Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-09-03
FATAL OVERSIGHT.
A Brio Narrative Showing tie Danger
Of a Iause Of Mentality.

Brio Eltrretlre showing tte Danger
Of Lapse Of Mentality.
The discussion had TUNED upon that
peculiar condition Of a psrson's mind
which will not warn him when he is
doing or about to do sonnet ing that can
only result disastrously, or, in less ST.
7 GUS cases, which will make him APP
pear silly to the very verge Of insanity
as, for instance. when a person goes to
see a friend at house when he knows
the person has not lived there for
weeks, or he will 60 to bank on a hol-
iday without ever thinking of the holt
day till he finds the door shut
(Which reminds me" said war de-
partment clerk, "of page out Of the
story of my life when was doing bust
ness for myself, and before politics
ruined me- and drove me into the gov
eminent service. had an acquaintance
in bucket shop who made lot of
money. mostly by SHINING people, and
used to tell him to look out or some Of
them would fix him some time in way
he didn't like, but would stop him off
just the same. To this he replied with
a laugh, but one morning when l went
20 my Office noticed that the glass in
his door was broken, and it excited my
suspicion, as he and were the only oc-
cupants at that time of the floor, which
was ten stories up. The door was open,
and [ saw my neighbor sitting at his
desk dead and hole in his head which
might have been made with pick.
1T was murder, Of course, but it was
not robbery, for nothing was disturbed,
and | felt that my prediction had come
true There was no clew, however, and
though the police made every effort
nothing could be discovered to show
who had done the deed. The victim's
brother had taken his papers from tho
desk the morning of the murder, and
they had not been examined for three
days On the fourth day the brother
showed up, with a will made by his
brother and dated the day Of the muir
der. The will was brief. making the
brother the sole legatee, and, strangely
enough, it bore the name as witness OF
man who bad been ruined by the dead
man. As soon as | saw the signature |
took an officer and went to the witness
house. where we found him. | had got
the officer up to the proper pitch by my
talk on the way there, and as soon as
the man appeared in the room where
we were the officer arrested him for the
murder Of the broker 1t was bluff.
but it worked, and the man broke down
and confessed the whole thing. Then he
seemed to be easier in his mind, and he
wanted to know how we suspected him
| showed him the will, with his sigma.
ture as witness, and his surprise was
genuine when he threw up bis hands
and for the first time realized what he
had done by putting it there.
Il asked him how 1t happened, and
be told u that he had gone to the bro
ker's office late at night, as he had done
on other occasions, when no one was
about, and had tried to get him to let
him have back part Of the money he
had lost, but the man tainted him, and
il had crazed him. and he caught up a
miners pick and was about to brain
him with it when the broker, to gain
time OF a chance TO escape had asked
him 10 let him make his will before he
died, and, just to humor him, he had
done So Then the broker told him that
it was not legal unless witnessed and
asked him to witness it, There the
strange part Of the whole thing came
in, for, without ever thinking what the
result would be, and having only in
mind the humoring of the victim, he
had written his full name. And, even
stranger, he had never thought of it I'M
til | showed him the will.
"All of which was fully exhibited at
the trial, and the man was acquitted on
the grounds Of emotional insanity. -
Washington star.