New-York tribune., 1919-12-06
Insane Perversion
Of Affection Called
Cause of Ak Staying
Brother-in-Law Says Strong,
Who Killed Wife and
Daughter and Ended Own
Life, Was Unbalanced

Friends of Mason r. Strong, of Pas
sale, who attacked his family with an
AK while they slept Tuesday night,
killing his wife and eldest daughter
outright and then ending his own life
with razor, expressed the belief yes
terday that his mind never had recov-
cred from the effects of serious ILL
ness last summer and that he suddenly
became violently insane. His father,
it was learned. was in an asylum for
the insane at one time.
K. f. Olcott president of the Hud-
son River Day Line, brother in-law
Of Mr.. Strong, who lives at 1922 West
End Avenue, declared yesterday that it
was an insane perYersion of affection
which mpelled Mr.. Strong to commit
the act he did.
There is nothing morbid about the
terrible tragedy" Mr.. Olcott said. "nor
is there any element in it which i'm
pugns the nobility Of his nature. Ny
explanation is that it was all due to
the fact that Mr.. Strong suffered a
stroke of apopleXy last summer and
returned to his work about four weeks
sooner than he should.
Feared Breakdown in Health
Before his sickness he had COM
pleted plans for alterations and the
installation of a safe deposit vault at
the Lincoln National Bank, 56 East
work would not be- carried on properly
because of his illness and anxiety over
the difficulty of obtaining proper help
aggravated Mr.. Strong's condition un-
til he became obsessed with the
thought that his health would break
down and he would be unable to pro-
vide for his family. The worry
brought a condition of temporary in
sanity"
Employees at Mr.. Strong's office at
Z Wall Street said he had left there
Tuesday afternoon apparently in the
best Of health and spirits
Two Of Mr.. Strong's close friends,
the Rev. Willard Brown, pastor of the
North Reformed Church in Passaic, and
Thomas r. Goodlatte, manufacturer,
said Mr.. Strong never had seemed
quite norma! since his illness.
His father, the Rev. J. Paschal
Strong, formerly pastor of the North
Reformed Church, was confined in an
asylum for the insane in New York
State at the time of Mr.. Strong's birth,
May Is, 1867. About month after
his son was born the Rev. Mr.. Strong
was discharged as cured. He fell dead
December 7, 1890, in his pulpit in an
upstate church
Family Deeply Religious
For three generations the Strongs
have been characterized by deep re-
lgion and earnest thought. The grand
father of Mason r. Strong, the Rev.
i
Of the Reformed Church. Mason r.
Strong had been an elder in the North
Reformed Church of Passaic
A search of the house yesterday
failed to reveal any narcotics such as
it was thought at first that Mr.. Strong
had used to drug his family on the
night Of the murders. When Nina and
Susanne, his daughters, who were
fund budding in a dazed state in front
of the fireplace in their home Thurs
day night, were examined at the hos
pital it was found that they also had
received wounds from the ak, which
proba bly, accounted for their condition.
Nina, fourteen years CID suffered
fracture Of the base of the skull. Her
left arm is paralyzcd as q result. Su-
zannc, eight, escaped with d slight
scalp wound
The son, Nathaniel, twelve years old,
whose skull also was fractured, has
not regained consciousness. An op-
GRAFTON was performed on him yester-
day. His condition is regarded as no
less serious than when he first was
discovered.
Funeral services for Mr.. Strong, his
wife and their daughter Elizabeth, six
teen years old, will be held privately
to-day. Burial will be in Sleepy Hol-
low Cemetery. Miss Ruth Colville, a
sister Of Mrs. Strong. arrived in Pas
sale yesterday from her home in Mid
dlobury, Conn. Two others sisters will
reach Passaic to-day from Racine. Wis.