West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-10-16

h'hh6 SA0 80 1AN
zen died. BY the terms Of his will, the
income of 81, 800. 900 in Governments,
Massachusetts skies, Boston and Al
bany stock, and sound first mortgages
on New England property, is devoted
To the Inirmary, under the direction of
thirteen trustees. How the trust has
been administered you will see for
yourself in u few minutes"
We were met ut the door of the In
Urinary by n pleasant-faced gentleman.
who spoke with II German accent, and
introduced himself as the Assistant
Superintendent.
Excuse me-" said he, politely, ''but
which of you is the PATIENT"
"Oh, neither, replied Merkle, with "a
laugh. 81 am the counsel for the board,
and this gentleman is merely "A visitor
who is interested in the workings of the
Institution"
"Ah, | see" said the Assistant Super
intendent "Will you kindly walk this
wayP'
We entered the Office, and no handed
me "a book and a pen. please inscribc
your name" said he, lin the Visitors
Book" | did so. and then turned to
speak 20 Merkle, but the lawyer had
disappeared.
"Our system" said the Assistant
superintendent, sis very simple. The
theory of the Institution is that the
habit of mendacity, which in many
cases becomes chronic, is n moral dis
ease, like habitual inebriety, and that il
can generally be cured. We take the
liar who voluntarily submits himself to
our treatment, and for six months we
submit him to the forcing process.
That Is, we encourage him i'm living.
surround him with liars, his equals and
superiors i'm skill, and cram him with
falsehood until he is fairly saturated.
by this time the reaction has set in. and
the patient is usually starved for the
truth. lie is prepared to welcome the
second course of treatment. For the
ext half Year the opposite method is
pursued. The satiatcd and Disguised
liar is surrounded by truthful attend
ants, encouraged to peruse veracious
literature, and by force of lectures, OK
ample and moral influence brought TO
understand how much more creditablc
it is to say the thing which is than the
thing which is not. Then we send him
back into the world; and | must say
that cases of relapse are ~infrequent."
" DO you find no incurablesPn |
asked.
Yes" said the Assistant Superin-
tendent, "once in a while. But an in
durable liar is better OFF here in the in
Urinary than outside, and it is better
for the outside community to have him
here
Somebody came in, bringing n new
patient. After sending for the Super
intendent, the Assistant invited me TO
follow him. 81 will show YOU how our
patients live. and how they amuse
themselves" he said. 1--WE will 90
first, if you please, through the left
wing, whore the saturatiug process may
be Observed
He led the way across a hall into n
large room, comfortably furnished and
occupied by two dozen or more gentle
men, some reading, some writing. while
others sat or stood in groups engaged
in animated talk. Indeed, had il not
been for the iron bars at the windows.
! might have fancicd myself i'm the
lounglng room of n respectable club.
My guide stopped to speak to an inmate
who was listlessly turning the leaves of
a well-thumbed copy of Baron Mum
chauscn, and left me standing near
enough to n of the groups to over
hear parts of the conversation.
''My rod creaked and bent double. 8"
n stout, red-faccd gentleman was say
ing, land the birch spun like a tecto-
tum. | tell you if Pierre Chaveau
hadn't had the presence of mind to grip
the most convenient part of my trousers
With the boat hook, | should have been
dragged into the lake in two seconds
OF less. Well, sir, we fought sixty-nine
minutes by actual time taking. and
when | had him in, and had cot him
back to the hotel, he tipped the scale,
the spcckled beauty did, at thirty-seven
pounds and eleven-siNteenths, whether
you believe il or not"
Nonsense" said a quiet little
gentleman who sat opposite. That is
impossible"
The first speaker looked Gattered mt
this, and colored with pleasure.
Nevertheless he rctorted, tits a
fact, on my honor as a sportsman. Why
do you say it's im~possible?"
Because said the other. calmly.
lit is an ascertaincd scientific fact. as
every true fisherman i'm this room knows
perfectly well, that there are no trout
in Mooselemagunticook weighing under
half a hundred"
Certainly not" put in n third
speaker. 1.-The bottom of the lake is
a seivc-a sort Of schistose sieve forma-
tion-and all fish smaller than the ffty
FOUNDERS fall through"
why doesn't the water drop through,
tooP asked the stout patient, i'm a tri-
umphant tone.
1T used TO-" replied the quiet
gentleman. gravely, until the Maine
Legislature passed an act prevent
ing it,
My guide reioincd me. and we went
on across the room. These sports
men liars, ~ he said, care among the
mIldcst and most easily cured cases
that come here. We send them away
in from six TO nine weeks time. with
the habit broken mp. and pledged not TO
fish or hunt any more. The man who
lies about the fish he has caught. or
about The Intelligence If his red setter
dog is often i'm all other respect a
trustworthy citizen. Yet such case.
iorm nearly forty per cent OF all our
patients
What are the most obstinate
ca-es2"
a." Undoubtedly those which YOU will
seq boz the Travellers and Politicians
wards Of tho luGrmary. The more be-
nign cases. such as the fishermen liars.
the society liars, the l|ady-killer or
bDHUr7 JDri'fyls liars. the Rocky Mount
ain and frontier liars (cyccptnQ Texas
cases), the railroad prospectus liars