HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1892-11-18, Page 22
BEYOND RECALL
XIII.
site would anile again and be capable of
CHAPTER happiness such as 1 had never bronght her,
c r•r
"308 nant•tsxs pts 1'o>;1111010'. In a Few mouths I might bo almost forgot.
,o Fettered for' life 1 fettered for lila ! ten wholly forgiven. But if 1 lived an,
fettered for life I" I acid is over and over might not the Sense of her awn lifelong mis-
fnrtuno embitter her against the one who
again, to myself, tee I eat boxed up in the
van that carried mo away from Newgate ; batt brought it upon her? flight eho not
the coronae fell in w•ftll the boat of the 1100008' cease to love rue, and, ceasing to love, hate
feet and the rattle of the ,vho,le. "Gutter -
me'? She neat live in anatase dread of ilia•
ed for life ! fettered for life I fettered formay find cowry while 1 live ; tete Man riot some one
o.
life I." T repeated, as I sat in my white- to a her out
ho wile of a oonv{etgmti 4lntpieko
wash toll, the throb of distant machinery her look with dread upon every fresh fano ;
moistly n rylhmio accompaniment.
member that ; nothing else made=Myro's- listen fn tetter to any °hanaa illusion. 11
siou ou nmy numbed seises. I know now nsttst goad her to 0 pitch of mamma in
that 1 was photographed on my arrival, which she herself shall reveal all to Uo'quit
but I have no recollection of that or the of that porpoEnal torture. And Utes, what
other regulations to whirls I was submit. then ! Her father, if he do not send her
away, will stake life with hfa so uueudur.
able, that flight and dependency upon tho
charity of strangers will be preferable.
As these thoughts, and a thousand other's
whirled through my blain, 1 groped round
tho dense cell, Instinctively seeking for some
instrument with which to execute the dm
sign I meditated. 1 felt nothing but the
bare walls.
" Well, this is enough," thought X,
straightening myself against the wall ; "
man with the wish to die need not be par-
ticular about the means,"
Save the faint line of light on the pave-
ment to my right that marked the position
of the door, I could see nothing ; all was
blook. Bnt I knew that iu the darkness
before me there was 9.01000 wall. I set my
foot forward, lowered my head, and, with
every muscle strained to the effort, I dashed
forward.
I
remember awaking in a state of bewil-
derment. There was light reflected on the
ceiling. Ilay on my back; it was not the
plank bed of my cell.
A volae, speaking in a low tone, broke the
silence—
"If he hadn'ta tripped over lois stove Med
a clone t0, sir."
'"Not he," replied another voice, sharply.
can be considered. You must realtae that, "Fractured skull—conauesion of the brain
my man." that's all they can get by that trick. He's
I shoal live and die in prison. Nothing ! sentrtno the goy mea ghat bottle. Have you
oI oan do will give me another day of ems„ Then I recollected what I had attempted,
dom." and know that l had failed.
"Not one. At the some time, I must I vias kept in the infirmary for the rest of
tell you, your existence will be made toter- the night. In the morning,with my bend
able, or a state of perpetual misery, by year bandaged --for despite thstove, I truck
good or bad conduct. Certain privileges the wall with sufficient force to give myself
aro granted to prisoners, whish may ba a Repay wound—I was taken before the
withdrawn in the case of refractory men. governor. There was very little kindness
The man who misbehaves himself is a fool—
in his face now ; I had nearly got him into
that is the teaching of a prison from begin -
trouble as well as myself.
bog to end." " You're beginning badly," he said ;
He spoke to me at some length In this " giving trouble already. I told you how
strain, and then, rising from the stool on g y,
which be had seated himself, he sold— it would be if yon (lid not realise your poli.
"Yon will be allowed to see your friends tion."
—under certain conditions—when you have I have realised my position."
been here for three months. If you wish to 110, yon haven't,' he retorted angrily.
write to them, you may do so at once." " I was condemned to death. It was by
" Yea, I will write to them," I said. no act or wish of mine that my sentence was
altered, I have a right to die,"
ted.
'1 he governor 01(010 to me. He was a
stoat thtek.set man ; had been n captain in
the navy, I believe ; there were decision
and firmness to his face, tempered with
kindness.
Well, my man," said he, "you have
heard the rules read; do you comprehend
them ?"
I looked at him stupidly.
"Is there any question you wish to put
-tome ?"
I shook my head.
" Come rouse op. This lethargy won't
do." He paused, looking at me keenly ;
then with a touch of pity, he pursued : " I
know it's hard for a man who has never been
here before to realise his position, but the
sooner he does the better it is for
his personal comfort. 1e1eny men give
trouble, and get luta trouble themselves,
because they cannot understand that
they aro beginning a new life, and must
conform with its requirements. You know
the extent of your sentence: " Fettered
for life I" For the whole term of your nat-
ural life."
