The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1888-08-17
A LIVING DEATH,

saIe ny IL. Il. Lewis. J.1y
A LIVING DEATH.
PECULIAR OUTCOME OF THE ENvl-
RoNMENTS OF OUR GREAT CITIES
Victims of Paralysis Dragging Their Feet
Along tho Pavcment-l'atients Who Are
as Helpless as New Horn Infants-Sad
Case of IL Journalist.
On these sunny mornings, when the
atmosphere is cool and bracinr, one sees
here and there on tho streets u man crawl
ing along aided by crutch or cane.
He is usually bent forward, his progress
Is slow, difficult and painful Ills feet
drag with shuttle on the surface of tho
pavement. His nair is gray, although
his countcnancc may not indicate more
than middle age. There are evidences Of
pain in his features. There are wrinkles
aud contractions that are the cicatriccs of
wounds incurred IN fierce life struggles.
The eyes express commingling of weak
ness and despair. His shoulders tlroop,
and his entire figure has baggincss sug-
gcstivc Of a collapse. On his shrunkcn
lips are hints of u pleading hclplcssncss.
When he speaks it is with hesitation
and muflled tone. His uttcrances como
with difficulty; they arc low, choked,
broken. His speech halts at short inter-
walls as # alta loss for the proper word.
Often he cannot find it, and frequently IN
unwantel and strange term, wholly with
out meaning, will thrust itself in the
hiatus. Possibly one arm bangles ut his
side, loose and limp as rope. Possibly ono
leg is dragged along MS il it were IL foreign
body. Perhaps one side or the other Of
his mouth is drawn up with line that
spreads out fan shaped into Il series Of
scar like shrinkagcs. Ills glance, like his
gait, is wabbling and uncertain. Over
his face is spread an expression that is II
combination of imbecility and hope. He
Is an object with qualities so peculiar, so
ndivilualizcd, that one easily recognizes
him us the victim Of some one of the nu-
mcrous forms of paralysis.
These specimens taking the morning
mir, assisted by cane or crutch and shut
ling along the sidewalk, are getting to DO
u frequent exhibition. Whether or not
characteristic of o:her points. they arc
getting to be an increasing feature of Chi
cago.
The men who no longer crawl out to
catch the glow and warmth Of the sum-
mer sun are ncrvcless as new born chill
ircn. Their limbs are inert us masses Of
Selatinc. They are rowcrless to move
their muscles, and have to he lifted,
turned, taken up and down like babes.
They must be fed, and the wants of
nature cared for as il they were pulling
infants III the nurses arms.
This new disease is u peculiar outcome
nf the environment Of our great cities.
The atmosphere Of this region is luetl with
IL malaria which eXhausts, prostratcs,
paralyzes those whose overworketl Lotics
are forced 10 inllale it. Its victims are
not the old who have reached the allotted
span of their life, nor those enfccbled by
age or hcrc,lity, but the men with active
brains, intense energy, boundlcss ambi-
ton and restless effort. 1t is in tho
nasurc of II rot which affects not the
green, the immature, but the ripcncd
fruit. 1t attacks the men who labor by
day and dream of work by night; it is a
sting which pierccs not the tlroncs, but
the workers in the human hives.
The i'llcr slowly tlisintcgratcs and dis
appears. He passes from u lethargic life
into death with rs little consciousness and
suffering us attend the natural demise of
y molllsk. He is an implement that rusts
from disusc; the tircless brain worker is
q machine, driven at n high rate of speed,
with no st0ppagcs for repairs, which car
:ie; tremendous pressure, and some day
rSplodcs and is blown into fragments.
over u quarter Of century ago there
came young man from an eastern state,
Loci, i'm fo1 IL, IT
finely educated, ambitious, industrious,
energetic and ready AID willing to devote
himself to any honorable employment.
tie soon secured IL situation us principal
# one of the public schools.
Further on he CAV" up teaching and
connected himself with journalism. lie
was for several years IL valued attache of
this journal, during which lime he showed
himself capable, interchangeable, prompt,
tad the po;scssor of Il high order Of intel
.cct. OF Il religious nature, he later nc
crpte,l an offer To take Charge Of promi-
npnt UNCONVENTIONAL weekly issued in this
city, and became its chief writer and man.
,Icral assistant, and for many years
'illcd his place with credit to himself and
the periodical with which he was con-
nccted.
such was T.candcr Stone, principal of
public school, reporter on The Chicago
Times and aftcrwarl one Of the powers
chat controlled the great Methodist jour-
nal, The Northwestern Christian Advo-
cate. The face and figure Of 10 man in
Chicago were better known than those of
Lcandcr Stone during all these years.
y few months ago, having Just passed
into u ripe middle aye and in the very
height Of his popularity and usefulness,
he felt one day II numbncss i'll one of his
arms. 1t extended slowly till the whole
arm was involved, and then it crcpt into
the other arm, and SO on and on, u little
at u time, till it had pcrmcatcd and pos
scsscd his entire limbs and torso His
head alone escaped. The last time l saw
him, all below his neck was II deal mass
so far as motion is concerned
Like one of Dante's damned, he was
imprisoned in ice TO his chin. And yet
the savage destiny that has thus impris-
oncd him did not have the mercy to de-
privc the Enclosed mass of sensation.
Along its nerves travel nccSsant poignant
pains. which are l"vnnt reach and beyond
remedy. Strangely enough, in this gro.
tcsquc, unparalleled infection his head
and face remain untouched. His brain is
as clear as in his palmicst intellectual
days, and lie reads with his old avidity
and thinks and reasons with his old time
clearness. in Chicago Times.