Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 184, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1912 — Queer Character of Fair Oaks Taken to Longcliffeใ [ARTICLE]

Queer Character of Fair Oaks Taken to Longcliffeใ

Joseph Fross, of Fair Oaks, brother of Jim Fross, was taken to Logansport today by Sheriff Hoover and will i be placed in Longcliffe insane asylum. Residents of Fair Oaks complained of his actions to Rensselaer authorities and at an examination held last Saturday night he was adjudged insane by Rensselaer doctors. ’His wife has been very sick for the past several years, having an abcess on the lung. She gave birth to a child on July 4th, but it lived only eight days, dying, it is said, of strangulation, caused by a swelling in its throat. Fross was fanatical and would not allow a doctor to come to his home or administer treatment to the sick wife. Frdss has a license to practice medicine, having graduated, he said, from the Physio-Medical school at Marion. Although he always administered to his family’s medical wants, he states he has not practiced for about 25 years. Fross is a brother of Jim Fross, a well known character around here, who is also mentally weak and queer acting. Joseph Fross is usually boastful of his education and mental attainments, largely imaginary, but today he told The Republican reporter that his father was subjected to epileptic fits and admitted that he nor Jim were as smart as they might be. He stated that he is not well versed in the modern methods of medicine, but claims to know a cure for dropsy, cancer, and several other puzzling diseases. In a rational state Fross was very philosophical about being sent away and looked forward to entering the asylum with keen anticipation.