That is irrevocable.
"Irrevocable in this sense : that no fur-
ther appeal of your friends in your behalf
The warder brought me writing material
shortly afterwards. Then I sat down be-
fore my little sbelfunder the window, with
the purpose of writing to my wife, but when
I took up the pen, I could find nothing to
say. How could I lessen her misery and
"Don't answer till you're permitted to do
so. Right to die, indeed I Not here. No
man. has a right to die save by the decree of
God or his fellow creatures. I told you
that the teaching of this prison was to show
shame? What comfort could any words then the folly of doing wrong. Of a hum
convey ? It was as if I tried to find dred attempts at suicide, 1101 one is success -
hope for m self iu that life before fol ; we take care that it is so. Bear that
ne where no imp existed. For was
on mind. You may try to kill yourself a
she not still port of myself—a attner hundred times and then you won't succeed.
with me in this terrible fate—who also was btu will be cured of the desire before you
make half a dozen attempts, Punishment
ie all you will get by them. In a first case
of this kind there are extenuating circum•
stances—a man hasn't realized his position ;
but, in a second, the only mercy to be shown
is severity. I warn you that the punish.
meats are heavy ; ycu may have to lie on
your plank bed fortho whole term of your
confinement hero—mine months. You may
have to wear °brans day and night; yon
may even bo flogged, 11 you have any feel.
tog of self-respect, yon will avoid that dia.
grace."
He continued to speak, but his words
gradually became uulnteliigiale to me. As
I looked at him ho seemed to swim beck -
wards and forwards. A dim idea possessed
me that ho was dead and washing in and
out upon the seashore. With that I felt a
frenzied sense of injustice done upon myself,
and when be ceased to speak I strove to re-
ply without knowing what it was I struggl-
ed to say. My mouth was pasty ; my throat
dry. It was like a drunken man trying to
speak coherently.
fettered for life—to toe ? At one moment I
thought I would write all that •was in my
heart, but when 1 had written, " illy beloved
wife," 1 broke down. What need to add
to her sufferings by betraying my own agony
of despair and regret, and that was all that
my heart had to tell? How often have I
sat idle before the sheet of paper and when
the gas Was turned out, I had got no fur.
ther than those three words 1
In the night all the people that I had ever
known from my childhood came to bid me
"good-bye," It was no dreamt ; my ideas
were too elistmet for that. Some friends
came together; others singly. There was
sorrow in all their faces, even in my enem-
ies'. They could afford to pity me now.
The major came. There was pain in his
face—the pain of a humane soldier standing
over the slain after a battle. I bore him no
ill will. He had done his duty as conscience
directed him. Believing me to have com-
mitted manslaughter, he he d saved me from
hanging, to spare my guiltless wife that
.shame•
While these came and went, my wife was
ever present. She sat beyond, with her
young head bowed down, and her hands
clasped upon her knees. When all wore
gone, she rose and came to my side, Minim
ons in the darkness, the graceful outline of
her body end small head clearly cutting the
blackness beyond. I knew I shonkl never,
never see her again I I thought of the last
night when she drew my face to hers and
kissed me, and how, dull and insensible to
her tenderness, possessed with malignaut
jealousy, I bad suffered her to go without
returning her kiss. Then I stretched up my
arms to draw down to my trembling lips
the dear face I could not 500 through my
tears. But my head swam with the delirium
of remorse; my hands fell like stones by my
side ; I was powerless. Tt a thought that
lcmight leave me without the last testi-
mony of my passionate love—without on o
farewell blessing—recalled me to myself. I
started up ; she was gone. All was dark-
ness around me, neve a narrow streak of
light beneath the door. In vain I tried to
conjure up that figure once morn; no effort
of imagination could recall her for one mo-
ment as I had seen her but a minute be-
fore.
I had figured myself in the position of a
man who is told that within a certain
time his disease must kill him—that science
is incapable of prolonging hie life • and now
I asked myself if I were not already in an.
other abate of existence—was it not my
death -bed that my friends had gathered
round? Was not that the last throe that
convulsed me as my wife stood weeping over
me? But, no; the agony remained• and
under the perception that in one sense I was
dead to the world and all that made it clear
to me, lay the terrible consciousness that i
had yet to li oe with thie stricken heart,
dragging behind mo the chain of dead hope,
Oh, that it had been os I had pietnred it ;
that I was at the laetpoint o'fiances ; and
that I was to die in a fool days 1 How long
must I, healthy and vigorous, live on and
suffer? And my unhappy wife, moat she
sit forever with her head bowed end her
hands claiped in grief End pity? Must the
pretty smile never return to that young
cheek ? Mnet she grow grey and wrinkle
and feeble before the happy news was
brought her that the convict—her husband
—Was no more'f
An idea fall upon my gloomy mind like a
flash of light 1 ,Suicide 1 Why should I live ?
