The San Francisco call., 1906-10-07

II dummy chucker.~ the story o.
youth who was taught Grim.
n a sehool where the precep-
tors were even more vicious crafty
ard corrupting than the immortal
Fzgin snd his complies. Bill Skies
Z IS TIE his-5. of a man who pre-
sented 20 The medical profession and
the rubIe the most remarkable IN
stance on record or prolonged. daring
sktufuI aid succcssrui imposition. car
RED out under the rarb OF one Of the
most revolting and terrible Ealadies
which eIict mankind. IT is the career
of 6 Ean who deceived by his clever
ness the officers or prisons. hospitals
az3 as-lums; who aracticed decep-
SONS inrolviaE great physical suffer
ing ard tr5ur. ana who even went So
1ar as To uutiiate h.rlzeIf in order
70 carry his tricks through success
fully- and DE diS all this for Tire
sake os thr money ana booty lis con-
fs5erates vo-c anie to secure through
his imposition
James Cess, alias James Lee, was
the king - dummy chuekers7 on two
continents vntIl he net his Waterloo
here. and the man who had fooled
some OF the cIeverest physicians n
England and America had 70 own up
70 the uperiatendent Of the Asylum
1or Insane Criminals at Auburn. y. z.
Dr. Carlos p. Macdonald. that he had
been faking al the time
That was thirty years ago. But-the
medical profession stiIl remembers the
remarkable exhibitions OF chucking 8
dummy lfeigning epilepsy BY CIegg
right before their eyes. their careful
examination OF the case and then Dr..
1facDo1aId-s expose of the criminals
triclz. which he alone detected, first.
by the position OF the dummy chuck
ers thumbs. and then. as he carefully
studied thc case. BY one or two ether
signs which usuzEy accompany q gen
uine attack. If It lad not been for
-is one oversight On the part OF CleEE
this wrong position OF the thumbs, he
might possibly have gene on to the
end o. his days deceiving the public
and the medical profession and. what
Is even worse % contemplate. he might
have left the Inheritance OF his trick
ery 20 posterity- But he never found
cut the thing that gave him away TO
d. Macdonald and put an end to his
career of crime and prosperity.
There never was 4 more remarkable
case than that Of Clegg." said Dr. Mac
Donald the other day. recalling the ex-
poss which has since gone down in
medical history and which made the
name CT the slienist expert famous
throughout the land. The term
dummy chucker' Is not 50 well known
over here IS IL IS aneng criminals in
England II is the thieves name for
one whc chucks or throws q sham 1T
The Bible gives as many instances Of
the stimulation Of disease to gain some
end. Rachel. Jacobs fsvorite wife
feigned illness IN order to conceal the
fdoIs or Lzban. and ever sincs the
Beck cf Genesis we have had records
Of the stimulation OF all sorts OF dis-
eases
The Appeal to Sympathy.
Epilepsy. however, has been the Ia
vorite ralady for Initiation. and the
reason Tor this is 7 believe. because OF
the spectacular features OF the 1T and
the advantages Il orers TO the fr1ita-
tor First of al, Il commands the SYM
psthy OF the multitude You know
how sympathetic and interested the
crcwds are who gather around a man
IN q 1T. especially the women; and the
suddenness with which the par0xysuls
come and the mparativeiy short time
they last make epilepsy easier 10 feign
than many other maladies. The pro-
fessional dummy chucker Is aided in
his deception by the fact that seizures
are apt 20 occur st any time and place.
therefore he can assume them at his
own pleasure and eolvenience. And It
Is quite consistent with the nature OF
the disorder 70 be apparently well dur
Ing the intervals between attacks
which may last as long as the chueker
likes.
JAMES Clegg began his career IN
crime Ia England and ended Il here
after he had become too well knewn 70
the police and authorities to practice
any lenger ever there From a dummy
cAucker Re became a lzborer IN a dairy
rear tf1s city, and finally cIsappe4red
,rcu professional view. IN fact. lest
sight 81 him long ago. though fer
some tine after his exposure he would
give exhibitions for me at my clinics.
he was o1ly years old when he
1comnitted his first crime. that OF rob-
5ing the TIL IN his fathers shop. Even
e. this early age he showed a remark
able sagacity for his years In order
70 make il appear that the shop had
been entered By burglars he threw the
ril over the hack fence and 1art the
shop door open No one suspected the