The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-10-30
ALIENIST SAYS
D0WIE'S A LUNATIC
New York Expert After a Care
ful Study Announces
Concluaion
GIVES ZIG NAMES FOR IT
Mega'omania and Paranoia Form Par,
OF tho Doctors DiaGnosis-Be-
iicves Now What lie Onco
Knew Was False.

New York, oct. 26.-Dr. e. G, Spitzka,
the eminent alienist. has been making
q study of John Alexander Dowic, who
calls himself Elijah Ill, the restorer.
Cases resembling that OF the gentle
man who is now holding forth at Mad
ison Square garden arc so common and
frequent that l do not pay n atten-
uon to them" said DIR. Spitzka, but
John Alexander DoWie's case is pc
culiar; 1t has features far more at
tractive to me than the ordinary.
The man shows the natural result
of his career. He has played a false
part so long before the world, and to
play that part he has been compelled to
present the true relations to himself
30 constantly that the false role has be-
come second nature, and now when old
age Is coming upon him with all its
weakening influences 1t causes II far
greater breakdown than old age does
IN a man who leads an upright and
honest life.
Not Originally a Lunatic.
"You cannot say that Il man of his
kind Is originally and necessarily a
iunatic, but he now falls within that
dehnition, which he might ave avoid
ed If he had lived a natural life. He
has been so raised by his success into IL
confidence In his personal magnetism
that now. when his personal magnet
Ism Is enfeebled by old age, he can
not reconcile himself to recognize his
failure n it leads to the ridiculous
demonstration which he is making on.
the stage at the garden.
Formerly he was able to control his
nctlons automatically, Whereas, with
ola age, he has lost that power and.
a fool, he babbles what he really
thinks. All the egotism of old age
comes out IN its most disgusting form
In such cases.
If a delusion Is to be called n false
and ridiculous belief, u of which Il
man cannot be persuaded, Dowie falls
under the definition of having delu-
lonal insanity.
Names His Kind of Insanity.
:! think that DR.. Buckley is in the
main right when he charges that Dowie
Is a l%unatic, with megalomania, para
nola n other twists of the mind, al
though l fail to find the ingenious fan
tastes in Dowie's schemes which many
~paranoiacs show.
l wish some one In the press re
porters' section, when this man made
his vicious attacks on them mad risen
n replied TO his demand for truth
with this remark: You want the
truth. You shall have it, and more
truth than you will possibly care for
l should have liked to nave seen Dowie
when that was hurled at him.
Some people may say hat my dag
onsis does not take into consideration
that business ability shown by Dowie
n his evident ability to collect tithes
to property to remunera-
tive advantage. There are many Pc
culiar and apparently i~nconsist-
ent combinations in the char
acter Of certain insane per-
sons. There are project-making lu-
natics who unite the most effective tall
ents of the worst and most success
full frauds with the hopeless delusion
OF a disordered mind. and persons of
his type have played a part in the
worlds history which is really remark
able and seldom reGogniZed."