The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-11-17
KleptOmaniacs.

AuQUUS UuS NdllOuS hllltS Va lS"hlpJ
which are pleaded in courts Of justice as
an excuse for the commission of crimes
is that irresistible propensity 10 pocket
articles, or, more correctly, to steal,
which has been elegantly denominated
kleptomania. According to authentic
testimony, this mental disease is far
more prevalent than is generally sup
posed, AMI the recorded instances of
various kinds and degrees of such are
both numerous and peculiar.
With regard to the intensity ofthe dis.
position 10 commit thefts, this is often
so great as to become incurable. A case
is related of q man who would not eat
unless his food was stolen; in conse-
uuence of which his attendant humored
him by placing his food in a corner,
where it appeared hidden, but could
easily be, so to speak, purloincG. A.
lady was affected with this mononania
80 strongly that upon her trial for theft
she stated that she had such q mad long
ing TO possess he self Of everything she
saw that if she was at church she could
not refrain from stealing from the altar.
A famous physician informs US that a
woman who was exemplary IN her
obedience to the moral law, except the
eight commandment, was so addicted to
larceny that, when she could take moth
ing more valuable. she would often at
the table of 3 friend secretly ill her
pockets with bread. Lavater states
| that a doctor ofmeiicine could not leave
| his patients room without taking some
thing away unobserved; and his wife
searched his pockets, and returned to
their owners the knives, thimbles, scls-
| sors, etc., which her husband had ab-
| stracted. The vile of another physician
had so strong q propensity to steal that
on making purchases she underworld to
take something away that did rot be-
long to her; ana two German countesses
appear to have been guilty of the same
vice. The almoner of a regiment of
Prussian cuirassiers, a well-edueated
man, frequently on parade stole the
handkerchiefs of the officers; and one
unfortunate man was 20 far under the
influence of kleptomania that, being
nigh unto death, he actually secreted
the snuff-boX of his confessor!
We knew q parish clergyman, says
Chambers Journal, who stole every
article he could lay his hands on. If
out at dinner. ne pocketed scraps of
bread, table napkins, or anything.
When lodging at hotels he carried Off
pieces of soap and the ends OF candles
from his bedroom. His larcenies became
so notorious that he was ultimately
brought before the church courts and
turned out OF his living. The London
Times, & few years ago, in commenting
upon the subject Of a lady kleptomaniac
being prosecuted for stealing cambria
handkerchief in y Diapers shop, stated
that "every one who is acquainted with
London society could at once furnish q
dozen names of ladies who have been
notorious for abslracting articles of
tritling value from the shops where they
habituaily dealt. Their moduS operandi
was so well known that on their return
from their drives their relatives took
care to ascertain the nature of their
paltry populations, inquired from the
coachman the houses at which he had
been ordered to stop, and, us a
matter Of course, reimbursed tue
tradesman to the full value Of the pill
tered goods. In other cases q hint was
given to the various shUpkeepers ut
whose establishments these mono
maniacs made their purchases, and they
were simply forewarned to notice what
was taken away, and to furnish the bill,
which was paid for as soon as furnished,
and asa matter of course by the pill
ferer herself, without any feeling of
shame or emotion OF any kind" l. is
also stated in the Quarserly ReUieW in
1856, in an article upon the metropolitan
police, that 1.-The extent Of pilteiing
carried on even by Ladies OF rank and
position is very great; there are persons
possessing q mania of this kind so well
known among the shopkeeping COM
munity that their addresses and descrlp.
tons are passed from hand to hand Tor
mutual security. The attendants allow
them to secrete what they like without
seeming to observe them, and afterward
send q bill with the prices Of the goods
purloined to their houses"
Abnormal c~onformations OF the head
accompanied with IN imbecile under
standing are often the cause Of klepto-
mania. Gall and Spurzheim saw in
Bern prison q boy twelve years old, who
is described rs gill organized and
rickety." who could never avoid steal.
ing. An tx-commissary of police mt
Toulouse was condemned to eight years
imprisonment and hard labor and tothe
pillory for having stolen some plate
while in Office. He did not deny tbs
crime, but persisted to the last in =
singular kind of defense. He attributed
the crime to a mental arrangement
caused by wounds he had received Al
Marseilles in 1915. Another case is re-
lated of q young man who, after being
severely wounded in the temple fol
which he was trepanned, manifested al
which was quite against his natura
disposition. He was IMPRISONED fo'
larceny after having committed severa
robberies, and had not medical testi
mony been produced to show that h
was insane, and which attributed hi
kleptomania to a disorder of the brain
he would have been punished ACCORDING
to law.
young man." said a studious paren
: RI b;r porrulnNS qon tvou have 81 mis-