The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-02-22

THE STRANGE CASE OF a,n
DIR. WHITING AND DR. DAVIS

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| 1t was one Of our Friday night sympo-
| Sums at the Cosmos club, and our par
ticular clique was made up Of Merton, from
| the geological survey; Herring, of the fish
| comm. ssion. together with Long, from the
| agricultural bureau; De Forrest, of the
! Army Medical museum, and myself, then
| serving as Washington correspondent for
| New York paper. 1t is needless to say
| that the talk had run the entire gamut OF
| ART literature and science, and had for the
| moment settled on the belief in dual per-
sonalities
Il tell you, gentlemen" said Merton. with
| the authoritative air by which he always
| attempted to settle questions under discus
| son, that while am willing to admit that
there may be some things almost impos-
sible to prove or dlsprove scientifically, yet
| THIS talk about dual personality, sub-con-
| sclous mind and all such stuff is, vulgarly
speaking, simply rot" And he lay back in
his chair with sef-satistied air. as though
there was nothing more to be said on the
| subject.
Long took up the argument, and the de-
! pate grew rather warm the pros ana
cons were laid down in that excathedra
way which We young men are apt to at
| rect. DIR. De Forrest had thus far taken no
part in the discussion. but had smiled once
/ or twice at our assertions in way that
| assured us, who knew him well, that he
| draw him out
Come, DOCTOR" said Long as he or
| dered a fresh round of brandies and soda
| Tor the crowd, you ought to know some
thing about this question, for you told us
| last week that you had studied under Char
| cot when you We're in Paris
| De Forrest selected 4 fresh perfecto
from the box at his side, lighted it in his
| usual careful way and blew a few rings
| of smoke, which he watched float Iaziiy to-
hn hoe h, kn
| We'll, boys" he began, las Mer:on has
| Just said, there are some things which we
| cannot as yet decide by purely physical
methods. We cannot weigh the soul in our
most delicate balance, tho ugh the scale
| sinks II We add but the fraction of hair,
! nor can we by our most subtle reagents an
alyze that vital spark We call life IN or
laboratories. do not care tonight % speak
OF the many curious phenomena which i
| witnessed during my studies in Paris f)r
they might furnish YOU with a clew TO the
story which is to follow; but 1 will tell you
a little incident in real life which occurred
when l was very young in my New York
! practice, and then leave the question for
you to decide.
when l established mysel. in New York.
back in the sixties, fresh from my studies
| at Vienna, I joined the Bohemia club. That
| was not its name, but Of you is
old enough to remember the club, it will
do as we'll any other, and 1 shall take
liiC iiUCits VI olidiiSlIiS lIi'1 VI tiIC
actors in my story as we'll, for obvious
| reasons.
| I'VE were a rather jolly crowd at the b.
hernia, for we worked hard at different
| lines all day and then met at the club In
! the evening for reiaxa ton and to compare
| notes. You see we were young then and
| not authorities in or several branches,
| as you all are here and he smiled in mis-
| quiZZical way as he looked around Our lit
! tie circle.
| There were two Southerners in the club
| he continued. both NJ. d IS, and although
| greatly alike in their features and marvel
! ously so in their dress, they were totally
| different in character, and I suppose 1t
| would be hard to find in the club two mel
| further apart in their moral and mental
qualities. Whiting had been a practicine
| physician for Il year or more and had al
ready large clientele. He was a splendid
! fellow, large of frame, but straight as an
| arrow, with great brown eyes that looked
! you sQuaraly in the face when he spoke, and
with all his physical strength, kind and
! gentle as a woman. He was loved by every
| one al the club. where We knew him as the
| soul of honor and generous to fault.
Davis on the other hand, although he
| was of tie same olive-hued type, and
| enough like Whiting in features to be his
twin brother, had a sneering expression or
| his face, and when he looked at you with
| his eyes half closed and that cynical smile
| on his lips he made me think of the copper
! was a heavy drinker and spent money
| enough at the club, but he was never known
to do a kind act and were sure that he
| never spent a dollar anyone unless he
saw that he would gain some advantage ii
return.
Both of the ne1 had ample means oil
their own, but Davis never had practiced
so far as we knew, and where he got his
title of doctor from or where he lived nc
one seemed to know. Some said that he
| OH CT mr. n q .
chemy as WELL but he made no close friends
and seldom spoke Of his own life.
ut happened that Davis and Whiting had
| never met at the club, each came but sell
| DOM but we often chaffed one about the
| other and from their facial resemblance
| dubbed them the two Dromos. Jekyll and
Hyde would have been more appropriate but
this was long before Stevensons book was
| written
"Whiting always resented any chance
allusion to his double, although good natur-
| ed at the rest of our chaff, and seemed tc
| doubt the actual existence of Davis, whom
he had heard Of but never met. and thought
| we were simply trying to put up game or
| him. Naturally, the more he scoffed at the
reality of Davis, the more we nagged him
| until in sheer desperation he proposed tC
give a quiet little dinner for four of us, al
which Robinson, an artist and fellow oMt
member, myself Davis and Whiting were
to be the quartet.
and said he was already acquainted with
| Whiting-of course by reputation only, ne
added with that cynical smile Ne al nat
ed. On the night of the dinner. Robinson
and I were on hand early, for we were
anxious to see the meeting between Davis
| and Whiting, and had made several bets
with the other fellows as to whether DAVIS
would show up.
"Whiting appeared punctually, as usual
| but though we waited until midnight Davis
| foil oil
the matter in Writings mind, for the time
being and made US set up several bottles
| of wine to drink to the health of his myth
cal counterpart, as he called him.
"The next night, however, he came to
the club, and, drawing Robinson and me
aside, said: Boys, this matter has gone
too far. 1 like joke, but think it is
rather rough for you to keep it up And on
our expressing our ignorance of his mean
ing, he showed us a letter from Davis, re-
| GREETING his inability to be present the
| night before, and saying that he was too
| person.
But my dear fellow said Robinson, II
| you really think us guilty Of the letter. VIII
| you kindly explain how 1t happens to lie
| written on your own paper?
whiting grabbed UP the note and
seemed frightened for the moment, for at
the head Of the letter was his crest and
the envelope bore the impression of his
| private seal, which lie always wore on his
| watch chain. He looked at it searchinSly
and then left the club without word.
after this occurrence we ceased banter