Asheville daily citizen., 1893-04-06
LOCKED UP AS INSANE
BITTER EXPERIENCE OF A FORMER
RUSSIAN MAJOR.

When ne Told the Truth. Major suorow |
Was Declared to he Insane. but by Re- |
sorting to "a Clever Lie He Was Set at |
Liberty-His Ruse Was suooessful.
F.. E. o. Sucrow, the son of a gallant |
Russian colonel, and who himself was |
once major in the same army, has
recently been released from the Wards |
island insane asylum by a clever ruse.
Its success, he thinks, is proof enough,
if he had no other, that he is mentally
sound.
Until within a few years he did not find
it necessary to work for living. He is
of noble family and was q great yachts
man. He can recite Offhand the COM
p1ete record of all the international
yacht races and says that he has twice
own. He is about 90 years old and
speaks and writes we'll in English. He
lives at 4S Great Jones street. He
has not been ON good terms with his
family for years, and his annual income
was stopped two years ago.
When this happened, he sought some
business enterprise, and his attention
was called to discovery for making
hair grow on bald heads. which had been
successfully tried in two three cases.
He bought u controlling interest in the
restorative and commenced to boom it.
He had read a great deal about DR..
Chauncey NJ. Depew and thought it was
q pity that so great Imam should be COM
| PEELED to go through life ba1dheaded.
Furthermore, he considered that his for
| tune would be made if he could be the
means of giving DR. Depew a genuine
pompadOur.
With this object in view Major Sucrow
| fixed up package of his restorative and
| called on DR.. Depew. The pac ckage, which
was neatly tied up, was about II inches
long, 8 inches wide ana 81 inches thick.
| His visit was just after the attempt to
| blow up Russell Sage by dynamite.
When DR.. Depew saw the package and
| heard the majors foreign accent, he
| thought it was u crank and remarked
| hurriedly:
MY dear fellow, L am very busily en-
gagged today on important business that
cannot be delayed. Leave me your name
| and address, and shall send you a letter
| making an appointment for an interview
| for some other day"
| Sucrow went away and waited for the
letter, which never came. In it's place
| appeared agent of the department Of
charities and correction, who questioned
him concerning his personal history and
| as to the effectiveness of his tonic. Su-
crow was then taken before DIR. Wash
burn of ~ Irving place and declared
| insane. He spent one night at the in
sane pavilion at Bellevue hospital and
| was then sent to Wards island. He
was examined several times by different
physicians at Bellevue and at Wards
| island and was questioned as to the story
he had first told.
my statements We're all true" said
Major Sucrow yesterday, ''and so / had
to conscientiously persist in them"
After his transfer to the island he kept
the attention of the physicians there CEN
tered upon him by his frequent declara-
tions that he was not insane, accompa-
MED by applications for his release. Fol
the first five months of his incarceration
he made these applications at least every
week, and sometimes often as twice OF
three times a week. AT the end of five
months, just he was beginning to de
. spair of ever reeaining his liberty, he hi
| upon u new idea.
/ II began to change my system" he
said For the next month did not say
a word about insanity, nor did l make
any further request for my discharge
At the end of tine month 1 went to Mr.
Peppard, the head attendant, and aslet
for permission to write to DR.. Wash
burn. 1t was readily granted, but
knew that the 1nissive would be opened
and read before it was sent. if, indeed. i
was sent at all.
The substance of my letter to DR.
Washburn was that / now realized
, was not in my right mind when l wa
committed, that the stateme entS l haC
made about belonging to a noble Rus
: sian family and having once been ricl
were delusions that had now been dis
y PEELED, and that had made great mis-
take in having anything to do with tn
hair tonic business. l told the docto
= | that 1 was a humble mechanic and coul'
: earn about $1S per week at my trade
also said that this good time O
= the year to secure employment, and
= | wanted to be released. A few days late
;. | l wrote letters to Drs. Ada1nsOn, Caml
bell and Pet Of exactly the same i'm
d | port. had the story down fine and di
/; not vary single detail in any of them.
"A few days afterward DR.. Petit sen
for me and made an examination, durin
i | which he asked me to tell my stor
IS again. Thu at short intervals DR.
Adamson al d Campbell examined In
:. and asked questions regarding my lates
story. told it to them all exactly as
t. had written it in the four letters, and q
,: q result 1 was in short time discharge
,e as cured.
IS But" added Major Sucrow, here
just where the point comes in. Th
- story which proved to the doctors q
Wards island that I was no longer il
g sane, and secured my release, was til
; only lie had told in connection with M
,r whole experience a lunatic.' No'
n that have been set free 1 repudiate i
le That shows how far circumstantial ev
e dence will go, and how little some {
Iy these doctors, upon whom rest the graves
response bilities, know about the matter
n upon which they are supposed to be sp+
ne cialists.'
ne Major SucrOw says he has had enoug
IN of America. He is going to remain hel
ne just long enough to raise funds to retur