, 1888-08-24
DRINKING WARM Q
C~o1sumptIyes Who wanow n Pint Each
Day-Of oubtfu Benefit

heT frame. As sne put the silver goblet,
which mon had been filed with hot
blood, down on the blood besmeared
board it could be seen that the vessel was
empty. The maiden with the pallid
cheeks smacked her lips and then said,
in q low, sweet voice, to the burly butcher
before her:
THAT blood tasted especially good to-
day."
w you have another, miss9"
Eyes, l think / will"
The butcher disappeared, but he was
back in N instant. THAT will Just
make a pint today" he remarked, as he
poured the dark life fluid, rich and reek-
ing, into the girls silver goblet. She
drank it with apparent gusto. Then she
turned, without speaking a word, left
the gloomy building, and q moment
later was whirling homeward in q car
rage.
1t was early morn. The sun mad risen
but n short span above the horizon, and
its golden rays fell slantingly on the
stock yards and on the ungainly dimen-
sions of the slaughter house on Halsted
and Forty-second streets, where the kill
ing of cattle had just been resumed.
The young lady with the consumptive
look had merely done what a great
many others in search of restored health
have done before her, and are doing
every day-drank the blood of freshly
slaughtered animals in the belief that its
mvigorating, nourishing properties will
cure them of their ills and that this
healthy blood will take the place Of the
thin. Serious fluid they themselves have
lost. The young lady Is the only daughter
of wealthy parents living on Prairie
avenue. She goes to the slaughter house
every morning before breakfast and
drinks from half a pint to a pint Of
blood.
81 guess it's doing her good" said the
foreman, who had waited on her. ''iShe
doesn't look 30 pale now as she did a
month ago. She was looking like a
shadow, just ready to waste away, the
first time / saw her. She told me she
had been d~issipating too much last win
ter, going to balls and parties and not
getting her regular sleep, and living
under too much excitement. She'll pull
through, though, / have no doubt"
This young woman is one Of n score or
more who indulge regularly in the same
practice. Oddly enough, it is not the
large slaughter houses In the stock yards
themselves, but the smaller ones outside
the gates to which those debilitated or
consumptive sufferers go as to a Mecca
of promise. There are q half dozen
slaughter. houses on Archer avenue and
Halsted street and the other thorough
fares around. They are away from the
rough crush and hustle of the stock
yards, uninfested by the whoop and yell
of the cowboy and the coarse oaths of
the drovers. To these the timid women
in search of blood repair, and there they
drink their fill. A few of them go there
later in the day, but the most Of them
are on hand in the early morning. Men,
too, and boys may be seen on the same
errand. Some of the experiences had
by the butchers at the slaughter houses
with these queer customers are quite pa
thetic, some again the reverse.
''About three years ago. said the
boss butcher at q huge establishment,
"a lawyer began to come here regu-
larry to drink beef's blood. 1 can't
give you his name, although 1t is one
well enough known in tho city. He had
been a hard worker and n high liver, and
his mental n physical powers all of a
sudden began to give way to an alarming
extent. Symptoms which threatened
consumption began to appear, and he
consulted the most eminent physicians in
town. They said he was overworked and
needed rest. Blu they could not give him
relief. He went to New York and put
himself into the hands of a specialist.
But his condition from bad became worpe.
He came a to Chicago. On the cars
a man told him he ought" to try blood at
the slaughter houses. He gave up bust
ness altogether, bought himself a horse,
practiced a great deal with dumb bells,
and lived very plainly. Every morning
he started from home at 8 o'clock and
took a long ride on horseback. He came
here regularly at Z o'clock and drank
from a half pint to a whole pint of fresh
blood, took plenty of exercise at home and
out of doors, and retired TO bed early and
at a regular hour. When Isaw him first
he looked like a man about to die-with
hollow eyes, sunken cheeks and ~listless
gait. Within six months he was strong,
active, and full of life and vim. He re-
sumedh his business, and can again work
as hard rs ever without injuring himself
in the least. But he is still taking plenty
Of exercise, and / see him every once ina
while riding IN a bicycle in the park"
'Have you known many instances of
this kindG' wa asked.
well, no. To tell you the truth about
1t, don't think 1t was the blood that
cured that lawyer. His altered manner
Of living is what did it. 1 remember the
case of a lady who used to come to the
slaughter house regularly and drink a
pint of blood every day. 1t didn't do
her a particle of good. 1 also knew the
case of q young fellow, a student at one
Of the colleges, who had been taken with
consumption. BE was 30 weak that he
had to be assisted up the stairs into the
slaughter house. But it didn't help him.
After awhile he stopped coming, and the
next thing / heard of him he was dead.
For persons who are really consumptive
1 don't believe any amount of blood
would do. But persons who are simply
debilitated, with proper diet and exer-
else and regular living, are much bene-
fitted by drinking blood. Chicago Her.
aid.