The Shoddy Times July 4, 1875

Miner Madness

It has been reported that a miner is currently suffering from the sickness of what has come to be known as miner madness. After some mysterious murders in the local area had occurred, a local citizen was arrested not long ago after confessing to the crimes. This citizen, a veteran of The Great War between the States, was found on the edge of a well-traveled road lamenting the death of his brother whom he report ably killed.

Found within his possession was a four pound iron pyrite rock which he carried in his pocket. This rock containing nickel and cobalt has been known to cause hallucinations in a small percentage of the population. The miner in question, might well have been under its influence and experienced what they have come to call ‘flashback’, a trauma suffered by many veterans when they’ve had bad memories of traumatic war experiences.

Doctors now believe that the minerals cobalt and nickel can sometimes enter the blood stream through prolonged skin contact with them. If that is the case the miner may have spied his brother with a pickaxe while actually seeing and hearing something totally different, only God knows. It is believed but never fully substantiated that he might have been the reason of other reported missing or killed persons the total numbering four.