HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1908-3-26, Page 244:04:037.t. +>(+): + +A+A+ti+Kt+ +0+ +4+i:(+ax +> +.t+ l
A Ilousc of ystery
OR, THE GIRL IN BLUE
i 4.0-1- +3 4 .040431 int+E+1:t+04- 4- Gt+3 + -4.1 +#+0-F 4•Xii+KE+Ki
CHAPTER I.—(Continued),
I arose from my bed a fortnight
facer stone blind.
• With this tierrible at[liclion upon me
i returned to London with Dick Doyle,
who came out to Florence to fetch me
home. For me, life had no further
charm, Thebeauties of !be world
which had given me se much pleasure
and happiness were blotted out for me
for ever, I lived now only 1n an eternal
dankness which by day, when the sun
shone upon my eyes, seemed to assume
C. dull dark red. At fleet It struck me
that tecauso mysight had been destroy-
ed my personal apfioarance must have
altered, but Diok assured nio that it
had not. No one, he declared, could
tell by looking at my eyes that they
wore actually sightless, '
And so I, \Villbrd Heaton, lived In
those dull old chambers ` in Essex
Street, in rooms that I had never seen:
You, who have sight to 'read these
lines, can you Imagine what it is to
be suddenly struck blind? Close your
eyes for a brief five .minutes and see
how utterly helpless you become, how
entirely dependent you are upon others,
hew blank would be your the if you
were always thus.
Dick gave to me tho time he could
spare from his work, and would come
and sit with me to chat, for oonver-
satlon with hint was all thatwas left
to me. Ho described my rooms and
my surroundings with the same minute-
ness with which he wrote, and tried to
interest me by relating scraps of Lhe
day's news. Yet when he was absent,
away or at work in his rooms above,
I sat alone thinking for hours, count-
ing time hy the chiming of the stock
of St. Clement Dents.
So heavily did time hang upon my
hands that at last I engaged a leacher
from the Blind School over in Lambeth,
and with his books'ot raised letters he
used to visit me each day and teach
mo to read. I was an apt pupil, I sup-
pose, yet there was something strangely
grotesque about a man who had already
graduated recommencing to learn his
alphabet Mee a child. Still, it saved
me tram being driven mad by melan-
choly, and it was not long before I
found that by the exercise of pains 1
could read slowly the various embossed
books, standard works manufactured
.for tho recreation of those unfortu.
nates like myself, who would other-
wise sit eternally idle with the'r hands
before them, And not only did I Learn
to read, but also fo melte small fancy
basi,els work versintricate at Met,
but which, on a^count of P (he highly de-
veloped
veli ed sense of touch that I hadac-
quired in reading, soon became quite
easy.
The long months of winter darkness
went by; but to me, who could not see
the sun, What mattered whether the
days were brilliant August or black De-
cember? Sometimes f went out, but
not often. I had not become proficient
Le finding my way back by aid of a
stick. I had practised a good deal in
my rooms; but for a blind man to go
berth into the busy Strand he must
have perfect confidence, and be able to
guide himself among the bustling
throng. Therefore, on my airings i
usually went forth upon Dick's arum,
and the extent of our wanderings was
the end of the Embankment at West-
minster Bridge, or around those small
ornamental gardens which extend from
the Charing Cross sLoL:on of the Under-
ground Railway up lo Waterloo Bridge.
Sometimes, on rare occasions, he would
take me to dine with him at the Sav-
ago Club, in Adelphi Terrace; and mon,
easygoing Bohemians, whom I could
not see, would warmly shake my hand,
I henirl their voices—voices tet artlsts
and literateurs whose names were as
household words—snot charmed by their
merry gossip of artistic "shop," laugh-
ed at their droll stories, or listened to
one or other of the members who would
'recite or sing for lite benefit of his
brother Savages. Those evenings,
spent amid the tobacco -smoke and
glasa-jingling of the only Bohemian
still existing in London, were the b•ap-
ptest in all that dull, colorless, dismal
lite of sound and touch.
