Page:Item 9 1861.pdf/11

with no other clothes than his shirt on, standing in the kitchen of 14 Undercliff in a trembling condition and supporting himself with his hands on a table. To have thus found him breathing the "breath of life" and apparently, without a broken bone, was an event little short of a miracle. The man who had thus produced such a consternation was a shoemaker named Laker, respectably connected and a native of Ashford. He seemed at times to have been afflicted with intellectual aberation(sic) and was known to have been medically treated for that or some other ailment which he professed to have had. On the evening preceding the occurrence, Mr. Barrett, shoemaker at 2 St. Clement's place (with whom Laker worked and lodged) noticed something peculiar in his manner, and in the course of some conversation discovered that the poor man was dwelling upon the delusion of an attempt being made to send him to an asylum. He, however, became more composed and was got to bed. In the mean time, medical advice was obtained, but nothing of a decisive character was determined on. The next phase of this affair was the one described at the commencement of this narrative. Getting quietly out of bed, he appeared to have climed(sic) up to a window placed above the half-landing of the stairs, and to have thrown himself over the sash on to the roof of a scullery, about 20 feet below the window, breaking through the roof and carrying away a rafter or two by his weight. Then running across the yard, he sprang to the top of a wall, 7 or 8 feet high with the agility of a cat. Crouching on the wall but for a moment, he again precipitated himself to a depth of 20 or 30 feet, alighting on the roof of a building below the cliff. From this he made another perilous descent to a still lower building, breaking in the slated roof and falling, it was supposed, backwards into the yards. Thence he walked or crawled into the kitchen where he was found. On being questioned by Mr. Sellman as to his motive for committing so rash an act, he replied that he would sooner do anything than be taken to an asylum. Whilst this was going on, Mr. Beecham, as one who had exposed himself to such imminent peril, obtained the medical assistance of Mr. Wilson. The poor man was very much cut about, but beyond that, he did not appear to have sustained any serious injury. The distance comprised in the three leaps was measured and found to be 61 feet. The escape from destruction or broken limbs was marvellous.