The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-08
His Condition Stated by Dr.. Fornoni,
Celebrated Expert on Nervous
Diseases.
Suffering From Rheumatic Faraly-
sis and Took Little Care
OF Himself
Chiefly HypOchOnd driac-wOrried He
cause Of Enforced InactivIty-RcstI II
all That Is Needed.

MILAN, Oct. 7.-The needle Of fate
points with unerring certainty on the dial
Of destiny. After spending some time in
vain search for DR.. Fornoni, / concluded to
trust to luck. A few mornings ago IL
occurred to mo that was i'll, and ! accord-
ingly requested the hotel-keeper to send for
a doctor. Behold my surprise when half
an hour later shook hands with good
natured DIR. Fornoni, the expert who at
tended ). q. Blaine in this very city some
two years ago.
Doctor l opened up. will you not
unbosom yourself and tell me something
Of your iliustrious patient, our Blaine, Of
course?"
II will" he replied. ''In my opinion.
Blaine had himself to blame for the greater
part of his sickness. On reaching here
from the north he evidently ignored the
difference of temperature inside of st.
Gothard, where it is most always warm,
aud on emerging from it, with some one
and half meters of snow all around, and
a difference in temperature Of some twenty
degrees Fahrenheit, Blaine neglected .
warm overcoat to his usual apparel, and in
consequence arrived here with heavy
cold, which eliminated in rheumatic
paralysis of one side. While in this
condition Blaine gave himself up to gloomy
reflections fearing chiefly that he should
never more be able to render any service to
his country. 1t was amusing continued
DR.. Fornoni, Ito see the over-zealousness
of those about him. This gentleman 10
very SICK said an old lady. to me as ! en-
tered their rooms at the hotel; You must
treat him gently and not reveal to him his
actual condition. She had scarcely fin
ished when T came upon Miss Harriet
/ Blaine. She, too, cautioned me against
| any expression of opinion, smooth
it over, you know, and try to pacify him,
Doctor, won't you?' Well. after Gil this
Mr.. Blaine. On entering his chamber I
found him in a pitiful condition, and
could not help feeling sorry for the man.
especially as time went on and observed
his efforts from day to day endeavoring TO
teach his paralyzed hand the use Of u pen.
and with faint smile he would
often ask: Doctor, do you think
I'll ever again have the use
of my hand?' Mr.. Blaine suffered
from what is known as rheumatic paraly-
sis, which is not so fatal as when accom-
panied by hemorrhage 'of the brain. Still
at his time of life, with not too great stay
ing powers and little recuperative resources,
it is surprising the progress he made. Even
at that time he would have done better yet
had he acted on my advice and staid hero
a little longer. but he became nervous
fancied that the air in his rooms was pol
soned, etc. Yet his quarters were the very
best in the hotel, with a high ceiling and
we'll ventilated. Blaine 10 chiefly q
hypochundriac. tt worried him to think
that he should no longer be able to play
a part in public affairs, and his pride could
not we'll reconcile itself to the inevitable:
Thus it happened that after four weeks'
stay here and contrary to my advice, he
left for Florence, where, as you know, he
became worse and had to employ DIR. Bald
win, and where he finally became con-
yinced of his physical condition and wrote
that now famous letter, which surprised ua
here who got to know him almost az we'll
as his companions at home. Mr.. Blaine at
his time of life will do we'll to abstain from
anv excitement as only absolute peace and
quietness and rest can secure him ripe
old age.