The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-05
CAN'T EAT. BUT IS WELL.
HOW col MURPHY ~ KEPT ALIVE
BN 4 LITTLE PUMP.

4 silver Tube Fixed in His Abdomen
and Used Three Times Dny-Re-
markabIe Surgical Treatment
Which Has Been Watched by the
Great Surgeons OF Two Continents
From the New York World.
Perhaps the most conspicuous ilustra-
ton OF the marvels OF modern medical
skill in New York Is Col Michael T..
Murphy. Not one mouthful OF food has
passed Col Murphy's lips in nearly Ave
years And yet he is and has been all
this time an active man Of business.
During these five years Col. Murphy
has had his daily meals poured into his
stomach through hole cut through the
walls of his stomach. A silver tube Is kept
ia the opening and does not cause Mr.
Murphy any discomfort. The food pas
sage in his throat is hopelessly and for
[ ever closed up.
/ And. strange TO say. so thoroughly ac-
/ customed 10 this mode of life has col.
/ Murphy become that il Is doubtful il it
| occurs TO him that he is handicapped al
/ all
Col. Murphy is member Of the exec
/ the First district and is the district leader
The section is a turbulent one and entails
upon the leader as much hard work and
the exercise of as much diplomacy and
! political shrewdness as any in the city.
Col. Murphy's case is one of the medl-
/ cal marvels of the age. Since 1890 prac-
ticaly every particle of food that has
! gone to build up the wasting tissues of
| the frame has been pumped into his
| stomach through an incision I'm his abb
! domen. This process has to be gone
| through with morning. noon and night.
! Col. Murphy smokes with his friends and
enjoys Il. He laughs and chats with
! them lie tells good stories himself anu
| them
When he gets hungry-and hunger comes
| 10 nm the same as to another man. the
| wasting tissues must be nourished I'm the
/ privacy or his own apartment and by
processes not calculated to become popu-
| lar IN public banquet halls.
! Previous to 1889 Col Michael c. Murphy
| was one OF the strongest and health
lest men known in New York politics. In
that year he was serving his thirteenth
| year in the legislature the last six of
Whch mad been in the upper house He
! suffered that winter from what he sup
| posed was indigestion. Toward the case
| OF the session he consulted DR.. J. j. Hen
| ners who decided that the colonel was
! suffering from an ulcer in the stomach.
| Then commenced the remarkable series
| OF treatments which made Col Murphy's
case the talk of the medical men on two
! continents. First it was decided that his
stomach must have rest. and for fifty
| nine days he was fed unnaturally. His
| treatment as he once described Ii to a
| sunday World reporter, was as follows:
| The physicians and surgeons would
| gather around me each morning First
! would be given yard of flexible rubber
tube, which, swallowed until one end
| reached into my stomach. The experience
| was the most unpleasant of nv entire I'M.
! ness. Through this tube the doctors would
! pour a solution of some sort calculated tC
| cleanse the stomach and heal the ulcer.
ated parts. II was highly poisonous. one
| of the doctors always held a watch Oh
| the operation, for 1t was very dangerous
| to leave the solution in the stomach be
| yond a given time. When Ii had beer
| there long enough it was pumped out and
! followed with an antidote of salt and
| water"
At the end of sixty days the stomach was
| pronounced healed. In the mean time the
| colonel had almost died of starvation
From portly man OF 225 pounds ne had
! wasted until he weighed barely 100 pounds
| He recovered slowly for few months
and then new complications arose. In
1880, in Saratoga, the doctors discovered
| that he was suffering from a structure OF
| the oesophagus. He could only swallow
liquids and that with great difficulty and
pain For weeks he lived on the little
| milk and liquid food that he managed &c
swallow. He wasted rapidly He thought
that he was going to die. and was brought
| back to New York with the expectation
| that he could not live but q few weeks.
Dr. Henner determined upon nutritive
| enemas as the only means of keeping the
man from starving to death. and for sew.
| eral months his existence was prolonged
| in that way. After a time il was seer
that he was growing weaker and more
| emaciated each day, and then as a last
| resort, the doctors decided that only 8
successful operation of gastrotomy could
save him. 1t was a forlorn hope. The
operation is rarely Fesorted TO even with
patients who are comparatively strong
and healthy.
Col Murphy at the time weighed but
| ninety pounds, and was too weak to leave
his bed. A consultation was held by Drs
Henner, Lincoln, Janeway LOOMS,
Goldthwkaite, Kelly and Kinnicutt. II
was their unanimous opinion that the
operation was absolutely imperative but
even then they had little hope. Still, IL
was an easier death than starvation
Their decision was told to Col. Murphy.
go ahead he said, do the best you
can for me. I've faced death before. If
you kill me I'll forgive you"
DR.. Weir was chosen to perform the
ceremony. He did So Dec. 49, 1890 as
sisted by DR.. Elliott, three medical stu
dents and four nurses. An opening was
made in the abdomen at the navel. II
was three inches long and one and one
half inches deep. Three days later an
opening was made into the stomach A
silver tube was fixed in the opening. The
wound healed well, and within a few
days Col Murphy began to mend
For the first time in year he had his
hunger appeased. He was able to take
| lllIee HltdiH a. hdg ike dnOlutE mall
There was no gastrononic pleasure in it.
and that was good deal of a loss to Col
Murphy, who had been known among his
friends and the politicians as a generous
| liver. This, however, was of little ac-
count. Food could be got into his stom-
ach, and his stomach still had the power
to assmilate it,
The case was watched with the most in.
tense interest by the most eminent sur
| geons on both sides of the water. Few be
lieved that the cure could be permanent
| Dr. Weir was naturally more interested
than any one else. He kept personal su.
| pervision over the device for preparing the
food forced into the stomach He made a
| careful study of the effects of different
foods on the patients system and deter
mined on the proportions of different sorts
of food to be used. He estimated the
! amount of albuminous food, the amount
of sugar, starch and carbon necessary to
build up the wasted tissue and retain them
in working order.
Col. Murphy eats, this is. he receives in
| his stomach, meats, eggs, bread, milk and
| other digestible and nourishing foods, but
they are all one to him. Everything is
thoroughly cooked, crushed TO a pulp and
! mixed and strained until 1t is about the
consistency of heavy consomme. Then ii
| is pumped into Col. MurDhy's stomach
/ with a pump specially designed and manu-
featured for the purpose.