The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1897-04-22
QUEER Tale OF A ROGUE
He Deceived the Most Keen Of the
Worlds Medical Experts.
FEIGNED EPILEPSY TO PERFECTION
The chin as an Index to Charac-
ter-A Private Secretary Denies
the Vice-Presidcnt Meeting wiia
Cabinet officer.

DR.. Robert Stafford Newton, says the
New York Tribune, tells an interesting
story Of an impostor who successfully
faigned epilepsy for great number of
watched by the most skillful neurologists.
"lIow to feign epileptic fits forms a
criminals in Europe and America In
England, where it has been successfully
worked for great many years, and is
well known to the police, the feigning of
epilepsy is called throwing Of fits and
dummy chucking.' 1t is invariably
worked in threes, after this formula ::
Two men, evidently friends, are walking
along the street, when one of them sud-
denly falls IN a epileptic tit. The friend
of the sick man pretends to be greatly
worried. and gives all of his attention to
the resuscitation. Naturally enough a
crowd gathers. The third man lifts peck
et-books, and watches and makes off with
them.
There is one man whose career rs a
iegner 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 has been noticed that when
ever 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 to the hos
pital, both to he treated and watched.
THIS man was perfect fraud, but he was
so well up in his acting that, though
he was most carefully watched he
escaped detection. He WAS a 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 po-
lice. He was shifted around from hos
pital 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
theater' was necessary to save his repu
tation. lie was at this time confined In
a hospital and was in one of the upper
wards in the front part of the building.
There were doors that opened out on a
balcony. This balcony was 81 feet from
the ground, and at its base there was a
solid stone pavement. Epileptics are
usually a dull, stupid sort of people, even
when not in fits, and Craig feigned this
stupidity as well 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 a while down
he would fall in fit. The doctors had
not discovered fraud, but Craig felt more
than uneasy at the way he was watched
and suspected.
cone 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 backward-down,
down, the full SO feet to the stone pave
ment below. When he was picked up
it was found that one of his wrists was
hynk and that ~ I'M oil i'm hprt
though, wonderful to tell, not seriously.
Of course, this settled in the minds of the
doctors the doubt that had previously ex.
listed as to whether he was frau1 or not.
The thing worked exactly as Craig had
planned that it should, and in course OF
time he was discharged as true. but
incurable epieptic. Once again on the
outside, he worked successfully the old
game OF fits and the pocket-picking in
threes
"Once more he was taken up and sent
to the hospital. Here a young doctor
set for himself the task of watching this
clever rogue. lie had every symptom
Ilt hpull rum Mt Tue NOulI
stream from his tongue that he had
bitten in his commissions; there seemed
nothing wanting in real epilepsy But
this young doctor kept his vigil, and
patience had its reward.
zone day just as Craig was going
through the preliminaries before falling
the looking dazed, the slowly attem pit
ing to fight off the coming spasms, the
clinching Of the hands-the young doctor
who was watching him, observed that
instead of closing the hands with the
fingers oyer the thumbs, az would have
been the case necessarily in true epilepsy
for the thumb, having the shorter
muscle, must feel the contracting force
first-Craig shut his hands with the
fingers on the inside Of the thumbs. The
doctor gave him gentle kick in the side
and said: 'That1l do, Craig; I've
caught you. You are a fraud. You've
done your tricks well, and for lonl
time. but your time is up. II you had
been true epileptic, or just a little better
read in medicine, you would have
closed the fingers over the thumbs. .
Without a ainuia nrnfaat Craia atKaiuhf