Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-07-09

warning ne UnreW up MS piece ana opened nOt
though deliberate fire upon his comrades The
Others recognized the situation, promptly took to
cover The cover was full OF FilipinOs but that was
an unimportant item: the Fill pnOs were poor
shots, the sergeant known to be fine
Seeing no one in sight, the madman started for
the enemys trenches at a slow run, and as he he
hOwed. The last that was seen of him he
disappeared in an intervening clump of bamboOs
Two days later he returned unharmed, with but
five rounds left in his belt The dementla had
passed, leaving him confused and trihe depressed.
Why he not killed was defnately learned.
His comrades told the surgeon that for several
weeks he had been moody and uncOmmunicative.
Once or twice he had remarked that unless they
went on a "hike' before long he would lose his
mind. His diagnosis was entered in the hos.
pital records as recovered"
A few days later corporal suddenly leapeb from
the window of a Nipa hut where he was quartered,
and without the slightest dscOverable cause, sprang
upon passing native threw him to the ground,
and began to beat him numerically. It took ten
men to take the the soldier to the hOspstal where
for two hours he raved, suffering apparently from
the delusiOn that he in action. The surgeon
did not give him any sedative, wishing to observe
the case. This man had formerly belonged to the
signal corps, and in his delirium he sent and re-
ceived messages, and went through all the technic
alities of an advance under fire. Before long he be-
came quiet and slept all night The following
morning he had no recollection of the incident, but
was very depressed, seemingly rather ashamed
of his being in hospital, and requested to be re.
turned to duty as he ''felt all right" This man
bore an excellent reputation, was popular with his
officers and comrades, and had never been known
to drink or In any way badly cOmpOrt himself.
There we're two other men in the company who
were known to be suffering from chronic nostalgia.
The resulting Of spirits had made them negligent Of
the duties to the extent of being several times rep
rmended, and once or twice sent to the guardhOuse
Soon there developed the profound conviction that
every one was leagued against them. This in one
case produced a morbid mental condition that re-
suited in an attempted suicide by jumping into the
river. The other was found by an officer and
squad of men deliberately attempting the murder of
native. 1t was impossible to discover the mo-
tive for the act. The man whJ was sent home made
perfect recovery before the Golden Gate was
reached.
There was another case of a commissioned officer
whose health was such that he was ordered by the
commanding medical officer to remain in in hos
pital. This order produced state of irritation in
the patient entirely dsprOpertiOnate to the cause
Upon his attempt to leave the officers ward be was
forcby detained, at which his rage knew no bounds
even reaching the point of his loudly threatening to
kill the medical officer upon the next opportunity
that afforded. The recovery of this patient was,
as far as we know complete. Indeed, he could
hardly have been described as demented at any
time. he was really no more insane than is the
man who becomes wildly infuriated at some inan-
q
door against which it has Knocked its head.
Quantities of such cases might be cited, all going
to prove cOnclusvely that under certain unaccus-
toned coalitions it Is possible for men to behave in
manner entirely foreign to all prehabiual impulse
as The result Of unusual influences upon which they
have no guage. This of course can only apply to
those whose lives have formerly run in more or less
of groove or track, and usually upon scheduled
time. When machine OF this sort gets derailed
the wheels continue to reVolve and the result is apt
to be disastrous to surrounding objects well as to
the machine.
TOm Dick, and Harry observe these things with
sympathy. Although they have never run off their
own track, they are able to understand how it
would feel. They do not know the meaning Of the
word Psychology a dissertation on nervous ply
siOsogy would be lost upon them nevertheless they
are clearly able to follow the cause and effect Of
ten when on out post duty through the long soft |
miaeriOus trOpe night, they have felt the gnawing
paih of heartaching hOmesickness though they
would not have described it as such, so faint and
dim has the thought of home become. One by one
their letters have ceased to arrive The last trans
poti brought no tidings and at their lack the cold
chill Of disappointment has proved as hardening as
pail of water on glowing steel. They have long
since ceased to look upOn friendly natives with a
kindly tOleratiOn; no longer do they play with the
beown babies and chat with the sOft-eyed mothers
IN the market place. They have found comrades
who had grown to trust these furtive islanders cold
and stark, hacked and dismembered in the bnanas. /
They look salant at the "AmigOs'' who wish them
q Milling, cultural greeting as they pass. A ma
tiv life assumes in their eyes an equal value to
-th.s Of a sheepkilling collie The sight OF trench
full of dead insurgents awakens no more feeling
than the wreck OF cattle train. They ponder
among themselves, and decide that the only chance
Of paeihcation lies in the wholesale catacysm; an