Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-12-02
A PECULIAR DISEASE.
A MAN WHO IS ALWAYS TEN SEC
oNDs AHEAD or HIMSELF.


and Is Very Wealthy.
was walking down Forty seventh street
the other day, attentively regarding Jay
Gould's new parlor curtains, when the
door Of a house very near his opened, and
a fine looking, middle aged gentleman
stepped out, walked deliberately out to the
edge Of the brown stone steps and fell
headlong into the street
An instant later n colored man rushed
out Of the house, ran down the steps and
lifted the fallen one, saying as he did so.
you should not venture out alone, sir
You know sou have fallen so many times"
Now this WAS more remarkable than the
fact that JAY Gould had new window cur.
tains, so ! at once transferred my atten-
ton. Was he an invalid2 Surely not
with such color and such physique
All, had it. He was victim of the dis.
ease called locomotOr ataxia, so named, a
fippent medical student once said, "be
cause when it attacks you, you can't loco
mote" But when the gentleman began
to ascend the steps he walked with step
that was perfectly firm and steady, though
very deliberate.
was wrong again, for people afflicted
with the above mentioned disease have a
wobbly, uncertain gait that is painful BY
this time the object Of my attention had
entered the house, the door was closed, and
as there was nothing particularly commu-
nicative about the closed front of a stone
house was not likely to have my curiosi-
ty satisfied.
A REMARKABLE AFFLICTIoN.
But fortune fayors even the ubiquitous
news gatherer sometimes. AS | stood wait
ing-I knew not rwhat-a carriage drove
up, DOCTORS carriage, and from it stepped
the eminent physician DR. Davis, a man
skilled above his fellows in the treatment
of nervous diseases
The next day, during the doctors first
Office hour, called upon him.
The learned man was very non-commit-
tai until | explained to him that had at
one time been IL student of medicine, and
was therefore entitled to know whatever
he could tell me that would be of benefit
Thus reassured DR.. Davis proceeded to
explain the nature of his patients strange
malady
ut is a case Of great interest" said he,
ito every man in the profession who knows
anything OF IT, There is not another case
on record that is the least like it. The dis
ease of this gentleman, whom 1 will call
system resulting from injuries received
years ago in Il railway accident. 1t is of a
nature that has no parallel in medical his
tory,
"Those nerves which telegraph to the
brain the sensations Of touch, taste, smell,
hearing and sight are so deranged that the
transmission Of sense is not, as in a healthy
person, instantaneous AS nearly as we
can calculate five seconds elapse beforeMr.
Andrews is conscious of any sensation, and
five seconds more before he can make any
response
"The medical man is bafiled in this case
for the reason that this affection manifests
itself only in those movements of the body
that require conscious direction from the
brain. Actions which are termed involun-
tary, such us winlling or gaping, are per-
formed the same MS by a well person. and
that makes it II question whether it is the
nerves or certain portions of the brain
that are affected.
HE ENJOYS EXCELLENT HEALTH.
mr.. Andrews is in perfect physical cou-
dition. He eats heartily, sleeps well, and
has an unimpaired digestion. Nor is he
fHlly alive to the terrible possibilities of
his position.
"Think of going through life ten seconds
ahead of YOURSELF There Is scarcely any
calculating the things which might hap
pen"
Mr.. Andrews is a rich man fortunately,
and therefore can keep an attendant CON
stantly with him, so that as yet he has eX-
perienced no serious injury. He never
knows when lie is approaching an obstacle
or danger As in the case of his falling
down the steps when his belated sight de-
ceives him just SO it is when cab or a
car approaches him, He neither hears nor
sees them until five seconds after any one
else would, and it is another five seconds
before he can guide his movements by
means of thought and get away.
When he is walking the action becomes
mechanical but he is constantly ahead of
where he seems TO be, and in order to find
out exactly where he is he has to stop and
catch up with himself
When he couverses with those about him
it is a very peculiar fact that when ques-
ton is put to him it is ten seconds before
he responds. Now this might be very EN-.
barrassing.
Suppose, on the other hand, n man were
to take from him his watch; before he
would have the power Of preventing him
or before he could give any alarm the thief
might be far and away indeed he might be
away before the man could know that he
had been robbed. A friend salutes him on
the street, but he does not see the saluta-
tion until it is too late to respond, and of
course the friend thinks he has been
snubbed.
When Mr.. Andrews first recovered from
his accident he used to attend the theatre
His taste was for comic opera and melo-
drnna Rut he does NOT 90 any mora Tha
peculiar manifestations of his malady
caused much embarrassment to his friends
who accompanied him. Appreciation of
Jokes and ludicrous situations came to him
Just ten second after everybody else. His
hearty laugh would not be noticed in a
general chorus But his explosive Ia has
when the audience was quiet were start
ling. New York Press.