In 1897, the financier John Chaloner was declared certifiably insane and incarcerated in an asylum in New York. A scandal later ensued when he escaped, fled across the state line, and was pronounced sane by at least two other doctors. Several years later, Chaloner's brother ("Sheriff Bob") announced his engagement to the temperamental singer Lina Cavalieri. Shortly thereafter, he received a telegram from Chaloner: "Who's loony now?"