A Strange Affliction.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 290, 15 August 1888, Page 5

A Strange Affliction.

ONk of the .sliaogcst things on lccoid in Now York is thai cli-c!obed in the pcir-on of a \\ oil-known wiilei tiucl politician, Thomas ]Vl. Niciiol, wlio has not worn a btiLch oi clothing in tluoe months. Ho lotidcs ab (Jamb lid go Hotel, in Fifth Avenue, conduels an cKteiiMve cono^pondencc, and leceivcs visitors, but always absolutely nude. JLc was a s-oldior in the war, wa& one of the foundcio of the Hard Money League in the Webt, was piivale secretary to (Jarlield at Mentor in 1880, and accompanied him to Washington. A iepoi-loi found Mr Niehol reclining naked in a large easy chair, with a pad on his lap. Alluding to himself, lie said :— ' I have not been able bo get out for sevcial months, and cannot bear clothing. I can hardly tell what, is the matter with me. I cannot stiller clothing to touch me, and have given up trying. Once or twice I attempted to wear an undcrohiit and long stockings, but had to abandon it. Prom the legion of the heart to below the hips my llc&h is especially sensitive. It c\cn a thread touches that part of me it doubles me up instantly. A sudden noise or jar also con lI acts all my muscle?. 1 find i am getting along very well without clothes. 1 propose to keep it up indefinitely. I can receive tho^e wi&hing to confer about politics ; can study with greater facility than ever ; do nob get tired easy ; can sit in thift chair 15 hour& at a time, writing and reading without fatigue. My appetite is good, I sleep well, and yet some people imagine I'm crazy.'