They were the only recreations left
to ane. Truly mine was a LrtsLful life.
In April, elder I had lived in that
dingy den six months or more, Dick
came into my room one morning and
made an announcement. It was that
he had been commissioned by the
Daily Telegraph to go as its correspon-
dent with a British punitve expedition
en the North-West Frontier of India.
"You'll go, of course," i said, reflect..
!ng that such an offer meant both ad-
vancement and profit. He had long
ago kid me that a commission as war
correspondent Was his greatest ambi-
tion.
"No, my dear old fellow," his deep
voice enaweresi in a tone more grave
than usual. "1 can't leave you alone."
"Nonsense!" 1 ejaculated, "I'm not
going to allow you to fling away such
a geed offer fo remail with me. No,
you must go, Wok, You'll be back in
throe months at most, won't you?"
"Perhaps before," and his voice
sounded low and strange. "'But really,
old fellow. I can't go and leave you
(helpless lake this;'
"You'll go," 1 said decisively. "Mrs.
Parker will look atter me, and three
months will soon pass."
"Na," he said. "It's all very well,
but youcan't sit here month after
month, helpless as you are. It's im-
possible."
"I shall amuse myself with my books
and my basket -making," 1 answered.
Truth le tell. this announcement of his
had utterly crushed me. His society
was the only bright spot In my lite.
If he left me I should be entirely alone,
timeless and melancholy. Neerlhelcs
when the sight is destroyed the mild
is quickened, and 1 reflected all that
this offer meant to him, and admired
his self-donial and readiness to refuse
it on my' account.
Therefore I lrtsisted Chet he shoubl
go. in the end he was persuaded, and
three days later lett Charing Cross for
India.
When he had gone i became hope -
testy depressed. In vain did I try to
interest myself in the embossed brooks,
but they were mostly works which 1
had read tong, ago, and in vain I toiled
at basket -making until my flinger -Ups
were sore and aching, Sometimes at
evening Mrs. Parker, herself a sad scho-
ler, would ley and read a few of what
she considered the choicest morsels of
the "extra special." She read very
slowly and inaccurately, poor old soul,
and many were the words she was
compelled to .spell and leave me to
solve their meaning. Indeed, in those
long hours I spent by myself I sank
lower and lower in dejection. Ne teng-
er I heard Dick's merry voice saying—
"Come, cheer up, old chap. Let me
telt you all I heard to -day over at the
club."
No longer could I lean upon his arm
as we descended that steep flight of
steps leading from (he end of Essex
Street to the Embankment; no longer
did I hoar those playful words of his
on such oacasione—
"Take care, darling, or you'll fall."
Dear old Dick! Now, when I reflect-
ed upon it all, I saw how in lay great
efiliclton he treated me as tenderly as
he would a woman. Forlorn, hypped,
ani heartsick, I lived on from day to
day, Viking interest in nothing,
mop-
ing doleful and unmanned.
A single letter came from him, posted
at some outlandish place in the Noel -
West. It was read to me by old Mrs.
Parker, but as Dick was a sad scrib-
bler, tis translation was not a very
brilliant sueceas. Nevertheless from 't
I gathered how deep were his thoughts
of me, and bow eager he was to com-
plete his work and return. Truly no
man had a more devoted friend, and
oertalnly no man was more in need of
one.
As the days grew warmer, and I sat
ever with the ttedium vitro upon me,
joyless and dispirited in that narrow
world of darkness, I felt stifled, and
Longed for air. Essex Street is terribly
eboso in July, therefore, finding the
heat intolerable., I went•forth at even-
ing upon the Embankment with Itis.
Parker, and, with my slick, practised
walking alone upon that long, rather
unfrequented stretch of pavement be-
tween the railings of the Temple Gale
dens and the corner of Savoy Street.
