Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-06-27
A nUMAN CYCLONE.
The Perils OF Conveying IA Party of Convict
LunaticS.

--
The Perils of Conveying IL Party of Convict
Lunatics.
IL isn't the pleasantest thing in the
world to travel with q convict. It is
stlll less agreeable to have as your com
pagnon du voyage q lunntic who is
liable to break out and be violent at
any moment. But l think the worst of
all is to have a collection of convict
luneys" under your charge even for q
short journey, for, mad as they are,
most of them know that they are pris-
nners and enemies of society, and they
couple with this knowledge all the reck-
'essness which insanity brings. They
are apt to be both dangerous and ugly.
we We're transferring six prisoners of
this variety from Utica to Auburn.
There We're eleven in the party. four
keepers besides the doctor. O slender
young fellow and something of a dude
IN appearance, with his fine clothes ard
gold-rimmed eyeglasses. which lie pro-
nounced "glawses," but o good man for
an that, brave as a lion, and with muscle
like steel springs IN his athletic arms.
1t was hard to say who was the most
nervous of the party-the mad-men,
excited by their change of base, the
keepers, knowing we'll the perils of the
enterprise, or the young doctor, keen
alert, on whose shoulders rested the
responsibility for safely delivering his
charge within the walls of the insane
pavilion at Auburn.
On the station platform at Utica, one
OF the men, the most dangerous char
acter of all, broke loose and started to
run away. Instantly all four of the
keepers jumped upon him, and after a
most tremendous struggle, threw him
down and overpowered him, while the
doctor, after sweeping the others with
o lightning-like glance and bidding
them in q low tone Of authority to stand
perfectly still, whipped out a pocket
case with a tiny syringe in it and
squirted a pacifying measure into the
arm Of the furious and foaming mad
man. In a moment or two he had be-
come more tranquil.
Now, get up" said the doctor, "and
do not make us any more trouble"
The keepers relaxed their hold and
the "luney" sullenly obeyed. 1t was
wonderful what effect the cool manner
and the strong will of the little doctor
had upon these misshapen minds. 1t
was like oil or troubled waters.
There was no further trouble until
we reached Syracuse. The dangerous
patient had been very quiet since his
first outbreak, suspiciously so the
doctor thought, who asked him several
times how he felt, if he felt all right, and
so forth. In the cars he was between
his keeper and the window, and really
had no chance for mischief. But as
they We're getting off the cars at SYRIA
cuse his opportunity came, and he took
it like a flash. With q quick blow he
knocked the keeper off the car platform
and down on the station, her he was
off upon the other side and running like
a deer along the railroad track. The
Chicago Unite was coming down the
track at a fast pace, and 1 expected that
the locomotive would forever settle that
troublesome patient, for it caught him
in a narrow place where he could not
turn neither to the right nor left, but,
with all q madman's cunning, he lay
down close to the rails just in the nick
OF time and was passed by unframed.
. But what was that upon his heels-a
streak of lightning? No, it was the
young doctor, and running like the,
hound that overtakes the deer. He
escaped the limited by throwing him
self fat against the fence, and then be-
fore the other had time to scramble up
and be off again he was on him with
furious energy. He caught the fellow
by the scutf of the neck, gave him a,
twist and sent him spinning like q peg
top crash against the fence. Then he
had him down, and was jumping on the
postrate body till the fellow howled for
mercy. Cruel? Brutal? Well, per
haps it was, but I, who had seen the
whole business, and knew how quickly
the mailman would stick a knife in him
if he got the chance, I could not blame
him for harsh measures.
A moment latter the fellow was again
in the hands OF q keeper. The NOR
phine was applied once more and the
doctor was serenely asking how he
felt.
1t was not until the men were safely
lodged in their new asylum a couple of
hours afterward that the doctor broke
down, and then, trembling and with
fiuttering voice, he went to the hotel
and asked for q long horn of brandy.
THAT is the most terrible task of any
that 1 have to do" he said. I'm trans
ferring 'luneys' I am always possessed
by the expectation that one of them will
break loose and kill somebody. 1t is
not for myself that I fear, but for some
harmless and unsuspecting passenger.
1 would rather carry o load Of dynamite
on the cars than half a dozen of chose
fellows. "-NeU York Herald.
Save Your Small Change.
"Let me tell you a story" said Mr..
Depew, replying to an inquiry for birth
day wisdom. Some years ago I took
rro,t 70 tn q uo1,ro man H. ~ok