Eight Years for Postmaster Hegeman.

New York, 1895

Ex-Postmaster Joseph Hegeman, of Bayville, was on Friday sentenced by Judge Benedict, in the United States court, to eight years' imprisonment in the Kings county penitentiary. Hegeman was convicted of embezzling the funds of his office, and the amounts of his embezzling were found to be $1,291, which amount was placed against him as a fine, in addition to the imprisonment.


Threatened to Kill His Brother.

Willie Jones, the 12 year old son of James Jones, of Patchogue, while in a temporary fit of dementia attempted to kill his little brother with a knife. The children were playing together when suddenly Willie caught his brother by the hair and brandishing the knife over the child's head threatened to cut him if he cried out. The child was saved by the sudden appearance of the mother.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, June 28, 1895, p. 8.

Insanity Contagious.

1895

A Malady That May Be Acquired by Association With One Afflicted.

An interesting discussion upon the subject of communicated insanity was brought out at the meeting of the Association of Asylum Superintendents in 1887 by the reading of the history of the Pocassett letter carrier, Freeman, who, with the consent of his wife, who had become possessed of the same fanatical ideas, offered up their son as a sacrifice, in the manner of Abraham, says Dr. Pilgrim in The Popular Science Monthly.

The insanity of the mother was not detected at the time, but in a month she became manifestly insane. As will be seen, this case cannot be considered a typical one of communicated insanity, for the remorse and grief which necessarily followed the participation in her husband's fanatical act were sufficient to account for her insanity, aside from any influence which he might have had over her. The discussion, however, brought out the interesting fact that several of the superintendents present had had experience with cases which would appear to justify the use of the term "communicated insanity," although others objected to its adoption.

One particularly interesting instance was related by Dr. Fletcher of Indiana, where two brothers and a sister, living on a farm isolated from the rest of the community, became, one after the other, controlled by the same insane delusion. They were Germans, industrious and thrifty, but uneducated and superstitious. The elder brother conceived the idea that the devil had taken possession of their farm and was secreted under a certain bowlder in the barnyard. He imagined that no good crops could be raised until his satanic majesty had been unearthed. He began searching and worked for several days rolling up great bowlders, until the younger brother, and finally the sister also became possessed of the same idea also and lent their assistance.

They all worked for about six weeks, making an excavation about 20 feet square and 15 feet deep. They worked so hard and became so emaciated that the neighbors interfered and had them sent to an asylum, where, happily, under the influence of treatment, change of surroundings and good diet, they ultimately recovered.

In a Woman's Stomach

1895

In 1892 a woman died at Albany who had for a number of years been possessed with an uncontrollable desire to swallow all sorts of indigestible substances. A record kept by the physician who performed the autopsy gives the following as a list of the articles found in her stomach: Fifty-one hairpins, 16 needles, 3 darning needles, 32 nails of all sizes, 2 screws, 3 pieces of iron rod 3 inches long and one-fourth of an inch thick, 2 rolls of hair, 2 pieces of wood and 3 pieces of cloth, each of the latter being about 5 inches long and an inch wide. — St. Louis Republic.


A Dramatic Unity

Manager — Why don't you pay better attention? You nearly always miss your cue.
Actor (who hasn't seen the ghost walk for some time) — I guess I don't miss my cue any oftener than you miss my V or X. — Detroit Free Press.

Tried to Drown Himself

New York, 1895

Leonard Gimlet Heroically Rescued by John Oakley, Jr.

There was an exciting scene at Brown's river, Sayville, Monday afternoon, occasioned by Leonard Gimlet, 18 years of ago, making several attempts to drown himself. From birth he has been a victim of epileptic fits. Monday Gimlet became suddenly crazy while standing on the bank of Brown's river, near the bay, and made a frantic outcry and rushed into the river, where he mired in the deep mud, floundering about in a desperate manner.

