The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-05
STRANGE TALES OF FAMOUS PRISON
 WHERE AMERICAN SPENT 40 YEARS

force him 10 qult IT, ana that ne then
 would be dragged across the intervening
 country, through hedges and across
 ditches, and forced to visit certain dens
 of infamy where he was obliged to com
 init the widest excesses before he was
 eventually brought back again. To show
 you, moreover, how his delusions kept
 him up to date, as it were 1 may add
 that, as soon as the aereplane was per-
 fected and came into common use, the
 doctor declared that his nightly assaj-
 ants, abandoning their former methods,
 would force him to enter an aeroplane
 and thereupon carried him off to Con-
 stantinople and to other parts of the
 east where he was obliged to visit
 harems and to indulge in all sorts of
 orgies, the reniembrance' of which next
 day, mortified him beyond measure.
 s1n his sleeping room, l may recall,
 there was a clock which one day had
 stopped for no apparent reason, Between
 the glass and the face, ever afterwards,
 as long as I knew him, pr. Minor kept
 the card on which he had printed in
 large letters, This Stopped Clock is Wit
 ness of the Perfidy of Those in Charge of This Prison,' No doubt what had hap
 nened was that the works of the clock had been removed by order of the prin- eipal for reasons that one may guess, but the whole thing illustrates the strange workings of the American's mind lie dlu not tudhe ulany fTlenaS, on the whole. His tendencies were too much toward hermit-liSe existence to encour- age intmacies; it would have been bet fer for him. think, if he had been mora companionabfe. It was said of nlm among the other patients, too that hs would cultivate man for a while until he had squeezed him dry and then would quietly drop him, One of those with whom he had the longest intimacy , was quite an extraordinary man who occupied the next private room to his hut the friendship ended when Dr. Minor accused his neighbor of being in league with those who, as he declared, were re- spenslble for making him indulge in his supposed nightly orgies.
 "Another strange character in whom Dr, Minor took an interest was a man
 said to be possessed of over s6O0,0O0 who worked in the carpentry shop. It was understood that he came from New astle, where he had been interested in iron and steel works, and he was said to have killed his wife and buried her under the leaves in the garden. Another man whom pr, Minor cultivated for a time, but eventually dropped, according to his cus- tenn, was an inmate of his own nationali- ty, named Duncan, I think, who was said ta have made a murderous assault on his wife while they were on their honey
 moon in Wales The wife, who was not
 seriously injured, visited her husband continuously while he was in Broadmoor and when, eventually, he completely re- covered, took him away.
 'f have never seen Dr. Minor more | shocked added the speaker, "tnan when he was told that certain Jewish prison CT of means paid another couple of ounces of tobacco week regularly to curse the name of Christ, Another form of bargaining of the same kind, however, O him ap1fpIlv a rriSoy- CTS in B block was an old Crimean veteran with a wooden leg who had been in Broadmoor for 35 years. He was known as Peggy Roberts, and was rather in cl;ned to be excessively dignified and pompous. He had a particular fondness for using big words, and would always 1 pay couple of ounces of tobacco (this vas a favorite method of reward to anyone who would teach him a new one, I may add that Dr. Minors eventual de- parture was a great event, too and con sideRaby regretted by his fellow prison- 1 CTS. who had to thank him for so many benefactions.
 1 "All that have told you thus far, | continued the speaker, illustrates what one may call the agreeable side of Broad : moor. But there is an evil side. Save I for a comparatively small minority, the 1 inmates of this institution are what is known, somewhat grmly, as pleasure patients, l.. S. those who arc confined 1 there during his majestys plea sure. These 1 ,lnfortunates are sent to Broadmoor to | await the undertaken. A certain percent age of them. of course, are criminals, rnre and simple, whose clever lawyers | have been able to bring in a plea of
 insanity. Many, however, have literally l been more sinned against than shining I (some of them are there as the outcome | of awkward cases in which sentence Ice ant Iv,v.i ft foc cfxyfc 1 pleasure offered a simple way ouD, but | however sane they may be- or may be- l come not finger is lifted by the aur ] thorities toward their rs>.ase, unless steps l to that end are initiated by their fami- l lies or some other outside agency. They go to BroadmOor like sheen into pen,
 and they may die there for all official- | dom cares.
 What is more, the Broadmoor author | flies consistently emphasize the supposed | fact and encourage such writers as are l permitted to visit the institution to do SO, that those imprisoned within Broad- I r.cor's walls are human wreckage for whom there Is no hope From what l | have told you, I think a different con- clusion may be drawn, and I may add 1 that apart from the positive genius, as exemrlifed by the case of Dr. Minor, l which exists within the walls of Broad- | IT. cor there are many men there wha are regular contrib utors to outside chari- | ties, whose subscriptions to such institu l tiqns as pr, Barnarde's homes are regu. 1 lar {slheit the exact source of these is never diseosed), and who never miss sending a contribution, if only a trife, to whatever mansion house pr other char. | itable fund may be soliciting funds al the time But no visitor to Br0admpof sees these men. and I am not surprised to hear from you that even pr. c. W. F,
 Russell declared that while under secre- tary of state for home affairs he never heard of Dr. Miner. The 'showbirds,' as | they are derisively knewn among their l fellow patients, are invariably the WrHcks 1 of humanity which offieialdom declares 1 it to be thought are representative of tho inmates of Rritain's great criminal !, lunatic asylum"
 New Treatment for Diabetes
 From the New York Times. |