Try (o walk a dozen paces as one.
blind. Close your eyes, and tap light-
ly with your siiek before you as you
walk, and see how utterly helpless you
feel, and how erratic are your footsteps.
Then you will know how extremely dif-
ilcult I found my first essays alone. I
walked full of fear es a child walks,
stumbling, colliding, halting, and even
wailhyg for my .Pitying old woman -
servant to take my arm and gu(de me
in safely.
Yet evening atter evening I went
forth and steadily persevered. I had,
In the days before, lite world become
shut out from my gaze, seen men who
were bland guiding themselves fearless-
ly hither and thither among the Lon-
don crowds, and I was determined, in
Dick's absence, to master the means
el visionless locomotion, so that I might
walk alone for health's s51ce, if for no-
thing else, And so I continued sts•it'.
ing and striving. When Mts. Parker
had served lay dinner, cutting it up for
me just as one places meat bofore'a
helpless infant, we went forth together,
and for an hour each evening l went
out upon that wide expanse of the Em-
bankment pavement which termed my
pg
ractico rowtd.
Gradually, by slow degree.% I leonine
prOOcient in guiding myself with that
constant tapping that marks a blind
Consumption is less deadly than it used to be.
Certain relief and usually complete recovery
will result from the following treatment
Hopef rest,air, fresh and—Scott°.s
E niaL,a'kln.
ALL DRCiQOISTSI 500. AND 51.00.
4040004.01141,44014.0000444100
man's progress through the black void
which constitutes hie own narrow joy-
less world. At last, lifter several weeks
el constant preotice, I found to my
gro•aL delight that I could actually
walk alo110 the whole length of the
pavement, gulding myself by intuillee
when encountering passers-by, enol con-
tinuing straight on without stumbling
01 rollidin,g with any object, a furl
which gave me the utmost sntisteclion,
fur it seemed to place nuc beyond the
need of a constant guide, With this
progreaa I intended to astound Dick
upon his return, and so gradually pen
aevcred towards prefclency.
CHAPTER U,
August was dusty And blitzing in
London, and I felt it sorely in Essex
Street. The frontier war dragged en
its weary length, as frontier wars al-
ways drag; and Did( was still unable
to return, Itis brilliant desoriplions
of the fighting had become a feature
in the journal he represented. On ane
el my short wallas from end to end of
than long even strip of pavement s
hand was suddenly plaood upon my
shoulder, and the voice told mo that
it was Shadrack Fennell, a charming
old fellow, who had been a popular ac-
tor al a day long since past, and was
now a prominent "Savage," well
known In that little circle of London
Bohemia, He walked with me a little
way, and next evening called and spent
an hour over cigars and whiskey, He
was the only visitor ! had in all those
months of Dick's absence.
A blind elan has, alasl very few
friends.
Once or twice, when the heat became
Insufferable in my close stuffy rooms,
I contemplated going to the Country
or le tate sea. Yet, on reflection. I
told myself bitterly that, being unable
t,: se the beauties of God's earth, I was
just as well there moping in that
gloomy street, and taking my evening
airing beside the Thames.
Therefore with all desire for life or
enjoyment cruelted from my soul, I re-
mained in Loddon, going out each Inc
evening, sometimes with Mrs. Parker,
and at others, with a fearlessness se-
quh'ed by .practice, I carefully guided
myself down the steep granite steps
leading from Essex Street to the Em-
bankment, and then paced my strip of
pavement alone. But how irlsttul, dis-
ph4ting, and soul -sickening was that
monotonous world of darkness fn which
eternally existed, none can know,
only those unfortunate ones who are
blind themselves.
About batt -past eight O'clock one
breathless evening in mid-August, Mrs.
Parker being unwell, I went forth alone
for my usual stroll. Tho atmosphere
was close and oppressive, the pavement
seemed lo reflect the heat, and evert
along the Embankment there was not
a breath of air. Atone, plunged in no,
own thoughts—tor the blind think far
store deeply then those whose minds
are distracted by the sights around
them—I went en with those short
steps that I had acquired, over tapping
with my stick to discover the cross-
ings. 1 wee afraid of no street traffic;
only of cycles, which, by reason of
their silen'oe, are veritable orgres to
the blind.