Why not put an end at once to her amffer•
Ings and 01in01 Deaths from my own hand
VMS diffetant than from that by the hangs
man's. It would leave no endleso legacy of
shame to my wife. For my own sage she
could not regret my death. With Magna,
Lien would Dome peace of mind, and in time
Time warders hurried away. I remember
wondering why all the walls had been color-
ed, I saw them as if I were looking through
blood. I felt miserably sick and cold ; only
my head seemed partly filled with molten
lead that washed with violence against my
ears and ayes with every step. On the
corridor steps, I am told, I fell down ; end
the warders, thinking I was about to attempt
snioide again, gripped me tightly, but as my
head fell book they saw foam oozing from
my clenched tenth,
They carried me back to the infirmary,
and there for six weeks I lay with brain
fever. For a time I was delirious. When
consciousness emote beck to lee, I found my-
self
yself too feeble Oven to lift a spoon to my
mouth.
"I am a child," I said to the surgeon,
when he asked how I felt. "That's how it
should be for one beginning a new exis-
tence,"
" 1 daresay itis, my man," he said kindly.
" Good thing for you if you could forget
that you ever had any other."
I repeated these words again and again,
having nothing to do but to brood, and yet
being too feeble to form new ideas for my.
self.
The notion took hold of me strangely. I
took the surgeon's words for my text every
morning, saying to myself, "It will be a
good thing for you, Kit Wyndham, if you
oan forgot that you were ever anything bet-
ter than a convict;' and all day long I
considered how I might make this good
thing a reality. At length I caw my way
to it, as I thought, and when the governor,
looking in the same afternoon, asked me if
I had realized my position yet, I replied—
" Yes, eir ; I think I see it now."
The next day the chaplain, coming to my
bedside, said 1
Well, Wyndham—"
I stopped him.
"I want to be called Mb, sir," said I ;
" that's my number."
"I know, but mat of you poor. fel•
lows like to hear their names now and
then,
"I never wish to hear ming again. i
want to believe that I was never anything
but 365."
"0h, well," said he, smiling, as if to
humor me, And then, "now, what oan I
do for you, 1611"
"1 Won't trouble you fee anything 00•
day, sirs I am very comfortable,"
"Come, something deairable must oconr
to yon as you lie hero hour after hour,"
"No, sir, I ehould like to feel a • little
etronger ; that's all,"
1 turned my head not to see his oyes that
were looking at mo with pity fn them,
"It isn't time yet, 1 know, hitt X dare.
THE BRUSSELS POST,
say I can manage it," he said reflectively.
Then laying tits hand on my ahoelder,
"Shall 1 get periniaaion for you to sett a
fr'ilnd,"
I kept my eyes turned away, and fixed
onml' mind at,thbornly Ort my purpose es I re•
plt<ed—
I have no friends, sit' !"
"Surely 0110?" he said, tenderly.
1 shook my head in silence, not daring to
apeak, !cattily resolution mightgive way,
"Surely ate?" Iso repeated,
"Not ono :" 1 said.
Ho was silent fora minute; then loo
spoke.
"1 wee going to offer to write Sr letter for
you; this was found in your cell."
He hold a sheet of prison letter paper be.
fore me. There were but three words on
it: "My beloved wife,"
I drew the bedclothes over my head.
After a lit tlo he spoke to me again softly
and persuasively
" W'on't you see that beloved wife,
Wyndham ?"
Mastering my, feelings, and strenuously
earnest in carrying out the line of conduct
which alone can make the future endurable
to me, 1answered hint presently,
" Wyndham is dead, amid I ; "dead as
if he lad gone to the gallows to .whish he
was condemned. I am born to a new life.
I must feel that—think only of that; never
of the past, or I shall go marl. The prison
is my world. I was born in it ; I must live
in it ; 1'nest die in 01. To keep my reason
I must believe that there is nothing beyond
my prison—no better lino till I quit it. If
friends come to see me, I will not know
them ; if lettere are sent to me, I will not
open them. For pity's sake, don't try to
make me believe I stn like you."
'I must remind you of ono thing you
seem to have overlooked ; your wife—"
"Do you think I have not thought of
her?" I cried, trembling violently. "Ask
the surgeon what will become of the patient
whose wound is uncovered and probed anti
never allowed to heal. If forgetfulness is
necessary to me it is necessary to her."