John Oakley, Jr., rushed in to rescue the boy. Owing to the depth of the mud Oakley was at a disadvantage to handle the fellow, and besides he no sooner laid hands on Gimlet than the latter turned on him. A hand-to-hand struggle ensued. Finally Oakley, being the stronger, got the advantage of his crazy antagonist and dragged him, feet first, to shore.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, May 10, 1895, p. 1.

A Lunatic at Large

New York, 1895

Andrew Hoffman, aged 19 years, was found wandering around Maspeth Saturday morning in a demented condition. Constable Holdsworth brought him to the town hall. He told Justice Monteverde that he had been employed by ex-President Harrison, and that since leaving Washington he had been in heaven. Hoffmann was given an opiate and placed in a cell. When he awoke he gave his residence as 182 Knickerbocker avenue, Brooklyn. Word was sent to that address and Hoffman's brother came and took him away.


A Large Family

Mrs. Selah Hall, of Northport, gave birth last week to her eighteenth child. Of this number there have been four pairs of twins. Of the eighteen children ten are living.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, May 10, 1895, p. 1.

Mr. Sayre's Odd Fancies

New York, 1895

He is the Repository of Most Astonishing Information.

A sheriff's jury has decided that Rufus Sayre, of Southampton, is competent to manage his own property. Henry Sayre, a brother of Rufus, thought otherwise, and commenced a proceeding in the county court. The Sayres are direct descendants of Thomas Sayre, who settled in Southampton in 1610.

Dr. Halsey testified that the defendant told him that he had moved the capital from Albany to Washington, and that when President Harrison was elected the defendant had sent him a check for $16,000,000, but the check was lost in the mails and never reached its destination. Sayre also told Dr. Halsey that he had a bay full of whales north of the village, and that whenever he wanted to go whaling he would call up one and kill it with his jack-knife. The defendant had issued a set of laws for banks to abide by, and they were read to the jury by Cashier Farmer of the Peconic bank of Sag Harbor.

Other witnesses said that Rufus had told them at different times that he had the deed for the whole of Long Island, and that he remembered during the Revolutionary war ships sailing from the ocean right into Agawam Lake, and that he knew where there was a gold anchor weighing seven tons and a gold chest eight feet square in the ocean off the village.

There has been considerable comment over the verdict.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 29, 1895, p. 8.

Says She is Sane

New York, 1895

Sent to an Asylum After Marriage and Wants to Get Out.

Mrs. Mary S. Half, 45 years old, who was committed to the Long Island Home at Amityville as a lunatic shortly after her marriage in New York on Jan. 15 last to 22 year old Arthur Half, was produced before Justice Bartlett in the Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday. She was brought there on habeas corpus proceedings instituted by Lawyer Mott.

Lawyer Mott said that the woman had been improperly railroaded to the asylum and locked up there twelve days in a room. The manager would not allow her husband to see her, and it was only through a letter that she managed to have sent out of the Home that Mr. Mott learned of her incarceration. Mr. Mott also alleged that the purpose of the relatives was to get possession of her estate valued at more than $10,000.

Justice Bartlett adjourned the hearing until Friday.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 15, 1895, p. 1.

Grave Yards Not Wanted

New York, 1895

Respecting Farmer John O'Donnell's suggestion that the Long Island railroad company establish cemeteries in the "wild lands" of Suffolk county, the Greenport Watchman has this to say:

"Thanks; the 'wild lands' of Suffolk invite settlement and would welcome colonies, but not by any underground route. Two plantations of live lunatics are enough for the present; moreover the Long Island railroad makes more than sufficient money out of Suffolk county residents in the flesh without picking the bones of the dead. Really we hope our philanthropic neighbors over the border will not insist on forcing their benevolence upon us in this sort of collateral inheritance style."

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 1, 1895, p. 12.

Tried To Kill Her Child

New York, 1895

Mrs. Haines Goes Suddenly Crazy — Ropes With Nooses in the Cellar.

Mrs. Nathaniel Haines, 29 years old, wife of a carpenter residing in Oyster Bay, attempted to drown her youngest child in a tub of water on Tuesday. She has been subject to attacks of insanity, and has been acting strangely for several days. On Sunday afternoon she cut off her hair and burned it, and Monday afternoon she threw $85 in bank notes into the fire. She appeared to be herself again Tuesday morning, and her husband left her at home with their two boys, aged 2 and 6 years respectively.

