New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-12-23

prisoner stIpped Of everything except his trowser
Srdinarv way Of making an auscultatory examination
He examined the tongue particularly ou' uio "O'
o.~Whst Is your opinion as whether he has been
bayng IFt s MA nSsntyhe has been acting
par natural his circums tances ana charac.sr'
,ersonsg At has been speciality Of mine, but for
limited period with insane cOnyicts have hau soou
oave YOU had difficulty detecting feign
inginsanity A;-Not generally. -, o.o ,,r,ora1 ond
DO yOu find that insane people are immoral anu
ooYou wond not consider It certain indication OF
INSANITY that n man was pretty bad man A-Ihat
would amount 10 nothing in determining the question:
ginning and shrewd ana deceptive Ayes.
O.-SnppOse insanity appears in four out OF ten ch-
dren Would there be anything in that Circumstance TO
show hereditary predispositiOn A-That would de-
pend upon the eli umstances OF each case 1t might be
Q.-woud il not be an unusual thing for insanity TO
appear in four out Of ten children without hereuIiiay
predsDostoni At certainly would iead 10 susPc'on
and inquiry. ,. .s.u.,.,o,s
OF insanity QI think that that is feature me en
cessiYe idea Of the Importance OF everything thar con
injurious feet their conduct might have on others
Docs the moral sense appear to be biuntedf A
Q.-HOw common is that in cases OF insanity NY
experience has been among The criminal glasses btDre
Q.-DO the same pecuiaritles follow through from he
sane TO the insane state IN the same individuals A
Yes, sir. Sometimes there is change
Mr. ScOvle then recOunted 70 the witness the crcn-
attending the prisoners attempt to estaOnSh re
Tke0c0 and asked, assuming all the facts stated TO be
true what they would indicate as to his mente sound
The wItness-I do not think that by itself that would
be sufficient TO determine the question whether 1t was
Q-Might ii not indicate species of insanity : A
OF the indviduals previous life for years had
been in that line wOudi then indicate unsonndness OF
mind Al would be likely to show fanatclsm
Q.Is tanatcism ever near the border line OF INSANITY
Al suppose 1t might he. ..
Q-Are insane people ever fahaucsi Al never Sd"
Mr. scovile then took up the hypothetical stated
annn med
closely each separate circumstance mentioned there
in obtaining In reply t,ot the adm s6SW that that
The described might t,a not ,,tos sf ter
circumstances attending the prisoners attempts to lee
and his habit Of leaving the stage IN great nuty.
and inquired whether that not an indication Of his
The witness-it might or might be indication of
o'~Suppose he never drank anything A-such con-
duet would give ground for suspecting the mans nsan-
Mr. scove then related the circumstance OF the prs-
oners threatening his sister with an axe IN Hlscon9n'
The witness replied that might be an evidence IN
reply to further question by Mr. ScOve ne stated
that the fact that Dr. Rice had come TO the conclusion at
the time of the last incident referred 10 that the prisoner
70 ms mind OF the unsoundness of OF the prisoner
He did consider Dr. Rice IA competent observer az
his only experience was In sendmg insane persons 10
0~How much such experience does it take to make
competent observer! Alt takes good deal OF expert
eoGAn experience of twenty years where a man is
called in to from ten to twenty cases every year
would not constitute any such experience az W0uld eh
tie the opinion of that man to any weight A-N0ne
whatever ! have been through the mill myself When
came to find myself somewhat competent found had
known nothing ut all have received certificates from
experienced gentlemen surgeons in state prisons which
were simply absurd don't know quite enough yet to
distinguish always between sane and insane people
The prisOncrThats the best thing you've said, doc
tor scoyile doing all the talking THIS morning ladies
oeDo yOn think that Dr. Worcester. who was on
the stand yesterday, is old enough 10 know the differ
The witness turned to appeal to the Court with
puzzled expression when Mr.. Scovne lausl!nEy told
him he need not answer the question
Q-Is possible for man 10 have an insane religious
Mr. scOyile then alluded to the first letters written by
the prisoner TO President Garfield applying Tor me
evidence Of insanity but he could not positively
he did not know sufficiently the ways OF ocesceke!s
Q.-Do not insane people frequently write rational
THE ASSASSIN on PUBLIC OPINION.
The prisoner-I might as well say here that opened
my mail this morning for the first time There was q
big pile Of letters and only crank letter in the whole
lot The people are tOning dOwn-tOning down. There
is great demand for my autograph. One would think
was loat man, the way people are sending for my
autograph don't care a snap about it. do care
abou being great man q big There's only one
crank letter in the lot That's good showing Another
thing about the autographs; The requests come from
albums and their hnc cards. am going up outside.
Mr. SEQ Vile then proceeded with his examination but
Interrupted hiu and holding letter in his hand, said
81 have letter from Dr. Spltzka IN which he says that
he has fcCeivcd 200 letters cougIauatiUn and
concentrations for his testimony in this case and only
three anonymous threats anu Two letters rom uiiAc'
OF money These other fellows get money. have inst
sptzkas, There Is another from Cincinnati in exactly
the same tone Io sgoyiilel-fou keep quiet Another
The COurJ-Ne have not time to listen 10 your CORE
The prisoner ccoatinuing-He wants to give $500 for
that crank This is all Interesting for the outside
Mr. Porter-Mr scoyile would lie to have that let
Ter Of Dr. spHk4s preserved.
After further UnimpCTtant testimony the Court
at took for half hour. Tne letter from
ScOve who caTeles,y left it within OF the pris-
oner who imnedlaeiy seized it and read lis contents
The afternoon session was opened by the prisoner
with the explanation that Mr. Reed detained this
afternoon bu expected to be in regular tendance here
after. The crcss-eXaninatiou OF Dr. Dlno1 was tEen
MIR Scoye again called the witnesses attention to Mr.
COrhiiIs hypothetical question, ana be, while contend
ing that thOugh the facts tended TO show that the pri
was sane admitted that many Of them taken midi
vidually inconsistent with The existence OF an
unsOund mind Hc said that many insane persons had
good memories ami were capable OF laying and following
plans OF action.
son there, that might not be exhibited ia ordinary cases
OF unsOundness Of mind A.-DstribGtng tlem
through number of cases. You fin tucsc Ieculartlc5
existing in some one or Other through them al.
Q.As 10 the matter OF sensual ndnlgeUCe-is that
common thing in insane cases. A-Yes; either as to
cause qlcGcr.
conviction OF mind OF person. fixed conviction OF
duty-uigng person on to commit an act to that ex
tent that his viii Is not able TO resist 1t A.-That is
Characteristic OF certain form OF insane dclusiOn.
Q--ls that frequently Characteristic of dClusiOns
connected with religious convictions any other A
No it is much more frequent Ia Of cplleptlc |
mania.
Q-Are those OF hereditary tendencies A |
Sometimes.
Q.-suppose person acted under what he considered
Divine command, and in obedience - taat command
he should kill the President; and suppose ne honestly
believed the people Of the United States
they informed OF his motive wOud not only
hn hut pplauG hin for the actin your opinion would
thu! ans Indication % unsOuDdncs, o. mind Al think
il WOuld-au honest belief a sincere belief The dO1-
ination o. his viii ~ that belief is what mean by
this
ODD sou ever believe in personal Divine inspiration
in Tins age ire world Z A.-SOt specially.
Tnc prisOncT-Wcll doctor, If the Lord could inspire
twO thousand years why can't II. 10 10 to-day
Is there anyih thing human nature different now IRON
what il was then What is your idea that
Mr. ScoviIc-I have objection TO your answering
that question.