SENSATIONAL SCENE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3904, 4 September 1891, Page 2

SENSATIONAL SCENE.

Madman at Law.

Shortly after morning service was orer ia the various churches on Sunday a most sensational scene attracted crowds of persons to Carlylestreet, near Give square, Napier. A Mrs Macdonald occupies a residence near the square, and carries on the business of hoarding house keeper. One of her boarders, who has been drinking of late, became violently mad, and a prey to a delusion that people were trying to kidnap and murder him. Arming himself with a heavy piece of timber, which he wielded club fashion, he cleared everybody but himself out of the house by his wild behaviour. He then turned his attention to the furniture, the windows, and the other parts of the building, swinging his improvised club with such effect that there was barely a pane of glass left in the room he was in, while the house suffered in other ways. All this time he was shrieking out the most shocking threats, and by his frenzy showing that he was suffering from one of the most serious forms of dementia from drink. The people in the street could see him quite plainly as he raged about, as not only had he knocked the windows out, thus leaving !an uninterrupted view into the interior of the house, but at intervals he leaned out of the window to address the crowd gathered there. The terrified proprietress ran off to the police station and told how the case stood, and begged that the maniac might be taken off her premises, bhe was informed that the police would

gladly do all in theirpowertohelp her* but that the law forbade them entering into a house under the circumstances and that she would nave to lodge au information against her lodger in the usual way. As he bad taken possession of her house, and threatened to kill anyone that entered it, she was placed in a peculiar predicament. Dr Innes had been sent for in the meantime to see the man, and after observing his condition, and hearing from Mrs Macdonald that the police had declined to arrest the man, Dr Innes himself went to the police to demand the arrest of the man for the public safety. He told tbe police the man's condition, and that he would probably kill someone if not placed under restraint, and thus threw upon them all tbe responsibility of leaving the lunatic at large. Dr Innes was told that if the man were got into the street he would be arrested, but that the police would not go into the house. Dr. Innes could not get anyone to go into the house with him and so interviewed the madman by himself. The latter rushed at the doctor as he entered, but being calmly asked for a chair be first hesitated, and then did as he was requested, but stood ready for action till Dr. Innes sat down. The poor fellow's delusion was that people were plotting to kill him, either by poison or knife, and therefore he regarded the doctor with the most intense distrust. This was conquered by sympathetic talk, and after ten minutes of this the niadfnan consented to go with Dr Innes to his surgery. The rest was easy. The doctor and his charge reached the street, two constables at once secured the lunatic, and he was locked up.— Hawke'B Bay Herald.