Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-08-14
A LUNATIC YEARS AGO
Adventures of Merchant When In
sane People Were Chained Up.

Sane feopIe were Sna1neu UP. n
Within the memory of people now
living lunatics and weak-minded peo-
pie in country districts were confined
to the houses of their relatives, some
times chained to the wall story in
volving a case of this kind fifty years
ago is related by New York mer
chant.
He made his start in life by travelling
through the country districts of Penn
sylVania taking orders for and deliver
ing goods of various kinds from the
cities. He is now over 70 years of age.
One fine afternoon" he said, Il
called at farmhouse to look for orders
for goods from stores in Philadelphia
and knocked at the door. A voice said
come in and l pressed the latch and
found myself in the kitchen of the
house. l was confronted by a strange
looking man, unkempt and unshorn
who came forward from place parti-
toned off from the rest of the kitchen,
which looked like stall of some kind.
He told me that the master of the
house Jas not in and that he was the
only person there just then. / had no
idea that l was talking to a lunatic, as
the man seemed perfectly rational In
spite OF his strange appearance, and be-
fore | started to go out / asked for a
drink of water.
Certainly, said the man, but if
you have no objection to cream you
can have it.
Il accepted the proposal with thanks,
and the man said Please hand me the
key OF the dairy. 1t is on that nail
above the door and you are taller than
| tirn
handed him the key ,remarking that 1t
was a very small one. He instantly
broIG1t into view chain by which he
was -fou"ed to the wall and released
. ssr by unlocking the paddock in
less Hua ths it takes me to tell it. |
had rTsvies,s!Y noticed that he kept his
hanfA ssMnS his back while he talked.
Their l SsaiizBd that l was in the pres
ence o. "a rs:so:, an. l began to back to
the door bo. he caught my arm say
ing: Gene with me for the cream
81 first thought of breaking away. but
on second thoughts decided that it was
safer to humor him a little, especially
as he was between me and the door. |
went with him to the dairy the door of
which was open. There he filled a
bowl with cream and desired me to
drink it. | drank part of and made a
move to get away, but his grasp tight
ened, and muttering something about
cream not being solid enough he
brought me back to the kitchen, where
he stirred some kind of meal into the
cream and handing me a spoon told
me to sup 1t. l hestated, when he seZ-
ed cudgel, which l suppose had been
provided to keep him in subsection and
holding it up menacingly, said: Sup
it.
Il made an attempt to eat the stuff
and after few mouthfuls said | had
enough. He raised the cudgel again
and ordered me to finish it. A happy
thought struck me.
If you bring me more cream can
finish it, l said, without daring to
look round at the door,. as he was
watching me.
"The madman was taken off his
guard and went back to the dairy for
the cream. | Immediately darted out,
and the lunatic, hearing me open the
door, came after me with the cudgel. 1t
was now race for life with me- | ran
my very hardest, not even daring to use
my breath in shouting for help. but
after / had gone about a quarter of u
mile | saw that the lunatic was gaining
on me. Not a soul could l see along
the road and though | kept my wits
about me | could not find any lane or
think of any way of doubling on my
pursuer. When he was within about
twenty yards of me | saw he was bound
to overtake me, and | gave cry for
help. Just at that moment several men
appeared. They came up in time to in
tercept the lunatic. One of them hap
pened to be his brother and the mad
man covered and dropped the cudgel at
the sight of him. The brother apollo
gized to me for his carelessness and
! invited me to turn back to the house
and get some refreshment, but had
enough of it and declined the invita-
| tion. After that while | continued at
that business | was always chary of
entering house where there was only
single occupant"