The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-10-12
Is A LIVING FOSSIL.

| 1here is man III Oakld1lu, Cdl,
who for twenty five years was animal; :;
for fifteen years he has been under
going the process of transformation
into mineral. This is Thomas Brod
erick. and the living death which he
is undergoing began, he thinks, with
! an attack Of rheumatism. He was
| then a hale, hearty fellow of twenty
| five, and paid little attention to the
| disagreeable twltches and kinks that
accompanied the malady. In time,
however, the joints of his ankles aud
knees became twice and three times
! their natural size, and then for the
first time he became seriously alarm
ed over his condition. He tried every
remedy recommended, spent months
at the springs in various parts Of the
country, squandered his resources,
and at last gave up. His limbs were
! ossiffying. Now he makes living by
selling knives, cheap jewelry, etc, and
maintains himself and wife from the
! revenue so dirived. Every fair day
he is carried out to his. big reclining
chair. attached to which is a broad
ooEnter on which his wares are dis
| played. His wife wheels him to the
corner OF Eighth street and Broadway,
sees that he is comfortable among his
| wraps, bids him CHEEKY good by and
leaves him until evening, when she
wheels him back.
y Call reporter had long talk with
| Broderick the other day, and asked
him particularly how. it felt to be
turning into bone.
Its the strangest kind of sensa-
tion," said he "At first suffered the
most excruciating agony-indeed, for
seven years [ thought should go mad
! through pain. Sometimes l think my
mind resented the horror of my cOndi-
] ton in those first years, and SO my
/ suffering seemed the more intense.
/ Now l am reconciled and look upon
! it as matter of fact that cannot be
relieved by regret. From my feet to
my waist | am as hard as a rock.
| The ossifying process is slow, and
| continues to creep steadily upward.
/ The sensation now is one of deaden
| ing, numbing coldness. [ seem to be
| growing thick, as it were. Stealthlly
| and insidiously the life blood is being
| driven back 1t is like stubborn
! -barricade falls after barricade
| Rather it is like the receding of the
| level sea from the mud tlats-it is SO
| slow and almost imperceptible, A
thick sensation of rustiness and a dis
inclination to exert the affected parts
are accompanying symptoms OF Ossl
| fication. Pain soon leaves the slug
gish members and the hardening goes
/ on day by day. In time there is com
plete insensibility. In other respects
4 [ am perpectly healthy. My mind is
unaffected, and l retain the use OF my
| faculties. The part of me that Is
dead is as completely foreign to me
as though it were severed entirely
from my body. l am used to it now
4 [ ceased to worry over it long ago"
! Broderick's arm fell listlessly to his
| side. Hope has died out Of his blue
eyes many years ago. ut is a living
DEATH" he said. 'Times without mum
Der I have felt like giving up the
truggle. But [ am not alone in the
v rorld. | have a wife to support
T hat is something l must never for
6, IT,
The wasted hand moved anxieusly
tow ard the money cup. The brave
eyes sought for familiar faces in th'
crowd that was sweeping by. Hal
of his body was as rigid as stone, bu
the hea rt of the brave fellow was no
vet conc, 'uered.