The record-union., 1897-03-01
STORY OF A ROGUE. \
His Desperate Expedient to rIaintain
His Standing as an Epileptic.


interesting story of an imposter who
successfully feigned epilepsy for a
great numberof years, in spite of the
fact that he was watched by the most
skillful neurologists.
How to feign epileptic fits forms a
necessary part of the education of
many criminals in Europe and Amer
lea. In England, where is has been sue
cessfully worked for a great many
years. and is we'll known to the po-
lice, the feigning of epilepsy is called
throwing of fits and dummy chuck
ing 1t is invariably worked in threes,
after this formula. Two men, evidently
friends, are walking along the street,
when one of them suddenly falls In an
epileptic fit. The friend of the sick
man pretendS to be greatly worried,
and gives all of his attention to the
resuscitation. Naturally enough,
crowd gathers. The third man lifts
pocketbooks and watches 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 hos
pital in England. 1t had been noticed
that whenever Craig fell in a fit in the
streets of London reports We're sent
in to the police of money and jewelry
lost. He was more than suspected,
and was sent to the hospital, both to
be treated and watched This man was
a perfect fraud, but he was so well up
in his acting that, though he was most
carefully watched, he escaped detec-
ton. He was a valuable man, but per-
haps 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 We're reported to
the police. He was shifted around
from hospital to hospital. and a care
full 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
reputation. He was at this time con-
fined 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 balcony. This bal
cony was thirty-seven feet from the
ground, and at it's base there was a
solid stone pavement. Epileptics are
usually a dull, stupid sort of people,
even when not in fits, and Craig feign-
ed this stupidity as we'll as the other
symptoms of the disease. He was al
lowed to wander about the hospital
pretty much as he pleased, and every
once in while down he would fall in
a fit. The doctors had not discovered
fraud, but Craig felt more than uneasy
at the way he was watched and sus-
pected.
One morning he got up from his
chair, and, with a dazed sort of d 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 ohirty-eight 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, wonder
full 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 a fraud or not
The thing worked exactly as Craig had
planned that it should, and in course
of time he was discharged as a true,
but incurable epileptic. Once again on
the outside, he worked successfully the
old game of fits and pocket picking in
threes.
Once more he was taken up and
sent to the hospital Here young
doctor set for himself the task of
watching this clever rogue. He had
every symptom; he would froth at the
mouth: blood would stream from his
tongue that he had bitten in his con-
there seemed nothing want
ing in real epilepsy. But this young
doctor kept his vigil, and patience had
its reward.
''One day just as Craig was going
through the prelmnaries before fall
ing-the looking daZed, the slowly at
tempting 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 over the
thumbs, as 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 doc
tor gave him a gentle kick in the side,
and said: "Thatll do, Craig. I've
caught you. You are a fraud. You've !
done your tricks we'll, and for a long
time, but your time is up. If you had
been true epileptic, or just little
better read in medicine, you would |
have closed the fingers over the |
thumbs Without single protest, |
Craig Strengthened up and said, Well |
knew it was bound to come some |
time"
What BECAME of the man?"
"Oh, his talents found a market. He |
was so well known, had been so writ |
ten up for the medical journals of both |
Europe and America, that the doctors |
hired him to go before medical students |
and demonstrate to them how epilepsy |
could be feigned, and also to explain !
England and elsewhere. To counter !
felt the frething at the mouth, they /
used a small piece of soap. If there |
vas any danger of detection, they could |
swallow both soap and froth. With a |
little sharp knife a stab could be given
% the tongue which would simulate the |
biting of that member''-New York |
Tribune.