The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-12
FRESHMEN HOAX 4 COLLEGE
ALL COLUMBIA FOOLED BY
DIARY or 4 BOGUS LUNATIC.


inEdsle Its Historian Overlooked.
Two freshmen to whom had been W.
,r,.ted the responsibility Of editing the
roIumbia Spectator on Monday night per-
ns,rated q practical joke on the Morning.
ssids Heights community that kept o small
.rmy of students and professors march
inc into the Spectator Office all day yester-
day. The Columbia buildings now stand
n, what was once the site Of the Blooming
dale Insane Asylum, and 1t occurred 70 the
Treshmen that 1t would be . good idea to
rnearth some old.reoord.
II happens that last week the workmsn
rho are r~econstruoting South Field tore
down one Of the old asylum buildings,
This presented the needed excuse for the
irsshmen and they Immediately wrote q
story stating that the diary Of an insane
na,isut, Joseph Milton. who had been con-
sr,d from 1872 TO 1881, had been discovered
The diary related In great detail how .
Mot had been conceived TO kill the guards
n the asylum and free the inmates.
The story on its face was apparently
%,snuine, and the closing paragraph in
yvited the students to view the manuscript,
xhich was supposed to be on exhibition
T.; =, ,he SDectdtor Office. That Ii why the
s,udsnts and faculty came trooping In a
nrocession TO see the manuscript. The
k,sShmen, Albert Drew and William Mol
,rier, disappeared about tho middle OF the
The yarn describes the tattered diary
and goes on:
Th. diary records the progress Of a plot
Nv the insane patients to the
sruad keepers and fleet q general delivery
Of all confined within the walls. Although
ssy.,al Of the entries are tllegible because
If The nervous haste Of the writer. It was
possible TO make out that Milton wa the
,rst 10 realize the possibilities Of an in
snrrectiop. His sympathy for the inmates
1. shown in the entry for June. 1870. which
runs a. follows:
To see these unfortunates groan, to
watch them gaze with the dull lesden eyes
~ despair upon the QUIET streets where
freedom i.-all this tears my heart. Some
thing must be done
Several days later he appears to have
communicated with Amos Kendall. another
inmate, for the diary says:
AMOS has hidden q clasp knife In the
mattress Of his bed. and when the time
comes to strike Heaven help the keepers.
Twenty OF us are in the plot. n several
more OF us are disaff eoted. The superin-
t.ndent suspects US. but cannot get to the
bottom Of our secret. He makes his nightly
rounds with two guards armed"
One June he writes hat Kendall after
being logged for characterization returned
=, bis room and drew his clasp knlfe from
rs hiding place. When Joseph Milton
entered rhe other. brandishins his Weapon.
cried out with savage hate: When the last
night comes, Joseph, I'll search him out
referring 70 the superintendent and carve
IN his body as many stripes as his lash has
cut ihtc my own skin
He says further:
All those whom we have taken into the
conspiracy are demanding that the attempt
10 escape be made Immediately. told
them to wait until next Thursday, when the
superintendent wife and child visit the
asylum. Then We will take royal revenge
by cutting their throats before the scoun-
dr.l's very eyes When / had said this
they yelled joyfully and began to look
s-ound them for weapons. Msrsate tore
room and tried TO grind down the end
To A point upon the stones In the corridor,
crying, The point Is black now. but on
that night 1t will be red with blood Ac-
oustomsd - an to their irresponsible
fury | drew back In alarm. for his eyes
r!owed like red hot Goals. and his breath
came sharp and painting as he worked
away at his iron bar
Here the manuscript ends abruptly. There
{. reason 10 believe that the plot was dis
covered before 1t could be executed. A Spec
THOR reporter last night consulted Lugner q
History OF Bloomingdsle Asylum. q copy OF
which is on the shelves OF thu University Lii
trary. 1t is probable that the authorities
Of The asylum succeeded in sitting all pub
rclty. for no revolt of any kind IL recorded
by Lugrer. In q chapter. however. de-
voted to biographies Of some Of the more
celebrated Dloomingda'e patients he speaks
Of Milton, the owner OF the diary. Thus all
doubt vas dis PEELED as to the authenticity
ot the manuscript Lugner noted that the
unfortunate conspirator was brought to
the asylim in the spring Of 1871 suffering
from acute m~elancholia and hallucinatlon
ovpr7aslons devotion 10 his studies led to
. complete breakdown: he had been q
vel known auth or of mathematics. text
hooks and had also acquired some reputs-
ton a. a writer OF virile English prose, rs