River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-03-10
CHANGING COLOR.
An Ethiopian Who is Changing TO
White in C0ior---A Michigan We
man Whose Skin As Hard Like n
Mummy---S0me Interesting Facts
in This Extraordinary Case

4
| White in Coior---A Michigan We
man Whose Skin Is Hard Like n
Mummy---some Interesting Facts
ia This Extraordinary Case.
Correspondence Chicago Tribune
! BATTLE CREEK, Mich, March Cone
of the most singular and curious freaks
Of nature or disease in the whole range
of the medical field is that just discov-
cred in the township of Lee, in this
county. 1t is that of the person of Mrs.
Alonzo Grant colored woman who is
gradually changing in color from a
skin of the darkest black to that of a
white person The change is very per-
ceptible and steady. The cause of it
was as follows: She lived in the town
Lee until some time ago, when she re-
moved to the village of Marshall, where
she now resides. Some time ago, be-
fore she moved to the village, she start
ed for town one day, and when about
half way there the horse gave out, and
she was obliged to walk about five
miles through a drenching rainstorm
and carry her child all the way. This
fatigued her to such an extent that she
was completely Frustrated when she
arrived at her friends and not having
dry clothes to put on, she wore her wet
garments until they were dry Her
| sickness seemed rather dropsical, as the
| skin was puffy and loose all over her
| body. face and extremit;es. The
| physician doctored her for dropsy. and
soon the swelled condition subsidized and
the tissues of the skin began to dry up,
and the fingers, legs, arms and feet
were contracted all out of shape. At
thesam time there began to be no.
ticed this singular change in the skin;
as it dried up it seemed dead, and the
black pigment underneath the cuticle,
gradually faded away in all exposed
| places until the skin was as white as a
| Caucasian. The doctor, her friends
and neighbors, and all who had heard
of it watched with astonishmcnt TO see
a negro woman gradually changing
to white. The drying up and hardening
of the skin gave her great pain, and
at times rendered her entirely helpless.
The physician gave as the cause of
the singular phenomenon, the reason
that it followed her excessive fatigue,
and the pores of the skin being warmed
and chilled so suddenly that they
were clogged and deadened. She car
ried the child in her arms and braved
the storm, and the effect of the strain
upon her muscles was to give all ex-
posed portions severe shock, from
which they never recovered. Other
wise than the change in the color of her
skin, and its dry and hardened surface
the body is normal, and every organ of
the body performs its natural functions.
She is the mother of four bright
children, but none of them are similar
ly afflicted, which demonstrates con-
clusively that it was the result of the
exposure in the rain-storm, and the
shock occasioned thereby. She is able
to walk about and do some little work,
although quite emaciated in
in appearance. Her face is white ex-
cept in spots, which gives her CHASTITY
appearance. Her breast arms and
shoulders are also pure white, while
her back is spotted. The pathology of
the case is such as to be as great a
mystery to all the physicians who have
attended her as any one else. They
think that in short time she will be
entirely white, although the woman
does not court that color of skin as
much as has been generally supposed
that negroes do She sensibly says that
if she is white she will not want to as
soclate with the blacks, and yet no
white people will associate with her.
Hence she would rather remain
as she was, black.