Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-11-15

STIMULATING DISEASE.
STRANGE CASES MET WITH BY PLY
SIClANS AND OTHERS.

How People Teign Injuries and Other DIsa-
bilities-several Illustrations Taken from
Life-How the Deceptions Are Discov-
cred.
A man, apparently in great bodily pain,
was found lying upon the sidewalk at
Front and Chestnut streets, by police
man. The man had fallen "all in heap"
and his story was that he had been way
laid and beaten. A patrol wagon was
summoned. but when an attempt was
made to place him in the vehicle he COM
planned of such exquisite pain it was
found necessary to discard the patrol
wagon and to carry the man on stretch
er to hospital On arriving at the lat
ter institution he was carefully removed
from the stretcher to a cot in the receiv-
ing ward, and, although handled very
tenderly, the change of position seemed
to aggravate his suffering Singularly
enough, when the surgeons made an ex-
animation. it WIS found that when pin
was stuck in any portion of the mans
body below the neck he apparently failed
to feel it, and the natural conclusion un-
der the circumstances was that he had
suffered a spinal injury. 1t was then
proposed to place the patient under an
an@sthetic. with the view of performing
an operation, hut when the man heard
this he jumped off the cot and darted
quickly out of the hospital gate and was
soon lost to view He had been playing
possum," but for what reason will, per
haps, never he known
TO AVOID THE DRAFT
Such cases are not infrequently met
with by physiciansfin their regular prac
tice and at hospitals and other charitable
institutions Either to excite sympathy
or from other motives, people sometimes
cultivate the POWER of Stimulating dis
eases These Individuals are known to
the medical profession as "malingerers,
and they become particularly numerous
on certain occasions. During the civil
war, at the time conscriptions were made,
it was surprising to see the number OF
able bodied men limping along with canes
and apparently suffering with rheuma
tism or other crippling ailments. While
it is not always easy, even for an expert
doctor, TO detect between real and sim
ulated disease, yet he can generally dis
tinguish between the genuine and feigned
rheumatism by the manner in which a
man plants his cane on the pavement
To understand the difference it is only
necessary to watch man who carries a
cane to assist him in walking and one
who flourishes a cane for pleasure.
Among the disorders generally simu-
lated are fainting and epilepsy. Both
have been SO well counterfeited as to have
been mistaken for genuine cases. 1t is
only when heroic measures are proposed
that the imposition is disclosed. Not long
since an up town physician. while pass.
ing an open air religious meeting on
Broad street. had his attention attracted
to middle aged woman, apparently suf.
fering with m epileptic attack She was
surrounded by group Of sympathetic
men and women, and one of the latter
had procured from a neighboring resi-.
dence a pinch of salt, The woman re-
covered consciousness, however, without
the use of the latter remedy.
On the following Sunday the physician
noticed the same woman in church, and,
thinking she might be seized with another
spell. took a seat several pews from her
Sure enough, an attack came on, to the
discontinue of number of nervous peo-
pie. The poor woman was carried out
to the vestbule of the church, and the
physician followed. The seeming epilep,
tic seizure passed off in about five min
utes.