In the afternoon when Mrs. Haines ran from her house only partly clad and with a child almost naked in her arms no one saw her. Arriving at a part of the town known as Fort Hill, she ran into the cellar of a house occupied by a family named Gould and threw the child into a tub full of water in the cellar.

While she was trying to drown the child Mr. Gould appeared. He grabbed the boy. The woman holding the child with one hand tried to stab Mr. Gould with a carving knife which she held in the other hand. He dodged each lunge made at him, all the time holding on to the child. Mrs. Gould's screams brought neighbors, and the child was rescued.

Mr. Haines said that afternoon on going into the cellar he discovered three ropes with a loop in the end of each, hanging from beams. He believes that the nooses were prepared by his wife with the intention of hanging herself and both of her children.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 1, 1895, p. 12.

A Test of Eligibility

1895

A story is told by a Scotch contemporary of a new arrival at the Border Counties' Lunatic asylum, near Melrose, who was sent out along with some others to work in the grounds. After he had been working for some time an old inmate, who had been watching him, came up and said, "Unless ye delve wi' the rake and rake wi' the spade, ma man, ye'll be no' lang here. " — London Globe.


A Certain Remedy

"I wish," said Mrs. Corntossel, "that they wus some way ter keep people from talkin about ye behind yer back."
"They is," replied her husband.
"What?"
"Run for office. Then they'll talk about ye ter yer face." — Washington Star.


During 1846, the first year of the Irish famine, wheat sold in Amsterdam for £20 6s.; in London for £14 14s.; in New York for $40; in St. Petersburg for £10 8s. a ton.


Over 1,000 yards of linen cloth have been unrolled from one mummy. The cloth in texture resembles the cheesecloth of the present somewhat. It is finer in quality.


Wheat was cultivated in China B. C. 2700 and at that date was deemed the direct gift of the gods.


With some people a roll of honor is made up of bank bills.

Back To The Asylum

New York, 1895

Mrs. Maggie Lepper, aged 40 years, was taken to Newtown Tuesday to undergo an examination as to her sanity. Mrs. Lepper is the mother of six children, the youngest or which is only 6 months old. She spent two and a half years in an asylum. One year ago she was discharged as cured.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 1.

Miss Donohue Became Insane

New York, 1895

Miss Ella Donohue, about 22 years of age, of Manhasset, became suddenly insane Friday and in her frenzy smashed crockery and furniture in the house of her sister. She was examined by Doctor Hoag and pronounced insane.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 1.

Temperance Notes

1900

The first temperance journal to be published in Russia is the Viestnix Tresvosti (messenger of temperance). Its first issue appeared Sept. 1, 1899.

The Kansas Senate has passed a bill to make more efficient the enforcement of the prohibitory law. According to its provisions, the third violation of the law subjects the liquor seller to a term of from one to three years in the penitentiary.

Twenty-six thousand arrests for drunkenness a year and eight thousand imprisonments is the appalling record of one of the most enlightened of American cities. It means one arrest to every four families. The net cost to the city was therefore more than $100,000.

The Herald and Presbyter says: "The best authorities tell us that for every dollar of revenue the saloons bring in, they occasion a cost, direct or indirect, of $21. Blot out the saloons with the costs they compel, and the raising of the incurred deficit in the revenue would be as easy as laying aside one dollar out of twenty-one that you put in your pocket."

The terrible ravages of the opium trade in China is indicated by the number of suicides. In Yunnan province there are on an average a 1,000 attempted opium suicides per month. The average for the whole of China is not less than 600,000 per year. Dr. William Park says here are over 800,000, and that the number of deaths from opium poisoning is not less than 200,000 a year.

Rev. J. Q. A. Henry, superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League in New York, said recently concerning the church and the saloon: "One or the other is right; one or the other is wrong. One must triumph. If the saloon stays, the church must go. The solution of the problem is in the church. The charge cannot be turned over to any other body. The saloon is hostile to Christianity, to citizenship and to true Americanism."

