The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-06-27
Is Everybody Crazy?

Some weeks ago The Post printed
figures showing the relative proportion
of crazy people in Chicago, New York
and Boston. The deduction drawn
from these figures was that Chicago
was the craZiest town in the United
States, with New York and Boston JOS
Ting for second place. No details were
at hand to indicate the reason for this
interesting state of affairs, but a little
thought on the readers part no doubt,
furnished him with sufficient reasons.
The Chicago Chronicle, in an ingen-
icus effort to show that Chicago is no
more crazy than any other town makes
the attractive and thought-provoking
suggestion hat "there is d screw loose
in the heads of a large proportion Of
people. 1t does not go SO far as to as
cert that all the people are crazy, but it
hints at such ar state of affairs. Some
times it is a religious screw" says the
alienist of the Chronicle; sometimes it
is a political screw, sometimes it is the
screw that holds the moral obligations
in place" The Chronicle then takes
the case of the prominent New York
lawyer and clubman who has been eX-
posed as an. anonymous letter writer,
and argues that he is palpably a luna
tic.
We are bound to confess that the
theory of universal lunacy is a%llurina.
1t has a plausibility that is extremely
difficult to explain away. If it is ac-
cepted, most of tn eproblems that now
confront the American people are made
Ineligible, if they are not solved. The
strikes, the speed madness, the head
long rush for wealth, the worship Of
the rich, the craze for athletics, the tip
ping evil, the irresistible desire to
make a noise, the political plot-these
are all illuminated by the theory that
everybody concerned in them is crazy.
The mysteries of vacation season are
solved, too, by this theory. Men and
women leave cool, comfortable home TO
60 gadding about in a frenzy, seeking
crowds, noise, heat, and excitement,
and paying ~hard-earned money for the
experience. Why not admit, once for
all, that they are unanimously and
hopelessly insane? That settles the
whole question.
1t is not a new theory that a large
proportion of the human race suffers
from insanity to an unsuspected degee.
Folklore is full of illusions TO the sus-
picion. The language is crowded with
words describing various phases Of
mental arrangement. "'Tis a mad
world. my masters The first thought
that arises when a genius or a crank
flashes a new idea upon the world is,
Hes craZy,t' In the rich vocabulary
of slang there is opportunity for draw
ing fine distinctions between the vary
ing degrees of suspected unsoundness
of mind, and these distinctions are
promptly drawn whenever a man
strays from the worn path Of owen
tionality.
In the opinion of Charles Lamb. ev-
cry man wore a piece of the motley, at
least on All Fools Day. At any rate,
he was touched" to such an extent as
tc understand that he was not exempt
from the universal malady once a year.
But the world has progressed since
lambs quiet day. 1t has gained in
speed, and is now spinning down the
grooves of change at a breathless pace.
If all men we're crazy on one day IN
Lambs time, the chances are that they
are crazey now al 1.-THE time. The
yer yfact that All Fools Day is no
longer prominent on the calendar bears