Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-04-28
HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN.
Jupiter Dethroned-Juno Among the
Missing-The Superior Court
Inexorable Philosopher Shaw
Pronounced Insane.

AT the instance of Mr.. 4. w. Doss,
and others, OF the Cahuenga district,
Mr.. Frederick NJ. Shaw, the hygienic
philosopher of Mountain View, in the
Cahuenga mountains, was summoned
before Hon. ]. d. Hines, of the Superior
Court, and examined by Doctors Hannon
and Kirckpatriok in regard to his sanity.
Several witnesses were examined as to
his character and mental condition, and
at the conclusion Of the evidence, the
Judge pronounced him insane, and he
was taken in charge by the Sheriff, to
be transported to the Insane Asylum at
Napa.
| Mr.. Shaw has been demented for
several years, and has had many strange
| vagaries that were amusing but harmless.
About dozen years ago he went to Eug-
land to obtain colony to settle in
Southern California to live on yege-
table diet with himself as the leader,
| instructor and apostle Of righteousness.
III this enterprise he lost some money,
and afterwards appeared still more wild
in his notions than before. He became
s, erratic that his wife left him, and he
took to the seclusion OF the upper part
Of the Nichols canon, in the Cahuenga
mountains, nine miles west from the
city. Here he made tabernacle Of
sticks in a tree top, and would climb up
to his airy eyrie on q ladder and then
haul up the ladder after him. In this
| ambrosial retreat he wrote many letters
| for the press on the creation of the hui
man species. how to preserve health,
cure disease, and rectify the mistakes of
the Almighty who had done many un-
desirable things without consulting
Philosopher Shay. But after years
spent in his lofty nest he let himself
down to earth and earthly things
put up cabin Of boards with two sides
wide open for ventilation and began to
fall in love with some unseen, unknown
woman. Among Others who read his
writings, was schoolmistress in New
Jersey, named Margaret Carey Wright,
who be came interested in his peculiar
views and to her he poured out his chat
tered heart in tie tenderest tones of
pastoral love that set even Cupid crazy
as goose. He made her believe that
life OF solitude was altogether lovely,
and chief of all Others, and to live
in solitude except the society of bees
and birds, and on walnuts and
love with no base acts Of cookery to
debaso human food and no meat or fat
to deprave the taste.
The correspondence ripened into a
promise of marriage and on the 4th day
Of June, 1879, telegraphic dispatch
was received at Los Angeles, as follows:
NEWARK, N. j., June 4, 1879.
.FREDERIcK NJ. SHAW, Los Angeles, Cal,
in care of Major Kinley:
Will you take Margaret Carey Wight,
of this city, now present, to be your
welded wife.'
lsigned), Rev. C. s. Corr.
To which Doctor Frederick NJ. Shaw
responded; "Iwill" The witnesseswere,
J. c. Sherer and Major Kinley. Philos-
opher Shaw being the first man struck
to the heart by lightning in Los Angeles,
now set him about getting some addi-
tions to his war 3robe to make his attire,
which consisted of woolen shirt and
pair OF breeches. He obtained cap,
coat and pair Of brogans, and waited
for many months for Margaret to come,
but she came not. After his ANXIETY
had darkened into despair the bride
arrived and was taken up by Ma
jor Kinley to see the bridegroom in
his royal home. The Philosopher was
found in light costume consisting of
cap and a pair OF shoes, prevailing
his bees to give up their luscious hoard.
The Major stopped the procession, and
going ahead, placed the Philosopher
inside OF some clothes, and the bride and
groom embraced and kissed like other
mortals. To the marriage feast Of love
and walnuts was added box of raisins,
and the great life of platonic love, Of
Jupiter and Juno began on the nights OF
Cahuenga, with nightly concerts OF Wild
oats, coyotes and screech owls, and the
sighing winds through the mountain
oaks above them. In this Acadian soli-
tude the loye-life of the Philosopher and
his wife continued for over two years,
when the Juno Of the mountains began
to sigh for beefsteak, bread and butter,
society and clean clothes. And their
hearts throbbed and beat and thumped
with emotion not altogether Platonic,
and the desire for tho good of civiliza-
ton prevailed over love and walnuts
even with raisins thrown in, and the
two hearts that once beat as one, thence
forth beat as tive, and the great philos-
opher fell upon his face and wept while
the companion OF his bosom fed to the
city to live under a roof and walk on
floors and eat square meals.
From, this time on, the hermit, philos-
opher, sage, prophet and guide Of the
world grew wilder still. He talked of
the obstrexity OF mans moral obliqnity
and the concatenation of meticulous
antipodes in aerial circumnavigation
while no less nosopoetic were his views
of the weeping destinies of unbridled
| Joy and ultimate destiny which should
be carved out o. the invisible attitudes.
These sentiments were his proud utter
ances but awaited nothing before the
mortal Judge, who voted him crazy,
or words to that effect, and thus
en- ieth the career in Los Angeles Of the
great reformer who will now go to Join
| hiz hrathar raformars in Mana A evlunn