Almost unconsctou.d, i passed be-
yond the limit of my regular track,
beneath t t he railway-bridgewilt h I
C
knew led from Charing -f reps station
and then straight on, with only a single
crossing, until i came to weal seemed
the junction of several roads, where I
hesitated. It was an adventure to go
so far, and I wondered where I was.
The chiming of Big Ben, however, gave
me a clue. I was at the corner of
Bridge Street, for I felt the wall of the
St. Stephen's Club. The turning to the
left would, 1 knew, take me over
\Vestmttsler Bridge; to the right I could
cross Palace Yard and Broad Sanctuary,
and so gain Victoria Street. Beton my
afllibtien I knew well that portion of
London around the Houses of Parlia-
ment. I decided, therefore, on keeping
ee the right, and some one whom I
know not kindly piloted me over the
dangerous crossing from the corner of
Parliament Street, for such I judged
it to be from the tries of men selling
the evening papers. Again, three times
hit suocession, did eynspathetic persons,
noticing my helplessness es I stood
upon the kerb, talcs my arm and lead
me across, but in these constant cross-
ings I somehow entirely lost my bear-
ings. I was, I knew, in a long straight
thoroughfare, and by the iron railings
before the houses guessed it to be that
road at (tat-dom, Vielorta Street.
Amused at my intrepidity, and eon-
gratulattng myself upon having gone
as far alone, I. kept on, knowing that
even if i lost myself I had only to call
a passing hansom and be driven back
le Essex Street, Thus for perhaps
three-quarters of an hour I wandered
on. From a lad who helped ase over
one of the crossings I learnt that I had
passed Victoria Station, and now ap-
peared to 'Inc traversing several large
squares—at Least, such was the impres-
sion conveyed upon my mind. Itwas
uscl se to stop possons-by every moment
to inquire where I was, therefore, laugh-
ing inwardly at my situation, lost in
London, the great city I had known
s'i well, i went on and on, down long
straight thoroughfares that seemed
e ndless, in enjoyment of the first real
walk I had taken since my onushing
alttict!on bead fallen upon ate,
Suddenly, In what seemed to be a
quite deserted street, I left the kerb to
cross the road alone, but e'o I became
aware elf impending danger a man's
voice shoulid toughly, end i found my-
self thrown by violent c,.anousston up-
on the raodway, struggitng fanlioally
beneath a horses Ito' fs. I clutched
wildly at air to Savo myself, but next
second received a violent kirk on the
left side of the head, which caused
g i nuke to appear before my sightless
ryes, shinned tee, and nendered me air
most tnslnetly insensiltle.
ilnw long i remained ignorant of
things about the it is impelssiblo le
tell, 1 fanny it must have boon a gecxi
many hours. On my first, Morn to
ccnseiousnese i heard strength Confused
✓ rnd5 about me, low whispering the
w ,r<le of which were utterly uninlel.
i.igihlr� la ere, itllbnlum,ed Tonle, and
the quick rustling of silk. I remember
'wondering vaguely where 1 wash Tite
Thirty=Eighth Annual " sport
1
TO JANUARY ist, 09(08, OF THE
LfL' of Ca
HEAD OFFICE, _ WATERLOO, ONTO
CASH ACCOUNT
INCOME.
NET LEDGER ASSETS, December
31st, 1600 .... .... ....5 9,900,471.70
PREMIUMS:
First year ....5 230,636.63
Renewals .... . , . , .. 1,519,322.77
Annuity .... 3,450.00
Less Re -assurance
51,763,409.40
20,367.52
"1i0F1T AND LOSS .... ....
