Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-05-23
Artificial Legs and Arms.

Artificial Legs and Arms.
"How many legs and arms do turn
out n year?' said q leading maker of
artificial limbs, repeating reporters
query. about one limb a day, and 1
am only one of over fifty manufacturers
in the country. Surprised at the de-
mandP But think moment. The late
war caused over $4,000 crippleS. about
equally divided between the blue and
the gray. Many of these exchanged
their peg legs as soon rs possible for
the regular trade article, Congress al
lows cripples on the Union side, rank
and file. of the land or naval force, a
new limb free Of cost To them) and
these artificial limbs have TO be renewed
occasionally--the Union cripples being
allowed new article every five years
''But this is not all. Let me tell you
that my experience goes TO show-and
i have made over 1000 limbs-that the
railroad catastrophes and other kinds of
accidents prevalent keep up a strong
demand; such accidents cause three
accidents where the war did one; or, to
put it another way, that the railroads
cause each year as many cripples as
any year of the war caused. A 100, 900
would be too small a figure to include
all OF the manned and the halt among
Us. But the streets would seem TO show
different story, you say? Because, my
dear fellow, the science of manufacture
has greatly reduced the evidence of a
persons wearing artificial limbs The
old leg, with its complicated machinery
m Eh faf az.
springs. etc, caused a rattling noise
that gave notice TO those in the vicinity
that game leg" was abroad. Now
all this is changed. Could anything be
simpler in construction than this shape
ly limb here. the knee joint worked by
a mere T-jOint, and. what is more i'm
portant, the uncertain ankle-:oint and
humping wooden foot supplanted by
an elastic, nOiseless rubber foot fastened
firmly to the leg? Or. look Mt this rub
Der hand fastened by n spring to the
wooden arm-its fingers have annealed
wire running through them, SO that
they can be put INTO different positions,
| and thus avoid that stiff sameness OF
appearance so common in artificial
hands. N the palm, too. j. n screw
socket, into which can quickly be fitted
knife or fork for eating. hand brush
for washing, hook for lifting and car
| rying, etc, and even whiting may he
done, if tie elbow-Oint remains, hy
the firm grasp OF n pen or pencil which
the thumb and first finger afford. All
these Improvements tend to draw at
tcntiOn away from cripplcs, and thus
the apparently smaller number of such
un!ortunates is accounted for
lis not the use of the artificial le,
extremely limited?' asked the reporter
"A glance Mt these letters would
probably surprise you on that point.
Farmers, builders, express messengers,
oystermen-in fact. all kinds of persons
doing work that is heavy or that re-
| quires one TO be much on his feet. APP
| parently hold their own on wooden
legs. Boys wearing them play ball.
ride horseback, skate, etc; girls dance
with them. and. in short, there seems to
BE- hardly any end to their practical
usefulness. did YOU know that there
are cutie n number of persons having
| both legs artilic nj, and that they %
about freely? Tommy called the man.
ufacturcr at this point, "show us how
/ you walk
a young man of about twenty ap-
peared, and with slightly "cranky
motion walked, withou. n cane, RAPIDLY
up and down the room THAT bow, .
/ resumed the manufa .turer. "had both
| his legs ampuiated ono above the knee
| and the other Just below. He ha,
walked half-mile in nine minutes on
his artificial legs"
"Will you tell me something of the
material used, Of prices. ETC."
''Of course the body of the leg is hol
/ low. All sorts of material have beer
| uSed--leather, German silver, paper
mache. and even corrugated iron, Paper
| To be light must he very thin (paper a.
I thick rs wood is heavier, You know
and this is fatal, because stump i.
| likely to change from time to time. and
the alterations in the artificial leo thu.
made necessary may cause the thiT
| paper To be whitfield away i'm no time
! Yellow willow is the material preferred
rs it is both light and tough 1. i,
nodded to the shape of the leg, and ther
covered with thin buckskin having m
enamel coating OF the flesh tint. The
soft finish of this is decidedly attractive
OF course stockings or socks are worn
and the foot is properly booted The
leg can be adjusted in n minute or two
The cork legP I'm afraid that is Q
/ bit of myth, for / have been i'm thi.
business over twenty-five years. and
have yet to see single artificial lee
made of cork. Prices are generally
| 800 for lcg (and il should last about
| eight years on an average) and from
/ $50 To SO for an arm. True. that is
/ about the same rate as just after the
/ war, but every order is separate and in.
dividual; only once in my experience
have two legs been exactly alike"
GLOW soon after amputaiion should
an artificial limb be applied"
Now You raise point of dispute be.
/ tween me surgeons and the artificial
limb makers. There are surgeons who
hold that year should intervene. OH.
/ ers confirm my own belief that the de-
lay should be only until the stump has
| thoroughly healed; for after that point,
/ the stump begins to deposit mt its OK.
trcmity large amounts! adipo>e It's
| sue. its disuSe begets Weakness in the
musclcs--and these muscles are re
/ quired to operate the artificial leg-and
/ the art of locomotion on artificial lep.
being quite different from that with
crutches. is picked up with consider.
able difficulty after a long experience
with the latter. IN y. Times.
National Defects OF Russian Character.
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