The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-03-24
4 REPORTERS TEST
Of THE EXPERTS

! IS ~sAE -
| Alfred Henry Lewis-There was a
| less actuated by the spirit of Charles
| Reade, when he wrote Hard Cash, -
the newspaper regarded the statute as
one opening d door to injustice and
all fashions of cruelty. Sane men
might find themselves, through the ig-
norance of two doctors, suddenly lock-
ed up as lunatics. Also, and particu-
larry, the newspaper disbelieved in the
experiences of experts" and held by
the heresy that doctors know as little
the wheels and testing the bolts and
trying the rivets of that impalpable
engine, the human intelligence.
To test this theory and to show that
the brace of experts" which the word
of the law interpolated We're no safe
guard against locking up sane man,
the newspaper proceeded thuswise:
1t hired a house on Walnut street,
and one of it's reporters-a person ex-
ceedingly sane-took possession there
of Two detectives were employed
one to guard the reporter (this last
to set a stage and the other to round
up the experts demanded by the
law This latter gentleman was in
structed to call in any two doctors. He
was to explain to them that man
was said to be insane, and an exami-
nation, as well as those affidavits,
were required before he could be sent
to an asylum.
You who read may argue that here
a trap was set. What, then? Those
two experts were called for by the
careful law for that precise reason of
traps, and to discover and uncover
them. Moreover, science is bound TO
be sure or it ceases to be worth while.
Who could trap a mathematician into
swearing that five times five make
thirty?
GOT NOTED PHYSICIANS.
The detective scout appeared with
his pair of experts Being ambi-
tious, he had flown at big game, and
the doctors he enlisted were as high
on the medical list as any in the town.
They took chairs and beamed upon lhe
reporter, who beamed upon them
through the amiable smoke of a cigar.
The experts talked with the re-
porter for an hour. They made what
mental tests they pleased. What i'm
pressed them most, perhaps, was this
conversations: They asked the report
er his business. He replied that he
was a newspaper man.
Where do you work?" asked one
the elder and the leading expert
I'm Kansas City"
What paper?"
The reporter, who was instructed to
be candid in his answers, gave them
the name of the paper. AT this the
experts exchanged glances full Of
scientific meaning. How preposterous
were the decisions of the insane! Here
was a maniac who actually supposed
himself a writer on one of the impor-
tant dailies of the town!
Then they began:
What would you like to do most?"
Travel
Where would you like to go?''
Kew, England
Another scientific glance full Of
meaning passed between the experts
The case was painfully bad
What is the reason you desire to go
60 Kew? What is there in Kew that
you are anxious to see?"
The library"
1.-THE library!' repeated the experts,
making furtive notes. What is your
reason for wishing to see the Kew IL
brary?''
We'll" explained the reporter, TAX
ing the cigar from his mouth, '1et it
be understood gentlemen, that this is
in the strictest confidence. I want to
write a book and there are certain
in the library at Kew
which I ought TO consult
IT WAS PROVEN.
That settled it. The two experts"
wanted to call a cab, they We're in
such eager hurry to get to notary
public and swear that the reporter was
insane. And yet every word he had
told them was true. The two Tex
perts' made the required affidavits re-
garding the insanity of the reporter.
Also one of them vouchsafed warm
ing
You must be careful of that man.
said he to the detective. Hes going
to become violent. You'll need help to
take him to Fulton
The reporter, on the effidavits of the
experts was locked up n the Fulton
asylum. He remained there several
weeks. His letters were opened; he
had daily talks with the great "ex-
pert head of the institution; every
facility lay at hand for the wise heads
of the institution to discover his sani-
ty. Not one of them so much as
dreamed of it!
Here is a specimen of the talks
which took place between the reporter
and the chief of the institution, him.
self an alienist and insanity expert"
of international celebrity:
Doctor the reporter would ask,
how about it? Am I insane?"
Not this moment
why. then, don't you discharge me
as sane?''
Because there are such things as
lucid intervals. The fact that you
happen to be sane right now is no
guarantee that later you viii not
rave
How long, then" persisted the re-
porter, must you keep me detained