The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-01-09
ART1FICrAL LIMBS.
The Perfection to which Their Manufac-
ture Has Been Brought.

disappearance, in late years, of the
manned veterans of the civil war, and
saying that in a few years men who
have lost arms or legs will be rare. A
newspaper paragraph to that effect was
shown to a maker of artificial limbs,
who furnishes more substitute arms and
legs than anybody else in the United
States, he said: at is true there are
not SO many eripples observable in
the streets as there were a few years
ago, but it is also true that there are
almost as many in the community, and
probably always will be as long as
we have railroads. So far as
the old soldiers are concerned, I don't
imagine that they are dying off any
faster than any other men who we're in
their prime when the war ended, IL
years Ago.. As for cripples becoming
rare, that is true as far as their ceasing
to be conspicuous objects, but they are
here among us all the same. The diff
ference is that the perfection to which
She making of artificial limbs has been
carried, especially in legs, prevents the
mutilation OF their wearers being no
ticed. Many men wander about with
artificial legs WHOM nobody would ever
suspect of being manned"
In a practical demonstration of what
he said he called upon three of his en-
ployees--a young woman, a boy and a
middle-aged man-and set them walk
ing to and fro in his large Office. There
was nothing peculiarly observable in the
gait of either-no heavy, wooden tramp,
no stiffness in The motions of the feet,
aad no hating in the alternating steps,
yet the young wore n artlh-
cial leg, and each of the others were sup
ported on two wooden limbs.
"There," he continued, with an air of
triumph, "is the climax of scientific
invention in this direction. Nobody
would imagine seeing them In the street
that they have been crippled. Andthe
young woman will dance all night with
that substitute leg without her partner
suspecting it's existence, the man will
skate, and the boy III a race. This is
all attained by the use of q solid rubber
foot that is elastic under the heel tread
and bends at the toes like a natural
foot. / could point out to you in the
street scores of men that wear these rub
Der feet, not only old soldiers, but vic
Tins of railway and other accidents, and
you would not recognize in their easy
springy and noiseless walk that they
were not in possession of all their nat
ural members. And that is the great
reason why cripples are disappearing.
1t is a common error that more men
were manned in battle during the war
than during any other time of equal
duration In the history of the country,
but the fact is that there are as many
cripples made by the railroads In each
year now as were made by the war In
any year of the war. That l affirm from
intimate knowledge of more than 5000
cases. According to the wal records
there were only about %, 600 crirples
made on both sides, North and South,
by the war. OF course the exact num-
Der has not been, and cannot be ascer-
tanned, for not only we're many cases
never reported, but in nota few in
stances injuries received in battle led
TO amputation a number of years after
wards, so long that they could not have
been included In the official records or
kept an exact account of. There was
Henry La Rue, of Pennsylvania, for in
stance, who had a leg amputated in
1877, In consequence of q fracture re-
ceived in 1865, when he was q member
of the 18th Pa. Cav.
II have made thousands of legs and
arms for soldiers, who are supplied with
them free of cost by the government.
They are allowed a new limb every five
years. a good leg of willow, we'll made,
with good steel joints and springs, and
a rubber foot, will last 10 years, with
proper care, and On arm is good
for a lifetime. The elasticity Of
the rubber foot increases the dur
ability as well as the servicea-
bility of the leg. A first class leg costs
800. / have heard of artificial legs
being made to order in France with
gold-plated joints and all sorts of fancy
business, costing several hundred dol
lars, but have never been called upon
to get up anything of the kind, and if
I had to wear an artificial leg / am
sure / would prefer q plain n with
that great American invention, the rub
Der feet, rather than any gold plated
or ieweled one without it. / am called
upon to furnish from $500 arms and
legs, comparatively few of the former,
every year, and you may say, on my
authority, that the railroad system Of
this country. as at lprcsent conducted,
and the machinery used in so many
branches of manufacture, may be relied
upon to make three cripples for every
one that would be likely to be made by
another war"
A dealer in surgical appliances said
II do not deal in artificial limbs any