The Topeka state journal., 1897-10-21
FEAR HOLDS SWAY
There is Lunatic in Pleasant
Valley.
The "Aunt Lucinda Suburb of
Topeka East of Town.
He Runs About With a Hatchet
and is Dangerous.

The settlement of Pleasant Valley, To-
Gated between the Santa Fe shops and
the starch factory, and noted as the
residence district of Aunt Lucinda
Thompson, is just at present in a gen
eral state of CONSERVATION.
The scores of children no longer keep
their playground on the principal road
of the settlement as has been there
wont since Pleasant Valley first be-
came a village The mothers of the
Valley no longer stand at their gate
posts and converse with their next door
neighbOr, but keep their houses with
their children gathered about them.
Even most of the brawny men who
compose the male population of the set
tlement refrain from leaving their
homes after the darkness of night sets
IN. only the multitude OF dogs in the
village pursue their usual course.
That the particular luminary of the
Valley should be at the bottom of all
the fear and trembling is no more than
natural, and such is the case. Although
indirectly, Aunt Lucinda is the cause of
the perVading CONSERVATION, and it is
because her fame has gone abroad over
the confines of Topeka and attracted to
her home a lunatic from far away Cav
ker City that the settlement has been
transformed from a valley of pleasure
to valley of fear.
Four years ago Johnny Kelly fell
from his fathers Omni bus in Cawker
City, KanS., and when he was picked
s
stable the physicians shook their heads
and said that he would never again be
able to talk and that his mind from
that time on would be a blank At the
end of a month after the accident his
father was compelled to accept the
physicians prediction, for from the day
of the accident Johnny had never been
able to utter a sound and his actions
were those of a maniac and he SORROW
fully packed up his sons luggage and
brought him to the asylum in this city
Here Johnny Kelly remained for four
years. Now he is in charge of his
father living in the neighborhood of
Aunt Lucinda'S cabin.
When Aunt Lucinda first sprang into
fame as the official healer of Topeka S
400" paper reciting her accomplish
ments fell into the hands of senior Kel-
ly in CaWker City. He read of her
remarkable performances, and in read
ing he made up his mind that he at
last detected a ray of hope for his son
John AS her fame spread through the
state he continued to hear of her, and
finally decided to remove his son from
the asylum and offer to Aunt Lucinda
the opportunity of loOsening a para
lyzed tongue and restoring a vanished
mind. Accordingly a few days ago he
came to Topeka, consulted Aunt Lu
cinda, rented rooms in a Pleasant Val
ley home, and transferred his son from
the care of the asylum physicians to
the care of the Topeka healer.
And this transfer on the part of the
senior Kelly is the direct cause of the
trouble in Pleasant Valley. Johnny
Kelly is a stout, apparently able bodied
man with a ferOciOus glare, and several
times since he has taken up his resi-
dence in Pleasant Valley he has es-
capped from the care of his father and
Aunt Lucinda and made expeditions in
to the heart of the settlement. That's
why the children have resigned the
road to the dogs, and the mothers no
longer stand in their yards, and strong
men find no attraction in the cool night
air. The entire valley is in terror of
Johnny Kelly, the maniac.
Tuesday night the maniac chased his
father down the principal road of the
settlement armed with a hatchet which
he had picked up in Aunt Lucinda'S
yard. At the time the pursued and the
purSuer reached the intersection of
Seward avenue with the Pleasant Val
ley road an electric car happened to be
passing, and giving up his flight John
ny Kelly jumped on board the front
platform of the car. Before, however,
he could gain an entrance to the car
his father had turned pursuer, and
pulled him off to the ground by firmly
grasping and jerking the tails of his
cutaWay coat. His fall stunned him
and his father was able to disarm him
and lead him back to their residence
in the Valley.
The chase occurred about supper time
in the evening, when all the inhabitants
of Pleasant Valley were at home and
had there been a growing feeling
that the maniac was harmless and the
general CONSERVATION uncalled for the
growth stopped suddenly. Now the
greatest concern prevails in the settle
ment, and at any strange noise women
and children rush into their houses if
they are not already there and bolt their
doors with the expectation of seeing
another hatchet chase or equally inter
esting performance.
But it is probable that Johnny Kelly
will do no harm in Pleasant Valley.
for the lunatic is growing decidedly bet
ter under the care of Aunt Lucinda He
is now able to say a few words. and
his mind is to all appearances return
ing. When he was first brought to
Aunt Lucinda he was unable to utter
a word, and his actions were anything
but rational 1t is the first case of
the kind that Aunt Lucinda has had
but she emphaticalIy declares that If
is as easy to bring back minds and
loosen tongues as it is to cure any 9th
er species of disorder.