MANIAC IN MELBOURNE

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12602, 12 November 1926, Page 2

MANIAC IN MELBOURNE

A BURNER OF HEDGES OVER FIFTY DESTROYED MYSTERIOUS VANDAL’S ACT One of the most mysterious affairs vhich has engaged the attention of the Vlelbouine iiolice is the nefarious work )f a madman who, during the last few nonths, has destroyed over 50 hedges, the delight and pride of over 50 suburban householders, by burning them writes the Sydney correspondent of the “New Zealand Herald”)* Despite all the efforts of police and detectives specially detailed to catch him, the madman, for madman he must be, is still at large. The hedges burnt have all been of the same variety—Cupressis Horizontalis—and there has been a curious periodicity about the outbreaks, which are frequent for a few days and are followed by a lull. The method used is always the same. The maniac throw's a rag soaked in phosphorus into the hedges, and when this dries, flames ensue. Hedges that have taken many years to grow and many hours of careful tending have become blackened ruins within a comparatively short period. Sometimes .the acts are committed during the day, but more often at night. Reports of the depredations of this curious criminal have been a regular feature of the Melbourne newspapers, who have dubbed the unknown the “Hedge Hog.” MANY THEORIES PUT FORTH Others beside the police have been attracted by the man’s strange deeds. Among these are authorities on insanity, and these have put forth many theories concerning the reasons probably actuating the man. The most practical of these seem to be those of Or Jones, Victorian Inspector-General of the Insane, who admits that it is one of the most interesting cases which has come before him throughout a long experience in several countries. Dr Jones is impressed by two possibilities. One is that the roan is unable to control the impulses of mischief peculiar to children, one of which is caused by the delight of seeing things burn. The other is that it is a case of delusional insanity, in which the particular specie of hedge burned plays ft special and symbolic part. Dr Jones thinks the fact that other kinds of hedges are not touched by the lunatic points to the probability that the second theory is correct. Delusional insanity is often the result of a desire for revenge, and the Cupressis hedge is a plant which has the effect on some skins of producing a sort of painful dermatitis, or rash. Dr Jones believes that the lunatic has been affected by the plant, and that his suffering, working on a weak mind, has caused his campaign against this special plant. DELUSIONAL INSANITY The periodicity of the vandalism also oonfirms Dr Jones’s opinion that it is a case of delusional insanity. There is, he says, in some forms of madness, a period of high exaltation, a period of black depression, and between the two a normal period, in which the patient appears quite sane. Insanity is compatible with great cunning and carefully-laid plans. The lunatic, says Dr Jones, would be quite conscious of his wrongdoing, and would plan td escape observation. Widely-experienced police officers consider that the unknown man’s vandalism is unique in the annals of the Australian police departments. They have known other cases of outrages on property, such as the lunatic in Sydney Inst year, who did enormous damage to tlie plateglnss windows of city and suburban emporiums and shops by scratching them with a diamond, without, ever being apprehended. They stopped ns suddenly ns they began, and it is believed that the Melbourne “Hedge Hog’s” work will similarly cease. But should li9 be caught in the net, insanity experts consider that he will provide an interesting psychological study.