Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-17
SLAIN BY AN INSECT.
A Beautiful Girl Succumbs to Cent?.
pede's Bite.


Miss Ella Egan Of i4S Erie street, Jersey City
died in the most horrible agony Tuesday nigh
from the bite Of centipsde. Miss Egan wa
nineteen years old. She and her sister wer,
noted for thor good looks and we're well known
| in social circles. Ella was always delicate, and
a. such was the favorite Of the mother
whose heart il almost broken. During the
warm evenings it has been the habit Of tia
family to sit on the front steps of the house and
enjoy what little breeze finds it's way through
| the dusty city from the waters Of the bay
| Several times Of late Mrs. Eaan and her daugh.
ter have noticed the presence on the stones Of
| peculiar insect, known 10 the children a. the
hundred-legged bug, and which il supposed To
| crawl into ones ears aud cause death. They
had been familiar with the sight Of the nasty
looking things for years and paid little atten-
dressess. Last Thursday evening Mrs. Egan
and her daughter Ella were sitting on the stoop
as usual
One of the insects described. unnoticed by
the girl, crawled upon her dress, and a mo-
ment later stung her on the left cheek near the
eye. Miss Ella killed the bug on her face,
leaving the sting in her cheek, but thought
nothing Of the matter for several days. On
Friday the cheek began to swell, and thinking
that the sting had irritated it, Mrs. Eagan APP
pfou " low hbfmieeb remeO1es. 1ney seemed 10
do little If any good. The cheek continued to
swell until il was three times it's normal size,
and, at last frightened by the appearance of
the girls face, the mother called in DR.. p. p.
Hoffman OF Pavonia avenue.
BLOOD POISONING ENsUEs
DR., Hoffman pronounced it blood poisoning
and at once ordered the girl to bed and began
to battle with the insidlous malady. This was
Sunday, and, recognizing that the poison had
spread rapidly through the system, Dr. Hoff-
man called brother physician In consultation.
The cheek continued to swell, involving ali the
facial nerves, and for five days the girl suffered
the fortunes Of Tantalus. Every nerve ached
to its fullest extent and the agony almost drove
her insane. The swelling Of the glands cut of
the circulation Of the blood in the face and the
swollen check soon became discolored. Every
means known to medical science to reduce the
swelling was experimental with, but to no pur-
pose; the cheek continued to swell and Monday
the throat began TO close up. This prevented
her from taking the nOurishment which would
have saved her life, and little by little, but
steadily aud surely, the girl neared the end.
A physician. speaking of the case told his
listeners to imagine every tooth in their heads
and double that number aching, and even that
agony would not family express the tortures
endured by that delicate girl for five days.
throat, was unable to express her agony, but
her mute eyes, deep wells of suffering, moro
than told what sho was enduring.
DEATH FROM EXHAUSTION
At last the end came. Tired out by her agony
and struggles, the girl died and the first smile
that had been seen on her face for almost
week wreathed her lips as she lay back on her
pillow and expired. DR.. Hoffman, in speaking
Of the case, said:
''The insect il q species Of the South Ameri-
can centlpede, whose sting is Gel. ain death.
The bite from such as the one that caused the
death of Miss Egan is not necessarily fatal if
It is takon in time. The trouble was however,
that no one considered 1t really dangerous, and
was not called in until the poison had
thoroughly spread through the system. forty
eight hours afterward. Such cases, as havu
said before, are unusual, but not unknown.
1t is similar 70 the bite of black spider Ala
physician can do is to reduce the swelling if pos
sible The truth is that it affects all the facia,
nerves and when you consider their number
you can imagine the suffering of the patient.
When the throat closes 1t is one Of the signs of
the end and death follows from exhaustion pro-
duced by the patients inability to take nour-
ishment."