Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-27
QUITE A MENAGERIE.
John Barleycorn's Show Has Lots of
Things Besides Snakes.
SCENES AT THE MERCY HOSPITAL.
One Fellow Sees Little Scotchmen Dancing
the Highland Fling.
BULLS AND TURKEYS IN STRAW HATS
rwRrTrEN FOB THE prspArcH.1


body head them bulls, quick"
Little Joe, the drover, shouted this frantic
appeal at the top of his voice, as he ran like
quarter horse through the corridor in the
private ward on the fourth floor of the old
Mercy hospital building. A drove of Texas
steers was after him and he was flying for
his life
Texas steers on the fourth floor Of an hos
pital? No, not exactly. The bulls were in
Joe's mind, but he saw them all right
enough. He had just developed fine, large
case of the jim-jams and his delusion took
business turn with the drover being driven
instead Of driving. Nobody bothered much
about the bulls but Joseph was soon cor
raled and quartered in strong room where
the cattle couldn't catch him. This incl
dent, taken from real life, is used in this
sketch of some OF the curiosities of alcohol
ism to illustrate the fact that there are more
things than snakes in John Barleycorn's
menagerie.
1t may be as well to have it understood
along toward the beginning of this yarn
that what 1 will have to say will have no
bearing on free-for-all cases OF delirium
tremens, occurring in saloons, police sta
tions, the streets, or private residences.
The cases that will refer to are those which
occur under rule and while the victims are
undergoing treatment according to one or
the other of the schools of medicine, or in
consonance with the theories of specialists,
who say they can, but who never do cure
alcoholism.
SPEAKS FROM THE BOOK.
This is net hearsay business with me, un-
fortunately. I've been there, and have
stayed until the COWS came home, with all
the schools and all the specialists so far as
we have them in this country. NY ex-
perience is that any of the schools
or any of the specialists is quite
as likely as not to have developed on
its hands at any time as picturesque case
of mania as any of the slums could produce.
Almost everything depends upon the person
afflicted. There is probably no ill that
flesh is heir to the coneuering of which is
so much dependent on nerve as that of alco-
holism in its acute stages-and for that mat
Ter in its primary stages also. II man
have the will power to prevent himself
from giving way to the slight illusions
which usually mark the incipiency of the
D. T.'s, he will probably pull through
without losing his head.
A case in point Just occurs to me. A
friend of mine, a brilliant man, periodically
filings his books to the dogs and starts in to
drink up distillery. When he is patron
izing barleycorn he is one of those fellows
who drink between drinks, and so it doesn't
take him long to accumulate cargo. When
ne can drink no more he goes to sleep, and
when he wakes he loads up again. He
keeps up this sort of thing until his friends
capture him and leave him on deposit in
one of the hospitals. While the frenzy is
n0 0f yrhi Eu
scarcely deaden his cravings. To come
down suddenly to the hospital limit puts
terrible strain on his. nerves-how terrible
no one knows who has not suffered the tor
ture-yet he has never had the delirium tre-
mems. He is man of delicate physique,
but he has an iron nerve.
HE SEES DANCING sCoTcHMEN.
Shadows don't frighten him, but he in
variably goes off his head just so far, when
he begins to rally and soon manages to get
the whip-hand of his troubles. He sees
things, and what he sees is always the same.
Talking about his fights against the mania
he says: "As soon as see my little Scotch
men L know that I've reached the limit, and
that to be safe must 60 to sleep at once"
"Do you ever see anything but little
Scotchmen?" the writer asked him.
mo; never see anything else. They're
funny little roosters, too, and they are al
ways the same. They're about as big as a
quart measure, and they wear knee-breeches
and little red caps. When they call on me
they always take possession of the foot of the
bed, and dance the Highland fling in q style
that would make your heart ache. enjoy
it at first for little while, until realize
just what kind of show has dropped in on
me. Then howl for whisky and an opiate,
and the Sisters give me both right away
when they find out the little Scotchmen are
around. 1 drop off to sleep, and my friends
take a vacation until break out again.
But, tell you. it is almost worth the neces-
sary preparation to see how those little fel-
lows can dance"
HE DRINKS GOOD WHISKY, TOO.
Now, this friend always drinks the best
whisky he can buy, as do many others of
my acquaintance, yet they all "get there
once in a while just the same as the fellows
whose tipple feels like torchlight process
sion to a man who isn't copper-lined.
Of this latter class have seen greBt
many suffering with mania, but never saw
but one man who was frightened by the
delusion that he was pursued by snakes
One poor fellow whom think of now, and
whose death while in delirium witnessed
in city police station, was always, when in
that sad condition, annoyed by an endless
procession of turkeys. He would insist
that the birds persisted IN marching past
him with straw hats on to tantalize him be-
cause he had a prejudice against straw
hats.
'tI don't care about the turkeys" he
would cry, "but I'm not going to have them |
sailing past me with straw hats on. Make |
'em take them of. ;"
1t was easy to pacify him, however. It
was only necessary to 60 through the mo-