The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-09
RAILROAD PARALYSIS.
The Peculiar Affections, often Re
sulting Fatally, That Trouble
Trainmen.


Trainmen.
From the Chicago Post.
a recent Geographic dispatch from the
west speaks of an old employee Of Adam
Forepaugh as having been cured of rail-
road paralysis. The item mentions this
affection as if it were the most common
thing in the world and that everybody
knew all about it, the same as they would
about about consumption or hay fever. 1t has
opened up the question as to whether or
alysis.
Al interview with an oId-time railroad
man would most assuredly settle il that
this afiilctiOn was, or at least had been in
years past prevalent among railroad men.
Aole angie, now conductor on the Monon,
mas Deen IN the business for forty-One
years. he is 81 years OLD, but is as hale
ana nearly as any man he runs with. Mr.
Angle says he has known of this trouble
as long as he has been on the road and
although II Is commonly called railroad
rheumatism, IL is in effect the same thing
az paralysis Mr4Angle declares he knows
OL cases Wnere Conductors have been laid
up Tor lie, and that their trouble has been
tne result OF constant railroad travelling
And then there was Catherwood" said
MI. Angle. He began to get timber in the
legs. and gradually grew worse and worse
unul he was compelled to lay OFF for a
, maile- Later on he got better, and would
make an occasional run, but he was al
ways in fear, and l have known him to
start from home feeling all right, and by
the time he should call out An aboard j.
10 have his legs give out from under him.
his train"
Abe Angle, of course. has his theory
ABOUT TINS matter. He says that so far
as ne mas ever learned, this railroad pa
IdlySls IS an affection of the legs alone
ANU anu ne attributes 1t to the constant strain
upon lne cords in those members in the
e1ort to preserve a balance on a moving
train. '''e
Why said this oId-umer. ANYONE
Knows that in walking through the aisle
OF a car there is a. constant expectation of
a lurch from one side to the other and
the legs are always in a braced or strain
81 position. This cannot but have it's ef-
lect IN the course of time upon people
OF nervous systems. L have heard too
that the cause of railroad paralysis was
the Jar of the train. This, no doubt has
something TO do with 1t. l am the more
convinced that it has because there is not
anything like the amount of trouble there
wen, say twenty years ago. Since
lldt Tune there have been some improve
ments in the railroads of the country.
linen we used to have a short rail, and
the trucks went humping over the Joints
making the jar incessant Then the, road
PED was shaky and the coaches would roll
from SIDE to side like a ship at sea in a
Storm. IN these days we have long cars
ana many wheeled trucks, which. with the
lengthened rail and a solid roadbed, do
d1May with much of the trouble of the
When asked if this railroad paralysis
had been known to extend to engineers
ana nremen, he said it had but that they
also mad become practically exempt by
reason OF the Improvements not only in
the working parts of the locomotive, but
IN the conVeniences of the cab
Inc engineer of twenty years ago had
no such opportunity to sit as he has to-
day. said Mr.. Angle; 1.-THE workings of
MS machine kept him on his feet most of
the time then, whereas now he has spring
seats and air cushions for his comfort
rms, OF course, takes away the Jar and
the strain to the limbs. and in the same
measure reduces the probability of an at
tack of railroad paralysis"
Almost every line of work has something
or this kind to contend with. Every one
knows of what is called writer's cramp.
This is the writer's paralysis. Very often
one Will hear of a telegraph operator
whose arm has become useless from the
incessant strain in handling the key. This
is the telegraph operators paralysis. The
dentist has his peculiar trouble, and IL is
commonly called the dentists leg" This
is caused by the position in which the
operator is compelled to stand while at
work. One prominent Chicago dentist be-
came afflicted with the dentists leg" and
died of the trouble. This would in all
probability, be called dentists paralysis.