Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-01-13
THE CRANKS.
Insane People Who Haunt
the Newspapers.
SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS ONES.

SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS ONES.
Naniacs Who are at Large-Their Pc
culiar Habits-They Write for
the Newspapers.
There are two things which experience
shows generally 60 together: they are,
and disposition to write un-
articles for newspapers. As to
which of the two is cause and which
effect there is undoubtedly room for
much psychological discussion; but OF
the fact that all cranks long to get the
ear Of the public through the medium OF
the daily papers, and that the latter are
continually harrassed by their peril
nacity, is fact which every newspaper
man knows. In the course OF the last
year there have been over dozen insane
people who have haunted the HERALD
Office and demanded the privilege of
telling the public all about it. About
half of this number have since been sent
to Stockton. Some of the others have
drifted out of the city, and the rest are
still on deck.
Probably very few people have any
idea of the number of veritable cranks
that are at the present time loose on the
public. The laws on the subject Of the
restraint of lunatics are purposely 80
- 4F
bility of imprisoning the sane,
and as the line OF demarcation
is not always easy to define, insane
people are not always committed when
they are examined. 1t is necessary,
however, before the examination takes
place, that complaint should be lodged,
and this will probably not be done until
the individual has made himself OBJ
noxious to somebody in some way. A
large percentage of these lunatics drifts
is some time before their lunacy is dis
covered. In most cases, however, in
sanity develops slowly, and there is q
long period during which the crank is
harmless enough, and all the better for
not being imprisoned with lot of genu.
inc maniacs.
All these things 60 to prove that we
have at the present moment more crazy
people in our midst than we are inclined
to believe. During eleven months Of
last year ninety-five persons were taken
to the County Jail on the charge Of in
sanity, and eighty-four of this
number were sent North. The
where the individual was discharged the
ha1 l. -. ho 11c
partially insane. An annual product of
fifty persons known to be positively in
sane, would indicate the existence in
the community of several hundred more
or less touched. 1t is safe to assume
that in city of 85, 900 inhabitants, such
as Los Angeles, there ara some 250
cranks wandering about, some of them
cared for by their relatives, but many Of
them actual vagrants.
There are two classes of places where
these g.mssir people like to 90 and
pubtrc tYfces snn tukfaHei as snsalab "a 10 the
paper establishments. Mayor Hazard
receives several letters and calls week
as does also Sheriff Aguirre.
District Attorney Kelley not in.
frequently is deluded into listening
to long stories which wind up in haze
of hallucinations out of which can come
NO cause for action by the people. A
short time ago some of the clan learned
of the existence of those two estimable
bodies, the Board of Trade and Chamber
of Commerce, and proceeded to make a
run on them. There was one old lady of
Spanish extraction who oscillated back
and forth between Secretary Higgins
and Secretary Wards offices for several
months. She believed that war was
imminent between the nation of her an
cestry and the United States. She first
tackled Mr.. Ward, of the Board of Trade,
who, after learning her story, assured
her that the Chamber of Commerce
made especially of adjusting the foreign
affairs of the nation and that she had
better see Mr.. Higgins. Mr.. Higgins
responded to the call by saying that Mr..
Ward belonged to the blessed order
of peacemskers, and that if any
thing could satisfactorily establish
good feeling between the two
countries it was one of his exuberant
smiles. At last the old lady grew weary
of the complicated negotiations that
seemed to be needed to prevent actual
hostilities, and decided to let the war 20
on.
One OF the unfOrtunateS who made
frequent visits to the HERALD Office
during the past was Verona Bald
win. She is now in the Insane Asylum
at Napa. For more than a year after her
insanity became pronounced this woman
was allowed to wander about the streets
OF the city, subsisting chiefly upon the
charity of kindly disposed people who
had known her before her misfortunes.
She frequently brought in long articles
on matters of literature and the drama.
They were very philosophical-and in
sane. When she found that they did
not get into the paper she besieged the
city editors room and not infrequently
caused that gentleman to hide from her
wrath.
Another lunatic who made a specially
of writing for the papers and whose name
was well-known for long time
in the offices of the daily journals,
WAS one Arthur Debonnaire.
He had bestowed upon himself
the title of "poet dramatique," which he
always appended to his name. He re-
garded himself as one of the choice and
master epirits of the age. He knew that
he was genius and refused to allow any
false conventional modesty to prevent
him from owning up to the fact. He
wrote poetry which, as it was positively