The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1895-06-15
PLAYING FOR A LIFE.
BY III. Russell Preston.

DO Jou AAOeA " NGAyS uo\SoAs IAAAS ~
have introduced chess among your pa
tients?'
Eyes. Why not? Some of these poor
creatures, although they suffer from
various forms Of madness, are able at
times to exercise certain faculties of
mind with a brilliancy that is really
remarkable"
'But surely they are not capable of
playing a rational and sustained
game"
ooh, yes. I have myself been beaten
by mad patient. OF course, at times,
their play is whimsical and cratic;
but even then, if l may say so, there
is often a good deal of method in their
madness. It is rather curious that, at
the present time, have under my
charge poor fellow whose mental de-
rangement is almost entirely the re-
suit Of excessive chess playing. he
INDUCED in his favOrite pastime to
such an extent that it ultimately af-
fected his mind. We do not now al
low him even the sight Of Z chess
board, because anything to do with
the game seems to rouse in him the
worst form OF his madness. Some
times he will sit for houre playing
with an imaginary opponent, and
whenever he has these fits he always
ends by exclaiming, Mate in six
movesv He then deliberately counts
the six moves aloud, and when in his
disordered imagination he has made
the final move, he becomes very Vio-
lent, and is then dangerous to him.
self and other people. He was a re-
markedly brilliant blindfold player,
but whether he actually retains the
power OF mentally working out game
I am unable to say"
The speakers were myself and DR..
ChOrley, the famous mad DOCTOR
whose private asylum was generally
recognized as one of the best institu-
tons Of the kind in the, country. I
was staying few days with the doc
tor, and we had been spending the
evening very pleasantly over a game
or two of chess. We had finished our
play, and the doctor was telling me
few things concerning his patients, in
the course Of which he narrated an
anecdote about game OF chess played
by two of the inmates Of his asylum,
which led to the conversation above
recorded.
Shortly afterward the doctor re-
tired for the night, leaving me alone
to write a few letters which 1 was
anxious to get off the first thing the
next morning. For several minutes /
went on smoking my cigar, turning
over IN my mind the idea of mad peo-
pie playing chess, and then settled
down to my letters.
I had not been writing long when I
heard the handle Of the door turn and
some one came in.
| looked up, expecting to see DR..
Chorley, but to my surprise COM
plete stranger stood before me. son.
thought, lone of the doctors assist
ants who have not happened to meet
BEFORE" but it certainly struck me as
rather strange that he should have
my hosts private study at
time when the rest of the household
were in bed, for the doctor, on bid
ding me goodnight, had told me I was
the last up.
l naturally waited a moment for my
visitor to speak, expecting that he
would apologize for the intrusion, or
at any rate explain his presence. TO
my utter surprise, however, he stood
perfectly motionless, fixed his eyes
upon me and remained silent.
whoever you are" thought, "you
are pretty cool customer" and feel
ing annoyed at what seemed to me
the fellows inSolence, l said, with
some dignity: Il don't understand"
"You play chess"' he interrupted,
without apparently noticing that /
had attempted to speak, and all the
time keeping his eyes fixed upon me.
This was certainly extraordinary.
and as looked at my strange visitor
the truth all at once seemed to dawn
upon me-the man was mad!
am not naturally nervous, but I
must confess to feeling something
akin to fear when I realized that |
was face to face with a man who, for
all l knew, might be a dangerous
lunatic
My worst anticipations were soon
realized. Without taking his eyes off
me he walked to the mantel-piece and
deliberately took up a large revolver
which the doctor always kept at hand
in case of a surprise, and which l
knew to be loaded.
My unwelcome guest had certainly
now the best Of the position. What
was l to do? TO make a bolt of it
would be to offer myself a target TO
this homocidal mailman; to shout for
help might equally be the signal for
him to send a bullet through me; and
yet | would not stand still and be shot
like a rat in a hole
Il must humor him." 1 thought.
''and so gain time, as his absence
must soon be discovered"
My mind was, however, somewhat
relieved when he repeated in the same
quiet tone of voice:
''You play chessr'
1t was something, at any rate. to
know that I was not to be instantly
shot.
'Yes,'' 1 replied in my most winning
manner. Would you like a gamey'
Without speaking he sat down in
front of me, carefully placing the pis-
tol on the table near his right hand.