"But what will ca your friends i
y think of
your ailonce?"
"What they will. If they think me for-
getful, heartless, callous, so much the bet-
ter. Tho worse 1 am the less they will re-
gret my fate."
"Well, well. I shell say no more today
about the letter."
"Wait," said I. "You shall write a let-
ter for me, if you will. Write to Major
Cleveden—write the name now, not to for-
get it."
"Very good ; there is the name," be said,
writing ; "the address I shall find in the
directory. Now whet shall I say 0"
"Write him word for word what I have
said to you, and tell him I shall count him
quit of the old snore it he helps me and
others to forget that there ever existed such
a man as Kit Wyndham."
" I will write that at some future time—
when you are stronger—if you wish it. Not
to -day."
Yes, es, today ; if yots have any kindness
for me. Think the a madman if you will,
but ht mo: me as you would a madman.
Let this be the last word Wo ever speak on
the subject. I shall not count you as a
friend, 1 will not listen to you, if ever you
refer to it again."
My resolution was put to one more trial.
The same day the governor same to me; his
face was all kindness, though he assumed
his most decisis•e manner.
"The chaplain has been telling me aboub
your interview," he said. " I don't, intend
to meddle with an affair that concerns him
more than it does me, and you more than
either of us. But now the natter is in dis-
cussion it's beat to settle it, mid as you seem
a bit stronger, I know no reason for not
doing so. Some letters have come for you ;
conte before it was thought advisable by the
surgeon to letyou see them. I have opened
them in accordance with the rules. Here
they are."
He hold them out. I saw the writing on
one. It was my wife's hand. For a mo.
moat I looked at it, detecting in it as I
thought something of the emotion with
whicls the distinct address was written. 'n
that moment the fiercest desire contend, d
with what I thought was my duty, and then
consideration for her happiness—I say it not
to glorify myself, for I was iu the wrong—
turned the balance.
"No, sir," said I, putting thorn back with
my trembling hand; "they are not for me.
I have no wife; no friends. My name is not
Wyndham. I am only a mmnber."
Then I am to send thein back, with an
observation embodying what you say?"
"Yes, sin"
"Very good, my man," ho said, with a
sigh in his voice. "I don't blame you," and
turning away, he added something in an
undertone that sounded like his eft repeat.
ed phrase; "realise the position."
C13ALTFR IIV•
T .I'ASs on 010 01000070010I05.
When I was strong enough to leave the
infirmary I was put to light work. But I
romoined feeble, and though Y did my best
to complete the allotted task for the clay, I
frequently failed from sheerphysioal inabil-
ity. Seeing that 1 ruse in o bad way, the
governor had Inc removed in ,lune—before
the specified tuna—toDartmoor, where eon.
vints In weak health were at that tote
are ted. I was chained betweets a villain•
ous looking burglar, who had been shot
through the leg, and still limped, and a thin,
consumptive young man, convicted of for-
gery. We were the centre of attraction, as
we stood on the platform at Exeter, wait-
ing for tho train to take us on to Tavistock.
The burglar stared those out of countenance
who looked at him, and with agrin nodded
familiarly to the policeman who carne to dis-
perse the throng about us. The forger felt
his shameful position keenly, being, I think,
a man of good education.
"This is an unnecessary cruelty," he said
to the warder who had charge of us. "We
ought not to be exposed to observation in
this way."
The warcee• made no reply.
tV dors it matter?" said I; "these
people ace no more in our world than if they
lived in the moon."
Indeed, I believe I was more truly indif•
ferent to what these people thought about
us than the burglar himself, with all his
show of effrontery,
My resolution to out myself off entirely
from the outer world and all its associations
had not wavered from the day I took it. I
had fostered it day by day, and obtained
such mastery over my thoughts by oonetant
tractice, that I could without effort divert
hem into another channel when I felt
they wore leading me to the pact. I
looked upon this growing apathy as a
blessing of Providence, Ithadonablodrrte,
alnsoeb without a pang, to refuse to see
the friends who came to see me at Penton
ville ; to abstain even from ingniring who
the friends were, The chaplain and surgeon
regarded it as a form of mania ; it may have
been the result of physical disorganization,
Mr I bave observed a similar perversity in the
ease of patients in the last stage ofdecline, No
matter what it woe,1 felt sura then, and I
feel euro now, that it saved me from losing
err reason altogether or melting it further at.
tempt to destroy myself.
