The leader., 1895-09-24
SLIGHTLY OFF.
Sam Jones Discusses People Who
Are Not Well Behaved
Weed OF Better Methods OF Dealing with
Them-.rroubic often Due to Pure
Cussedness, which God Alone
Can Heal,
t,oPYRiGHr. isoA

ing at the door faster than vacancies
can be made. But II Is not the purpose
OF this article TO discuss The case OF
those who are committed to the asylums
of our land. But we will talk little
about such characters as we speak of
being "a little off," or ''hes little
cracked" or 'he's not all there" and
such like expressions.
This class has multiplied until their
name Is legion. They walk our streets,
attend our churches, frequent political
gatherings and ply the various trades
OF life just as other men. A fond
mother sat in my home some time ago
and talked to me about her boy. She
said he was melancholy at times and
acted little strangely. She knew not
what to do with her boy. She had
stopped him from school. read in
this mornings papers that that boy, in
distant state, killed his mother and
committed suicide himself.
The world has not yet learned how to
deal with partially demented people.
We commit those who become danger
GUS or helpless to the insane asylum,
oub W HCh % iCiicW ID JuSU d Iltlit Oh
he furnishes problem which is hard
to solve. know some men who are
"a little off" when they are drinking.
Some men are considerably "off" when
they are mad; some men who have
deep melancholy; some men who at all
times imagine strange things some
women who have presentiments; and
so on. 1t Is demonstrated in the courts
Of onr country that almost every crimi-
nal who has money to pay lawyers,
and has social standing, proves that he
has acted strange at times, and really
his friends have noticed many things
that were not exactly In harmony with
good sound sense and Judgment.
We have the diseases of kleptomania
and dypsomania. Some men are NOR
bidly conscientious. Some people, no
matter what they do CT say, II they are
criticised their critics are all liars, and
that sometimes form themselves into
syndicates of liars to hurt their charac-
ter or influence.
The world don't know how to deal
with a fell 0w that is "a little off," The
physician has no remedy, seemingly, to
reach his case. Some will laugh at his
antics, some shake their heads as If to
say: II don't know about that"
Others will say it is not mental
trouble at all; he is possessed of the
devil. But, after all, what is to be
done with such characters? How are
they to be managed? How are they TO
be treated? They are not insane
enough to be confined. With some of
them it is hardly just to society to let
them run loose. This is trouble that
takes hold upon rich and poor, black
and white alike. Some of our million
aires are badly ''off their base" and
their friends have to put them in private
asylums. These cases touch the pa
thetic side Of life and make one feel sad.
great engine with its eccentrics
slipped, a magnificent horse lame in
one foot, beautiful physique, and yet,
for want of color, they make one think
of the dead.
The case is a sadly solemn one when
friends, with physicians, cannot dag
nose it; when at times the mind is
clear and strong, at other times it is &C.
CCltIIC anu WCdhS dt tiiC PSAoOh
Is kind and gentle and loving, at other
lines vicious and murderous, perchance,
in feeling. Sometimes preachers do or
act strangely. Sometimes lawyers,
sometimes doctors; sometimes it's wife,
sometimes it's husband; again it is
child of sensible parents that puzzles
and worries fond father or mother.
Will sane man do what many men
do who are going around loose? look
at many men in their life and conduct
and think II they are perfectly sane
they ought to be made amenable to
law. The man who at times mistreats
his wife or is cruel to his children; the
son who is cruel to his mother; the
daughter who, in spite of pleadings
and prayers, correction and coercion,
will iy the track and do the things
most unseemly; the ncighbor who takes
up wrong views and holds to them and
acts upon them; the person who always
misunderstands you, misjudges you and
misquotes you, who is kind and polite
when he meets you and would do you
any dirty deed behind your back. How
much of the deeds of men may be at
tributable to pure cussedness, and how
much may be attributable to the fact
that they are "a little off" Is ques-
tion for philosophers to settle.
Our Saviour once commanded devil
to come out of a man. and that devils
name was Legion and he begged that
he might go into the herd OF swine;
and when he entered then the swine
concluded 1t was better to commit sui
eide than to live possessed OF such
demon, and into the sea they went.
But the man with the devil cast out OF
him was soon clothed and in his right
mind. and we hear no further trouble
in his case A great many people have
the devil in them The devil is dis
embodied spirit. His supreme EFFORT IN
this world is to embody himself Some
times have seen him get in horse
and the horse would balk and fret and
foam. | have seen him get into hog
and Won couldn't run the hog out OF the
gate to save your life. ! have seen him
get into woman and she was per-
feet typhoon for the time being !
have seen him get into child ana the
| child would really act like a demon.
DO we not need tie same Divine pow
er and voice to speak to many people
IN this world, or to the devils wnicn