The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-02
RACE WITH \ MANIAC.
1t Accounted for the little Mans
Weak Heart.
From the Kansas city Star.

From the Kansas City Star.
''Have you ever been so scared that you
| dried up inside; so scared that you
couldn't utter a word that your skin
burned; that your heart stopped; you
/ choled and your hair crept over your
scalp? All. that's what it is to be really
| frightened. And you don't get over it in
day either"
That's what the quiet little man said.
We had been talking Of the sensations Of
a man when he is attacked by d fo0tpad
or when he awakes to find a burglar in his
| loom. The sensations of The coward were
also discussed, and the exquisite pleasure
Of fear, as described by Robert Louis Ste
Venson in The Suicide club was lightly
considered.
Were you ever SO frightened?" some
one asked the long, thin man.
4 was, and have never fully recovered
from it" he answered. 1T was a curious
experience, and, although il was, in
measure, ludicrous, ii had an awful terror
for me. l lived in the country, a few miles
from a town in Kentucky, and a mile be-
yond the asylum for the insane. l was
in business in the town, and used to walk
back and forth between my house and my
store for exercise. 1 had moved from
the town for that purpose. 1 had to pass
the asylum night and morning by a path
that followed the high stone wall that an
! closed the asylum grounds.
"One of the most violent and dangerous
inmates of the asylum was lawyer Of
the name of Birch--a powerful man physI-
cally and hopeessly insane. He had a
mania for tearing his clothes from his
body, and would rend the stoutest cloth
into shreds. In his attempts to escape
he had gnawed to pieces with his teeth
the window sill OF his cell, much as
horse gnaws his manger. But he had
ever managed to escape, and although
We in the town heard of his desperation,
no one feared that he would ever get OUT.
zone evening about dusk l was trudging
| along the path beside the asylum wall
on my way home to supper. The exercise
had warmed me up, for it was chilly, and
/ was feeling cheerful. 1 Whisted as l
went. Suddenly | heard a rattle in the
bare branches of a tree that grew inside
the asylum grounds and hung over the
wall. | was startled and looked up. Above
me on the wall was a white, ghostly fig
ure The next instant it came hurting down
| through the air toward me- l saw that
! it was naked man of huge proportions.
! In terror l turned and ran. By the time
| the naked man had gathered himself after
/ alighting ] was twenty-five feet up the
| path, running like a scared coyote.
AS soon as 1 could gather my senses
1 knew that it was Birch; that he had torn
/ his clothes off and escaped. l knew of
his violence and desperation, and that If
! ne caught me he would strangle me with
one twist of his hand and then-but the
thought spurred me to additional effort,
and l ran with such speed as | never
thought myself capable Of A few months
of walking had hardened me so that l was
in good condition, but l was hampered by
my oVercoat
LAS I ran 1 could hear behind me the
! Of no bor
hard path. He was gaining on me very
slowly. l tried TO estimate how soon he
would catch up with me if he continued
: to so gain. 1 was becoming winded, and
my efforts TO relieve myself of my over
coat lost me about three let
Il could hear the heavy BREATHING. of the
maniac and the occasional crashing of his
teeth 1t was awful. We had long since
passed the asylum grounds, and We're now
running IN the uneven road. Far ahead I
could see the lights in the windows of nv
house. My grounds were surrounded by
high stone wall, in which there was a
door. If 1 could reach this and ge,
through l might be able to leave my pur
suer on the outside until l could get help.
Il could hear the painting of the maniac
coming nearer and nearer. Once / looked
hastily over my shoulder. He was not
over five feet away, and his glaring eyes
and open, gaping mouth terrified me so
tldL nearly le4L L was rapidly growing
exhausted. L doubted if 1 could reach the
door in the stone wall
The painting was now close to me. I
imagined l could feel the breath of the
mailman on my neck. and shrunk forward
10 avoid the heavy hand l momentarily
expected to drop on my shoulder.
AT last we reached the end of the stone
wall. l could so no further 1 threw nv
self at the wall turning in the air and
gacklng against It, determined tn soil INV
life as dearly as possible On rushed the
maniac He was close to me- He reached
out his powerful hand. 1t tapped me on
the shoulder
~ Tag! You're it" he shouted Now
eaten me- And he bounded off into the
darkness.
Three days afterward they caught him
in the next county, where the entire ponu-
lation was hunting him for a wild man
l had about recovered from nv fright
when they brought him back. bur NV
hearts been weak ever since"