Noy, 18, 1892,
Al Dartmoor, after I had gond through
the oustmua•y examination, the governor,
looking at the paper' on the desk before him,
"lit—see see y,ou were a oabinetmaker; you had
better go tato the carpelter's shop "
"If you please, sit'," said 1, "I would
rather do unythine you can put me to then
that,"
"Whyy? Didn't you Bice your trade?"
ho aakotl, bolting up in enapielon,
]
don't want to do anything that nmy
remind me of what is gnus,"
The deputy governor, who atom' beside
the governor, bent clown, pointing t , a note,
and saying something ru a low venae,
Oh, I see," said the governor and haming read tloo note, he asked 1110I
f I ehould
like to bo employed with the agricultural
an
g "'Yes air, if you please," said 1.
'" And do you still adhere to the decision
I find noted here, of holding no eminent -
cation with your of
and relations?"
"Yes, sir; it will he kindness if you
neve' let me know that a letter has been
sent to me or a friend come to see me. There
will be nothing then to unsettle me."
" Very good. If you change your nand
—as I daresay you will when you get
changer—yon oan lot one know."
And now I began that life which went
on without interruption for three years,
there is no need to deoaribe it, sometimes
the moor was wrapped iu mist; sometimes
it wae covered with snow. At ono time it
was swept with fieroo ram ; at another the
hot sun shone upon it bright and warm.
There was nothing eleo to diversify the ex-
istence. The work of ono week was like
that of the last. From month to month
we moved onward with mechanical
precision. Such a life tends to confirm a
man's habits, end my mind did not change.
On the whole my life was one of apathy—
neither better nor worse than that of a beast
of burden. I was taken out in the morning,
worked to the full extent of my physical
capacity, led back at night, fed sufficiently
to keep ase in working coudition,and decent-
ly stabled at night. We were supposed not
to taut ; and but for the book, given me to
read, and n word or two now and then from
the governor and chaplain, we might bare
forgotten that we were amen.
But from time to time I got a reminder of
my batter nature which I could well have
apared. When the weather wait bad and
the ground heavy, it would happen that
after my tea I was too fatigued and done up
to fix my attention entirely on the book be.
fore me. Then sitting alone in my colt, in
the silence of night, with the dim light
showing my crouched body on the white
wall like the shadow of a Giant Despair, I
would suddenly be overwhelmed with n
Miffing sense of desolation and loss it
came like a wave of misery that muetex-
haust itself betore it left me once more first
footing. I was powerless, no effort of will
could maintain one against that rush of feel.
ing. I could control my imagination, over-
come the temptation to look back for an
instant on past happiness; but I could not
prevent feeling that I loved still and yearn-
ed in vain for her who had gone out of my
arms for ever.
Ono day it occurred to me to see what I
was like. It was nearly four years since I
had looked at myself in a glass. I filled my
tin pan with water and set it on the floor of
my cell, where it reflected the corrugated
iron roof overhead ; then I knelt down and
looked into it. For a truth, I did not know
myself ! For a moment, I doubted if it
was really my own face that Isaw, and
then I conceived that by some peculiarity of
position or light my image was distorted.
I shifted the pan, and when the water was
properly still, bent over ib again. No, i.
was no optical delusion ; my face was as I
SAW it; no longer full and boyish with the
unformed expression of at unfixed destiny ;
but lona and old and stolid. 10 was like the
work of an imperfect artist; a face that
looked as if it load never laughed and never
could longi%,
But I might have ]aeghed now if I had
not lost the habitude, for there was enough
to tickle one's sense cf humor in the serious,
dull look of the face I saw, with its scrubby
growth of beard, cut as close as the bar-
ber's amssore would go ; its two deep linos
going down from the angles of the nostrils,
and the deep furrow betty. on the hrowa.
I was pleased, though, with this change.
"There's no going back with a face hke
bloat," thought I ; "l can never be anything
again but 366."
Soon I had convincing proof that the
change in my appearance was not merely a
fancy on my part.
One day, when we were et ending in the
exorcise yard, undergoing the search which
was made whenever we cane in from the
fields, a gang of five naw prisoners was
brought in. They were drawn up newly
opposite to ns, while one of the warders
ran back to speak to the governor. The ar-
rival of a fresh batch of convicts was always
an event in the prison, old hands looking
eagerly for old friends and acquaintances;
all hoping to learn from them some late
tidings from the other world. Liven I, who
entertained no such hope, was stirred with
a feeling of ourinsity, snob as one has when
a net is drawn in to know, what kind of fish
have been hauled for the benefit of society.
