The San Francisco call., 1897-11-28
From LIE Journal Utustfe. !

good behavior, perfect morality and
probity, and exceptional sobriety, but his
character is that of a concentrated,
intense and non-communicatiye man. He
has mania for persecution, and sees
around him only spies who are able to do
him harm.
"He is of considerable muscular
strength, and experiences often the neces-
sity OF expending ii. He takes savage
delight in raising at the end of his arm
the movable objects of the barracks, such
as the bunk benches, and chairs stacked
on each other. He has insomnia, and his
condition is one of nervous strain.
He INDUCES frequently in monologues
with menacing gestures, and threatens TO
cut the throats OF his comrades in the
regiment when they irritate him with
their pleasantries.
His companions Of the mess have often
gone to bed with their bayonets at their
side dreading all attack in the night
"At different times Vacher has been
known 10 express the desire to see blood
run because of the satisfaction it gave
him."
Before making his confession Vacher
exacted a promise from the examining
magistrate, M. Fourquet that he would
give to the public the assassin's explana-
tlon OF his murderous mpulsions and the
defense OF his motive. This he addressed
80 France" under the caption, "Dieu-
Drots-Devoirs."
1T is all the worse for you," he begins,
'if you think l am responsible. The man.
ner in which you are concerned over me
makes me pity you. If l have kept my
misfortunes secret it is because l believed
it was for the general interest; but seeing
that p -rhaps ! have deceived myself /
am going TO give you the whole truth.
Yes, it is | who have committed all the
crimes for which you reproach me-and
this in moments of rage.
LAS | have already told the doctor in
charge of the medical department OF the
Kelley prison, l was bitten by mad dog
when about seven or eight years of age. l
am not exactly certain Of the time,
although meanwhile l remember having
taken rene lies for the bite. My parents
alone could tell you of the facts, but have
always believed from my recollection of
this event that the medicine given to me
poisoned my blood more than the bite of
the dog"
In jun Dled incoherent mess of faultily
constructed French and idiomatic nom
sense, Vacher then GOES on to establish the
idea that ever after taking the medicine,
which he says diseased his blood and pro-
duced no antidotal effect on the hydro
phobia he felt the brute coming to life in
him.
At an early age he recalls that he once
said to brother: 81 do not know what is
the matter with me, but there are mo-
ments when | feel that must kill some
body At this period l was IA years old.
l can remember when travelling alone
| could not conquer this idea which would
come into my head all of sudden and
would run away across the country for
several miles until l got tired out and
then | would return to my work. | must
| tell you that | would have attacked some
one and already made beast OF myself in
this frenzy once, but Tor the chance
meeting with person coming across the
country, NJ. Declerieux of Chaponos.
To better fix this circum stance in vour
mind l must tell you that | regarded
neither road nor pathway, as it seemed
to relieve me better to run across the
country. All this it is my impera tive
duty to make you acquainted with, much
as you will condemn me, though l am
| innocent"
| Thus far his diagnosis of what he is
anxious to demonstrate is an insane
mania for the letting of human blood is
not SUCCESS. 1t will not stand the test
of close scrutiny when the subsequent
| facts are borne in mind. The relief of his
satyromaniac frenZies did not afterward
| come from running across the country, and
avoiding roads and pathways.
| Vacher's crafty mind at this point
reaches out for an additional justification
| for what he pleases to account for in him.
self as uncomfortable homicidal impulse,
and here he makes the mistake of insisting
| that he has a continuous and absorbin @
| grievance against society. He would wipe
everybody out of existence, forgetting he
has already pretended that his impulse to
| kill only possesses him periodically, or to
put it more explicitly in the presence of a
victim, "placed in his way by prov-
dence." The fact is, his passion for blood
letting and butchery is born of another
arrangement known well to medical
| science, and the stroke of the guillotine
ne deserves he seeks to avert by posing a.
| a spasmodic mapiac.