The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-08-22

what L nave totu you, VIII tdh5 yuu u
the doctor. who is waiting for you with
great eagerness. But stay Perhaps.
before l de so, had better acquaint you
with the details of the crime for which
DR.. Minor was committed TO Broadmoor."
|. This is the story which the governor
of Broadmoor, Englands great criminal
lunatic asylum. related while DR.. Murray
sat before him. spell-bound.
1t begins in the early days of the
American Civil war, namely in 1861 when
lsr. William Charles Minor, then a
young surgeon of &c, joined the army
of the north in his professional capacity
with the rank of captain. Minor, who
was tall and good looking, was a member
of the New York College OF Surgeons,
and had not long been married. He be-
longed to a wealthy family. and was
both naturally talented and exceptional
" Well educated, among other things De-
ing an unusually clever artist and painter.
He had many acquaintances among men
of culture, one of whom, a professor at
Yale university. was able to give him,
when, ten years later, he set OF on what
was to prove an Inflated journey to Eu-
rope letter of introduction to John
Ruskin himself
Soon after Minor joined the army, it
| became his duty to brand deserter The
latter accused him of having carried out
this duty with unnecessary severity ana
preston upon the young surgeon though
1t did not upset him unduly. Sometime
later, however, having in the meantime
served with great credit, Minor had
sunstroke, the consequence of which were
serious. He was. in fact, so completely
unbalanced that 1t was alike impossible
I to continue in the army or, upon quitting
| 1T, to pursue his profession or any course
of study.
His malady took the form of decisions,
one of these being that, because of the
branding which he had been compelled
| to do, he himself was, as he expressed
| 1t, a marked man" He feared too,
| attacks upon himself his supposedly
would-be assailants being, in his magma
ton always Irish. these being the times
OF the Fenian outbreaks. In the hope
| OF a cure. at his brothers advice, he
entered an institution for the insane at
New Haven Conn, and remained there
| year or more dhis in 1859, but came
cut with his decisions as strong as ever
No one deemed him in the slightest de-
gree dangerous, however, and he lived in
| his brothers house for sometime after
ward. In these years ne practically de-
| voted himself to drawing and painting
and produced some extremely fine work
| Eventually, in the autumn of 1872, fol-
lowing the advice of his friends, DIR.
Minor started on visit to Europe from
| DenR-
fit. He Travelled alone, being we'll sup
piled with money and carrying exception
| al letters of Introduction, one of these
as has been said, being addressed to
John Ruskin, the famous art critic and
author of Sesame and Lilies" In this
letter, Its author. Yale professor ex-
planned to Ruskin that the doctor hoped to
regain complete possession of his health,
and that he desired to make sketches and
paintings of the beautiful scenery OF
England.
| Arrived in London, DIR. Minor took lodg-
| ings in Lambeth, his address there being
| Al Tennison street, little thoroughfare
Off the York road in this district which
| is, of course, close to the Thames en-
banlSment. At the Americans subsequent
trial for murder, his landlady testified
mat for month or two after his ar
| rival, namely in December and January,
his behavior was quite normal Then,
! however, he suddenly began sleeping out
| returning in an unsettled condition OF
mind. Shortly afterwards, it seems the
| doctor presented himself at the local DO
lice station and there made wild and
incoherent complaints of persecution
| from the Irish, who, he said, had perse-
cuted him in America and continued to
| do so here. He also wrote a letter to
the police. in which he said, MY life
may be taken any night trust your
1
the American ones are
| The police authorities recognized that
| the doctor was mentally derangeo out
did not believe him dangerous. 1t was
| thought WELL however, to communicate
with his friends in America, and this
was done, done too late as it proved. For
| the next act was a tragic one. In the
| belvedere road, Lambeth, close to. Hun
gerford bridge, a few hundreds of yards
from DR.. Minors lodgings, stood a large
| brewery known as the Lion" On the
| night of February IL 1872 at about y
O'Clock In the morning, Or. Minor who
was then absent from his rooms almost
nightly. was returning home, evidently in
a highly excited condition The night was
clear and starlit.
Close to the gates of the brewery the
American suddenly encountered one of
the employees there. George Merritt, a
stoker, who was then going to his work.
suddenly three shots rang out and the
nearest policeman rushed to the scene to
ma Or. Minor standing with smoking
| revolver in his hand.
Who fired those shots?s' deman.et- fine
| policeman.
Il did, replied the American, with
complete calmness. i've killed man.
You wouldn't expect me, to be coward
| enough to fire at a woman? He's lying
back there"
~ this TIME anOtner Onlcer arrived
and, going In the direction indicated by
the American, he found the unfortunate
stoker's body. Death resulting from one
bullet wound in the neck and another
IN the back had been practically instan-
taneous. The doctor, whom the poliee-
man described as entirely cool and self
possessed. vas disarmed, arrested and at
once conveyed to Southwark police sta
ton, where he was imprisoned. He then
appeared quite Indifferent On being
searched, II was discovered that besides
being in possession of the revolver which
bore the name of a maker in Springfield,
Conn. the doctor was armed with a
bowie" knife. which he wore in a sheath
attached to his suspenders.
At his lodgings besides a number of
letters OF introduction. including the one
to John Ruskin already mentioned, were
found quantity of beautifully executed
paintings OF London and the surround
ing district.
The affair made great sensation. The
Fromiscuous carrying and frequent use OF
firearms by Americans travelling in Eng
land had become more or less OF a scan
dal, and the attitude of the London press
toward DR.. Minor was frankly hostile
Inc more SO as the murdered man proved
to be the father of seven children,
whose wife, moreover, was again about
to become mother. The London
Times stigmatized the murder as IAN
atrocious one.
DR.. Minor was tried at the spring as
sizes in the following April. the trial hav-
Ing been postponed to permit his wife,
his brother and other witnesses to reach
England. The case was tried before Lord
Chief Justice Bovill. the prosecution being
81 49,