Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-26

laws Of lunacy?' asked Jones.
Something"
Il had a friend who was supposed
to be suffering from mind trouble,
two doctors doped him and put him
away in an asylum-he was quite
harmless"
What do you mean by doped him."
asked the other
Gave him drug to quiet him. and
then took him off in an automobile"
Was there money involved?'
You may say there was. He was
worth a million"
ANY one to benefit by his being put
away?"
well, I expect one might make
out case of that; the family would
have the handling of the million,
wouldn't they?"
TT all depends--but there's one
thing certain. there'd be a thunder
ing law case for any clever solicitor
to handle If the plaintiff were not
too far gone in his mind to plead.
Anyhow, the drugging is out of or
der--whole thing sounds f1shy."
Suppose he escaped" said Jones.
Gould they take him back by force?'
That's a difficult question to an
swer.
If he were cutting UP shines It would
be easy, but II he were clever enough
to pretend to be sane it might be diff
ficult. You see, he would have to be
arrested. no man can go up and seize
another man in the street and say:
You're mad, come along with me,
simply because. even II he holds a
certificate of lunacy against the other
man the other man might say you've
made a mistake. I'm not the person
you want. Then 1t would be ques-
ton of swearing before magistrate.
The good old laws of England are
very strict about the freedom of the
body, and the rights Of the individual
man to be heard in his own defense.
If your lunatic were not too insane,
and were to take refuge in friends
house. and the friend were to back
him. that would make things more
difficult still"
''If he were to take refuge in his
own house?"
"Oh, that would make the thing still
more difficult, very much more SO. If.
of course, he were not conducting HIM
self in a manner detrimental to the
public peace, firing guns out OF win
dows and SO forth. The laws of Eng
land are very strict about entering
mans house. OF course. were the pur-
suers to go before a magistrate and
swear that the pursued were dam
gerous lunatic, then right Of search
and entry might be obtained. but on
the pursuers would lie the onus of
proof. Now pauper lunatics are very
easily DEATH with: the relieving officer,
on the strength of certificate of
lunacy, can go to the poor mans cot
tage or tenement, and take him away,
for, you see, the man possessing no
property 1t Is supposed that no man is
Interested in his internment, but once
introduce the property element and
there Is the very devil to pay, espe-
cially In cases where the lunatic is
only eccentric, and does not come into
court with straws in his hair, so to
speak"
II get YOU" said Jones. He offered
cigarettes. and presently the commune
cative one departed. having borrowed
fourpence on the strength Of his pro-
fessional advice.
The rest of that night was a very
good imitation of a nightmare. Jones
tried several different seats in success
sion, and managed to do good deal
of walking. Dawn found him on Lon
don bridge. watching the birth of an
other perfect day, but without en-
thusia SIN.
He was cheerful, but tired. The
thought that at 0 o'clock or there
abouts he would be able to place his
hands on eight thousand pounds, gave
him the, material for his cheerfulness.
He had often read Of the Joy Of OPEN
air life, and the freedom Of the hobo;
but open-air life in London, on looking
back upon It, did not appeal to him.
He had been twice moved on by po-