The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-03
THE ABDUCTION OF RUST.
NO TRACE OF THE MAN SPIRITED
AWAY IN PHILdDELPHIA.


-
The Question or His sanity Comes UP In Court
ana re IL Not Present, as was Arranged
Tho History or his Case and Hiu Family
Conncctions-His Estate Worth $50. 900.
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 2.-The abduction OF
Frederick G. Rust, an insane hospital patient,
within tho shadow of the walls of the Penn
sylvnnia Hospital yesterday remains rs yet
a mystery. The fact of the abduction WAS
| spread before tho Court of Common Pleas this
morning in u proceeding in which Rust was to
have appeared as a petitioner for his liberty.
The petition was directed against DIR. John B.
Chaplin, superintendent of the Pcnnsy lvania
Hospital for the Insane, requiring him TO show
cause why q jury should not determine whether
Rust is insane, under the provisions Of an act
of Assembly approved June Is, 1897.
DIR. Chaplin was on hand with his counsel, J.
Rodman Paul and n. Dubois Miller, and filed
an answer to the petition. The Hon. +. Carroll
Brewster and J. w. Hunsicker, counsel for the
abuctded man, were in court, and related
briefly tho cause Of the petitioners absence.
District Attorney George 5. Graham, who has
acted as private counsel for II. T. w. Duke,
Jr., of Charlottesville, Va, who was appointed
n committee Of the person and estate OF tho
absent petitioner by the court of Loudon county,
Va, under a bond of 81 900, was not present,
and it was ascertained that he was absent
| from inc city. NelIncT XIII nUT lDe legal
guardian of the patient was represented at
the hearing. Upon tho application OF DR..
T Il 4. w. !h Duke Eoui Jr. maze as tho sn pf S5aeF d saestisatlq is
the proceeding to secure the discharge of Rust.
In his answer Dr.. Chaplin said that Rust was
admitted to the Pennsylvania Hospital on
Charles X. Minis and pr, j. .Hendry Lloyd.
SO years old, single, and a native of Virginia.;
that he had been admitted to the Western Luz
matte Asylum at stanton, Va, in 1870, pa-
rolled in 1870. rcAQnlttCU in 1875. and re-
manned there until received as IA patient nj the
of the meiancholic type. With suicidal tenden,
cics, from which n mania developed. and from
which af!orward a condition OF denentia arose,
In 1876, the answer continues, the patient
applied for his discharge under hnbeas corpus
was denied. From these proceedings it trans
pircd that the patient had made frequent at
lcmpts on his life, and that his mental orGaniza-
ton was changcable and unstable with a ten
dcncy to violence, and that there were impulses
OF a character inconsistent with sound health.
Since Rust had been a patient at the Penn
s~ylvania Hospital, he made two attempts 10
escape. onco in July. 1890, when he was cap.
H.. 1891, when he was found at Norfolk, Va,
and restored to the asylum. Application to
for his release under a writ of habeas corpus
was denied. but the court recommended an
which he was permitted to leave the asylum
at intervals IN charge OF an attendant
on Aprii 70; 1s9G, while in charge OF an at,
New York, where he purchased n ticket for
hlontgomery, Ala. and Immediately started
notice OF the conductor and brakemen, as well
as the passengers. and he finally wcnt to the
OF one or more lliuDG and severe injuries to his
head, for which he was treated at the Hahne-
mann Hospital in this city. On bis recovery
he was restored to tho asylum, where he re-
maincd as a patient up to his enforced disap-
Dr. CHAPLIN says the medical staff Of tho hos
pital Is of the opinion that Rust Is still suffer
ing from mental disorder. unable to care for
his person and property, and that n relaxation
OF restraint would develop the more violent
phases of his disease with danger to himself
and those around, him.. The answer of DR..
Chaplin mentions the fact that the Hon. r. I.
". Duke, j. a LAWYER Of Ch1rlottesvillc Va,
the patient To the Jurisdiction OF the Louhon
County Court.-in conclusion the answer asked
fcndnnt in the prcscn, proceedings instead OF
the Pennsylvania Hospital.
Frederick G.; Rns;s tho abducted patient, is
don county, Va. His mother was a daughter
Of John NJ; Lawrence Of Flushing, L. L.. from
whom he inherited an estate valued at $50
lied and his father, Col; Rust, married, again.
Lee. Her brother, edmund |. Lee, married
frcdcrick G: iust.s sister; and upon tho death
pointed to take charge OF the person and estate
Of Frederick q. Rust. Mr.. Lee died n year
ago. and Lawyer Duke was appointed TO take
There are a number OF relatives interested in
the lIisnne man : estate. BESIDES a sister ne
has three half sisters and three half brothers
by his fathers second wife. His direct heirs
are the children OF his sister by hcr husband.
bly,, the estate inherited from the Lawrence
family is managed.
The police. who we're notified OF the abduction
yesterday, are only numinaily eNCri;uC them.
selves. They take the phiiosoihlc View that
the legal guardian or the patient, who ia IN
der bonds to the courts OF Virginia for his safe
ty, has a knowledge Of his Whereabouts, and
the fact that District Attorney Graham is praC.
!, tically counsel for the heirs imparts another
feature to the case which is not likely TO ami
mate them in the search.
The Rust abduction mystery develops some
phases OF n family dispute. Col. George 7. Rust,
4 South Forty-third 81 rect. this city, is IA wealthy
uncle OF the alleged lunatic, and he and his
3 son. Llewellyn, seem to have inspired the
various stages OF litigation during the
/ Rust says his nephew has dincd with him two
! days n week for more than two years. and there
, is grave doubt about his mental incapacity
Col. Rust's wife in an interview to-day says:
, ut Is one of the most remarkable and at the
, same time one of the saddest cases on record
We knew Rust in Virginia. but had not seen
= him for years. We had, however, heard of him
, through the stepmother and from others On heI
side OF the family. We were told that he was a
raving lunatic. When We moved here, within
sight OF the walls OF the hospital, we learned
that the stories were false. For all these years
lie. AS sane MS any man, has been kept n prisoner
D Il havo no doubt whatever that his abduction
was the work Of persons acting as agents fol
those who desired to prevent his case from goins
a before a jury"