Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-12-08

type; a large hearted, generous, thrifty
man active. energetic, SUCCESSFUL, unQsu-
ally good bumored, at times irritaoie, eA-
citable, one who does nothing Dy halvSs s :
who speaks and lives alwafs IN s9vert Ia
tives Each day is the finest or Ioulese 10
ever knew. He knows no HAPPY neau
his pathway lies always onthe mouh'ain
tops or in deep valleys. =
After a while a change comes. he Is
often depressed. He is more often lrrl'd-
ole and angry than otherwise. Al unes
his memory fails, his judgment lapses, ne
commits indiscretions that are unlike
him;' he finally becomes alarmed hllnseII'
and consults a physician. Rest and reeFe-
alton are prescribed and after lew weeks
he returns a new man. For hall year
he is like his old-time self. Then some day
I he surprises his friends with some outlanu-
ish scheme for making millions, flying 70
Europe. or with some other Utoplan anu
impossible achievement. His friends ike
ly think he has been drinking. From thae
on be is necessarily active anu cdnllOo
sleep. He makes the widest purchases
pianos, Jewels, furs, furniture horses,
houses. anything and everything at any
price. as long as money or credit laSVs;
/ Finally he becomes ungcvernaole anu
chaotic emotions rule supreme. one aay
be is supremely happy, singing, whlStlng'
shouting, rambling from one pleasant VS.
ionary topic 70 another. His Imagination
carries him beyond all realms of posi-
ity and he becomes king, emperor or Delty.
| He blesses and curses with indiscrmlnate
! fervency.
After a time he rallies from this condition
and MS friends feel he is making gooa
recovery, but practiced eye sees that ne
is not absolutely we'll Though TO all sp-
pearances he is almost his old self, he is
most likely 10 make absurd ventures. He
| is frequently decOyed from his friends oy
some woman who formerly could not have
tempted him, but who now secures MS
ready money and q will BEG ueathlng her
his entire estate II bachelor he COM
mouly marries his mistress. II is difficult
10 aunuu any contracts made at this tune,
because to the casual observer the patent
was so well. This condition may last Tor
! several months, out IL is sure TO be followed
by the iceGta0ic~~o,Spse.
Tbe end IS unusually = elayed for several
months; sometimes for yessS. During this
time reason is almost entii@ly dethroned
and the patients actions and 0hciJghts are
continuing line of grandiloquenJ IDEAS
and impersOnations. He owns horses that
I
sail around the globe in day, houses OF
solid gold set with diamonds; he parades
as Napoleon, MahOmet, Jesus Christ, and
believes himself 10 be the Deity. Later
On mind and body are SO weakened that
the Latient lies abed, unable 10 care
for his slightest needs. His face is blank
or is illumined by an idiOtic smile. II given
food he swallows it vOraciously, but he
would starve with food by his side and
choke with water before him, too mindless
TO carry either TO his mouth. He gulps as
eagerly az the lather placed by the barber
on his face as Il the choicest vianos, his
sense Of tasfJ as al others, being practl-
callv slr allied VOiceless, mindless,
wasted 70 a skeleton, he is still human, still
the father. husband, brother Of beings who
love the memory Of what he was and pray
for the death of the sad image that remains.
This is often prolonged month after month,
and when death does come IL IS not the
mere snUfing of a spent candle, but hor-
rible spectscle, the only mitigating feature
of which is that the patient is Obvious TO
il all'
The disease has numbered among
its victims some OF the best authors,
actors, statesmen, lawyers, business
men and hosts Of men above mediocrity.
1t usually attacks its victim in the prize
Of life, but DR.. WILLIAMS says hehas
seen one youth Of eighteen in -ts tolls
and several who had just turIed TWEEN
ty, adding that they had begun to "see
life" very young.
As to the cause Of p.;esis it is epitom-
lied in the two wore excessive action.
Paresls is a protes' of nature against
abuse OF 1uU:uons. There are causes
in which mental work of a strictly
legitimate kind have paved the way for
paresis; business stress and worry are
common factors. Alcohol is a more
potent accessory. But in the vast ma
jority Of cases the chief causes of pare
sis are unnatural indulgences, habits
and excuses that cannot properly be
more than limited at, working on a
foundation laid by disease whose
name may not be mentioned, because it
is synonym for immortality.
In closing, DR.. Williams says:
Above most other things I would regret
to pose as an alarmist hasten to reiterate,
if YOU have lived a measurably temperate
life YOU need not fear paresis; whatever
your symptoms, whatever your disease,
YOU need not and will not have paresis.
Most of all l could wish is that this warn
ing might reach the young man who has
only thought of and not yet started on the
alluring but Elusive pathway Of which l
am speaking, for anyone may proven pare
sis always if he begins in time, but he may
cure it-never.