Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-03-04
&c AeseNrMlNngp WOMAN.
Several Arguments to Prove That she
IL Not. as She Fears, Insane.

R8NGThA
IL Not, as She Fears, insane.
A lady who FASTENED to explain that |
she is mot drinking woman" that she |
IL mot addicted 10 the use Of drugs" in
short that she has no habits that would
tend to impair the intellect, cites an ex-
perience that has caused her much dis
quietude. Briefly told and in her own
language, she went down town and
forgot TO put on either hat or bonnet"
This bit OF mental alteration has so
haunted. worried and generally upset
her that she appeals for relief-some-
thing in the nature of citation Of similar
cases chat may convince her that she is
not glaring exception to the world Of
sensible people and that her performance
is not to be taken az an indication that
she is losing her mind.
II ought to be the easiest thing in the
world to convince this needlessly alarm
and notable examples of mental lapses
/ her experience il rather a pleasantly
distinguishing characteristic and not n
terrifying malady. II she has followed
the daily papers or has read the floating
bits of biography she must have noted
the many strange stories of great men
and women remarkable for their absent
inindedness In fact. the preoccupation
of the mind has led people into many
absurd experiences and has made them
the subjects Of many oft told jests.
But nobody would think for moment
Of accusing such people of marked
tendency toward insanity or Of intimat
ing that the brain was softening. The
explanation would be that the mind i:
SO concentrated on what happens to bt
occupying it ut the moment that al
other things are subordinated. For ex
ample. people wrapped in thought vii
! be carried beyond their railway station
will walk several blocks out of theil
. way, will even pass their own door.
A further interesting and consolin;
, thought is the fact that the profoundes
! thinkers afford the most numerous illus
I trations Of observation-disclosures. Scicn
e fists. literary men, college professors
: lawyers-in short, all classes of peopl
g who are Of studious professionals
, noted for such eccentricities. The wis
2 professor, with his head crammed ful
: OF the inspiration of the study. is tn
= butt of the students and the practica
' folk that enjoy the bewilderment int
n which his preoccupation leads him
Q Professor Sophocles; of Harvard univei
sity. was man Of this kind. Professo
x Smell, OF Amherst. was another. Pre-
: fessor Walter Eoughton, the historian
Ii third. II il related of Professc
I .t.n4 -. = .
r pass down long corridor and thence
d the street he invariably raised his un
le brella unconscious Of tho smiles Of III
. amused spectators.
Samuel r. Glover. for many years I'll
r bright ornament of the st. Louis ba
= was VIGOROUSLY absentminded. II
: would enter restaurant, order
h luncheon and fall into brown stud
70 over law case. After the luncheo
y had been served he would pick mp II
ar check, pay the cashier and walk on
D. leaving the food untouched, entirely III
n mindful Of the fact that his stomach WI
~ still unsatished. Mr.. Beecher has relate
- stories in which thought preoccupatio
- has played him FRANKS, and has laughe
n. as heartily as anybody over the misfo
IL tunes.
IN In view Of the thousands of exper
~ ences that might be cited in evidence
K the extent Of observation-disclosures, it won
n appear that the lady who pranced dow
town bereft of her bonnet has no reasC
a. to fear that she is also TO be bereft of Ia
r. reason. A thousand Bloomingdal
Fl could not accommodate the lunatics
n. her stage OF disease.-New York Worl