The Somerset reporter., 1896-12-17
A PRECIOUS ROGUE.
he WAS EXCEEDINGLY CLEVER IN
FEIGNlNG EPILEPTlC FITS.

His Desperate Expedient to Maintain His
Standing Carefully Watched by Ex-
perts For n Long Time Finally B~tray-
cd In Simple Manner.
DR.. Robert Stafford Newton tells an
interesting story of an impostor who
successfully feigned epilepsy for great
number of years, in spite of the fact
| that he was watched by the most skill
full neurologiss
How to feign epileptir fits forms II
necessary part of thu education of many
criminals in Europe and America. In
| England, where it has been successfully
we'll known to the police. the feigning
/ of epilepsy is called throwing of fits
and dummy chuckinR 1t is invariably
/ worked in threes, after this formula:
Two men. evidently friends. are walk
ing along the street, when suddenly one
of them falls in an epileptic fit. The
| friend of the sick man pretcnds to be
greatly worried and gives all of his at
tention to the resuscitation Naturally
| NupuBH, u bIb"il RtiiltlH dIbuDi. IT'S
! third man lifts pocketbooks and watch
es and makes off with them.
There is one man whose career as
| feigner of epilepsy is most remarkable.
This mans name was Craig, and my
| first knowledge of him was when was
connected with the Whitechapel Road
House hospital, the biggest hospital in
England. 1t had been noticed that
whenever Craig fell in fit in the streets
of London, reports were sent in to the
police Of money and jewelry lost. He
was more than suspected and was sent
into the hospital, both to be treated and
to be watched. This man was o perfect
fraud, but he was so we'll up in his act
ing that though he was most carefully
watched he escaped detection. He was
valuable man, but perhaps his pals
feared that the London police had too
close an eye on their movements. At
all events Craig was next heard of in
America The old formula was repeated
He fell in fits. and valuables stolen were
reported to the police. He was shifted
around from hospital to hospital, and
! careful watch was kept upon him, both
when he was in one of these fits and in
the time of their intermission
Craig began to think that coup de
theatre was necessary to save his repu-
tation. He WAS ut this time confined in
hospital and was in one of the upper
wards in the front part Of the building.
There were doors that opened out on
balcony. This balcony was SO feet from
the ground, and at it's base there was a
solid stone pavement. Epileptics are u.s.
ually dull. stupid sort of people, even
when not in fits, and Craig feigned this
stupidity as we'll as the other symptoms
of the disease. He was allowed to wan
der about the hospital pretty much as
he pleased, and every once in awhile
down he would fall in fit. The doctors
had not discovered his fraud but Craig
felt more than uneasy at the way he was
watched and suspected One morning he
got up from his chair, and, with dazed
sort of look, at the same time putting
his hands up to his head, he staggered
toward the balcony and tumbled over
baokward-down, down, the full 8S feet
to the stone pavement below When
he was picked up, it was found that one
of his wrists was broken and that he was
otherwise hurt, though, wonderful to
tell, not seriously. OF course this settled
in the minds of the doctors the doubt
that had previously existed as to whether
he was fraud or not The thing work