1,733,041.89
508,240,02
1,288,25
812,194,047.85
DISBURSEMENTS.\
TO POLICYHOLDERSi
Death Claims „53(7,770 60
Matured Endowments , 176,785.03
Surrendered Petioles ., 92,138.68
Surplus .... .... ..... 80,805.19
Annuttics .. 10,71099
5
080,220.30
EXPENSES, TAXES, FTC ..,. 383,981.33
BALANCE NET LEDGER ASSETS,
December 31st, 1907 , ... 11,069,840.22
BALANCE. SHEET
ASSETS.
Mortgages .... .. . . ... . .......... $5,756,070.05
Debentures and Bonds .. .. 3,593,965.84
Loans on Policies -.... .... 1,410,130.87
Premium Obligations .... .... ..,22,53421
Real Estate (companys bead Otticc) 30,875,70
Cash In Banks . ... .... .... 280,494.29
Cash at Head °Mee .... 0,505.19
Due and deferred premiums, (net)319,277.97
Interest duo and aoorued .... 241,554.01
Audited and found correct.
J. M, SCULLY, F.C.A., GEO. WEOENAST,
Auditor Managing Director.
Waterloo, January 291h, 1908.
61 1,656,409.92
812,134,047.85
LIABILITIES.
Reserve, 4p.c., 33;p.c, and 3p.e.
standard .... ... .. . . .. . . .:810,019,563.2
Reserve on lapsed policies`on which
surrender values are claimable. 4,171.22
Death Claims unadjusted .... ...... 58,350,00
Present value of death claims pay-
able in instalments ..,. 38,500.03
Matured Endowments, unadjusted 1,693,45
Premiums paid in advance .... ..., 12,737.18
Due for medical fees and sundry
Credit Ledger Balances .... ..
Surplus; December 31st, 1907
(Surpl'us on Government Standard
of Valuation 81,897,358.28.)
10,030.75
25,730.82
1503,719.68
S 11,056, 40292
New Ouslntess written (gain over rgo6, $x,577,835)
Insurance in force (gain over rgo6, $4,[79,44o) -
Surplus (gain over rgo6, $300,341)
- $7,081,402
- 85,091,848
- 51,503,719
Booklets containing full report et the Annual.Report, held March gth 1908, are being publishes
and will be distributed among Policyholders in due course.
1
blind quickly develop a habit of ex-
treme caution and with n Y senses
dulled by the excruciating pain in my
seize [laIrefecting without
speaking.
.
The throbbing in my head was fright-
ful. When the rocollectlons of my long
walk which had ended so disastrously
surged through my brain, it struck me
that I must have been taken to a hos-
pital after the accident, and that I had
most probably remained there some
days. Yet in ho,epitale there is no per-
fume of peau d'Espegnc, nor do the
nurses wear silken flounces.
1 tried to catch the words uttered by
these about me, but In vain. It may
have been that they were spoken in
some foreign longue, or, what is much
more likely, rho terrible blow I had re-
ceived from the horse's hoof had uttet'-
ly disarranged ley sense of hearing.
This single thought appalled me. If
my hearing had really been injured,
then I was rendered absolutely help-
less. To the blind the acoustic organs
become so sharpened that they roan de-
tect sounds where those in full pcsses-
ston of sight and hearing can distingu-
ish nothing, it is the ear that acts for
the sightless eye. Therefor rho fear
that even this had failed me held me
appalled.
i stretched forth my hand, end to my
surprise felt that I was not in a hos-
pital bed, es I bad at:first believed.
but upon a silken couch, with my head
resting upon a soft pillow. The cov-
ering of the couch was of rich brocade
in wide stripes, While the woodwork
had a smoothness which caused me to
believe that it was gilt. I raised my
hand to my head, and found It band-
aged with a handlcer•chief and some
apparently Innprovtaed 'centpreases.
(To he Continued.)
PRIN'CE'S ORUMY COUSIN.
