Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-11-05

tOdtched his keen knife.
are all things of growth to which
our daily lives minister The love o.
parents, the shelter of home. the com
partnerships Of youth, the incentives o.
early rivalries, all contribute to thii
better judgment. We gather our storC
of knowledge day by day. and with i
we acquire the capacity to enjoy and tC
apprehend the anticipated successes Of
tomorrow But man without a past
What can life hold for him? To feel the
unutterable desolation Of an impene
trable waste behind him-to know that
he is a mariner who sails without a com
pass an unknown sea in whose food the
keel of his bark leaves not even ripple
to live without memory and without
hope, without the comfort. aye. and
the pangs of ones existence. My God
what can the future hold for such an
oneT
Nothing" replied Jones sadly And
perhaps that is the reason we find him
so willing to give it up"
ut must be so. And yet | feel that
back of all this there must be some hid
den mystery which, if we could only
penetrate, would set this man free from
the bondage of such punishment as his
must be"
you are right in calling it a punish
ment," Jones replied But what tor,
ture it is, tool have heard people spec
ulate on the merciful Providence which
kept our future secret. Yet it seems
to me that a man could bravely go for
ward to any fate, much as the old mar
tyrs faced the stake when they knew
they had to sizzle. But surely no one,
except he were lost to every moral tie,
could wish to be perpetually forgetting"
ITO forget! Why, mol To forget is
death. What would life be without its
memories of early loves and joys, OF. a
mothers kiss at night, fathers bless
ing, a w:fe's worldwide love? Life is
only bundle of memories. We gather
flower here and there to put with the
others in the keeping of our hearts A
thorn or poisonous weed creeps in at
times, but the others are no less the pre-
cious for their presence. Memory is
the thing that keeps our hearts young
our faith pure. our confidence in the
realities of life sacred 1t is the tie that
binds US to our fellows, that, like gold
en- cord, springs from the anchor of our
faith and binds us to heaven"
Then let US do what we can to restore
this mans past to him"
Our only hope is in your specialist, !"
said. ii trust he may not find the task
as hopeless a one as it seems to me"
Our impotence made it seem an inter-
minable time before DR. De Costa
reached DonaIdsonville. As matter of
fact it was only two days, but days were
precious now and we lived in dreadful
suspense Much of the time we spent
with the accused. the interest of the
judge securing Us unwonted liberties
in that respect, There was a dreary
satisfaction in talking with him and pro-
viding little delcacies for his use By
the time the great specialist arrived
Brigham was looking much as he had
looked when we knew him IN Memphis,
at least more presentable and cleaner
than when he first came from the noise
some Jail. Otherwise there was little
change He talked frankly of his life
in the lumber camp and his confinement
in prison, but when we would press him
TO tell MS what had happened before he
went to the lumber camp he would grow
impatient and say: Don't ask me, for |
do not know It all happened so long
ago that have forgotten
Even De Costa was puzzled when we
narrated the particulars of the case. The
doctor was a small man. with closely
cropped gray mustache and beard He
wore gold trimmed glasses, and had habit
Of. taking them off and wiping them with
his silk handkerchief when he was think
ing intently at is very strange" he
said, very strange, indeed, but it may
be a form of asphasia of which we have
no knowledge. Perhaps some sudden
mental perturbation may have caused
the rupture of a blood vessel in the
brain, which, while it has has had no OBJ
servable physical effect, has paralyzed
the functions of that particular organ.
But can tell better when have talked
with the man. and | think | had better
see him alone at first, so that ! may the
better diagnose his case"
Jones and | escorted him to the jail.
and waited outside the result of the con-
ference. It was an hour before be sum-
moned us to him, and then he met Us In
tle little court yard and sahd:
Gentlemen, can find no trace or In
sanity about him He is as rational a.
any of Us. The only explanation l car
offer is that ut some time he suffered
severe shock to some of the nerve centers,
or passed through an illness which has
left his mind prior to that time, and per
haps periodically since. blank"
Are there cases on record of that
kindY'
There are few; but usually where
such intellectual paralysis, or local par
eses, has been superinduced by injury or
breaking down of the brain cells. it has
been attended by complete loss of all
sense of memory. The fact which throws
doubt upon this case being such an one
is the apparent continuation or survival
r-n.e-s-.F.. -. -