New-York tribune., 1878-11-07
LOCAL MISCELLANY.
MORE DISCUSSION OF MoNoMAN1A.

uoPE DISCUSSION OF M0NOMANIA.
-, ,ccrpENT TO Mr.. LoRD-AUGUsTUS sCHELL
.ps,Sr-IIrrLE TESTIMONY BUT MUCH TALK
when the Vanderbilt will case was resumed
b. ,he surrogates courtroom yesterday, there WIS oo
raca,t chair on the proponents side OF the room To
80 which many curious gances were turned ~ was
az ,ooe In which Augustus schel usually sits '"llilah
- vanderbilt appeared, gloomy and mOrose soon ai'eI
~ , NJ the session he left the room, aud dld not
M, 'no dring the day. II Henry L. Clinton felt any
i over The result Of the elections nc was very sue
i, ccneeang II. Never did he seem 70 DC III oeo
,,r. he fairly bubbled over with goOd nature
- Id suffered during the day from an accident wnich
,,ed as be was leaving tram OF the no'rotoi'.%u
td p,uroad OF the Park-place station In the
Ee'a Tho train started before he left the car an0
h'rnire ,ornad ont the ear struck him, and threw
W ,non the platform. He feh heaVny, ana
tare,v escaped being thrown under tne car De"NS
80 yrb,ch ha carried in his hama was proSeh ihto eeN
1 ,,ieces Mr. Lord referred 10 ms en- '
4d 90 bis Injuries several times during the uay anu
an earlier adjournment than usual was
account. -, cr,r,odoro Vanderbilt
lad and asked il the decedent had not oeeh an
,arnter,te smoker. Judge Black SAID that he uion
Lain mat n man who used tobacco necessarily ln"ue
,,sI, conpctent to make will, but 1t would make
30 ner,ons incompetent Objection was made ana
~ srrogate said he would reject the testimony not
se II was in itself incompetent, but because there
-. rothng in Mr.. Lords affidavit about proving such
,,ets nv Mr. Allen. Another question put 10 Nj AIeu
- vrbether he had been present when the Commodore
hod listened to charges and dispaTagng statements
hout his kindred without giving them an opportunity
:, answer. This was excluded, and Mr.. Allen was e1'
eUsed. ,, 49,, o,,
,nr Of several medical works. called by Mr. Lord'
obiection was made to his testimony as an expert DC
nse his name was nOtin the list OF MI Lord Witnesses
M surroeate said that he would not receive the test-
Inv Tben after argument by Mr.. Lord in which
~ soid DR. Dixon was substituted in the place OF Or
S bv an arrangement understood by the othcr sue
he surrogate said he would receive thS @
I5 Constock protested and waS Joined by ms ass0-
% TFe Surrogate then said ID did not see how this
witness could be substituted for man nalneu SdsS :.
W. - ySav the contestant might substitute other WIZ
every Instance Then followed more protests DS
Mr. Lord and Judge Black, ana consueIaoo i
batv,een oppOsng counsel The surrogate niue iIpa
en,iv said tna he was getting dscOulaSeuln ms h"ts
Tor any orderly proceedings In tae case. auu a. % a. ~ ] me
reliance npgn, lhe f, g34a 9e 'ssf fsstjTopy. M
The apDarent astoDshment of the proponents counsel
NJ this announcement was comlcaL Judge CoinHock
asked IL they could have reason OF the court
'V be sHrrocate-RealIy don't that the Court can
give any; ut will hear the testimony $1,000, -,
Iudre Comstock said that II the Court agreed win
them and vet decided against them, he didn't see what
TS Raek-Tbere are two persons here who are
alwaVs cOol-your Honor is one and I'm the other
think we ought TO reason together lLaughterl
Jndge COmstOck objected TO the reasoning toge' her
The surrOgate-G0 on with the witness. admit the
testimony 10 avoid the imputadOn that the contes ants
haven't had fun swing. -
Dr. DixOn's testimony covered materially the same
points as that OF the other medical experts, and was
nearly 10 the same effect He said, however, that he
thought the Commodore diseases were caused IN great
part by the OF tobacco Tie objections OF
counsel prevented him from giving very full evidence on
This point After dwelling upon t1e effects ana ouIaOn
OF such diseases in answer TO one question lie sau th
such complication OF diseases would drive an ordinary
man 70 despair. ~,
ar Gord-Would mOnomania or excessive ambition
IN any one direction have helped him TO overcome this
despalrl =.
When objection was made to this question Mr.. Lord
said that tney took the theory that II inst this mo
uOmana for tine accumulation of vast wealth when lm-
PEELED the Commodore through, and enabled MN 10 sur
viye all these difficulties, that no man IN normal con-
ditiOn could have borne up against. IhOuSn nc hhI
diseases sufficient TO kill fifty ordinary men THIS mono
mania enabled Mm to overcome them all. IhOuSh
thousand witnesses should 90 the stand and swear
that ne was great and powerful in the line Of his paf
ular manila and that they thought hum the sanest man
in the world only STRENGTHENED the proof OF the en-
eTgy and power OF his mOuOmania. II TINS feehng had
been normal, these diseases would have swept hlln
away. ~ 49, A..
and excluded it.