Little Falls transcript., 1885-01-30
LEGS TO ORDER,
Interesting Items .About the Army Of Crip-
p1ed Soldiers.


I'VE have the names Of about eigh~
teen Thousand veterans who have ap-
piled for REPAIRS" said Mr.. Ramsey,
who has charge Of the artificial limb ,le-
pnrtment OF the surgeon generals Of
fee, to Washington Star reporter.
"You know we fit item out with Lew
sets Of legs, arms or other apparatus
every five Years. It is now getting
toward the close Of one Of those periods,
and we have repaired 1900 veterans
Aren't the one-legged men dying
OFF," asked the reporter.
"Now that's an interesting question.
guess they are. | presume many OF
those whose names we have have since
died, but ] can't tell certainly. Now,
as I've said, every five years We re-
construct the manned veterans Of the
army, but they have sleir choice tc
take the repairs or the money The
allowance for a leg Is s7'55, for anything
less than a leg is $50 From one period
to another many Old veterans drop ont
Some Of them make one or two ap.
pllcatlons, and then we never hear from
them again, Naturally, We conclude
when they don't send for thtlr money
or legs, they must lie lrstl and have no
more use for tilcEn. Eut We ,lon't limit
ourselves to men who h;syc actually LOST
their limbs. 4 man VINO mas simply
lost the Use Of his limbs js entitled to c
wooden leg or arm, a. the c&>o may he,
though he can't wear tholA So YOU
see we can't keepa record cf all tha
one-legged men, but guess ti,r;.' aren't
as many as there used tc be- Yet there
are lots of them: md many who haven't
any legs at all, and seme With neither
legs nor arms. Thcn there are many who
have not lost their limbs, but who have
no power 10 move. There is ono man
who gets two arms and two legs allow.
ance, who cannot move any l>Art OF his
body except The little 4inGcr on the lei.
hand, which he can bend the least lit
tie bit. There is another, New Eng
land soldier, whose arms and legs are
dead, and who is blind III both eyes,
Not long ago 8 man came in here with
no arms and sat down at ono Of the
desks and wrote with his teeth. It was
net particularly fine writing, but YOU
could read it. know Of another raan
he was in the sharpshooters service
who can't be stood On his feet because
he IS bent in the back SO that his cad
would strike the floor first. Think how
many years these men have suffered
and many Of them are still living Why
there's hardly enongh left OF some OF
them to hold together"
But YOU asked If they we're dying off,
Now, here's roll We are just complet-
ing, " and he laid several Immense tally
sheets ont on his desk. you car see
how they run. This is the fourth period,
and here's a man who has gotten four
lcgs--q,lite 4 number for one man, if
he used them all at once. And here's
another who has gotten four legs and
four arms. No, We don't furnish heads,
but we supply parts Of heads, jaws. and
sections of SIX and eyes. Now, here's
a man who got one leg in the first period
and has never gotten any since, be is
probably dead. But here is another,
who came IN for repairs just after tho
close OF the war and was never heard
from again until now, when he comes
up again. He didn't wear out very fast
Some men wear we'll and don't bother
about getting repaired so often. Here's
another man, he added. pointing to an
other name on the list, there's Il man
who comes up now for the first time,
having done without his limb all these
wears. 1t runs this way, you see, all
the way through. Those men who
have not applied for their fourth Leg
or whatever it is they want, we conclude
must be dead. Some, I presume, will
live to get FIVE or six legs, or as many
arms"