A grin of recognition was exchanged be-
tween two of the new comers and men in
Incngang ; two others looked about them
with a blank, soared expression—they had
not been caught before; the fifth cleaned
his nails with a twig ne had rooked np, his
(mead drawn back in the trait ado of a man
accustomed to the use of glasses, and his
raised eyebrows giving a look of profound
abstraction and indifference to his meagre
face, Despite his red•ringer etockinge, his
knickerbockers, drab slop, and foraging
cap, whiult were about as suitable to hips as
the dress of a merryandrew to a judge, and
despite the stubble of gray hair that cover-
ed time lower part of his face I knew that I
had seen the man before. But when, hay.
ing finished his nails, be dropped itis eye-
brow, holding his head a lialo on one
side, as if he were oritieieing the effect, 00
inwardly considering the advisability of a
pertain course, I had no doubt as to his
identity. At the same moment that I rem
ognized him, tho man of my right hand
said, in the undertone Which convicts use
fn oommuniceting with one another—
" Well 11 here ain't old Boeton, the Solite
iter as got me off fust time I was lagged I"
Having finished with the twig and his
reflections, Mu Bouton folded hie arms, and
oast his eyes along our rank, Ho never
moved a inusole of his face, but from time
to time there was just that twinkle in his
expressive eye with which a counsel, look.
ing over a crowded court, replies to the
glance of a learned brother. Stroh a twinkle
ho gave to the man on my right, but he
passed over my faoo withoutatoga of roeog•
nation.
I had no wish to renew my acquaintance
with him, and though we lodged in the
Mane blook, and our oyes met frequently as
coo brushed past each other in the yard, he
failed to identify me,
I have often slime wondered whether it
would Irate ho s hotter or worse if he had
never discnve ,cl who X was, X loove it to
others to judge by what follows,
(en 1110 002ITIN0 m.)
HEALTH.
The Bath.
Cleanliness is of such great importauee in
dromotingl the healthy growth of young
children that I feel, in beginning this pro.
posed series of talks to the workers of "l.he
Household," that the bath should:, receive
Gist etten tions.
If an infant bo too good health and sound
condition, a bath should be given it twice a
day --morning told evening, If, however,
the baby be delicate, too much bathing
weakens instead of strengthens the little one,
and I should recommond a bath of refitted
olive oil, rubbed on with the warns pales,
instead of water. Trite olive oil, used in this
way, affords notmishntont to the weakling ;
but the sound, healthy child may benefit by
two baths each day.
Be stud before disrobing the child that
there are no drafts and that the room is not
too cold. Have ready a bathtub, and into
this gently introduce the little one. I have
found that one cannot bo too media in
handling a baby in the beth, and that a
(sudden plunge of the unsuepocthoghotly into
the valor—no matter what the temperature
of the bath may be—almost always is a
shock to baby, as is proven by the Budden
catching of the breath and cries. I am
speaking now of the quite young infant—not
the older one who has learned to lilto hie
splash.
When the child has beau immersed for n
little time—three to five minutes will be
sufldeiont—take him out upon your lap, and,
with a sponge lathered with pure, white
soap, go over time whole surfaoe of the skin,
After which again immerse baby in his bath
(which mast be kept up to the right tete•
peratere—about 72 degrees—by an addition
of hot water), supporting his head with the
left hand and erns and rubbing the body
beneath the water with the right hand. In
about five minutes lift him out upon your
lap, and quickly and thoroughly dry the
skin by rubbing with a fine, warm towel.
Now dip the sponge in cool water, wet the
top of the head, face, and, after squeezing
the sponge quite dry, go over the body with
it. This prevents s tendency toward ten-
derness superinduced by the use of warm
water. Some able physicians advise the con-
stant use of cold water only, declaring that
the warm bath should be emphatically con-
demned ; but I am bold enough to declare
in the Moo of all this, that suets a shock as
this treatment would give to a tender little
baby would be something from which it
would not soon (if ever) recover, Warmth
is what a baby needs, and as long as I nurse
children they shall not be subjected to
what a strong, healthy man would find it
extremely difficult to etclare.
The plunging of her offspring into the
chill waters of a running stream, may do
for the Indian mother, and even Indian
babies often die of this senseless exposure,
but for mothers who have lived artificial
lives, as we may be excused for calling them,
housed in warm quarters and subject to
little, if any, exposure, to endeavor to follow
the savage's example with her pappoose—
well, it wouldn't do at all, to my notion. A
simple cowling -off process, such us I have
described—a gentle lowering of the temper-
ature of the tender little body, will afford
it sufficient protection against excessive sem
sibitity to atmospheric changes.
The warm bath is of great value fn many
affections of children, especially in febrile
diseases ; in spasmodic affections of the
bowels or bladder; fn prurigo, tetanus and
convulsions. In the last-named disease it
draws tho blood from the overloaded brain
to the general surface of the body, and, by
oqualizong the circulation, relieves the local
condition. In fevers it calms the nervous
excitement, and is almost always conducive
to sound and peaceful sleep.
