New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-07-06
DEATH ENDS DASH OF
MANIAC FOR FREEDOM
FIatbush Institution Fugitive
Dies After Rescue from
Prospect Park Lake.
LAST WORD ABOUT LIBERTY
Former Resident of Eliza beth,
N. j., Found Five Hours
Afler Pursuit Was
Given Up.

In seeking liberty yesterday James
Mccain, a lunatic, found death. In
the morning he escaped from the Long
Island State Hospital, in Flatbush. In
the afternoon, after being rescued from
the large lake in Prospect Park, he died
in the arms of John 5. E Mclaughlin,
a mounted patroIman, of the park pre-
cinct.
His last breath was an invoca ton to
liberty incoherent, but insistent upon
the satisfaction he felt because he could
never again be confined in his old quar-
tiers.
A man hunt, in which the police,
Keepers and citizens of the countryside
joined. preceded his death Though sym
pathetic Flatbush breathed more easily
when it learned that the large, power
full violent maniac. who. in his escape
and in his fight had displayed the char
acteristic cunning and resourCefulness
of the Iunatic. had discounted anxiety
and capture.
Mccain was forty-f1ve years old He
was said to have been formerly resi-
dent of Elizabeth. n. ]. His wife now
lives in East Orange. He became in
sane d year ago and was placed in the
Manhattan asylum. He was transferred
six months later to the institution IN
Flatbush, where they soon realized the
necessity of keeping keen eye on him
In Dangerous Class.
McCann's great muscular strength.
combined with periodic fits of violence.
pIaced him in the dangerous class. In
his calmer moments he talked Of lib
erty and made incoherent invocations to
the goddess. He was in this mood when
he became slightly affected by paralysis
q week ago. and was placed in medi
cal ward.
At II o'clock yesterday morning,
when the keeper of the ward was at
the other end OF the room. Mccain
slipped from his cot, noiselessly appro-
priated the ordinary suit Worn by con-
valescent patients, stole out through
side door and descended d fire escape to
the grounds in the rear of the hospital
Then he headed north, but had not
gone far when he was missed. a gen
eral alarm was sounded. Keepers re-
ceived their instructions, and word was
sent TO the police. News Of the escape
spread throughout Flatbush. Doors
were barred and windows fastened
somebody told the headkeeper that
Mccain had been seen scaling the nigh
board fence to the north of the institu-
ton. Keepers and the police, who had
responded TO the call. raced off in that
direction.
Outdistances Pursuers.
Occasional glimpses of the fugitive
were caught. but, swifter than the swift
est of his pursuers, the lunatic, with his
long. powerful strides. left them far be
hind. Once or twice he doubled in his
tracks. as he climbed or jumped fences
or darted across lots and fields, and
finally being lost to sight in the woods of
Prospect Park, the keepers returned to
the hospital. leaving the task OF running
him down 10 the police Of all the Brook
Iyn precincts. 10 whom 9 description Of
the man had been sent
Patrolman Mclaughlin was riding
vigilantly along the lake about five hours
later. when he saw a man ioundering in
the water. Soon he was in the lake him
self. and the nearly exhausted man was
taken up in his arms and carried to the
shore.
Lieutenant Gerard 3. Hilliard. of the
Prospect Park station, next appeared,
and together they tried TO revive him.
It was Mccain. He smiled at them,
shook his head talked crafty OF being
free at last and died.
DR.. Vance. of the Swedish Hospital.
answering the call for an ambulance,
arrived too late to help Mccain. He
found the mans name stamped in the
lining of his shoes. It was believed that
death was due to heart disease, super
induced by the excitement and eXertlon
of the flight and the shock of the INNER
sion in the lake.