Arizona republican., 1895-02-15
EPIDEMIC OF INSANITY.
The Curious Mania Which Swept
 Over a Texas Town.
Sane People Organized to Subdue the Craze Created by Demented
 Preacher Who Did Strange Things.

You will doubtless feel incredulous when tell you that Texas town was once afflicted with an epidemic of in- sanity" The speakers remarks were addressed to a reporter for the Dallas News. Ut was early in the '7Os, in the beautiful little town of Point Isabel. resided there at the time, and 1 know, of course, whereof I speak Among the four hundred inhabitants of the Point, as we used to call it, was a Montenegran named Speero, who went insane over religion. Speero in- sisted that the second coming of Christ was at hand, and that the event would be heralded by the appearance at day break of white deer on little hill near the cemetery. Speero, like SC many of his countrymen, was jack at all trades. He could shoe horse, build boat, make suit of clothing, cobble old shoes and shingle a roof. Thus useful his humble residence be- came sort of rendezvous, and when it became known that he claimed pro- phetlc powers all his acquaintances f1ocked around him. He told about Jesus and the bees,' and several other parables which, though not related in the Bible, enter strongly into the re- lgious tradition of the people of east ern lands. Several of the more con- stant visitors who first pitied the condi- tion of Speero gradually began to be- ieve that he was inspired and finally embraced his doctrines, some of which were not strictly orthodox. An Italian, who was prosperous grocer, closed up his stone, paid all his debts and insisted on giving all his goods to the poor. A Spaniard named Camisa lost his head and commenced preaching hurricane sermons from the housetops. Others became similarly afflicted and twenty or thirty began to show premonitions of the prevailing epidemic, which con- sisted in looking for the white deer. walking through the streets in a gloomy mood and flying into passion when anybody denied or doubted that Speero was prophet. In time the people of sound mind became alarmed and forbade their children to approach Speero's sanctuary.
 "A climax was finally reached. Speero had vision that he must take his six-months-old baby and baptize it ln the river Jordan. Mrs. Speero, whose mind had not given way, ob- 'ected. Speero insisted in proceeding according to revelation and Mrs. Speero yelled and alarmed the neighborhood
 Speero and one of his insane com panions slipped the baby into an oys- ter skiff, pushed the frail craft out into the Laguna Marde, set their leg-of mutton sail and squared away for the Holy Land. A party of rescuers was made up. They started in lighter belonging to the Rio Grande Railway company and overhauled Speero's boa as it was approaching the bar on which the sea was breaking. They overpow- cred Speero and his companion and brought them and the baby back to Point Isabel, where Mrs. Speero was found walking up and down the beach tearing her hair and crying about her baby. The sane men of Point Isabel now took immediate action. They re- paired to the custom house and organ ized. An old politician who wrote obituary notices when prominent citi- zens died offered set of resolutions designed to end the craze. Then the meeting adjourned to round up the in- sane and corral them in a box car. Speero was the first run in and then the trouble commenced. Camisa, on learning that the prophet was pris- oner, armed himself with butcher knife and started to carve the crowd. but Constable John Whitaker succeed ed in arresting, disarming and binding him. There was no trouble in manac- ing the others. Several of the unfor- tunates were sent to a lunatic asylum. but Cameron county was hot with Speero for being the originator of all the trouble, and he was sentenced to the penitentiary at Huntsville on the charge of assault with intent to mur- der, to which he pleaded that he was prophet sent to announce the second coming of his Master. The attention of the Australian consul having been called to his case, that authority inves- tigated it, had Speero released and sent home to Montenegro. The action of the citizens broke the backbone of the epidemic and Point Isabel has since been free from affiictions of every sort save an occasional gulf hurricane.