The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-06-19
IS HE SPANNING
orange Case of Insensibility to
Pain, Although
.uSr EICRUcIlTlNG TOR1URES
>. ,,pIIcd...Afatthew Kennedy, tho
:, TomDs Prisoner in Now York, Who
:. puunling the Medical Experts of
nc City.

y,r yopx, June ls.-Matthew Ken.
.,,r a man sixty.two years old and q
S.r'b prisoner sOjournins for season
= .y Ecl,oyne, has been within the past
~ I weeks subjected to tortures not less
w ',,ai,i,e than those inflicted by the
Saani.b Inouisition, or else he is q pcr-
y, whose body is about as sensitive to
s - ss the statue OF Horace Greeley in
i.,nt oi the Tribune office. He has been.
T, with pins md needles; the
i,ls. Of his feet have beengtickled with
s,,,hers; his eyes, as Warden Fallon, OF
.So Tombs, says, subjected "to the most
s az, test" galvanic battery
sanlisl to his shins, to find whether he
i; tH sic. or shamming, sane or insane.
Topnedy has stood them all, and never
l,o""J n muscle under the ordeal. And
a",, science is puzzled, and, perhaps,
n NV , hr,ie ASHAMED OF itself; not be-
ssn.S il may have needlessly inflicted
tso "u5I nain on human being, but
Sccause il has expended u good deal OF
force without result. iqtS
Kennedy was arrested on June . for
,,saTIting' his daughter, and lodged in
,be Fcmbs next day after examination.
IN tho day following one OF the Tombs
o@raIs reported to Warden Fallon that
s5r mn man was lying insensible in his cell.
The III. Warden notified DR.. Q. j. Chef
a% the prison physician, Mho had
ths man removed to the hospital depart
msnl and there subjected to thorough
nTomiuation. He found that Kennedy's
SrclDs were sound, bis heart beat regu-
isiiy and his respiration was good. Al
ter few hours the man recovered con-
ssiapsnpss, and was dischargcdEfrom tho
bo.pi,al. A few days later, Wien it was
announced to him that he was to be
AIKEN before the District Attorney for
Syominntion, the same phenomenon
Va, presented. Kennedy stitfened and
m 10 the ilOur in an unconscious con-
titiOl Tq4
STOOD HARD TESTS.
Then, with the permission Of Edward
9. Shelby, one Of the Commissioners OF
Charity, Dr.. Chetwood made experi-
uents upon Kennedy's body to see
whether lie was shamming or not. II
w no. present when those experi-
Herts we're made, said Warden FaIlon,
but Dr. Chctwood informed me that,
IN presence Of Commissioner Shelby, he
mi Ncunedyto the severost tests possi-
H.. lie put pins in the muscles OF his
his ami arms, he pressed the balls Of
lis eyes and touched tho optic nerve,
md caught him by the muscles OF the
inside Of the thighs and lifted the body
tom the ground. This is q torture
Ihicl conscious man could not bear.
Although the pain was excruciating
Kennedy never WINGED, and the specta-
tts concluded he was not shamming."
He was then sent to Bellevue Hos
Iiml md placed under charge OF DR..
ioleFton, This gentleman still thought
hewas sIamming, and had him return
q to the Tombs. At the Tombs he
Nrs more fell into q state OF uncon-
Einasness, subjected to some more tests
and sent back TO Bellevue. lie was not
long in tue hospital when he recovered,
andyas returned to the Tombs in an
ambulance, Of which DR.. ]. I. Sprague
bad charge. 11a
The case OF tho uniortunateman now
tNal 10 excite lAngnid interest
laag medical practitioners. II was
heTombs against Bellevue, and in or
dtf to come TO decision DIR. Sprague
put Kennedy to still severer tests, to all
those known to science, in fact; after
Which lie came to the opinion that the
Ian was not shamming, that his case
W one Of hystericOl coma, and con-
lesed it was the only one OF the kind
lehal ever heard OF. This is what DR..
SFagne said last night.
PUZZLED THs DocTeas.-
by request OF Commissioner shcehy
@aFc keeping Kennedy here for still
further examination. He It's in the
Prisoners department OF the hospital,
eader surveillance OF Roundsmaa Har-
NJ. Neisa peculiar specimen o. hui
llanltI Of low type intellectually,
guI physically strong man, with Won
GeEtal9eNe. Nevertheless, this would
l9t enable him to resist the influence
q Tue electric battery applied to his
sHns; lor II he had sensation tho shock
would bring him to his feet like light
Al1s | inerel y subjected. him to the
ordinary tests, and this in the presence
OF Commissioner Shelley, These tests
.WEelIu, oil course, cause exquisite pain,
II the man Ind feeling, which he has
nW' Inen | pressed tllGa.optic and
souclI the supra-orbitalr nerve the
llos' sensitive nerve in the body, per-
maps lie never moved . muscle, and
WnSn needles were driven into his arms
T'N ieSs remained perfectly motionless.
pnI SIX needles in various parts OF his
uogy tano purpose. An infalliblc test
~ ~ ue placing OF three drops OF croton
~ ~ Oh the tongue, and he stood this.
.a'l'y o. New York's most eminent
practitioners have visited Kennedy and
notl,. - $50 GlhUi uuI GILL luitkC
nu,.ii4 OF it. They cannot suggest
ggH!y1tqling new, and the impression is
ss@ he Is insane, having no feeling or
sslsa,iGn whatever when he falls into
one Of his frances.
,o,l 6Iat, Doctor" he was asked, tis it
"S ~, 70 put tho man to such torture?"
toaI it 4 not torture, because he does not
wv, NV. H. II was done to find out ii he
not ~" y n,, Il y no crime tosham ; ut least
~ 0v Y crime to invite such torture"
SS. ssi.! shock would settle the question.
sSu ul II painful tests were NOT APPLIED
w rail such circumstances, criminals
ot su,u never go to trial. 1T has been
s s,f1erTed that every time Kennedy was
i5 1,st !, up IN the Toinbs to be taken be.
OsS " ,;le District Attorney he fell into
ASo.S. meSe fits, which is singular.
t-"utlCf SLIGHT haaaon e., IL = -