Democratic messenger., 1881-11-12
4 LUNATIC WITH A PISTOL
Endeayoring to Force an Entrance
to the White House.

~
up to the door of the White House in
Washington on Monday morning, and
said that he wanted to see DR.. John
Noetling, the President of the United
States. He had a note in his pocket,
which he took out in explanation of his
request, which read as follows:
John Woling:
You are hereby notified that DIR. John Noet
tling is lawfully elected President of the United
States and occupies the White House every day.
ALMIGHTY COP.
Communicated by the Holy Spirit.
Seeing that the man was plainly in
sane, the doorkeepers, who often have
individuals of his description to deal
with, tried to direct his mind from its
halluciration and send him away with
out trouble. He persevered in remain
ing, however, aud grew impatient at
the subterfuge practiced upon his Gre
dulity. At last it seemed desirable to
arrest him, and turn him over to the
police To accomplish this object, Ser
geant Dinsmore. of the household force,
who is man of giant frame and quick
in movement, suggested that they go to
the corner of Four and a Half street and
Pennsylvania avenue, where President
Arthur was, and call upon him in person.
The lunatic, who is somewhat familiar
with the city, understood that the Police
Headquarters were at this location and
refused to go. He was disturbed blythe
proposal, however, and began to take
himself off. In this purpose he was
thwarted by the door-keepers, who had
orders from Private Secretary Brown TO
arrest him, whereupon a desperate
struggle ensued, and for time the
maniac, with q madman's strength, re-
sisted the efforts of four muscular at
tendants. AT one stage of the struggle
he made motion as though to draw a
pistol from his hip-pocket. This was
seen and frustrated. One of the door
keepers subsequently felt in the pocket
and took from it a large-sized Smith 4
Wesson six-shooter, all the barrels of
which were loaded. When his deadly
weapon had been thus captured the
maniac yielded and was taken to Police
Headquarters without further trouble.
On his arrival there the police recog-
nized an old acquaintance. He first
came to the city in May last, when he
acted so strangely and gave such plain
signs of lunacy that he was taken into
custody and his relatives notified. Soon
after ward he was sent to their home in
the western part of Pennsylvania. The
police say that these relatives failed in
their duty to society, for they took no
steps to have him suitably confined, but
permitted him to roam at large and to
drift back to Washington, to appear
again as dangerous political lunatic.
He got here about the last of Septem-
Der, and has boarded at one of the small
hotels under the assumed name of John
Wolng. He has kept himself out of
the way, so that the police did not know
of his return until the dramatic adven-
ture of to-day.
"His folks certainly ought to have
shut him up" said the policeman in
special charge of sick and insane prison.
ers. cit is bad enough to have these
cranks come around once, let alone
twice. This city is the natural resort
for these people, and we have constant
trouble with them." He then took up
a sheet of paper, ON which was written
a list of a dozen names and residences.
'See here" he said, "here are dozen
crazy people we have recently sent
home to their friends. They are arrest
ed here and detained until we can hunt
up their friends and arrange to send
them where they belong. Sometimes
this is work of some difficulty, and
takes considerable time. Here, for in
stance, is a letter / have just received
from the sheriff of Michigan county,
concerning woman who threatened
Attorney General MacVeagh soon after
Gen. Garfield was assassinated. She
had claim of some sort against the
Government, and demanded that the
Attorney General assist her to collect it.
When he tried to put her off she warned
him that Garfield had failed to do his
duty, and had been punished, and that
if he failed he might also be punished.
The woman was arrested and held until
we could communicate with her friends.
To-day this Sheriff writes that she has
been very well-to-do, has respectable
connections. and is the mother of five
children, whom she leaves by her alb
sence in destitute circumstances. She
will now be sent home. Three have
recently been sent to Philadelphia, two
to Massachusetts,, and so on all over
the country. The most singular adven-
ture we have had lately was the appear
ance in the city of a man and his wife
from Michigan, both stark crazy. They
were not troublesome, and we sent them
back whence they came"
DIR. Noetling acts and talks in an en-
tirely rational manner outside of the line
of his monomania. He says he had no
thought of assassinating the President,
but carried deadly weapons to defend
himself as others do, and that he drew
the revolver to protect himself against
the violent assault of the doorkeepers.
"My errand at the White House" he
said, "was to satisfy myself on the ac.
curacy of my information. For my owr
part, believed the Almighty had made
a mistake, and l wanted to have access
to official returns to see if l was actually
elected"
He said he was regular graduate ol
a medical institution, and had practiset
medicine for several years. OF late
however, he has been farming. He ha'
large family. whom he has deserted.