The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-01-16
THE MAD DISCOVERER.

There lived in Normandy. whore he wa.
born in 1876. a man nance Solomon Caus.
He was an engineer and architect, and hat
held several important positions. He wrote
u great many scientific works and papers,
of which, however, no one took much no.
tice during his life. and finally was seized
with an idea which made his friends and
relatives fear that he was mad. After pes
terinR the king and the cardinal at Paris,
he was ordered to be taken TO Bice, e-the
madhouso-and there shut up. This wns
done. They had just one way with mad
people in those days. They shut them in
iron cages and fed them through the bars
like wild beasts. They did this to solomon
Caus. For a long time he stood behind
these bars sll day and called to those who
would listen. and TO them repeated the
story he had told the cardinal. He became
the jest of the place. boms OF them
even gave him writing materials. and then,
amid the misery of his surroundings, he
wrote down his ideas and amused his jail
era so much the more. However, il could
not be long before such a life, such sur
roundings. would shatter any brain. In
time solomon Caus was a. mad as every
one believed him..
II WAS in 1924 that An English noblsman.
Lord Worcsste', went to Paris and visited
Bicetre. As he WAS passing tn ough the
great court, accompanied by the keeper, q
hideous face. with matted beard and hair.
appeared at the grating, and . voice
shrieked wildly: stop! stop! l an Rot
mad. l am shut up here most unjustly. l
have made an invention which would en-
rich a country thst adopted IT," What
does he speak of?' the marquis asked his
guide. ooh. that is his madness" said the
man. laughing. THAT is q man called
Solomon Cans; he is from Normandy; ne
believes that by the uss of the steam OF
boiling water he can make ships go over tho
ocean and carriages travel by land; in fact.
do all so,ts Of wonde ful things. de has
oven written a book about it which l can
show you" Lord Worcester asked
for the book. glanced over 1t and de-
sired TO be conducted to the cell Of the
writer. When he returned he had
been weeping 1.-The poor man is certainly
mad now" he said, but when you imprls-
oned him here he was the Grsatsst genius
Of the age. He has certainly made very
great discovery" After this Lord Wor-
csster made many Efforts to procure s1e
liberation OF the man who doubtless would
have been restored to reason by freedom
and ordinary surroundings, but IN
vain; the cardinal was against him.
and his English friends began to
fancy that he himself had Loaf his Senses,
for one wrote to another: MY lord is re-
marksble for never being satisfied with an,
explanations which are given him, but al
WAYS wanting to know for himself. al
though he seems to pierce to the very CEN
ter of a speakers thoughts with his
big blue ewes that never leave theirs. At q
visit to Bicetre he thought hs had diseov-
cred Il genius in a madman, who declares
he would travel the world over with a kettle
of boiling water. He desired to cary him
away to London that he might listen to his
Extravaganza from morning till night, and
would, | think, ii tho maniac had NOS been
actually rnvins and chained to the WALL
Thus in Bicstfo died the man to whom,
after his works we o published, many peo-
pie gave the credit of being the discoverer
of steam power, and it 10 said that from the
manuscri, t written in his prison LORD
Worcester gathered the idea of u machine
spoken OF as a water commanding en-
CINE" which he afterwards invented. His
torians have enied That Cans died il
prison, but there exists a letter written by
Marion de Lorme, who was with Lord
Worcester at the time of his interview with
Caus. which establishes the fact beyond
doubt.-Invention.