A law which will go into effect in Germany in 1900, places every confirmed drunkard under the espionage of a "curator." This person will he empowered to put the individual whom he regards as a dipsomaniac anywhere he pleases, there to undergo treatment for the malady as long as the "curator" wishes. The law defines an habitual drunkard as one who, in consequence of inebriety, cannot provide for his affairs or endangers the safety of others.

Iowa first tried license laws, then prohibition, and now tries, in its larger cities, what is known as a mulct law. Under the license law, the number of penitentiary convicts was 800; under prohibition, 532; under the mulct law, 1,171. By a recent decision of the Supreme Court, brought about by the Anti-Saloon League, two-thirds of the saloons were temporarily closed, because they had not filed the consent petitions required by the new code of 1897.

The establishment of an asylum, or hospital, for drunkards by the state is being urged in South Carolina, the home of the state dispensary scheme. One set proposes to establish the asylum, or institute, as an annex to the State Insane Asylum, conducting it under the same management. Others urge that the Legislature pass a law making drunkenness a crime, and establish a reformatory for drunkards, where they can be given hard work in a cotton mill, machine shops and on a farm.

From the official report of the superintendent of the Washington police it is shown that while the whole number of arrests in the District, with a barroom for each 441 of its population, was equal to one arrest for every eleven of its population, the number of arrests made in the First precinct, with a barroom for every 113 of its population, was equal to one for every three of its population, and in the Ninth precinct, with a barroom for every 1048 of its population, the number of arrests was only one for every eighteen of its population. A petition to Congress to prohibit the liquor traffic in the District of Columbia is being prepared.

—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 15.

Insane Man Clings to His Blind Wife

1919

WILL BE RELEASED FROM ASYLUM TO JOIN HER.

Love Keeps Sightless Girl and Mad Husband Together Despite Obstacles Imposed.

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Lying in the Home for Homeless Women, a blind woman smiles. She smiles the smile of expectant motherhood.

In the City Hospital for Mental Diseases, a man smiles. His smile is that of a man about to be freed of the charge of insanity and allowed to return to his blind wife.

Dr. Earl Joseph Vollentine, graduate of Tulane College of Dentistry, will not be returned to the Southwestern Insane Asylum in Texas, if Charles H. Patterson, secretary of the Charity Organization, can prevent it.

Dr. Vollentine, says Secretary Patterson, will be released from the City Hospital for Mental Diseases in time to be near his blind wife when their expected child arrives. Instead of allowing Dr. Vollentine to be returned to the insane asylum in Texas, it is Secretary Patterson's plan to start the little family on their way to Vivian, La., where the husband has been assured work.

Not Dangerously Insane.

In the opinion of Dr. Henry Daspit, of the City Hospital for Mental Diseases, the young husband is not dangerously insane. He is merely the victim of nervous attacks said to have been brought on by overstudy.

And then there is the charge of his blind wife that her husband was sent to a Texas insane asylum by his rich father because the youth dared to marry her.

The story of the blind wife and the alleged mentally deficient husband verges on the dramatic — even melodramatic.

The girl was blinded when a child. One eye was lost when she fell on a pair of scissors. The other was shot out accidentally by the wad from a blank pistol. She was sent to the Blind Institute in Austin, Texas, by her father, of moderate circumstances.

It was while she was visiting her sister in Yoakum, Texas, that the young doctor first saw the helpless blind girl. First it was sympathy. Then it was love.

Marriage Was Annulled.

They were married. Then, says Mrs. Vollentine, her husband's father interfered and had the youth sent to the Southwestern Asylum in Texas, saying that he could be cured of his nervousness in about a month. The marriage was annulled.

The blind child wife waited. Her husband was not released. She grew impatient. So did he. He escaped. They journeyed to Vivian, La., and were remarried.

The husband obtained employment as a boilermaker. They saved money. Then the search for the cure of the wife's blindness began. They came to New Orleans to consult specialists. They applied to Secretary Patterson, of the Charity Organization, for help.

