Arizona republican., 1895-03-17
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.

Things.
 E'You will doubtless feel incredulous when I 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. Tt was early in the '70s, in the beautiful little town of Point Isabel. | I resided there at the time, and l know, of course, whereof 1 speak. 1 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 so many of his countrymen, was a jack al all trades. He could shoe a horse, build boat, make suit of clothing, cobble old shoes and shingle roof. Thus useful his humble residence be- came sort of rendezvous, and when it became known that he claimed pro- phetic powers all his acquaintances focked 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- ligious 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- lieve 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 store, 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 Speeros sanctuary.
 "A climax was finally reached. Speero had a vision that he must take his six-months-old baby and baptize it in the river Jordan. Mrs. Speero, whose mind had not given way, ob- iected. Spcero 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 sliff, 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 a lighter belonging to the Rio Grande Railway company and overhauIed Speeros boat 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 tS 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 ther the trouble commenced. Camisa, or learning that the prophet was a 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 manag ing the others. Several of the unfor tunates were sent to a lunatic asylum but Cameron county was hot witt Speero for being the originator of al the trouble, and he was sentenced tt the penitentiary at Huntsville on tn, charge of assault with intent to mur der, to which he pleaded that he was prophet sent to announce the secont coming of his Master. The attention of the Australian consul having beer called to his case, that authority inves tigated it, had Speero released an, sent home to Montenegro. The actiol of the citizens broke the backbone o the epidemic and Point Isabel has sine
 been free from affiictions of every sor save an occasional p11f hurricane