San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-08-08
WOULD KILL HoGG.
Said Henry Purnell, Who is in the
Insane Asylum.


AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 6, 1898.
To the Daily LIGHT:
1t will be remembered that sew
eral years ago one Henry Purnell,
who had been discharged from the
lunatic asylum as a cured patient,
returned one day at noon, and
meeting Superintendent Reeves on
the front steps of the main build
ing shot him dead. Henry was
arrested, tried, proven to be luna
tic. The asylum officials were
asked to admit him to the institute
and refused, saying they had no
room, though the opinion was free
ly expressed at the time that
feeling of hatred toward Purnell
for killing Reeves was the only
reason for keeping him out of the
asylum. The San Antonio asylum
was also appealed to, in vain, and
Purnell was, in the mean time, in
generated in the jail here. He
gradually grew worse, physically,
and capped the climax by refusing
to eat anything. His condition
grew so bad that it was necessary
to remove him to the county hos
pital. Now comes the point by
which the tale hangs. 1t is claimed
while Purnell was in the hospital,
he said he was going to get well
and kill Governor Hogg. This
threat was Immediately told the
governor, and his honor immedi-
ately issued an order that Purnell
should be admitted to the asylum
and kept in close confinement. DR..
Worsham, out at the asylum, re-
fused to admit Purnell and was
summoned before the governor,
who said his order was law. DR..
Worsham, realizing that he was
a subordinate officer, I'M
der Superintendent White, the
head of the asylum, said he
would resign before he would give
his consent to admitting Purnell.
Purnell was admitted however,
and DR.. Worsham Immediately
handed in his resignation, that
was three weeks ago. The board
have been in session the past week
on the matter and refuse point
blank to accept DR.. Worsham's re-
signation and requests him to
withdraw it. Governor Hogg and
Superintendent White have told
the board to accept the resignation
and the board say mo-" DR.. Wors-
ham says according to rumor that
he will not withdraw his re-
signation until Purnell is
put out of the Asylum. Thus the
case stands, and to say the least the
tea pot at the asylum is in terri
BILE stew. One of the attending
physicians at the asylum says
Purnell is one of the most danger
Gus men they ever had to deal
with. That like some of Shakes
peare's characters "there is method
in his madness" that instead of
being an inmate of an asylum
he ought to have been
hung and thus relieve society
of a dangerous being who
is ever thirsting for human blood.
They say his refusal to eat while
in the county Jail was only trick,
and that the minute he
struck the lunatic asylum, he ate
heartily and is now in the pink of
condition. That he is sly and eX-
ceedingly unreliable, and they look
for some serious outbreak at any
time. Some here express the Opin-
ion that he would never have been
permitted to enter the asylum had
he not threatened Gov. HOgg's life.
These are cold facts anent this
matter of Henry Purnell. There is
nothing sensational given here
with that are not facts, and the
public can draw their own conclu-
sions. A. q. SMO0T.