The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-10-14
THE wHITEcHAPnL MURDERER.
Instances of a Monomania Among Men
for ANNOYING Women.

New YORK, Oct 13.-"There is no doubt
In the mind Of any doctor who has studied
alienism," said a prominent New York
physician in the Hoffman house
this week, "but that the
wretched assassin who has terrorized
London by series Of atrocious murders
Is suffering from mental disease which
is well known to the medical faculty.
The disease is a monomania whose chief
characteristic Is morbid thoughts aud
feelings and unnatural conduct toward
the other sex. The last takes all sorts of
forms, but seldom expresses itself in homt-
cidal actions. In a recent case here in New
York the monomaniac took an insane de-
light in promenading Broadway when it
was crowded with shoppers, and throwing
small quantities of oil of vitriol on every
handsome silk dress he walked
past. He ruined several hundred dresses
before he was caught by Inspector Byrne'
on Fourteenth street. Similar to this case
was that OF young man who prowiod
Broadway near Thirty-fourth street some
six six years ago and sgulrtsd kerosene sen,
dressed and fine-looking women. He was
also apprehended nfter considerable hard
work on the part of the police and l think
by Inspector, then Captain Williams. An
interesting case In which the disease took
ridiculous turn was in Chicago. Here an
old bachelor found morbid pleasure in
stealing shoes from women. He would
only take one shoe and that one tho left
if he could get 1t, and it made no difference
to him whether the woman was old or
young, rich or poor, pretty or ugly. Upon
the mau's death, his diary disclosedsover 200
thefts of this class, and in his bureau and
trunks were more than ninety shoes anu
slippers he had stolen from the other SEX
1.-TWO cases accorded by the French au-
thori,ies verge upon the sentimental. In
one the mouomaniac had a craze for rib
bons around women's necks, and would
resort 10 assault and battery to obtain
them If he could not do it by craft or
address. In the other, the mans weak
ness was locks of hair. He went provided
with BARRIERS scissors, and whenever the
opportunity presented itself would relieve
luckless woman of handful of hair. Both
of these fellows carefully preserved their
spoils and kept them arranged a q labeled
in a way that would do credit to scientific
cabinet.
"fwo other instances, ons In Berlin and
the other in Vienna, were OF very differ
ent nature. In each of these the maniac
a disguise, consisting Of a slouched hat
pulled down over the face and a military
cloak drawn up around the neck until the
collar nearly met the hat brim. Thus
attired, they would start out In quest of
victims When an attractive woman ap-
preached they would hide themselves be-
hind a tree or projecting building, and
II the coast was clear as she passed, glide
noiselessly behind her and stab her in the
arm or back with a sharp penknife. The
wound was always painful, seldom danger
Gus and never fatal. Both OF these
wretches were captured finally by the
police and convicted by the courts. They
were examined after the trial by expert
alienists and pronounced insane. They were
sent TO asylums for insane criminals and
died not long afterward from paresis.
"A common form of the disease which Is
found in nearly all large asylums, is where
the victim imagines himself tho object of
the admiration and passion Of numberless
beautiful women. l recall one case
where tho patient, who was seem-
ingly sane in ali other respects, kept diary
of the imaginary women who visited him
hourly, and who spent all his leisure time
in writing love letters Of the most intense
type TO h mself from his fancied paramours
and admirers.
"Dr. Bronardsl, a distinguished physi-
clan and writer Of Paris, has given this
subject great study and has collected a
vast number of cases, He instances not
less than seven men who killed women or
children while under the impetus OF mania,
and five of the six mutilated the corpses
in the same loathsome way AS is done
by the Whitechapel fend. One of
the So ven, a quiet AID well educated man
named Menesclo , confessed to the aHthori-
ties that he knew perfectly well what he
was doing when he murdered his victims
and suffered the pangs Of remorse duri z
as well as after the commits ion of the
crime, but that he was seized with an ire
sistible frenzy to kill which he could not
control.
"The monomania to infilct pain and shed
blood is much more common. In the past
six years three men have been convicted in
Strasburg and two in Paris of making
passes at women with sharp, steel-pointed
canes.
"These monomanias make their appear
aucs usually toward the commencement of
general paralysis or paresis-in other words,
toward the close of the sufferers life. At
the outset he generally displays the re-
markable cunning and quickness for
which crazy people are noted. This
disappears as the disease progresses, and
tho brain becomes more and more i'm
paired. In many cases the perpetrator
Of this kind Of crime is never detected
and dies a few months or a year after
ward In some hospital or as lum. In all
probability tie Whitechapel murderer is a
monomaniac OF this class, who, il he is
captured will probably cheat the gallows
by the natural progress OF his disease"
FALEs CURTIS.