New-York tribune., 1884-01-10
LIEUTENANT AUGURS SAD DEATH
INSANE FROM INSOMNIA AND ovERwoRK.
HE ESCAPES FROM BLooMINGDALE AND Is FOUND
DEAD on THE BOULEVARD

HE ESCAPES FROM BLOOMlNGDALb AMI - $780,
DEAD on THE BOULEVARD
Excitement was caused in tho neighborhood OF
the BloomIngdae Asylum for the Insane, at e one
hundred d-and-seventeenth-st. and the boule' ht
early yesterday morning by the mf0TatiouG t" ot.
Lieutenant John j. Z. Augur. OF tho Uulteu o.a,o r
Navy had escaped from the institution. Lleutenaso
Augur was admitted to the asylum ON Deceloet I,
He was suffering from nervous t;,oS he
freouent paroxvsms of excitement. At times h9
was SO violent that he attacked the attendantsanu
had to be kept in close confinement lie Mas Mas
under the deluSon nora most abomt on 'o to take his
life In the daytime, as a., "a tnoi rHiei
he was kept in comfortable rooms in the ne ee9Ta rSf
building, but at night he was transferred 10 hlso
story room in the northeast wing OF the asylum, ,
the windows of which were barred. An atlsuuss S S
walked all night in the corridor dnnt pasE ,v Dana
and spoke to him The Lieutenant sprang through
The door and knocked Dana down puI meas ne was
ouieted after short struggle About ten minutes
later Dana looked into the roo ro9n Sau dart
found it empty. Lieutenant Angnr had rd ProKed bsd
the guard off one of the windows ana nau
inmped ont As the window was only few leeJ
above the ground, the fugitive had not been IN
iured by the fall. He had climbed, over !l Llsn
fence which encoSes the GROUNDS aI us dovn tRe
in the snow showed that he had started down inc
Boulevard. ,;,. or+,,
of attendants was sent out from the asylum. III u
short time several policemen and persons IVing III
the neighborhood were aiding in the search heaVy
fog impeded the search greatly Oh the boue'ait @ it
n and the lanterns of the searchers cast light
only few feet through the fog. IL was khQMn NOM
that the Lieutenant had left his room without other
clothing than a nght-shirt, and 1t was feared thau
he would suffer dangerous exposure. Inc absence
of dark clothing increased the dhcuIty OF dsc3seI yer
ing his body on the snow i'll the darkness ana f0e'
AT daybreak the search was still unfinished, Dut lhe
searchers by that time had lost hope OF hndmg Lieu
tenant Augur alive His had Gee blst
after several persons had passed than poihU az
different times 1t was thought impossible thaI Il
death from exposure in the snow. Az a. III; "a
shout from one of the seaTchers drew the crown 10
a place on the west side of the Bouleyard' lew
feet below One acknowledgements. mere
Law the dead body of Augur, already cold ana rlE-
i'd 1t was removed to the asylum. Inc physi-
clans said that death had resulted from exhausti4 m
and cold information of his death was sent 10
West Point, where one of Lieutenant A9Bus
brothers is preceptor IN the Military Acadeity, ny
G. H. Nichols medical SuPeG4tehGSih. Per 81 state
ment regarding the affair:
Lieutenant Augur recently admitted to Blooming
dale suffering from nervous df wboV Mn from loss
sleep and professional duty while on voyage IN
perod of excitement and had not slept at all for forty
eight hours when at about o'clock TINS mo hlS ne
ceeded in making his escape by bursting the se OF his
window guard and Jumping from the window OF his rOon
which the first story, few moments only aiIeT @
his night attendant had been in his room and mnlserd
TO his wants. Search at once made by the phys-
clans and large number OF attendants OF the nstuon
and by the police officers OF the neighborhOOd EnecVe
| search was however very much impeded by the fog
that prevailed that lanterns enabled me seachcrs
ace ONLY short distance from them and was not un
about seven this morning that his body was discovered
by officer lying near the curb on the west SIDE OF me he
boulevard Just below Onehundred seventh-st Inc
physicansof the institution that the cause or MS
death is somewhat obscure, but may be sad 10 nave
arisen primarily from the exhaustion OF his disease an
secondary from the recent excitement and insomnia and
| the damp chlliness OF the morning
Lieutenant Augur was the sonof General Christie
pher c. Augnr, at present stationed at Fort Leav-
enworth, Kan. He was thirty-one years Gld oae ae
entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis III 1866,
and was graduated in 1870 He was promoted to
the rank of ensign July 49,, 1S71 and to that OF Of
master July %, 1874 HIS last cruise was made TO
the Arctic regions on the Alliance, Captain George
| II. Wadleigh, commander, On his return TO New
| York IN July, 1878, he obtained leave Of absence
| and visited his father, who was then in command
of the military post at San Antonio, Texas. Master
AuCur received his commission as lieutenant jan
uaTy 1, 1881. He ordered to the receiving ship
Colorado at the Brooklyn Navy Yard i'll October,
but remained only a few days. At the request Of
his father, he ylsited hm at Fort Leavenworth the
following month. Lieutenant Augur's insanity first
showed itself last summer, when he went to wash
ingt0n to visit young woman to whom he was en-
gagged 10 be married II was believed to be the re-
suit of loss of sleep and OveTwork.