Making no attempt to conceal anything from Secretary Patterson, the young husband informed him that he had escaped from the Texas Insane Asylum.

Ask Return to Asylum.

Learning of the young wife's condition, Secretary Patterson had her sent to the Home for Homeless Women. He communicated with the Texas authorities, who requested that Doctor Vollentine be held until a representative of the asylum arrive to return him.

When informed by Dr. Daspit that young Vollentine's mental deficiency is of a minor nature, Mr. Patterson determined not to allow the young husband to be returned to Texas without a fight.

"If Vollentine refuses to accompany the Texas authorities back to the asylum," said Mr. Patterson, "I do not think they can take him forcibly."

Charges Father Opposes Her.

"My husband is so sympathetic toward the afflicted. It was when I lost the sight of my second eye thru an unfortunate accident that he was drawn toward me. He read in the papers how I completely lost my sight and told my sister he would like to know me.

"He was so kind and attentive that I loved him. We married — and then his father interfered. They tore him from me; sent him to an insane asylum and left me helpless. My husband was determined. He escaped. As our marriage had been annulled, we remarried and made our way to Vivian, Where my husband was employed.

"When we saved a little money my husband insisted that we go to New Orleans so my eyes could be treated. We came and then came our present trouble. But thank God there seems to be a silver lining to our dark cloud. He will be released. Our baby will be born and then we will go back to Vivian and happiness."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 11.

Note: Dr. Daspit's name in the first instance (in the original newspaper printing) was spelled "Despit." But the correct spelling is Daspit. He's referred to in books at Google Books, and was working at the City Hospital for Mental Diseases just as in this article.

Another "Jag Farm" Forced to Suspend

1919

Last Booze Patient Leaves Minneapolis Institution.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Lack of patients caused the abandonment of the Willmar "jag farm" and officials declared that from now on it will be devoted solely to treatment of insane patients.

The last inebriate patient — a woman — was discharged a few days ago, Charles J. Swendson of the State Board of Control said. The hospital was opened 10 years ago for treatment of persons afflicted with the liquor and drug habits.

After announcement of the State Supreme Court, upholding the constitutionality of the Minnesota prohibition enforcement act passed at the last legislative session, the police promised a vigorous enforcement.

"We will attempt to arrest all persons making liquor or using it in any way contrary to the State law," said Michael Johannes, chief of the police vice squad.

Boats to Prevent Suicide

1906

For the saving of would-be suicides, the municipality of Rome has decided to employ police motor boats on the Tiber.


Decided Horse Committed Suicide

In a lawsuit at Aberdeen, Washington, over a horse whose death the owner attributed to a man who had hired it, the court decided the animal had committed suicide.


Suicide Statistics

Sundays from 9 to 12 at night is the favorite time for women to commit suicide. Taking all days into consideration, more men kill themselves than women in the proportion of seven to two.


"Anatomy of Melancholy"

Robert Burton published the "Anatomy of Melancholy" at 45. It was written to relieve the strain of mind bordering on insanity.

What Alaska Indians Smoke

1910

"How would you enjoy a pipeful of wood shavings saturated with a strong solution of pepper as an after-dinner smoke?" asked William F. Quinn of Portland, Ore.

"Strange as this may seem as a substitute for tobacco, it is nevertheless used as such by Indians along the Alaska coast. Their mouths are often made raw by the practice, and the eyesight of many is affected by the strong fumes. It is no uncommon practice among farmers to smoke the leaves of the tomato and potato plants. While both these plants contain a narcotic poison, the smoking of leaves in moderation is harmless. Excessive use, though, produces a heavy stupor, from which the smoker awakes with a terrific headache and a feeling of utter exhaustion. Insanity and suicide have often been caused by the immoderate use of these two weeds. Rhubarb, beet, and even garden sage leaves are all smoked by farmers, but are perhaps the least harmful of substitutes for tobacco."