The Late fling Oscar's Meeting `With
Another Bernadotte on a Steamer,
Dr. Wilhelm Koehler, of Mannheim,
Germany, contributes a new anecdote
to the recollections of the late Xing Os -
ear of Sweden. It goes hack more than
fifty years, to a time when Oscar, then
Crown Prince, was travelling about See-
ing the world,
Ona day be boarded a passenger
steamer at Marseilles for a trip to North
Africa. Ile was in civilian's dress and
unattended. The captain, who did not
know who ha was, accosted him,
"!t scams to me 1 saw you at the
naval review yesterday," he said.
"Very likely you did,' said Prince
Oscar.
"And it seems to me ,yeti were wear-
ing an Admiral`s uniform,'
"1 rather think I was."
"You meet be a remarkable seaman
to have reached that rank at your age;
you can't be over 25."
• "Oh, a little alder than that, isut I'm
no seaman at all. I wear art Admiral's
uniform in right of my name."
".Which 11.1----"
"Bernadotte,"
"Ah, some relation of the old Mar.
-
shai?
"-Merely his greed -10e. t am P1'11lce
UN THE FkRM.
PURL' AIB FOR COWS.
Hoard's Dairyman has repeatedly
asked Its readers this question: Is there
any reason why a cow should not have
u3 .pure air in winter as in summer?
Of course, no one has ventured to
answer to the contrary. Milts is se-
creted .prbnarily from blood. All the
elements of growth are carried and de-
posited by the blood. Think of the won-
derful action of the heart that conveys
finally 50 pounds of milk to the udder
sc wo can get it. But tine blood is kept
pure by the air in the lungs and is
vital by these things. It goes out on
its hidden and mysterious journey to
the farthest extremity, carrying with it
for deposit what is needed for each bit
of tissue for all different purposes.
Then it gathers up on its return jour-
ney a .lot of impurities and comes to
the lungs for purification.
These impurities are taken out by the
oxygen of the air ton the lungs, When
the blood comes to the lungs it is of
a dark liver color. As soon as it feels
the effect of oxygen taken from the air
the color is changed to bright crimson.
Right here do we see necessity of pro-
viding the cow 10 her stable just as na-
ture does in the lleld with a full sup-
ply of pure oxygen in order that the
blood may bo vitalized. Many a fann-
er who is ignorant of these principles
shuts, his cows up in a foul, close stable.
miens with the fumes of manure and
urine, and never thinks how ha 1s beat.
ing himself In the faze all the time. Ho.
c3 doing all he can to prevent his cows
from yielding an abundance of good
milk' for he is robbing them of their
supply of oxygen without which the
blood cannot help the udder to secrete.
This matter of milk secretion is a
Oscar of Sweden, brother of the King.'
"Then maybe your Highness would
Uke to meet a cousin,"
"I shouldn't object. I know there ore
some, but I have never seen one yet,"
rho captain stepped to the speaking
tube end shouted to the engine•, room:
"Send up Bernadotte,"
In. a minute or two a grimy stoker,
naked to the waist, appeared.
"This is your cousin,'' said the cap-
tain,' who was an extreme republican,
with a bow in which the irony was only
latent;
But it the captain hoped Ie embarrass.
or annoy. the Prince, he was disappoint-
ed ()sear put out his hand and shook
his tenant's black hand: lie asked hien
about 11,e relationship; about other ccu-
Sits near Pau, where the Marshal ons
kern, and aboul.isis ovtt life find work,
Then he made the other i3ernadotte a
present worthy of a Prhlce. and took
his name end address with a view 10
future benefits,
wonderful thing. IL has Maimed the 01.
let -Won and deep study 'of thousauda
cd the world's brightest minds since tho
day that Aristotle the Creek wrote of
the human another. And still 11 is a
mystery. But we
may know some thing
about it it we will. Among then( is rho
ever -pressing importance of water and
pure air, Ignorant men can own cows
and can shut them up in foul, d'seasc-
brocding stables, but nature punishes
then for their recusal to know the laws.
