Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-05-17
LIVING WITHOUT FOOD.

LIVING WITHOUT FOOD.
Remarkable Experiences of a Young Girl
I'm Osw ego Couuty-Fffty-eight Days with
out Taking NOurishment into the Stomach.
The Oswego Palladium prints the fol-
lowing: ''On the road leading from the
village of Mexico, in Oswego county, to
Colosse, and two and half miles from
Mexico village, lives widow by the
name of Stansberry. She is about fifty
years old, and for the past ten years
has been bed-ridden and helpless,
as the result of nervous dis
ease. Her family consisted of two
daughters, one of whom, Martha,
aged nineteen, lived with and took care
of her. In October last, Martha was
taken sick with neuralgia affection of
the face and head, from which she suf-
fered intense pain for two weeks, at the
end of which time she went to the vii
lage of Mexico and had her teeth ex-
tracted. They we're much decayed, and
she thought that the difficulty arose
from them, Soon after she return
ed home she was taken with excruciating
pains in the left side, just below the
her into commissions, of which she had
as many as hundred in twenty four
hours on some days. From her side
the pain went to her chest, and thence
to her throat, and then she experienced
great difficulty in swallowing. From
the Goth to the 9th of February she
took about one table spoonful of cream
each day, and no other nourishment.
With each administration of this diet
the patient went into commissions. On
Sunday, Feb. 81, the last successful at
tempt was made to introduce food into
the stomach. On that day the con-
vulsions were SO very violent that
death seemed to be imminent. The
sight or smell of food produced spasms,
and it became necessary to avoid pre-
senting food to her for while. At this
stage she seemed to lose the senses Of
sight and hearing, and also the power
of speech, and would be three or four
days in a state Of partial coma, after
which she would revive sufficiently to
write her desires on a slate. For the
three weeks succeeding the 9th of Feb
ruary she wrote constantly on her slate
about her suffering for food, but when
food was offered to her the commissions
returned. During these three weeks
she slept but very little, and was
in state of high nervous ex,
citament, sometimes ordering her
attendants from the room, as
She could net bear their presence. At
the end of the three weeks she became
very quiet, and slept regularly and we'll.
For three or four days at time she
would be apparently blind, deaf, and
speechless, and then would revive for a
short time appear to exercise all those
functions. At the end of this period (tht
three weeks) her physicians, Drs. Hea.
ton and Huntington, of Mexico, com
menced to treat her with hypodermicin.
jections, introducing indications into
the arms, aud bathing the chest, stomach
aud bowels with milk and beef broth.
After this, bread, cake, ETC., were placed
in her hands; she would attempt to put
the food to her mouth, but all
attempts to eat were useless. At that
time she was able to talk, and said that
she never would be able to eat again
When asked why, she said she didn't
know why, only she never could. From
the commencement of her sickness till
her death, which occurred on Tuesday
last, April 18th, the attendants were
obliged to fan her continually; when the
tanning stopped she seemed to cease to
breathe. At the time of her death,
which occurred at 10 A. NJ, she was
sensible, but had been unable to speak
since the previous evening. She had then
lain So days without taking particle
of nourishment into her stomach, not
even drop of water, her only means
of sustenance being the absorption OF
the milk and beef tea, the bathing in
which was continued to the day when
she died. On Wednesday Drs. Heaton
and Huntington made careful post
norton examination of the body. Nc
disease of any kind was revealed. The
throat, chest lungs, stomach, liver, and
kidneys were all found in perfectly
healthy condition. The left side, where
the pain started, showed no indication
of disease. Miss Stansberry had pre-
viously been perfectly healthy girl,
weighing about one hundred and sixty
pounds, when she was taken sick, and
after death weighed not less than one
hundred and thirty. The physicians
think that death resulted from extreme
nervous prostration rather than starva-
ten. The facts as there related were
ascertained to-day from the physicians
who attended the case and made the
post norton, by Palladium reporter,
who visited Mexico for that purpose.
Of the accuracy of this statement, re
markable as it is, there can be no ques-
ton.
Mrs. Kemble's First Trial Of the Stage
Here is Fanny Kemble's account,
from the June atlantic, Of her first stage
defamation:
A few DAVIS after this NV father