The Republican., 1900-09-13
PUTTING AWAY DEATH.
Queer Expedients of Wealthy People
to Escape the Grim Reaper
of Lives.

A man who, while poor, is not more
afraid to die than most people, often
develops haunting terror of death aft
er he has made big fortune, and
spends an unhappy life and huge sums
of money in trying to avoid the COM
ing fate, frequently hurrying himself
into premature grave through sheer
worry and fear. This passion, says
London Answers, has turned the brains
of good many wealthy people and
made monomaniacs of them. They re-
sort to the most childish expedients to
keep death from their doors.
You remember Kipling's character,
who had his chair slung on ropes from
beam that the world might spin un-
der him, instead of carrying him along
to grow older. There was an actual
case very like this few years ago, when
John Islip, an Englishman, who made
a huge fortune out of silver in Mexico,
drove himself mad through worrying
about his death.
After eXhausting all the safeguards
London could offer, he bought a small
rocky island called Brychil, on the West
Irish coast, taking with him one faith
full servitor. Here, in feverish haste,
he had four stone pillars raised and a
small one-storied cabin. with three
rooms, rather like a houseboat, slung
on chairs from iron girders that crossed
the pillars and swung clear of the
ground. Once inside this. he shut him
self up with some books and pet jack
| daw for company. and never left his
| swinging house until his death.
| The attendant, who lived in a small
house close by, used to row TO the main
land-a mile and a half-when the
weather permitted, for provisions. The
| master spent his time reading and look
ing out over the Atlantic from the
cabin windows. His brain had given
way, of course. and he imagined his life
| stood still, while the earth revolved un-
| der him. He had no relatives to insist
on his entering private asylum, and
he died three years later in the cabin
worried out of life by the fear of death
His hair was snow-white, though he
was only 43.
Another wealthy man, Jean Ingle-
| SAINT, though he had made fortune by
| shrewd speculat tion, also gave way to
| the dread of death. He conceived the
idea that all movement and effort vast
ed the tissues of the body. and this no.
| tion sunk so deeply into his mind that
| he went to bed in quiet country house
and hardly moved hand or foot for
years; if he even stirred finger he did
it with dread. believing it used up his
vitality and shortened his life by so
much time. He spoke as little as pos
| sible. sometimes not opening his lips
| for days. and was fed by attendants
with spoons. All his food consisted Of
| ''slops,' to save him the fatal exertion
of chewing. and his one amusement was
| being read to by the hour together, for
he would not hold book or turn the
pages. Even the reading he did away
with toward the close of his life, believ-
| ing that listening shortened his exist
ence.
One of the queerest cases was tnat of
| a Mrs. Holmes, very wealthy widow
W llO udt Il ltillOlC ItdI vi anu
| bacilli of all kinds. She had studied the
subject deeply, and it affected her rea-
son, to all appearance. The dread of
| death seized her, and she was convinced
she would die by some wasting disease
| inspired by microbes. Knowing that
| cold is fatal to the average germ. she
had two rooms adjoining each other
fitted as refrigerators and kept con-
stantly at temperature of about 30
| degrees, or just below freezing point.
One would suppose this to be more
trying than any quantity of microbes;
but the owner was happy in her con-
seriousness of freedom from germ dis
eases. Winter and summer the rooms
were kept at the same point, and the
adjoining rooms and hall were also
kept cool. that no current of warm air
might bring bacilli in.
This lady lived clad in furs through
out the hottest days that blazed out
| side, and her attendants and servants
were obliged to constantly disinfect
themselves before entering her pres
ence. They lived in a perpetual at
mosphere of carbolic acid. and their
mistress had to pay very high wages to
| induce anV servants to StaV with her