Again was asked:
COW STALLS AND TiES. `
There was never a time in the history
of dairying when so much at'ontton 's
given. to the building of comfortable
ties for tate dairy caw.
The rigid stanchion is giving away
to the swinging stanchion, to the diete-
tic stalls where the cows de -not have
to be tied, and many. other new and
mere comfortable arrangement for fast•
ening cows,
While the cows seen to thrive and
do well in tho rigid stanchion, yet the
new devices for tying dairy cows must
be more comfortable. It leas sbweys
seamed to nus that any stall which per-
mits tato cow to move her head to her
side is preferable to a do which keeps
her head in a nearly straight position.
The modern methods of hitching cat-
tle not only gives the cow more free-
dom and therefore more oemfort, but
they invariably give the cows a better
opportunity to keep. creat. This is a
strong argument. in favor of some of
the more modern lies, for everywhere
Moro is a pressing demand for cleaner
milk, and everyone knows that it is
easier to produce clean milk from clean
cows than from dirty ones.
Give 'each cow a small stall by her,
self and she is fastened in It by stretch-
ing a chain from pest to post or from
pavWUon to partition at the rear end of
the stall, This arrangement gives the
cow considerable freedom as she Is at
liberty to hove {ter bead to iter ;side.
when lying down and to lick herself
when standing up, The movable gale
to Pront of her limos her to the gutter
end ,prevents her to a largo degree from
dirtying her stall.
One of the chief objections to this
form of stall is the posts which aro nec-
essary for building it, but many of the
ueors do not consider this objection at
all. serious.
It is not possible for to to sn,y whet
kind of stall another man should build
or buy, bud every dairyman ,should atm
to make his cows comfortable and keep
them clean.
--
THOSE MANURE PILES,
Regardless of the fact that in eget-
Cultural papers, farmer's institutes and
from other sources the teaching of 001 -
mot methods of hnndlieg manure is
feughl, we still Ned great piles from
the stables accumulating under The
raves where much of fertilizing proper.
ties will le washed out befnra it roaches
the soil. It is net practicable to haul
11 evrt;y day to the field it should be
Waved under cover. 13y nixing the elf-.
!arced kinds. giving the loose stork a
Memel\ to Masud I1 noon dhere wilt be
11;t1C loss from &clang,
�qlryn�jr
SALT
414444.424.44414410464
FIS[).SKIN DISEASE,
Ichthyosis—front the Greek word f sr
fliaselenifo attend for a ,pa:u-
ltarh--Is dlsnasethe, or rather d„fortuity of 1105
stein characterized hy an overgrowth of
a horny, scaly layer and an abnormal
dryness, it usually exists from birth,
although a few cases of acquired ash.
skin disease have bee:(. Observed, Its
cause is unknown, It often affects sev-
eral members of the salve family, and
in many eases is evidently hereditary,
Although ex!eting from bullet, 1t may
not Inc very marked in the Infant, but
may be little more than a roughness
and unusual scaliness and dryness of
the skin. it increases gradually, be-
coming very apparent by the tilled or
fc,urth year, far six or eight years per-
haps, and then its progress slops and
it remaptically tnd for
((15, althoughins rac
a slight imuncltprovanllgoenl is
sometimes noticed as the child approch-
es manhood or womanhood.
It varies with the seasons, being bet-
tor in the summer --and betis' the hot -
lei and moister the air is—and worso
again in winter. The skin is also liable
to inflammation in cold weather and
chaps easily, giving rise to painful
cracks over the knuckles and at the
lips of the fingers. The nails are rough
and often breatc and split, and the hair
is also dry and frayed al the ends.
