The Osceola times., 1888-04-14


him he backed off ard dropped his
hands. l ordered him to 60 to his
room, and he walked of about forty
feet and turned. saw lhen that Id
would attack ME, and | had my coat
and vest off before he came up. All
the patients in my hall came running
up. and l knew that would have td
settle the affair with Williams as soon
rs possible. or there would be scene
of wild excitement As he came up /
stepped out, and next moment we were
engaged in prize-ring tactics. I had
an advantage in the fact that l had
caught him in a c,andcstine assault,
and this fact had ratified him. He led
at me with his left, fell short, and neat
ly stopped my counter. Then l led
and got in OH his chin, lodged his
counter, and he left an opening for me
to swing my right on his jaw. struck
hard blow. and he was knocked
senseless, and did not come to for five
minutes. His first act was to shake
my hand, and when we were nlons he
said
''Ah, sir, you were deceiving me all
the time. You are Tom Sayers, and
FL give in to YOU"
Williams was with us n year after
that, and he was one of my best
friends. On two occasions when | was
violently assaulted by patients he came
promptly to my rescue and saved me
from injury. He was finally discharged
as cured. But one hallucination re-
mained. lie insisted that | was Tom
Sayers, and no proof that his friends
could bring up would shake his con-
victions. Although acknowledging
that was the better man, he chal.
lcngcd mo for fight to a finish, and
posted fifty dollars as forfeit
One of the tragic Incidents connected
with my administration occurred soon
after Williams discharge. We had
received n patient named Latour. who
was of French descent His hobby was
the building Of ladder to the moon
Unless one touched upon this pirticu-
lar theme the man talked as nationally
as any person you ever heard. He had
been sent to the asylum by the .iliccrs
of the law, and against his wife pro-
tests She therefore began to pull
wires to get him out, and commits.
sion OF three doctors was appointed to
examine him. Only the Gay before
they came Latour had asked me for
six miles of rope TO make = ladder to
the moon, and, when put him off with
some excuse, he smashed d couple of
chairs. and ravcd and cursed for an
hour. When the doctors came the man
was sane enough to realize what fa-
vorable report would do for him, and
he called up all his nerve and cunning.
1t was wonderful how sharp he was.
The doctors pumped him on every sub
jcct they could think OF, and he was
the peer of any one of the trio in sa.
gacity and intelligence. When they
touched upon his hobby he laughingly
said:
"Yes, that was crazy idea of mine,
and l don't wonder people thought me
insane. To think ] expected to reach
the moon by a rope-lalder-hal hal!
hal"
This man is rs sane as am" said
the spokesman of the commission.
"and his incarceration here is one of
the grosscst outrages | ever heard of. "
He was sent here by the courts"
replied, as the doctor was giving the
asylum hit.
"But you should have seen that he
was sane. Iprcsume that you would
dctain me if sent here by some idiot OF
a judge!'
"The man has fooled you, sir He is
certainly off his balance, and | also re-
gard him as dangerous.
"Wcll, we shall recommend his in
stant discharge, sir"
The doctors had seemingly failed to
observe what was very evident TO me.
The patient was making determined
effort to conceal his insanity This is
often successfully done. He clenched
his hands, the sweat started out on his
brow, and he was ncrved up rs much
as man on trial for his life. The doe
tors had no sooner departed than he
had 10 lie down 10 orecover his strength.
and that evening he came TO me, and
whi.pered:
IL find that six miles of rope won't
do. must have at least thirteen, and
I've been thinking how l can hook the
ladder at the top"
The legal order fer the mans dis
charge came in few days, and | saw
him depart with dire misgivings. lie
had dangerous look in his eyes, and
instead of being cured was really worse
than when received He went home
to begin on his hobby again. His wife
tried to reason him out of it, but he
her head of with the axe. 1t
was over one hundred miles to the
asylum, but he made his way back to
il on foot in forty-cight hours, and was
while covering on the steps
of the main entrance. He was then
insane on all subjects, and a year later
committed suicide. N. y Sun.
- -