Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-07-24
AlATENT sTREAK or INSANITY.

Pcculiar1ties OF People VINO Are Not Ex-
actiy Compos Months Fixed xdea.n
Some one has said that In every one Of
us there isalatcnt streak OF insanity, and
guess he wasn't far in tho wrong. The
only thing is to keep our streak from be-
ing discovered. There was an old lady
in Michigan who kept clearinghouse
for students. She kept good boarding
house. She made royal pies, and she
brought the iuciest roasts upon the table
that the hollowest student ever con-
sumed. She had the popularity of not
being able 70 write her name. The stu
dents, although they liked her pies, re-
garded hor with great contempt. She
was the last person TO whom they thought
Of applying when they began to miss
their Greek and Hebrew books, and great
was their astonishment when one of
them, who happened 10 go into her room
for fire-shovel, found them hidden in
crannies about the fireplace. They re-
covered possession only TO have them
stolen again, and it became the regular
thing, when one OF these books were
missing, to search the old lady's room
until it was found.
Her popularity Is equaled by that Of
another old lady over seas who had a
mania for watches, and never peddler
came to the door with them but she made
considerable purchase Of them. So
poor was she that she must have denied
herself her full allowance Of porridge IL
indulge In the singular luxury. When
she died her friends found an immense
oalsen @kist, as high as table, and half
as long as her Uncovered bed, filed with
them. There Is an old gentleman of re-
speciality and comparative wealth who
never loses an opportunity TO possess
himself Of paper Of pins, If he goes
into . dry goods store 10 make pur-
chase, which he does ouoe week, he
never rests until be catches sight Of the
pin basket, and he Is apt to carry these
pointed reminders Of his visit away with
| him.
But after all Is he any more Of mad
man than we who collect more books
than we can read, or pay great sum for
| blaok-letteR volume whose pages are
sealed to usf What under the sun does
a man want with sixty different editions
of Shakespeare He might just as well
have sixty different pairs of spectacles.
A physician OF an insane asylum would
denominate this us species of compara-
tive alteration known Us "a fixed idea.
For instance, ] know man who never
pays his fare on the street cars without
afterward holding an imaginary alterca-
ton with the conduotoY-the latter de-
aanding the fare second time, and he
indignantly insisting that he paid it, and
that the conductors carelessness is mex.
cusable. He fights against this feeling
Whenever he feels 1t coming On, but it is
too strong for him. / have recon.
mended him 70 procure free pass as 9
as relief FROM his fixed idea"
An estirnsbls Lady Of my acquaintance
has an exasperating trouble of this nat
ure. Some powerful mental influence
oompels her every few minutes to regard
her left thumb with the most intense in
telest. Now there is nothing remarka
BILE about this useful portion OF her anat
onay, either In size, shape, or feeling, YET
her eyes are iveted upon it at stated in
tervals, to the great annoyance of herself
and family. She is mentally strong, ane
comes Of family OF good mental anc
physical condition, but somewhere in hel
makeup there was ON influence working
at cross-purposes with the surrounding
forces. have heard Of a gentleman
who was similarly impelled to coun
everything he saw. In this way he findi
himself counting passengers in stree
cars, windows in houses, all the horses
in sight, the buttons on peoples clothes
etc., till he is almost out of his senses
He is under medical treatment for tn,
trouble, which seems to be undermining
his mental powers. Chicago New
Rambler"