St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-25
A STUDY OF LIMBS.
But Merely the Harmless Kind
Known as Cork
Legs.
The Name is Incorrect as
Willow is the Material
in Demand.
Evolution of the Artificial
Limb--What Our Fathers
Did Endure.
Information Gathered on the
Street and at a Local
Dealers.

-.u> ~ W. man with cork
!. ! ! !" ] / !.
NJ >@ OK Leg" but if the
I'm Pf19 truth were
MAIH NM known there
\ MwDX 81 never was a
A/SgAeS~ q greater mis-
kE o1TE homer than this
M S6MNmmHM@ in the world,
WAM@gAMS because no Grip
Wy pie has ever, so
far, walked by
the aid of such cOntrivance, nor has
any one living ever seen such thing
unless by stretching a point. AS the
Irishman remarked, it would be per-
missible to call the pedestrian append
ages of gentlemen born in Cork, Ire
land, by the name of the city of their
parentage. How this popular delusion
about game legs came about is one of
the mysteries of the past and the pres
ent, yet from time immemorial the say
expression, 'cork legs" although a de-
fusion and snare, became public prop
erty. In the manufacture of false limbs
cork is but little used, and its import
ance in construction amounts to but a
mere bagatelle of the completed article.
For the purposes of Sunday reading
the matter that is supplied should be
delicately poised between
Something that is naughty,
Yet something that is nice;
Something not too naughty,
And yet can be read twice.
And as the subject of artificial limbs
is one that about answers to the require
ments of the above little ditty, because
the possibilities around limb, artificial
or otherwise, are decidedly
NAUGHTY AND NICE
sometimes, and furthermore the whole
subject will well repay a close and con-
slant study on account of the novel and
entertaining facts to be learned from it,
it will not be out of place here to ramble
among those who are acquainted with
the business and, as it were, pry
slightly into the secrets of the craft.
Let us then away to that peculiar re-
giOn of crippledOm, where on the very
threshold Capt. Cutie will greet us with
his iron prong, and further ON afield we
will meet the innumerable caravan of
and of id foolishness, which latter
has caused more than half the
mains and bruises among suffering
humankind since ever the world be-
gan. Oh! but it is an irregular
sound that now strikes upon our ears as
we further wander onward. There is
the bong! bung! bong of the quaint old
peg of historic times. There is the bling.
bang! bung! of the crutches one by one,
and further on there strikes the esthetic
limping stride of the 500 artificial leg,
a perfect aristOcrat among his humber
companions of pegs.
In the days of pioneerdom who ever
heard of an artificial leg, or even of
cripple of any sort? Why, nobody.
echoes back the brawny, silvery
crowned old veterans of the past who
laugh as they grunt out how hale and
hearty they are to-day, and point to the
fact it is only within the past few years
such things as false legs could be pur-
chased outside of the large Eastern cit
les and possibly Chicago. The enormous
increase of the population and the con-
tinuance of everything tending toward
the highest civilization have created a
demand for artificial limbs, just as in
eyitably as the cripples have come and
are
DAILY BEING TURNED OUT
by the principal agents that go to make
up the aforesaid civilization of our day;
but bless your soul, the pioneers knew
nothing of such miSeries. Their glOri-
OuO lllO W do UllttU VI UllC ODCu Dl VI
the log hut song when the chase was
done and the fire was blazing on kim
ding hearthS. Their glorious life knew
but little care beyond whether the sport
was good, bad or Indifferent.
They lived open and healthy lives and
cOmmuning with nature learned of the
the excellence, the know
ledge to be CLEANED from the forest
and the field and from the meadows
and the lakes that lay so calm around
them. In the innocence and healthful
ness of such life they were infinitely
better off than we are. The civilization
of to-day has brought countless bless
ings to mankind but it has also bred
much hatred and malice, created drunk
ards, and loafers, and most pitiful of
all largely increased the number of
crlpples, and here we return from wan
dering and once more strike the main
issue-artificial legs.
THE LOCAL MARKET.
The presence of many deformed and
legless people in Minneapolis opened up
a new field for those engaged in this
curious and melancholy business, and
for the past few years leg, or crutch,
or peg, or in fact anything connected
with the deformed can be bought in
Minneapolis as good, if not better, than
in any city of the East. A visit to the
establishment here was full of interest.
Like all other trades to-day, the work of
this one has been reduced to the highest
point of an art. AS remarked in the open
ing lines of this article, cork plays a
very inferior part in the formation of a
false leg. The finest light grain willow
wood is really the material used. This
&c cnlQlu hnndInd INV in
Philadelphia, who supplies the trade
exclusively. When a leg is ordered it
is cut out of the solid block and gradu-
ally planed down till it becomes quite
thin. Just below the knee point a
band of thin brass made even with the
wood is braced round so as to prevent
splitting. The whole thing is then COW
cred with raw hide to strengthen it, and
over that is placed coating of enamel,
which gives the limb a pleasing and fin
ished appearance. The length of the
leg. the size and the placing of the
straps and braces are of course governed
by the case in point, as we'll as the pro-
viding of bends by system of springs
at the knee cap, the instep and the toes.
The specimens of this work executed in
the city by experts residing here, and
therefore essentially Minneapolis work,
and which can be seen are some of
them perfectly beautiful and unique in
their extraordinary perfeetness. The
shades of night were drawing to close
ere the reporter had finished his exam
ination of all the splintS and irons and
legs and pegs in the institution, and as
he retired, for an appropriate farewell
he heard a maiden MARBLE Sweetly:
A man can make tooth or leg;
A nose he can make to stay;
But the funny part is lie can't make
man,
Because he amt built that way.
Plenty Of Company.