The Red Cloud chief., 1884-05-09
Men Who Want TO Kill Somebody.

d fOn1ic ual anu sulGluaI iuuAis eha]
come under the notice OF eXperoS IN
nervous Diseases" a dist ngu she'd
specialist remarked. lit is a wonder 10
me that so few tragedies from that
source really happen Last week a
business mar in this CITY. who owns a
handsome country residence OF the
Hudson. and would be regarded bv his
acuuaintances s the last person in the
world to be possessed by such a whim.
came to me in great worry OF mind n
told me he had something TO communi-
cate that must be held strictly inviolate.
The story was typical. have heard it
with tri!.ing yariat onS 4 thousand times
in five wears. He had not been feeling
V ry well rather nervous and i'll At
! aase-for some DAYS. That morning.
as he LETT the house TO take the train or
New York. he happened to pass his gar
dener who was at work IN the grounds,
and stopped TO talk to him a minute.
The man was STOPPING over a cIump OF
ornamental shrubbery. thinning out the
dead stalks with 4 prun.ng knife. A
spade was leaning against the trunk OF
a tree at his feet. Il had never bad any
quarrel or misunderstanding with the
man. said this patient. telling his story.
But tie impulse WAS upon me III an III
SJaui to seize that spade n BRAN the
poor fellow on the spot. / trembled All
over like 2 leaf, with q kind of nervouS
terror that l can scarcely describe TO
YOU, Doctor. Finally, not daring 10
trust myself longer. ] turned and walked
AVA a fast as nv legs could nve
IL .l:ara ~ tha- +
sho nd have k lied the man if l had lin
gered five minutes longer. Now. what
Is to De ~doRee'"
The doctor advised his patient to
avoid temptation for a few days, turn
his mind resoluiely To something else,
and gave him Il setativc prescription
! hromldcs. OF courSe-with instructions
- cali again in n dav or two. The
man WA sensible enough 20 act on the
advice. and on the fourth day ne
dropped in and told the doctor that the
trouble had passed OF and ne felt Ii &
himself once more. And so a tragedy
was averted. probably.
The physician went on TO say that he
had no les than nine cases OF homi-
cidal or suicidal Impulse then under
I utSliilf'tN, vi lAlt~t- N'NSu "tlV N.A
C. d.! and the other two homicidal. One
q the latter had been on h 5 hands for
/ three weeks. The 1atieni. a mai OF
some note in literature, h d been sleep
less for several weeks before the i'm
pulse MN fes'cd itself. He WAS a
/ married man. and loved his wife de-
zoe ". One night. after doing :
I few minutes with teri be dreams. he
ayoi:e With strange presentllnent OF
impending disaster. Ii wife was
/ Sleeping quietly. The moonlight strug-
! Cling through the W ndow pane fell up
on her face and while. Sllapeiy threat.
As sudden a. the leap OF a tioei, the
impulse seized HIM to cut the woh'al s
throat. and he WAS actually GU of red
an hunting for his razor in the bureau
drawer before any realizing SENSE OF
the enormitv IF the deed that he was
about 20 penetrate intcrpo>ed to pre-
vent the tragedy. He returned to bed
and Law il 2 tremble till daylight. His
wife never knew how near : e had been
to death. He had no wish % Kill
ANYBODY else as vet.
"Une of nv suicidal patients on
tinued the doctor. EVA first seized with
the Impulse on & Brooklyn ierry-boat.
lie had been across the river on busi-
ness, and was on his way back He
went on board one of the boats n the
Fulton ferry and stood gazing iistieS>ly
al the rGmyart OF business houses eN-
tending lar To the right on Furfnan
street. The boat started suddenly as
ne stood Illuminating. He insists that
the impulse bal it origin in irr tstion
o. the rct.na caused nv the movement
CT the sunSh ne-fioodei surfaces OF
brick across the optic field. and very
likely he is right. FOR an instant ne
saws. Il was wild; AMI when / came 10
myself nv hand WAS on the railing and
a coup e of stalwart passengers had col
lar q me. | had never thought OF such
a Thing as comm tting Suicide except rs
n coward resource Now" added the
| doctor. his man was NJ more mad
than | am: il was a typical case OF sui
cidal impulse. caused, perhaps. by long
nervous .ension.'
In point of fact. both suicidal and
homicidal impulses appear { be far less
frequent with women than men. In all
his experience, the doctor has treated
ONLY I've cases of the impulse in women.
while of the s'erner sex his patients
nave been numbe cd bv scores. He n
q mes tc the belief that the habit con-
tracted by men OF business of always
being in a hurry. engaged, occupied. is
of the principal instrumentalities,
next { malaria poisoning. in producing
this type OF nervous disturbance. And
l. imagine he concluded, THAT our
former Commissioner of Lunacy, DIR.
Ordronnauy. was not far ont OF the way
when he declared that one man in every
hundred who walks tine SIR cts is poten-
tally a murderer or a suicide; a start
iIng declaration. but n that my own
practice during the last ten years he's
apundantly verified.
Sometimes the impulse is accompanied
by voices ia the ears, urging the patient
20 kill; sometimes q red light-lurid,
dismal. weird -sutfuseS the eyes. and
with one of the doctors patients the
attack Is announced invariably BY a
premonitory shiver or shudder of mo-
mentary duration only, which precedes
il by q second or two. 1t is a curious
fact. also, that & serious organic trouble
with the brain and spinal tract seldom
gives rise to these strange paroxysms.-
". ]. IN