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Show How Maniacs Earn Money While Confined in Padded Cells IT docs not follow," ays n wdl known alienist, 'that because a man is i:r-ane Ik: is unable to earn money. There nrc hundreds of ianatici Jn our asyiums who could mal:e qui'e a substantial substan-tial income by their brains and hand-1. "I know one lunatie who ha a genius for rptculation. If he had his liberty be would probably prob-ably be one of tie richest rn.-n i'l the country. Not many months ago he .managed, through tha medium of a friend, U hrve r. 'tluttir' on the Stock Exchange at a time when certaJnsUres were enjoyine a short-lived boom, and in a month he cleared Over $20,000. Every year he makes an income a rich man micht envy; and when, if ever, he recovers his sanity, he will be able to lead a life of luxury on the harvest he has reaped in an asylum. "But it is chiefly in the arts that inane people peo-ple excel. One of o'ir cleverest artists, a man whose pictures are often fcct, i- really 'mad as s hatter' so mad that, although he is not coaSr.ed, k has t. have a keeper In fact, there are many Kewfmpr 1W 1 . r. Sen 1921.' c ' ' exhibitions that include clever . paintings by lunatics sadly overburdened with genius. "A man I know well, a homicidal maniac, is a regular exhibitor. He paints pictures ror which he gets sums running into thousands of dollars. But his work is unreliable. He will pqint a masterpiece one month; his next canvas will be as mad as himself a perfect nightmare, with, for example,- blue fialds and flaming red. skies, heatllets horses, and cattle with tnelr heads where their tails ought to be. "In our asylums, too, there are hundreds of patients who could mako a good living as musl- nans or with the pen. One man I knbw is a perfect per-fect musical genius. He has composed operas, symphonies and songs which have brought him a small fortune. And I know of many other insane in-sane men and women who make small and regular regu-lar incomes in the same way. "As for writers, our asylums are full of them; in fact, many fctylums have their own magazines,' to which tne patients are the sol. contributors. These magazines are full of txcellent reading, ' and illustrations. " produced by th. inmates. - ' ' x - - ' "Of course, this work is unpaid, bat there are -. many insane people of literary gifts who make good incomes, including a man of my acquaintance acquaint-ance who earns several thousands of dollars evety year by clever fiction of a highly sensational type; another, a woman, who writes the most charming books for children, and a third who draws a very good income from his plays. Therc are, too, many patients who make money by skilled work with their hands. In one asylum an ex-sea captain spends his time making tiny models of ships, which he carves with infinite in-finite ckill f 10m bone or ivory. . For one elaborate und beautiful model of a cathedral he was paid as much as $150. Another patient in the same asylum earns several hundred a year by cutting silhouettes out of colored paper. For a small book of the.se cuttings his charge is 3. "Other patients are equally skilful in a wide range of industries, from inventing toys and puzzles puz-zles to making watches and picture frames, and from breeding canariei and mice to raising flowers. flow-ers. One man actually made a clock from pins, buttons, iron bed-iaths and knitting-needles." |