The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-11-20
Under the Gallows.
by HER soN-wHAT DOES
1T MEAN

Not long ago weeping mother call
cd to bid good bye to her only son
who was soon to be executed.
"Woman,' he exclaimed in nom
entary frenzy, "Woman l would
"never have been here had you
'done (, our duty by me when l was
young y
This was terrible parting It
horrili,d the spectators, il nearly Graz.
cd the conscious stricken mother.
One can scarcely overestimate the
mothers influence in the moulding of
the character of her offspring. But
how often, oh, how often, do mothers
seem to ignore this responsibility
During recent trip on the rail the
writer made the acquaintance OF DIR.
A. J. Benedict, of Sacketts Harbor,
n. Y, person who has made study
of human development. Referring to
the murderous tendency of the times,
we asked that eminent man it the out.
look was not discouraging =?
"It looks so,' he said, "but fancy
we have cause and the remedy for
such evils. IN my professional career
l have found by hard study that we
have emerged from savagery by de-
velopment of the nervous system and
the intellectual life, and we return to
savagery rs we ignore the fact that
without the solid, trustworthy nervous
sy stem, we cannot hope to save the
race. Boys stuff dime novels, and
the pistol is to them the only respect
ably glorious instrument to secure
fame. Women read trashy literature
and straightway try to murder their
husbands and friends by poison. Busi-
ness men yield to the tempter, and
forge and steal and default. Ministers,
charmed by beauty, forget the behests
of cons cious. On every side we see
the weakness of personal integrity
"Do you regard it as disease 7"
"More especially as the result
of disease which, however, may be pre-
vented"
"Please define how
II cannot now enter into details.
Our people can see their bodies, their
blood, their bones. They aeoer see
aeroes and consequently many do
not suppose they hare any. The
farmers wife rejoices in big, physi-
cal frame, and yet she dies premature
ly. The nerve cannot stand the strain
of continual work. The minister falls
dead in his pulpit, but he never did a
days physical work in his life. The
lawyer faints In the presence of tie
court and is soon wreck or a corpse,
and yet the work is nerve work. The
man of affairs is overcome with apo
plezy the politician and publicist, with
Brighl's disease. The mind of the un-
tutored man is fred by the exploits Of
crime and he longs for such fame.
These persons overwork or over excite
the nervous system and this fact kills
or demoralizes them.
''If all this be so how would you
rectify it then p
Let me tell you. A few years ago
l had lady patient who was an utter
wreck. She was the mother Of sever
al children. She lost her mind aud
imagined she was cursed Of God. She
was farmers wife, and worked early
and late. never saw a finer speci.
men of physical manhood than she,
but she was nervous wreck She
became bloodless, had the very wors,
of female disorders and was in the last
stages of albuminuria or Bright's d.
sease. This latter disease works par.
tlcular havoc with the nervous system
and produces insanity and despair
She was insane and desperate and ]
fear tainted the blood Of her off.
spring with these terrible tendencies
! treated her for severel years. One
by one the standard remedies of the
schools failed, but l finally cured hel
with Warmers safe cure, and she is tc
day strong and well. Yet thousands
of women like her, every year bring i'll
formed and criminally-inclined child
ren into the world. Is it any wonder
that nervous diseases prevail and that
the whole moral sense is demoralized
If that remedy were generally used, W.
would have stronger mothers, stronger
children, stronger men and women
and with perfect physical and menta
health, crime would decrease and so
ciety be more secure"
Such candid opinions are surely
worth considering.
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