The Curious Case of a Seattle Man’s Electrical Delusions
A local veteran was apprehended for insanity, claiming his body was charged with electricity he caught while living in an asylum.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Anail Gordon, who was arrested for insanity Thursday evening, was examined in the probate court yesterday and adjudged insane. He will be sent to the Steilacoom asylum. He was discharged from that institution cured only about six months ago. His peculiar delusion is that he is full of electricity and that it is even in his clothing. He says the electricity got into his system while he was at the asylum and yesterday requested the probate judge and the examining physicians to touch him and feel the electricity if they doubted his word. Gordon is an old veteran and the Grand Army people have promised him a new suit of clothing. He thinks that by taking a cold bath before donning the new clothes, he will be cured. He firmly believes that cold baths help to drive the electricity away. When arrested he was standing stark naked under a water spout, and after he was put in jail he nearly drowned himself by a similar experiment. Gordon arrived in Seattle from Chicago about a year ago with his family.
“He firmly believes that cold baths help to drive the electricity away.”
This 1888 account of Anail Gordon reveals the tragic lack of adequate mental health support and the frequent institutionalization of veterans, issues that remain painfully relevant in Seattle's ongoing struggle to provide compassionate, stable care for its most vulnerable residents.
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