public seems to think
that man is not insane unless he is a
raving maniac. roaring like wild beast
Nothing is farther from the truth. The
worst forms OF mental disease, and in
which remedies are least availing, are
those of mild type-that is. where the
evidences of mental arrangement are not
OF violent and demonstratiye character.
but passive and obscure-such as We find
usually in melanoholia and dementiaAor
where the mental alination matiifasts it.
self in some delusion or halluoinatiou. "a
in 'delusionai insanity" and many cases
OF monomanis. A person may be very
crazy upon one subject, and perfectly
rational upon all others; in which case il
would be impossible to detect insanity,
unless you bring tho operations of the
mind upon that particular subject
whereas the ideas are 80 much at vari.
ance with truth as to constitute insanity.
10 illustrate: have under my care OF
this time gentleman OF education and
refinement. possessed of high order ol
intellect; is we'll posted in history; has q
large fund of general information, and
oonverses we'll. You would not take him
to be insane, unless you drew him into
q discussion of the invention, powers
and operations of machinery; and then
you would at once discover that his men.
tai machinery is shockingly out of gear,
He devotes his entire time to the in.
venting OF machines, the operations OF
which, when applied to the purposes in.
tended by the inventor, are negative,
rather than positive. In other words,
he is constantly trying to accomplish i'm.
possibilities. For instance, he Invented
a steam engine during the past simmer,
which, when built and put in operation,
will attain speed of 600 miles an hour.
1t has hnt one wheel; will require but
one rail, and the roal-bed need not be
graded. Up hill or down-hill is all the
same to this wonderful machine. The
inventor thinks he ought to be honored
with statue in Central Park and hun.
dred guns. For the last six months, be
has been engaged on machine by
which he is to establish perpetual mo.
tion, which he is positively certain he
will be able to do now soon. II he had
a million of dollars, he would spend
every cent of it on these inventions, il
he were left to his own { scretion. An.
other man. laboring under "delusional
insanity" took his friend for glass jar,
and just for the fun Of breaking the Jar,
drew pistol and shot hole through it.
Yet this man is quiet and gsntlemanly
and rational, except upon the subject OF
glass jars, for breaking which he has q
strong propensity, and is as apt to take