The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-11

people None Of them would 60
nearer TO the crazed man than the
door and the five who held him down
were without aid The harSs and the
snars could be heard 2OO yards away.
When DR.. Reid arrived she administered
morphine and other things TO quiet him.
She ordered that he be put TO bed. a
bed was brought down stairs and his
clothing was cut of Of him, and then he
was strapped down. Or Reid waited
for the arrival of Bridgeport doctor be
fore she declared that Alderman was not
suffering from hvdrophObia, hut that he
had become insane, and his hallucination
was that he had hydrophobia. She and
the Bridgeport doctor were sCOffed at.
The people would have none Of it. They
went home terrOr-striCkeu to shoot their
dogs. The five who had held the crazy
| man remained on duty until the following
day, when other volunteers came, and
after that the care of watching him was
| divided among the neigh bOrs. The guard
was always ON duty
| In the seven days up to last Saturday
| there were several changes in ACker-
mans condition. The third day he
| ceased barking and began cursing and
! praying and singing alternately. That
! night for the first time he silent two or
three hours. When he awoke he ap-
pearcd to be dazed. He laid very quiet
| for some time, and he was very much i'm
| proved, and il was thought he
| would probably pull through all
right. But not ten minutes after this
! opinion the frenzy came back in its first
| form and there was all the actions of a
mad dog. The frenzy lasted a day. Then
| for the first time he began to talk about
! big black dog. In lucid intervals he
would describe monster dog that had
! tried to kill him. This talk confirmed the
| neighbors in the hydrOphobia theory, and
! one old lady thought that she remem-
bered that fifteen years ago Alderman
| had been bitten by Newfoundland dog
| But neither Ackerman's mother nor his
stepfather could remember it.
Until Saturday Alderman seemed to
retain all his strength. On Saturday
morning he was particularly bad, and tried
to eat the bed clothing. His symptoms
then were just the same as on the day of
| the first attack But in the afternoon he
| weakened, and that night he got more
rest. At intervals since then he has got
little rest. When The Sun reporter
saw him yesterday he was stretched fiat
on his back in the bed. One man held
his hands, another stood ready to seize
! him the moment he attempted to move.
"Oh, Cody he would cry, 'if / could
only die. Why can't l die" Then he
| would shout "A knifel Give me a
knife2' Then the frenzy in its original
| form would come back, and he would
| growl and snap. The snap of his teeth
| could be heard outside the house.
Mr. Grammar who talked with the
reporter, said that all the nOurishment
| Ackerman had had was a teaspoonful of
milk now and then, and now and then
| some coffee. eve hope for the best" he
said, but the physicians tell us there is
! little chance of his living Mr.. Grum-
man was inclined to think that his step
| sons insanity had been brought on by
troubles. He did not specify their ma
ture, but intimated that they were family
troubles. Hewa at loss to tell why
his hallucination should take the form OF
| rabies
A possible explanation of this question
| may bea mad dog incident of a year ago.
| Willet Sanford, who lives three miles
| west of Ackerman, had a big Newfound-
land dog which looked after the cows.
| One summer afternoon the dog is sup
posed to have gone mad and bit six of the
| cows. He followed them from the field
! to the barn, where he bit a small boy. A
hired man attacked him, and after being
severely bitten succeeded in killing him
Some three weeks later the COWS that
were bitten began to die. All six of them
died within a month, and they displayed
| symptoms of hydrophobia. Their deaths
caused considerable excitement. The
boy and the hired man, who had beer
bitten, were frightened. A subscription
was taken up in the neighbOrhood to senC
! them to New York, where they received
the Pasteur treatment They returned
| to Aspetuck and haven tshown any symp
toms of rabies yet. 1t is thought possible
that when Ackerman's mind began givinl
way he was thinking of this mad dos
scare and the insanity took that form.