A CRAZY IDEA.
A gentleman wished to visit a hospital for the insane. He saw the medical superintendent, and said—- " I don't wish to go over the asylum in the usual way, but to mingle with the patients as if I were an officer, a surgeon, or even one o£ themselves. By so doing I shall be better enabled to judge of their intellectual state, and of their progress in the direction of sanity." " With pleasure," said the doctor. "It is Saturday, and we usually have a dance on Saturday night. If you go into the ballroom, as we call it, you will see them dancing and talking without reserve." " Would it be objectionable if I—a —danced with them?" asked the visitor. " JNbt at all," was the reply. i The stranger walked into the ballroom, and, selecting the prettiest girl, he saw for a partner, was soon keeping i up a very animated conversation with her. In the course of the evening, he said to the doctor — Do you know that girl in the white dress with blue spots in it is a very curious case ? I've been talking to her, and I cannot, for the life And soul of me, discover in what direction her malady lies, Of course, I saw at once she was mad—flaw it in the odd look of her eyes. She kept looking at me so oddly. I asked her if she did not think she was the Queen of England, or whether she had been robbed of a large fortune by the Volunteer movement, or jilted by the Prince of Wales, and tried to find out the cause of her lunacy; but I could not, she was too artful." " Very likely," answered the doctor; you see she is not a patient; she is one of the housemaids, and as sane as you are." Meantime, the pretty housemaid went to her fellow-servant, and said—- " Have you seen the new patient P He's been dancing with me. A fine, tall man, with beautiful whiskers, but as mad as a March hare. asked me if I was not the Queen of if a Volunteer hadn't robbed me of a large fortune, and whether the Prince of Wales didn't want to marry me. He is mad. Isn't it a pity ?—such a fine young man!"
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Temuka Leader, Issue 1926, 6 August 1889, Page 3
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387A CRAZY IDEA. Temuka Leader, Issue 1926, 6 August 1889, Page 3
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