Eleotrtoity Cures Neuralgia,
Among all the methods, more or less odd
in appearance, applied to the treatment of
nervous diseases, there are fete more origin.
al than the one 01 at has been employed for
some time at the Salpetriere by Prof. Ohar-
cot ; it is the treatment by mechanical vibra•
tions.
There is a serious dieenso of the nervous
system, characterized by an incessant trem-
bling of the bands, a stooping attitude, and
an odd gait, that makes 11 seem as if the in-
valid was going to precipitate himself head
foremost. It rs the trembling palsy, also
called Parkinson's disease, a sort of painful
nervous disorder that deprives the unfortu-
nate who is afflicted with it of rest and sleep,
Mr. Cheroot a long time ago learned from
some invalids who were troubled with this
infirmity that they derived decided relief
from long rides on a railroad or in a carriage.
The more the vibrations caused in the com-
partments by the train running at full speed,
and the more the carriage was jolted over
an uneven pavement, the more the relief ex,
perienoed. At the end of a day's journey
they felt better and experienced au nnox-
preseible oonfort. One of them conceived
the idea of having himself wheeled about
for hours in one of those heavy carts used
for carrying paving stow, Contrary to
the experience of all travellers, these alliiat•
ed with trembling palsy felt fresher and
more active on alighting from the oars.
The longer the trip lasted, and the worse
the lino, the more durable was their im+
p00vement.
Such testimony Doming from various
sources, was not lost, It was for Mr. Cher-
oot the starting point of n most ourioue
thorapoltical application. Mr. Cheroot had
an arm-ohaif constructed to which a to and
fro motion was given by means of an alae•
trioal windlass, Loug before the invention
of the vibrating armchair, Dr, Vigouroux
conceived the idea of submitting hysterical
patients to the vibrations of a huge tuning
fork, In this way he cured antesthesias and
muscular stiff joints. Other physicians,
Boudet of Paris and Mortimer of Granville,
applied vibrating rods to the treatment of
neuralgias (facial neuralgia in particular)
and hoadaohes, Granville devised a small
electric hammer, analogous to the hammer
of electric bells, and that was applied to the
painful point. Under the influence of the
shook, repeated hundrode of times within a
short period, the pain ceased.
Tho method was some time ago singular•
ly improved by Dr. Gillis de la Tourette, e
pupil of Mr, Charcot. He had an apparatus
constructed for the treatment of megrims
and nervous lteadaohes ; it was the vibrat-
ing helmet, Imagine a helmet of time model
of that of old times, and very analogous, as
to structure, to the conformator of hat.
tete. It 18, in fact, formed of steel plates,
that permits of its fitting the head perfect.
ly. Upon this helmet, in lieu of crest, there
is a small alternating current motor of pe-
onliar construction that makes about 600
revolutions per minute, Al every reeolu-
tion a uniform vibration ie propagated to
the metallic plates, and i0 traninsibted to
the cranium that they embrace. Th 1 ran -
bel wells thine vibrato in their ensemble, and
the vibrations are naturally trallonitted to
the entire cerebral appetites. The sensation
is not disagreeable. The number and int
Mesita( cf the vibrations, moreover, may bo
versed according to the tolorauoo of the alb
jeot, Xu a IOW minutes a 0011 of goueret
laeaituctes is experienced, with a tendency
to sleep,
Tic vibrating Itehnot Ilea already been
applied to to largo number of neurtatitenio
invalids, the inapt -Hy of whops have exper.
tented good reeulte from it. The pr000sa
euooeede oleo against heniorenia, and as
title is quite a common nlleotion for which
no surely eflleaehoua tamely is known, the
tlolinet will, in It 5l10PG tlt11Y, be 000n to come
into vague.
Broken E;earts,
The wonderful mouh.inlsns of the body is
as a sealed book to the ordinary woman of
fashion, She knows, however, that she has
a heart, for she is familiar with the term
through reading romances where bleeding
and broken hearts are wont to figure. But
of the heart 118 n great muscular pump
which forum the blood through all the
arteries, veins, and capillaries of the boil
she knows nothing. if she did, she might
be a little more careful to give it room, and
not gird hoe corset so tightly as to press
the stomach, lungs, and riha in upon it and
thus impede its action. It is really true
that hearts do break sometimes, but not
often, in the manner set forth in novels;
they break in a very unromantic manner
from overwork in a tight, crowded place 1
GRUEL SLAUGIITER.
