The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-02-26
4 Prsud Han Nearly Dies d Starva.
tion IN Washington.

YESTERDAY afternoon . well-,lressed
man Of very good appearance entered
the War Department, and ascending by
the elevator to tho second floor slighted.
When in front Of the Secretary's door
he was seen to stagger and then fall
hclplessly on the marble thing. He was
found to be unconscious, and was car
ried by the messengers to an adjoining
room and laid on the lounge. DIR. Lowe,
from upstairs, was summoned, and as
soon ~ he saw the unconscious stranger
he said at once, "Why, the man is starv.
ing" He had partially regained his
consciousness, but was still in . stupor.
The Doctor at once called for brandy,
which the man at first refused to take,
rs it was afterward found, from temper.
ance scrnples. A glass Of diluted brandy
wa, however, placed to his mouth and
his jaws closed upon it With such force
as to nearly shatter the glass. A sand
wich was then offered him, which he
seized with avidity, and WAS about to
swallow it all without mastication, when
he was prevented. The sandwich was.
fed to him in small pieces, which he ate
like faMishcd beast, and then second
sandwich. He was then fed some oys-
ters-soup and removed up stairs, where
he at once went to sleep. He awOke in
the course Of an hour. feeling much bet.
ter, but still weak. The doctor said that
he was suffering from irritation Of the
stomach, caused by the gastric juice
working on the walls of his stomach.
lie was in the first stages of starvation,
and his pulse had run down to ~. After
he had recovered sufficient strength to
talk, he told the circumstance by which
he had been reduced to such miserable
condition. At the same time he
cvinced great anxiety that the matter
should not be made public. His
conversation showed him to be q man
of education and culture, as his clothes
indicated. lie said that he belonged to
respectable family residing near Bos-
ton. He had been in the army during
the war, and lost an arm in the service.
Since the war he has been practicing
medicine in his native town, but becom-
ing unpopular for the decided stand be
took on the temperance question, he
determined to come to this city and
begin the practice of medicine here.
At the same time he applied for clerk
ship in the War Department. His
sister, an invalid, accompanied him,
and they reside on Seventh Street,
where he opened an Office. Soon after
his arrival his funds began to fail, and
he had no means of replenishing them,
lie found that he could not purchase
food enough for both, and so invented
On excuse for not eating with his sister
that he got his meals down town
This device worked we'll, and his sister
was completely deceived. He brought
home food for her to eat, but was slow
ly starving himself. Yesterday he spen
his last money in the purchase of bone
from which his sister made soup, but b.
refused to take any. He said that tn,
night before he had attended meeting
of = Masonic lodge, but was too prOut
to reveal his condition and ask for help
His appearance and manner gave tn
> impress of truth to his statement. Hi
war record was looked up, and found Il
be an honorable one. His case wa
brought to the attention of the Secreta
: ~ Of War, and he appointed him to
!. clerkship in the Surgeon Generals Office
The circumstance excited great interes
in the department. Washington Coz
; Boston Herald.