Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-06-04
DEATH FROM A NAIL-sCRATCH.
A Genuine Case of Pvaemia IN Newark,
New Jersey.
lew York Truti

William B. Steeples, of No. ai4 Wal.
nut street, Newark, driver for the
New Jersey Express Company, died last
Friday from the effects of scratch on
the hand he had received three weeks
ago from rusty nail, while removing
some boxes "A Truth reporter went down
to Newark yesterday afternoon, and
was present at the funeral of the de.
ceased. The brother of William S.eep.
les gave the following particulars of the
case:
Gust about three weeks ago my
brother William came home, and while
at supper with myself and wife-tor we
all three live together-complained of
a scratch in the palm of his right hand
and stated the same had been caused
by rusty nail protruding from box
he had been handling for the company
that morning. My wife FASTENED to
fetch basin of tepid water to battle the
scratch, which although slight in an.
pearance, had nevertheless become in
famed. This done none of US thought
anything more about the matter till
just before bedtime, when William was
suddenly troubled with acute pains in
his right arm and shoulder. We were
quite at loss to make cut what was
the matter with him, but DR.. Smiths
store being quite near, we sent for him.
He came at once, but was at first rath-
er puzzled for diagoness.
william being stong, hale, hearty
man of little over thirty, it seemed
strange that he should become so sud.
denly helpless. The doctor therefore
prescribed little opium to soothe the
pain and promised to come the follow
ing day and watch developements.
That night, in spite of the narcotic,
poor William suffered great pain for
from the next room we distinctly heard
his means. The next day, when DR..
Smith called Williams hand and arm
was unusually swollen, and the pain had
even increased 80 that the practitioner
informed me that he feared that blood
poison had supervened. OF course we
decided, without hesitation, to prevent
my brother from attending to his bust.
ness, and he WIS thus induced to re.
main in bed. From that day on his
condition became worse and worse.
Not only the right hand and arm, but
the stomach and both thighs and hips
swelled enormously, and aboat week
after his accident he became double his
size.
"The agonies he suffered defy all des-
cription; from morning to night he was
subj ected to the most awful torture a
human being could ever experience,
and, as he writhed and turned on
his narrow bed, rent and torn by ex-
cruciating pain, the sight was enough
to drive even his most devoted friends
and relatives away from his side. After
ten days OF this agony he began to
show sign of convalescing.
The following day, however boils COW
cred his entire body, and DR.. Smith
told US that all hope must be given up
and that all we could do would be to
calm the patients pain by admins
terng soothing medicines and narcotics.
Last Friday, after almost three weeks
sickness my brother died. mercifully.
What we laid in the coffin yesterday
was not my brother but dreadful mass
of wounds and sores"
AT these words the mans voice was
cut short by emotion, and hot tears
started in his eyes and rolled down his
cheeks. The reporter therefore left him
to his bitter thoughts and departed in
quest of DIR. Smith, the physician who
attended the case. This gentleman who
! is both doctor and druggist, was fonnd
| by the reporter in his store in Walnut
street in reply to the reporters question
he said that the medical term for
Steeples disease is pl9mia, but is called
blood poisoning by the general public.
"Has this particular case any I'M
usual features?'
Genuine cases of pyamia are rare
when the scratches or wounds that
cause them are 80 slight as the little
ecoretcere, which caused William Steep
les death. The rusty nail, which pos
sessed evidently some poisonous matter
on the surface, happened to strike some
of the finer veins in the palm of his
hand, and the circulation being very
rapid i'll that portion of the human
frame, the poison must have been
transported at once into the arm, and
from there into the whole body"
"Was there no possible means for
saving the patients"
under the circumstances, no. The
poison acted to rapidly, and must,
therefore, have been very virulent in its
nature. myself only know of one case
in which the incubation of poison
acted with such frightful results, and
that was with medical student, a
friend OF mine, who cut his finger with
lancet that had been use for dissect-
ing dead bodies"
us there no means whereby an indi-
yidual, VINO is aware of having been
suddenly poisoned through the blood,
can prevent the dreadful consequences
of the accident"
"The only thing that could act as a
safeguard against such misfortunos
must be for every one to make it a rule
of carrying stick of caustic en-
cased in wood about his or her person.
This, applied to fresh wound, would
have the effect of destroying the
irus."
TcOmbs Would Give, not Sell, Seed,
~