The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-28
THE FRONTIER OF MADNESS.
The Experience of a Man Who Became In
sane but Was A%fterward Cured.

The Experience of a Man Who Became In
sane but Was Afterward Cured.
Buffalo Express.
l was once insane and l often muse over
my experience. There are, of course. many
kinds of insanity. Some mental disorders
take place so gradually that even the closest
companions of the the victim are at a loss to
remember when the trouble began. 1t must
have been this way in my case. One evening,
after an oppressively warm day, a day when
l experienced more fatigue from the heat
than ever before or since, | sat on my porch
tanning myself. This arm that is now
in notion" | unused, must one of
these days be dust. | wonder how long
will the time be- Then | unused
upon the evidence had of immortality, 1
could do things that other people could not
accomplish. l had gone through battle after
battle, and though bullets sang and struck
around me thick as hail, yet l remained I'M
injured. l had passed through epidemics of
yellow fever. My idea gained strength as /
unused, and l was convinced that l should
live forever. No. this cannot be, for death
follows all men alike. Yes, / am to die like
other men, and | believe that it is my duty
TO make the most of life; to make money and
enjoy myself, and to educate my children. l
wanted to be rich, and I began to study over
an imaginary list of enterprises. At last l
hit upon = radishes. People must
have radishes. They should be in every
store. They could be dried and sold in
winter. | would plant fifty acres with radish
seed, and people all over the country would
refer 10 me as the "radish king l would
form a radiSh syndicate and buy up all the
radishes and travel around and be admired.
l FASTENED to the house to tell my wife that
she was soon To be a radish queen. At the
breakfast table / said:
Julia, how would you like to be a radish
queen?"
"a what?' she exclaimed.
| explained my plan of acquiring great
wealth, and during the recital she acted so
curiously that | was alarmed. | feared that
she was losing her mind. Finally she seemed
to understand. She agreed with me, but
told me not 10 say anything more about it.
After breakfast | saw her talking earnestly
with her father, and | knew that she
was explaining to the old gentleman how
she intended to pay his debts when l
became known as the radish
king. The old man approached NE, with
much concern, and told me that l needed
rest. and that l must not think of business.
Pretty soon l went out to inspect nv radish
kingdom. Looking around, / saw the old
man following me. From the field l went to
the village. | approached a prominent citi-
zen, who had always been my friend. He
seemed grieved, and l saw at once that he
wa contemplating the same enterprise. 1t
seemed mean that he should take advantage
vi bAO9 oAia L NOAa AAAh SOs l. IlAtNA " "a
plain, but he made me so mad that
l would nave struck him if my father-in-
law had not come in and separated us l
tried to calm myself, but could not. Those
who had been my friends proved TO be
my enemies. l was determined to be
my will was seized by several men. My
father-in-law did not attempt to rescue me,
and hated him. l was taken to Jail. My
wife came to see me, but she did not try to
have me released. | demanded a trial, but
no lawyer would defend me. Then l realized
that the entire community was against me.
| became SO mad that my anger seemed to
hang over me like a dark cloud. 1t pressed
me to the floor and held me there. Men
came, after a long time, and took me away, l
thought, to the penitentiary. One dav a cat
came into my cell, and | tried to bite it. She
made the hair fly, but l killed her. / don't
know how long [ remained here, but one
morning the sun rose and shone in
at me through the window. 1t
seemed to be the first time that I had
seen the great luminary for months. A mist
cleared from before my eyes, My brain be-
gan to work, and suddenly ! realized that /
had been insane. | called the keeper, and
when he saw me he exclaimed Thank Cod"
and eFasped my hand. | was ~notlong in put
ting on another suit OF clothes and turning
my face toward home. A physician said that
| was cured, and everybody seemed bright
happy at my recovery. | boarded n train
with Il gentleman and went home. Ny wife
tainted when she saw me and learned that |
had recovered my mind. | asked for my lit
tie children, and two big boys and 4 young
lady came forward and greeted me. had
been in the asylum twelve years.
Food left over from the table, such as cold
notatoes, cabbage, %turnips, cheese, rinds,
meat scraps, stale bread. etc, should be put
into a not brought to a boiling point, and
thickened with meal, The fowls will eagerly