Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-09-05
FAUr,-
Thomas Colts Thirteen Years Of Exoe-
rie4ce Under the Surgeon, Ssss.

Thomas Colts Thirteen Years of Exoe.
rie4ce Under the Surgeon, ssss.
In 1871 Thomas Colt, then u years
old, was .staken, to Bellevue Hospital
suffering from: a,disease which had de-
stroyed his nose and lips and hadbegun
to affect:his eyes. He vas taken in
charge. by, DR.. Gustavus Sabine and
since.that time has been under treat
ment; with . view to replacing the lost
parts Of the face. J.
After the course of the disease had
been checked the process Of building
up was begun by cutting away the flesh
about the edges Of the oriGce, where.
the nose had been. Then the inside of
the large finger Of the right hand was
flayed, and the fresh cut wound was
fitted where the nose should be, The,
hand was held in place by ,bandages
and plaster of paris. until the finger had
grown fast to the forehead and cheeks
of the patient. In the mean time the
mouth was covered by the hand, and a.
silver tube was inserted into 'the lads
throat, through which he was fed, and
through Which he also breathed.
When the grating of the finger to.
the face was completed, and circulation.
established, ,the tinger Was ,ampuiated
near the kpuckle; leaving two and al
half Joints attached to the face. The
operations so far had required about a
year, but the process. was only begun;
The next step was to trim downs the
finger into the shape Of a nose by re-:
moving the bone and gradually build
ing the flesh on each side and drawing
the skin from;the cheeks and forehead
overits, In course Of time the result
sought was obtained; except there were
as yet no nostrils. $50
The eyes'of the unfortunate boy had
both been drawn out opposition some
what. and these were Strengthened by
clipping nerves in the manner usu-
ally adopted by oculist in treating
cross'eyed people. The eyebrows were
also patched UP the inner ends,
The next step was to give the boy a
new pair Of lips. This was done grad
ually by taking pieces of flesh from the
cheeks and grating them in place bit
by bit. :" -
Yesterday, after thirteen years of ex-
perience under a surgeons knife, hay
ing meantime undergone and recovered
from thirty different. operations, the
patient, now a'young man, left the hos
pital. His face was smooth, and to the
casual observer bore no traces of what
he had passed through. The case is
extracrdinafyfor the extentof the work
done and the perfect result obtained.
Not less extraordinary was the forth
tude of the patient, who never muir
INJURED under the necessarily painful
operations, and who, when walking the
floor because Of bis suffering, was wont
to cheer up the other patients in the
ward by telling droll stories, of which
he had a large supply. He was known
in the hospital as "Patient Tommy."--
New York Sun. . "'.''S'
Press and Dakotaian:-Chief Justice
Edgerton will deliver the address of
welcomed at the soldiers reunion to be
held at Yankton, September 9th, 10th
and 18th, and Captain Duncan, president
of the association, will respond. Gov
ernor Pierce willalso deliver an address.
On Wednesday evening, September 10th,
there will be a scamp fire. on the camp
ing grounds. The Yankton band has
been engaged for the three days and
several outside bands will be in attend
ance, Elk Point and Egan having each
agreed to furnish one.
Egan Express:-Does it ever occur to
the general reader that when times are
dull, money scarce add all lines Of trade
running light, the printing Office must
of necessity be kept running on full if
not increased expenses? The paper
must be out in time every week, it's
bills for stock, help employed, and 9TH
er running expenses, are just the same,
week in and week out. 1t is just why
dull times effect the printers more than
any other class. They have nc chance
for retren|chment or curtailing expens-
es. Every dollar received on subscrip-
tion or nth or a%coount 10 u,ortb 4bo f,y1