Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-09
HIS THEORY BADLY UPSET, HOWEVER
rcoHErspoNpENcE OF rHr prsPArcHl

tCoRRKsPoNDENcE OF THE pIsPATcHl
NEW YORK, Aug. SIS the passion fol
notoriety disease? The question every
now and then forcibly obtrudes itself on the
thinking public. 1t arises from the foul
Elums where the tough glories in the news
paper exploitation of his criminal career
from the scaffold where, even in the face
of death itself, men pose for public effect
from every stratum OF human life, the low,
est to the highest
This State officially recognized it as a
disease when it sought by stringent law to
prevent the publication of the particulars
of an execution by electricity. The private
execution of criminals not only recognizes
the fact that the love of notoriety is a
disease, but that it is an infectious disease,
readily spreading to those coming in famil-
lar contact with the advanced stages. The
civilized world was long time in coming
to this conclusion, but it finally did con-
clude that public executions, as well as
peculiarly horrible forms of executions of
criminals so far from acting as a disccur-
agement to crime had exactly the contrary
effect
OIA hh-SIL1 OE OAN NA4AADAAASN'
By degrees higher civilization is coming
to treat the love of notoriety as disease
that, like an abnormal love of strong drink,
frequently leads to the commission Of crime.
Love Of notoriety is apparently a mental
and moral affection, and whether 1t shows
itself in one-horse politician, man
haunting newspaper Offices for personal
notices. prize fighter, sensational preacher,
baseball pitcher, Bowery tough or con-
demned murderer, the disorder apparently
attacks the same fbers of the brain. What
ever direction il assumes is largely ques-
ticn Of environment. When ii attacks
man il is likely to lead him to extravagant
acts ard excesses in his natural bent and in
his own ,sN7icular sphere
If a man is fool then the bigger fool he
is tie more he attracts public attention and
the 1,.ve rapidly he achieves the object of
his ambition. The biggest fools in public
life have invariably divided honors with
the wsest statesmen. If he is posted as a
crank, " the disease leads him on to the
verge Of the insane asylam. If he is of
criminal surroundings, it pushes him into
deeper and mere horrible crimes.
IN RELIGION AND POLITICS.
II he is a devout man or a minister of the
gospel, it inspires him with extravagant
notions OF religion, sensational utterances
from the pulpit, or with an uncomfortable
itching for new doctrines If he is a poll
tician, he wants TO be road supervisor,
or chairman OF convention, or vice presl-
dent or secretary OF The meeting, or
egate-anything that will get his name
into the reports and prominently before the
people. The disease so permeates public
life that ii is the most difficult problem in
politics to successfully grapple with. Nine
tenths OF all those engaged in tie struggle
for political preferment are suffering acute
" from the insidious disease-the other
tenth want place for the mere salary.
Once in a while some conspicuous case
arises like the Shaving of President Garfield
by Guiteau, that for the time being chal-
lenCes the attention of the world. That
assassin was hanged while in the last stages
Of the disease, notoTietv - which stage
vergeS so closely upon insanity that experts
cannot agree upon the point whether the
sufferer is responsible for his acts or not
Occasionally ii appears in q most novel and
incOmprehensible form. such as in the case
ofone Sumner, of this city, who has reached
an almost worldwide fame as the mysterious
identifer of mysterious dead people.
MAN WHO IDENTIFIES THE DEAD.
In this latter case we have a man, a very
shrewG and well educated man, who volun-
tarilv assumed the responsibility of identify
ing the body Of an unknown dead man, and
constructed such an ingenious theory OF the
relations between an unknown and known
person that the mystery fairly bafhed the
attempts Of the entire detective forces of
two States and involved the metropolitan
newspapers in the meshes of contradictory
circumstances. He sacrificed business and
suffered unparalleled abuse at the pens of
the foiled detectives of the press, was ar
rested and imprisoned and submitted to all
sorts Of satirical indignities with morbid
sort of stOiciSm, accountable only on the
hypothesis Of an acute case of this terrible
disease.
That it is this and nothing more was
early assured by one who knows the sinner
we'll Nobody but one with the desperate
enthusiasm and cum ing OF q lunatic could
have SO long successfully played such
part. Il was only because the newspapers
and law officers proceeded on the usually
SAFE presumption that their man had some
pec0niary or other criminal interest in the
matter instead of recognizing the disease OF
notoriety that they could have been so COM
pletclT hoodwinked. And it was only after
columns upsn columns had been expended
upon the case, after the wires of the whole
civilized world had borne evidence of the
controversy, and after the principal char
acter had begun new theories on new dead
bodies that the public began to suspicion
the real complaint from which this man
Sumner suffered.
THE DISEASE Is CONTAGIOUS.
That at this advanced stage of the disease
Il is highly contagious is evidenced by the
fact that olher similar identihers sprung
Immediately into existence and pounced
upon the nrst unknown dead body heralded
by the press. One young man identified
the body OF young woman as his wife and
offered 10 pay the funeral expenses, though
within IS hours he was completely exposed
by his own father. In this case, too, the
great and only original identifer appeared
upon the scene. Half dozen Of his imita-
tors came at once to the front. Just as the
London "Jack the Ripper" was followed
by other rippers in every land and cline
So catching is the disease of notoriety.
In recognition Of this peculiar phase Of
human nature and the crying need of rem
edial legislation, a venerable philosopher of
this city conceived the idea embraced in the
electrical execution law. He considered
the subject I don't know how many days
and nights, and finally appealed to the New
York Legislature. In the meantime he ar
rived at the logical conclusion that if the
chief cause of notcriety could be quaran-
tined, so to speak, the danger of infection
would be reduced to minimum.