The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1884-02-02
SCENES IN A MADHOUSE.

A Talk with "a BilliOnaire-A Greeting from
the King of Ireland-A Young Man Who
Thinks he Can Put a Suspension Bridge
Across the Atlantic-The Violent Ma
MACS.
'Here you will see the people who
own the world and everything in it."
This Is what DIR. Troutman, Of Wards
Island, told me as he led me to the first
ward of the insane asylum one Wednes-
day not long ago. DR.. Troutman is the
assistant superintendent there, and he
was very polite to me. The Doctor put
a polished brass key into the big oaken
door, and, admitting me into a long
corridor with a floor scrubbed until It
shone like wax, quietly locked the door
again and dropped the key into his
pocket. Groups of men, nearly all
dressed alike in grayish clothes, were
walking about aimlessly. Some were
talking to their fingers in an animated
fashion; others were having an earnest
debate with the blank wall; two were
talking to each other simultaneously.
but what in the world they said /
couldn't make out. An orderly
in blue uniform walked about
among them. Two keys dangled below
his waistcoat. They were fastened to
stout cord tied around his waist. This
was done to prevent the patients from
taking the keys from the orderly to use
as weapons. What particularly struck
me as L surveyed the strange scene was
that nearly all the lunatics had high
foreheads. 1t forcibly impressed me
with the truth of the saying of certain
anonymous modern philosopher, that it
requires the possession of brains to be-
come lunatic.
'These men, the Doctor said to me,
''are the paralytics. There is no hope
for them. Their disease is fatal. It is
general paralysis. Here you see, for
example, one of our billionaires. y
The Doctor stopped to shake hands
with little man with thoughtful
look.
Eyes, yes" he cried, in an animated
tone, Pm worth just one hundred
thousand millions of dollars, and the
fortune is increasing day after day.
"You see, remarked the Doctor, in
a kindly tone, s.our friend here is labor
ing under one singular disadvantage.
He possesses all this vast wealth, and
yet power holds him back so that he
can't get at it. But he is perfectly hap
Ply in the consciousness that it is in
creasing steadily. Every yacht that
passes here he will tell you is his, and
all the vast shipping of the ocean is
operated in his Interest,"
The lunatic gazed at the Doctor with
look of real gratitude, and shook
hands heartily with me as we passed
on, stopping now and then to note other
interesting examples of mental halluci-
nation.
"How old are you to- day, my friendP"
the Doctor asked one patient with
strikingly prominent forehead.
Now, it's difficult to estimate that"
said the patient with smile. "My
methods are different from the ordinary
worlds. have been here long. very
long. [ find by careful computation
that am three times the circumference
of the world old"
''But / am the Spirit of God," ried
another, running up lest we should
miss him. DON forget that, please.
All the women of the world are my
wives. am going to have more, too
have lived thousands of years as
spirit. can see you all, but you can't
see me. l have wings and fly through
the air seeking to better the condition
of mortals. Yes, yes, we're having a
beautiful dav, beautiful day, but not
half so beau iful as the Spirit OF the
Good. wish you FAREWELL and he
ran off.
A brooding lunatic caught me by the
hand as we passed further on by the
neat and airy rooms. "How do you
do? how do you do?" he cried heartily.
''You are my old friend. You see am
King of Prussia now and you are all
my subjects.
"Who else are you to-dayP" inquired
the Doctor, patting the patient on the
back encouragingly.