Sees Glare in Thug's Eyes; She Humors Him

1915

Felt He Was Insane, so Lay Still to Be Bound — Summons Police by a Moan

Suppose you were all alone in the house —
And the back door bell rang just about the time the grocer's boy usually came around for morning orders —
And instead of the grocer's boy a man stood there pointing a gun at you —
What would you do?
Scream? Run? Bang the door shut? Become paralyzed with fear? Try to grab the gun? Pray? Let the thief in?

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Dec. 16. — Pretty Lucille Hoyt, a 17-year-old high school pupil of this city, opened the door in her home to find a man pointing a gun at her.

Lucille says she just backed slowly away.

"As soon as I reached the dining-room door I intended to run and lock myself in the upstairs room," Lucille said.

"But the thief caught me in the dining-room. My impulse was to struggle, but as the burglar grabbed me by both shoulders and shook me, I knew by the glare in his eyes he was insane.

Lay Perfectly Quiet

"It flashed thru my head that some one had said the quieter you were with insane people the less violent they would be.

"So when the fellow threw me on the floor and grabbed a couple of card table covers to tie my wrists and ankles with, I lay like a dead person.

"Then he gagged me with a napkin. The knot was loose and the gag slipped down.

"But the man didn't notice. And he stepped right over the telephone that had fallen to the floor, and ran upstairs.

"I wriggled over to the phone, and just as I got it into my bound hands it buzzed.

Moans "Send the Police"

"It was my cousin, Mrs. B. A. Gilliland. I heard the thief coming down the stairs, so I just had time to say 'Send the police,' when in he rushed.

"He ran past me, cursing. Then I heard him lock the back door as he went out.

"I lay there waiting for the police and I kept thinking 'Where have I seen that face before?'

"Then I remembered he was the same man who had come to the back door to ask for a drink of water Monday. I was all alone, then, too. But he didn't try to get in that time."

The police broke thru the window to release the girl.

He Offers Free Insanity Certificate

1900

A generous if not alluring offer was that made by an exasperated physician to the penurious father of an insane young man.

The old man wished to secure his son's admission to the insane asylum, but seemed unwilling to pay for the necessary certificate.

After hearing his plea of poverty — which the doctor knew to be false — and hearing him also tell of the many expenses to which he had been put by his ungrateful children, the physician waved his hand to end the recital.

"Now see here," he said, sharply, "you just pay me for this one, and I'll give you a certificate for yourself whenever you wish to use it, for nothing!"


An Effort To Explain

A gentleman who had engaged an intelligent French maid was at work in his library at one end of his house, when it struck him, from certain sounds, that something must be wrong in the drawing-room, at the other end of the house. So he rang his bell, and the maid came.

"What are those cries that I seem to hear in the direction of the drawing-room, Marie?" he asked.

"I do not precisely know, monsieur," she answered. "At one time I sink it is madame who sing, and at anozzer time I am sure it is ze cat and ze dog who fight, monsieur!" — Youth's Companion.

Bound and Robbed, Now Thought Insane

Kansas, 1911

Chester King, the young man was bound and robbed over in Graham county two weeks ago, has been placed in the county jail at Hill City charged with insanity. It is said he tried to purchase a gun with which he intended to hunt up the two strangers who tied and robbed him the week before.

This is the young man found tied in his own buggy at about one o'clock on the night of January 6th, near a country store known as Corrickville in Sheridan county. The fright and the cold which was intense that night was a terrible strain on the young man and his present condition may be the result of the awful experience.

He is seventeen years old and is the twin brother of Charlie King who was adjudged insane about two months ago for acting queerly on the streets of Hill City.


Got The Limit

Tuesday morning there were three cases before Police Judge Howell. One for selling intoxicating liquor and the other two were for vagrancy.

Oliver Penny was the guilty person in the case of selling "booze" and plead guilty to the charge. He was arrested Tuesday night for selling the "dope" to the soldiers that were going through here, by Marshall Davis and put in the lockup over night. He was fined $100 and thirty days in the county jail, where he was taken Wednesday.

The best thing that can be done with these unlawful people is to give them the limit every time they violate the law.

—Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas.