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Show oo PRISONER SS PRETENDING INSANITY If John McDermott Is feicnIngC insanity, in-sanity, there Is surely method In his .nadnesM, jind he plays tho part of thu maniac well. He was arraigned before be-fore Judge Howell this morning on the charge of forgery, but refused to onswer. whereupon tho court ordered that he be brought into court again next Tuesday, when ho will be given another opKr( unity to plead to the Information filed against him by the district attorney. When the man was called beforo the couit this morning, he mumbcld piteously something that could not be heard by the court, and, those who did- hear him, could not understand what he said; in fact he uttered no distinct words. Ills face was disturbed dis-turbed and pale and he moved from side to side- hysterically, wringing his hands. His eyes were kept constantly upon the floor and he gave no heed to those about him nor the reading of tho information by the clerk. The man stubbornly continued to do the acts of a crazy man until he was pushed from the court room by a deputy sheriff. When the court asked him his name, he paid no attention to what was said, and uttered not a word. Twice did the court call upon him to answer whether his name is John McDermott, Mc-Dermott, but ho stood stoically indif-fcient indif-fcient to the command. Deputy Murphy took the fellow by the arm. shaking him, and told him to answer the court, but this had no effect. The officer turned to the court aud said: "Judge, this is the man who attempted at-tempted to get out of Jail the other day by means of a wooden key he lind made. Hr wa aiir-hi in Vi - - uiv a. . and since that time lie has been trying try-ing to act crazy, it is all a bluff, though." The court ordered that the man appear again for arraignment, making no comment upon the alleged feigning feign-ing of insanity, as suggested by the deputy sheriff McDermott is charged with forging the name of James ilalverson to a check for $20. November 19, of this year, and he is the man who married a young lady of this city on the day of the alleged forgery. It is said that on that day he forged many checks. His young bride has beeu a regular visitor at the Jail since his incarceration incarcera-tion until the fellow was found to have made a wooden key to fit the outer door of the jail and was caught in the act of trying to turn the lock. Since that time Mrs. McDermott has not been permitted to visit the man and he has been kept in close confinement con-finement and. since that time, he has acted the part of a crazy man. He has a confident in the jail, howecr, who says that he Is feigning Insanity Insan-ity to escape a heavy term in the penitentiary. pen-itentiary. He has told Mitchell, his confident, that be muBt make good on the insanity proposition now or lose hl3 reputation as a successful faker and spend the greater part of the remainder re-mainder of his life in jail. Mitchell says McDermott sane enough until some of the officers approach him. It is said that be told the boys in jail this morning that he Intended to hammer the table with his fists and carry on ridiculously when they arraigned ar-raigned hint In court. He did not do quite that badly, but ho certainly looked the part of a lunatic. |