There are all degrees of the disease,
from a simple, dry roughness and scali-
ness, to a condition in which the sur-
bano is covered with thick plates re-
sembling the scales of a crocnriile, In
a:ntost alt cases there aro more or less
lethals markings, especially over tho
eelenser surfaeee of the joints, resemb-
ling fish -scales or a serpents skin, The
disease may occur in patches or in cure -
el bands of varying width, with hea-
thy or nearly healthy skin between, but
most commonly it !evolves the entire
surface, being least marked where the
skin is nslurnlly thin,
The Treatment is :mainly local, lis ob-
ject being to remove tine excess of hor-
ny scales and keep the skin soft, Anoint-
ing the body at night with soft soap,
followed by a warm baht end thorough
rubbing with a coarse towel Or lla.;h-
brush will, If often repeated. keep the
scaling within limits. The free use of
a good cold cream, borax and glycerin
in water, lanolin or vaselin. nppiled im-
mediately after the hath, and 11 neees-
saty again in the morning, will go far
to keep the skin soft and pliable. More
severe cases wilt require more severe
remedies, which shnuld be used only
under medical direction.—Youth's Com-
panion.
QUININE FOR iNELUIEN7,A.
ht a paper on the treahnenl and pre-
ventien of influenza Sir William Broad -
tent, surgeon in ordinary to the king
of England, is gm,oled cls saying:
"As a prophylactic (preventive) i
early ordered two • grains of quinine
every morning during the prevalence
ai the epidemic, and the results appear
r
,o he good. Of caw 'se tiltt patients
who sr.re taking r
uinine did occasion-
ally
aItY gat influenza, bill I have ca n
very many instances in which Thi, dose
has made a complete. difference In the
pat,enl's liability le infection and even
to the general. mode of life.
"I have moreover had opportunities
of obahnhng extraordinary evidence of
its protective power, hl a Ingo public
school it was ordered to be taken every
mn
"orSameing. of the boys in the school were
home boarders, and it was found that
while the boarders at the school took
the quinine in the p1', seICe of the 1 05'
ter every morning (here were scarcely
any cares of influenza anong then(, et.
Mengel the home boarders suffered near.
1y Much 5s fre,
” fssn a large girbelsc' srhool neer Lon-
don the sante thing Wass ordered and
the girls and mistresses took their
morning dose, but tilt servants aero
forgotten. The result was that scarce -
.any girl or mistress suffered, while
the servants were all down with Ibis
influenza."
ROBBERY BY IIYPNOTishi.
'1110 Marquis of Town- shend Makes an
Odd Accusation.
A remarkable case of hypnotism and
blighted affection is occupying the at.
tention of a London court, in which
the Marquis of Townshend is one of
the principals, The other Is the Rev,
Arthur Robins, one thea curate of the
fashionable I•loly Trinity Church.
The Marquis Is the plaintiff in the
case, and he eherges ihe. curate with
having hypnotically tvhcedled hole him
vaeietis large sums of money anti valu-
able heirlooms, and else the love of
his beautiful wife, which the curate has
deprived hint of by slander.
The. Marquis wept so hysterically
when he related his woes on the wit.
nosy stand that he could scarcely be
understood.
1'ltc plaintiff's story is (int he studied
hypnotism with the de(ondent, who
found the. Marquis so plastica subject
that he put Min tauter hypnotic con.
Ural and in that Stale secured many of
the Townshend paintings, wort*: of art
and jewels, and also the Townshend
ready money—all under the simple
selteme of making the (hornets think he
didn't need any of the possessions.
The affairs of the Marquis of Towns.
hand have had many strange ;Mem,
In 1005 he inarricd Gladys Ethel Owen.
dolen kugenic. the beautiful daughter
0t Thomas Sulhersl•, a law,ver, Tho
Marquis is n 11111e, hnslgnlflonnt man,
and not particularly bright, while I.114
Marchioness is a woman of great toil
and enco.
Aftonlntelllgthe haneymoon, which was a
farce, there were legal entanglements
over money matters, which waro
brought to n topsy-lurvey end by the
declaration of wife and father-in}law
that the Marquis was mentally inoap-
able. Seine sort of roroneillaffnn was
10tclted , and 6)5100 'Oti gt;lct fax
brooded ovuper Iba downslhhend luenago,
{
'r.