The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-04-13

tude. He had been intending to strike
me without warning. but as l faced
him he backed off ard dropped his
hands ordered him to go to his
room, and he walked off about forty
feet and turned I saw then that he
would attack me. and had my coat
and vest of before he came up. All
the patients in my hall came running
up. and knew that I would have to
settle the affair with Williams as soon
as 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. had
an advantage in the fact that had
caught him in q c!andestine assault,
and this fact had ratified him. He led
at me with his left, fell short, and neat
ly stopped my counter. Then l lcd
and got in on his chin, lodged his
counter. and he left an opening for me
to swing my right on his jaw. l struck
a 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 alone he
said:
"Ah. sir. you were deceiving me all
the time. You are Tom Savers, and
I'll give in to YOU"
Williams was with us year after
that and he was one of my best
| friends. On two occasions when l was
violently assaulted by patients he came
promptly to my rescue. and saved me
from injury. He was finally discharged
as cured. But one hailucination re-
NAMED He insisted that was Tom
Savers. and no proof that his friends
could bring up would shake his con-
victions. Although acknowledging
that / was the better man. he chal-
lenged me 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 a patient named Latour. who
was of French descent His hobby was
the building of ladder to the moon.
Unless one touched upon this particu-
lar theme the man talked as nationally
as any person you ever heard. He had
been sent to the asylum by the officers
of the law. and against his wife's 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 day 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 couple of
chairs. and raved and cursed for an
hour. When the doctors came the man
was sane enough to realize what IA
vorable report would do for MIN. 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:
"Ycs, that was crazy idea of mine,
and don't wonder people thought me
insane. To think l expected to reach
the moon by rope-ladder-ha! ha!
ha!''
"This man is rs sane rs l 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. Ipresume that you would
detain me if sent here by some idiot of
q judge!'
1.-The man has fooled you. sir. Heis
certainly off his balance. and also re-
gard him as dangerous"
well, we shall recommend his in
s: mt discharge. sir.
The doctors had seemingly failed to
observe what was worry evident to me.
The patient was making a determined
effort to conceal his insanity. This is
often successfully done. He clcnched
his hands, the sweat started out on his
brow, and he was nerved mp as much
as man on trial for his life. The doc
tors had no sooner departed. than he
had to lie down to recover his strength,
and that evening he came to me. and
whispered:
II find that six miles of rope won't
do. 1 must have at least thirteen, and
I've been thinking how can hook tho
ladder at the top"
The legal order for the mans dis
charge came in u few days. and saw
him depart with dire misgivings. He
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 no
chopped her head off with the axe. 1t
was over one hundred miles to the
asylum. but he made his way back to
it on foot in forty-eight hours, and was
arrested while covering on the steps
of the main entrance. He was then
insane on all subjects, and year later
committed suicide.-N T. Sun
Effective Fire-Proofing.
A correspondent tells the story OF
a fire. roof stable that he had seen in