Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-05-14
ARTIFICIAL LIMBS.
HOW THEY ARE MADE AND THE
MATERIALS THAT ARE USED.

Making Feet WITH Toes Ahat W" 10
Moved and Hands That write--A Pc
culiar business Which Requires Nicely
OF Touch by the Mechanic.
"No. our business is not what it once
was, said an artificial limb dealer. still,
it is big thing, as hundreds and even
thousands of such limbs are made to order
every year" -,
''Then you make them to order, do youS"
inquired the reporter.
"Oh. yes, they are all made to order.
They can not well be made in any other
way Why, sir, there are no two indl-
yiduals alike, and, of course, it becomes
necessary to fit every artificial limb The
size of a right limb cannot be taken as
model in making left one. Each must be
measured if artificial limbs are to be made
for them both. It's peculiar business.
have been at it for over quarter of cen"
tury and am pretty familiar with its de-
tails, but still something entirely new de-
velops every day."
MAKING A WOODEN LEG.
"How are artificial limbs made" asked
the reporter.
"Iu various ways and Of different materi-
ais. All first class goods are made from
English willow, which is light, compact
and tough wood, specially adapted to the
making of such limbs. The willow wood
is shipped to us in rough blocks measuring
from five to eight inches in diameter and
from one to two feet in length. One OF
these rude blocks is the rudimentary form
of a beautifully finished and well formed
artificial arm or leg. The first thing to do
is to drill or bore the center of the wooden
block full of holes and hollow it out, be-
cause, as you probably know, all artificial
limbs are hollow and merely shell like in
structure. When the center is followed
out the outside Of the rough block Is dressed
ND a little. Suppose am making limb
| for a person whose leg is off above the knee,
trough out the thigh part of the artificial
leg, then fit the hollow portion of it to
the stump of the persons real thigh
and then proceed to dress down the
rude, block ike piece of wood. Ii is shaped
as nearly like the original thigh as posi-
BILE, the knee joint turned out and then
the hollow portion enlarged until only a
thin, shell like thigh is produced. A
leather socket is attached to the upper part
| of it. and it is complete. Next comes that
part of the limb from the knee down. 1t
is the most difficult part to make, as it is
required to be of more symmetrical form.
IT'S smaller, too, and the hollow part Is
harder to turn cut The knee joint is a
difficult thing to construct properly, as so
MANY little points have to be carefully
noted Then you come to the ankle joint,
which is still more difficult to make. Very
few artificial limb makers can make good
ankle Joint. Lastly come the foot and
toes. An artificial foot with movable toes
Is a neat piece of work when properly
made"
"Do all persons who want artificial feet
prefer movable toes attached to themS"
"Oh, no. Many do not want anything
but plain wooden foot"
''How long does it require to make al
artificial Lego"
at takes one person about two weeks
It's slow work"
"What does a full length artificial lee
costp
"About 500, if made of first class ma
terial. You see, the wooden, shell like llml
is coated on the outside with rawhide anC
layer of enamel placed over this to glv'
the limb beautiful appearance and dur
able exterior surface"
"Do you make many artificial arms|
Eyes. They are more difficult to make
however, than leg, because they ar
, smaller, more symmetrical and frequentl,
intended for more general use. Many full
length arms are made, but the most o
them are merely 'stubs;" that is, INTENDED
) to be worn below the elbow Here's full
Q length arm See how it fits upon tn
7 shoulder stump, and is held there b.
G straps passing around under the othe
e arm, The elbow joint is complete and tn
a arm is quite like the natural one. An al
tifcial hand Is wonderful piece OF me
Y chanical work. See this one9 1t has FIN
d gers, with joints which are movable, an
S can be used to quite an advantage"
J MOVING ARTIFICIAL FINGERS.
d GLOW are the fingers moved?"
b AWhy, there are rubber cords runnin
u through the hollow arm, They are a
Il tached to the straps which hold the arm l
u its socket Mt the shoulder, and being fas
e ened to the base of the fingers regular
IS their movements. Yes, sir, person wit
d n we'll made artificial hand can use it to
y good advantage. | have known person
; who could write a fairly good hand.
y may seem paradoXical, but it is true. Hel
e is hand which am just finishing 81
how the various parts are knit together
Everything must fit precisely or there WI
he friction and the hand will be rendere
Is absolutely useless. When properly mac
y artificial arm is worn and KID glo'
10 nlaced on the hand very few will notice Il
r difference Oh, certainly, the wearer ca
u move the arm about at leisure and do q
~ most any little thing-such as pick up arr
u cIes shake hands with friend or carry
n bncket of water, or anything of the kin
l. A shake with person who wears an arti
| l.. ln,- iS NJ
y but friendly grasp" -.
. "How can you carry heavy weight III
~ false hand2 Isn't the grasp too weak?"
us ayes. but we obviate that difficulty east
gu enough. See here? We take off the bea
" tiful hand at the wrist and screw in
CT hook. which will enable any one to car
U unite as much of weight as if he pc
IL sessed his natural arm. There are SOL
w neouliar cases which come to our motto
10 Erippled persons hayo some odd whii
% which they endeavor 10 crafty, Many
II these whirns are expensive ones, too The
rs persons will take fancy to some poetic
nc lar characteristic of an artificial limb q
H. order it made to suit their fancy"
HAre there more full length artifc
limbs made than there are 'stubsP"
IS, "Well, / 60 not know that there a
ue It's pretty hard to tell"
At DO you make artificial limbs for ladies
Ia, ooh, yes; we have some lady patro
err The number is increasing every year, to-
le- "What class OF people usually are yC
rs best pntrans?n
TO soldiers farmers and railroad m
TAT Tho number of railroad customers Is C
nd stently increasing, while the disabled
ne soldiers who require artificial limbs
sly becoming fewer every year. Some ye
Ia nn,n cnr nN.snldinr trnae WIS the best