Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 85, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 July 1908 — John Muffley Declared Insane. [ARTICLE]

John Muffley Declared Insane.

John Muffley, an aged bachelor, living near Baum’s Bridge, north of Wheatfield, was brought to Rensselaer today by deputy sheriff Joe O’Connor, assisted by speciai officer Gus Grant. Neighbors of Muffley had complained that he has been insane for some time, and the object in bringing here was ,to hold an inquest to establish his insanity. The inquest was held at the jail soon after the arrival, two physicians acting with Justice of the Peace S. C. Irwin. There was no doubt about his insanity and he has numerous delusions. He talks incessantly and his chief hobby seems to be that the railroad is trying to defraud him. He says the Kankakee river is now 333 feet deep and that it is getting deeper all the time. He imagines that he is a bird and that there are hundreds of little birds under his skin and they are pecking at him all of the time. In bringing him here Sheriff O’Connor had his deputies employ a new handcuff device. It is made of leather and braced with steel and locks the hands to the sides by means of a beit, the hands being in leather gloves, so ventilated as to keep them from sweating and it is impossible to strike with the hands. When Muffley was taken from the train he became unruly and it took all the force the sheriff and his two deputies could muster to get him into the bus. After the inquest he was put into the padded cell at the jail, where he will be kept until admittance can be procured for him at Logansport He has a brother named William Muffley. It is said that he has had some insane tendicies for the past twenty years and neighbors were unanimous in declaring that it was unsafe for him to be free.