New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-26
THEY THINK FIELD INSANE
MORE EVIDENCE OF HIS QUEER WAYS.
MR. NIcoLL's EXPERIENCE WITH TWO EAff''~
nN DEB ANGEn MINDS.


r,,rord n Field looked more miserable than e','
whom no turned his back to the jury Whlch y " ~,
,r,uo his mental condition In the Court OF oSei ~,
- IT., os,erlnv morning lie sat down al Ms
.,,,,I ,locs near one OF the tables ana re'"o
,, hood on his hand. apparently went 10 s'eep
.c.,,,elv moved from this position al "ie ioe
a ,oo ma more interest In the trial than II ne "e'0
a part Of the table itseH' , =. ,he OK
I'll rroceednGs OF the day were begun oy '"o -
,o,,or NJ DR. George J. Fisher, OF Ponghheep'',
ono NJ IN. state lunacy Inspectors lie s''u "' ,
,,a medicine for more than forty years. ne
20 - tsonitv I'm all liz forms I'm the prison AZ o'"s
Kim, and other state institutions, ahn' ai.ho"eh j"
NOT made speciality OF nervous dise''s'a Vi "
am he had examined good many lhSa"e W. ~
and bo declared emphaticaly that ne had hc'o u. '
No. r,ot an error In pronouncng man 20 DO iisano
who was not so' A.. ,,oo. =, asued
"Then yOu are lniaihoie U" '""' ''
Mr.. Nicol. .,, 40 u,,x,,r n Word
The witness thought that this was too str"nR WIZ
hut b repeated that he had never made an e'ror Il,
,b,s line lie said that he had examined WI r''
an January II and again on February TINS year
From these examinations and from VIVA, ia" -
,,, 10 him by members OF the family and others ne
,,s confident that the prisoner was insane.
AZ N,co,, asked him II In these examinations ne
,, sdcred the fact that the prisoner was charaed
With serious crime and had every reason 10 s'"'"o
insanity. ,,., .,,s
rho u,tncss replied that he had considered th's
fact md added that he was accnStomn !" u
inst such cases In the State prisons. Inc 'ho''',
h,ch bo had seen cond not be simulated ne deciar'n'
Mr. FIELDS pulse ne said was only sixty ana DIS "oo
,, arms Logs feet and head cold and clafniny'
rh,o e,o6 ~ affairs could not be produced arunc'"S
orcent nv the nse OF drugs II showed thnt herc WIS
n remarkably sluggish circulation OF the bioon.
Mr. Njcoll then got out a lot Of medical books on
insanity and began to examine the phys'cr'n Oh ue
tcnr OH on
and classified the different kinds OF insanity aSmne
ho u,t,ess ~ he agreed with him in the classihcauoh
,h,oh be bad made The witness got oonsideraDy
ovcitod and said that he did not care "bout ue me
distinctions which the writer's quoted hau Sh'u' nc
lror when he saw an Insane man aud that WIS eho"sh
for him. ,u.,.u
Mr. N,col, pressed him and wanted to kho" wh''n''
the symptoms which he Ind described were ooI'c'No
or subjective symptoms. The witness became moro
excited than
"Uls skin was cold and cammy,' he almost shon'o'
@ ord HE mise was sixty now have It whichever way
you plcasel' - -,
The witness did not have high opinion OF some oil
tho auibor. which Mr. Nicoll quoted and when the
D.tric- Attorney rad something from Dr. lhmmonuS
hook the witness interrupted him by exclniInine'
"Ohl Or. IIanmond's book makes me urei' anu
DR. Hammond makes me tired. t"o.'
his knowledge Of Insanity. he said. was based on
HI. oxnericncr coupled with good deal OF reading ana
consultation His reading had covered three or four
lime n. many books ~ Mr. Nicoll had produced ara
many which lie had not even mentioned
The next witness was Or. Charles J.. Lindley. the
brother IN Jaw ~ the prisoner. He had Observed
decided chang, IN the condition NJ his brothernlnw IN
tho las; four yonr. The Grs time he had seen any
thing wrong was ~ far back 1870, when he went
10 the Adirondack Mountains with him. The hEt
queer nlne was that he wanted to return to the city
a. soon a he arrived at m" mountains Then he shot
nearly all III, ammunitou away at hrchrlnds. wh"h
b. thought wcrc wolves. one night ne shot ut TN
can tHnllng that II wolf also. The guides
seeing MS weakness used 10 throw nrehrands In the
woods ior tho purpose Of watching Mr.. Field shoot nj
them ono night Mr. Field chased the witness Tor Il
hall mile through the woods with loaded gun think
Ing that be was A wolf also The provisions IN camp
60, rniher low and Mr. Field started for town 10 get
them replensAod Not returning for several days. The
witness became alarmed and sent one OF the guides
ont a. look for him. Tho guide did not find him and
| the witness started out himself. and after rowing
bont thirty ght miles. found Mr.. Field nj Panl smiths
IL dazd condition. Upon being asked why he came
out " the woods. Field had answered that he came
because there were so many wolves there and that he
had al his ammunition IN protecting himself from
them. At aTst he declared that he would not 60 back
TO the wood, again Int he finally did 90.
Dr. j. l. Adams Of Pittsncd. Mass, was the next
witness. lie had seen Mr.. Field after the time that
he bad fallen over In the wagon before he was
married. He said that June ~, 1910, WHO
coming from Wiluamst0wn. Mr. Field had had III
| ON the way When the physician saw him he had the
appearance, Of a man suffering from epilepsy. llc was
| unconscou, for some time. He saw him regularly
for three DAYS and the end OF that time be- was about
well although he saw him occasionally for several
months. and ne seemed It'll suffering b. some extent
from the trouble lie understood at the time that the
crisis boon brought By he excitement attending
1 Mr. Fields examination Al college.
DR.. LiEdlcy recalled and Mr. Nitoll began 10
| question him on his knowledge of Insanity The
ni.,rc. Attorney evidently got more Information than
! he cxpectod Or Gindlcy wcpt into the subject In
! detail and quoted number of authors IN various
! ?~lau 20 on ~ he asked Mr.. Nicoll.
Ycs was the rather meek reply.
| lie went on Tor few mnut9 dud Nhtn ne hau
| finished 1ir Nicol was sitting down and said, Ihats
| all, IN a low tone.
| -" \r"r recess Dr. William D. Granger who 7 In
charge OF tho asylum Mount Vernon hero Mr. Field
| was confined, Wa the nr't witness caiied. lie saw
Field fnr the arst time December ] last, and at
thai time his condition one u physical exhaustion
| Iield told the physician that he was not afraid To
| die hut H. said he did not want 10 be tortured by
| ia enemies lie declared that there We're lots Ot
mon down In Wall Street who had lost money through
mat Field might recover Gu the cro-seN animation
! ne witness snd that insane symptoms hllOwiug the
| commission Of a crime must be viewed with great sus
pcion and had had this In mind when no examined
hror- the witness said that II would be impossible
| Tor A man 10 simulate the facial expression Of An
| insane person. i,
| Or Henry T.. Schmidt whp Ii In charge of an inst.
Field and nv declared him to I've insane. From what
Inc had hoard the family history or the prisoner no
| did not tbinN l- case which could be cured
| The case was adjourned until next Tuesday