A community or Aztecs Annihilated by
Order ovum Mexican Government,
News of the annihilation of the Tomoo-
ntena a people who inhabit the village of
Tonoonie, and who are nearly pure Aztecs,
has been received. Tomoenie is situated on
the direot road to Guerrerro and Jesus
Marfa, in the mountains of south-western
Chihuahua, Mexico, and has been in open
rebellion against the state and federal gov-
ermnents for more than a year on account of
axceasivo taxation, extortion by government
olhoiels and government interference in
their religions belief. Two months ago the
government sent the 11th Battalion, in poet
mend of Gen. Raujel, to snake the people
pay the tax required of them and accept
government officials appointed to take
charge, or to kill every ono of them. This
alternative was openly boasted of by officers
in Chihuahua before the troops started
from the town, and when the Tonouhiens
hard of ft they
n001010 'r0 00(0110 10 0110,
as they knew that event should they receive
the soldiers peaceably they would be shot•
on the slightest provocation.
When the soldiers made their descent on
the village they were met and driven off
with 22 ollioers and 14 mon killed and two
officers and 41 men taken prisoners. The
prisoners are confined on the top of the
abode church. Gen. ltaujel was the only
officer who escaped. When the news of
this affair reached the ears of President Diaz
he decided to annihilate the village, and
when the people were notified they ausveer-
ed ; "God is with us and wo will not be
tattoo."
Soldiers left Chihuahua two weeks ego
and formed a junction with others from
Pines Altos and Guorrerro to the number
of 1,800, and last Monday the attack was
made on all sides. The Tomoeniens, who
055.0 x0n1a0nxn 38,
with their families took refuge in the church
and awaited the attack, which took place
at about 1 o'clock. The attack was made
on all sides and the slaughter was terrible.
At dusk the soldiers gained ten entrance to
the church. A terrible ba el•to-hand fight
took place, and the soldiers completed the
massacre with 368 of their number killed
and many wounded.
Tito village the next day presented a ter-
rible aspect. The streets of the little vii.
Ingo leading to the church were filled with
the bodies of the soldiers and blood seeped
to have flowed in torrents. Not a man of
Tomoeniens wns left, except those who hap-
pened to be out in the mountains, but the
government has paid dearly for its viotory.
The Tomooniens were some time ago a very
wealthy people in cattle and farms, but the
lack of rain and faiture of crops load brought
1110001 10 poverty and they were unable to
exist under the extortion of the government
and its petty officials, and were nearly
brought to starvation.
Who Invents the Fashions?
Who gives the mysterious word of order
by virtue of which at the beginning of mach
season we see similar toilets bloseom forth
eponteneottsly and simultaneously in all
the planes of elegant resort? How does it
happen that these toilets aro different in
cut and in material from tilos° that ware
worn in the preceding season ?
Formerly, it would have boon easy to
reply that the court was responsible for the
creation of fashion, end in reality it was
the Empress, or one of the ladies of her
suite who took the initiative of wearing
some new style of toilet, the result of long
consultations between the lady herself and
a dressmaker of genius. If the toilet pleased
and was susceptible of adaptation to all
the requirements of various types of famine
beauty, it would be accepted by
the court, and from the court class-
es, It woulel penetrate to the upper middle
and if it were not too dear, it would
Meetly permeate to the ranks of the lower
middle classes. Nowadays, however, we
have no court and it is certainly not at the
democratic, balls and receptions of President
Carnot and Itis ministers that wo may look
for now manifestations of feminine elegance,
Nevertheless, the creation of fashion (ma-
tinees in the same conditions as in the
past, only with more liberty and perha e
with more artiste preoccupations. The
great ladies of the imperial court have not
all Abdicated ; other great ladies have been
born with the genius of elegance and the gift
of taste ; and these, together with the most
elegant women of the rich middle classes,
the stage, and the demi-monde, co-operat-
ing with the groat artists like Worth, Felix,
Rodrigues, Douoot, Irforin•Blossior, La.
ferriore, oto., and, meeting In the neutral
ground of the trying -on room, disease,
create, and perfect the new fashions.
When trace created, much in the same
way as in the time of the empire, by the
combined efforts of the princesses of ele-
gance and of the dressmakers of genius, the
new fashions are no longer propagated as
they were of old. The official salons are
absolutely without influence ; - the other
salons --the salons of what is called le vrai
monde, have never been more select and ex.
elusive titan at the present day ; the various
delegates of elegance whom we have seen
meeting in the salon of the dressmaker never•
moot in private life ; on the other hand, the
theatres ere no longer favorabloplaoosfor the
display of toilets, the more so as even in the
orchestra smile of the opera a dress.coat is
not absolutely obligatory, Nevertheless,
the new fashions spread with greater ra•
pidity than ever; and even remote foreign
aountries 'are not more than twelve menthe
behind lsmis.—tTtseedere Child, i Barry.
errs Magazine.
Our evil gonias, like the junior member o
a delilierativa lipdy ,always gives its vfdw
seat,