The Red Cloud chief., 1896-09-11
t,,cnt.

NV stS,. a.. strength and skill
>N"N.' and love and pa
thence that Is in
them to save the
life OF a little girl. says the san Fran
cisco Chronicle. Though there is still
nearly a year of struggling before
them, they smile cheerily on their
]qucstioners and say:
Oh, yes. well pull her through"
1t is a little girl Of II. lying in n
small. clean white bed, over which the
war of life and death has been wasod.
On July 20, last year, she was playing
about 4 bonfire in her own backyard.
There was a breath from a wandering
breeze, Il flicker Of a cotton pctticoat,
Il curling, yellow flame, and in an in
slant the terrible mischief was done.
Her whole right side was scanned ana
Scared and marked by the cruel Grim
son fingers. The delicate features were
spared, but the body was roasted not
sgorched. Great pieces of flesh fell
out, the hip muscles were exposed.
blood oozed and tricklcd from the
veins, whose ends had been burned
away.
Nobody thought that Jessie Proud
foot could live. \ burn covering such
an area on so small a body was COM
paratively greater than burns that had
killed the strongest men. But the girl
Is going TO get well IL the skin supply
in San Rafael holds out. DR.. w. f.
Jones. her physician. began at first to
graft on new skin taken from healthy
persons, for the terrible burns on the
child were too large for Il skin
around the edges to unite. Then 1t was
that the generous San Rafael people
showed their mettle. SO far eighty
persons. some of them from San Fran
cisco, have contributed cuticle to Jes-
sizes side. The smaller burns on the
arms healed themselves, but when the
girl is well one entire hip will have a
skin of shreds and patches.
Almost all her little school friends
offered to help, and young ladies, men,
old people and children have contrib
Ulcd. Her little sister, Ethel, . years
Oi6s mas ElN'll 80 Slltlt II W Sh''
Ten times her 6-year-old brother Joe
las given three and one-half and four
inches without a tear, though the sis
ter took ether when she made her big
sacrifice. An aunt and Mrs. Proud
foot have very little more skin to
give.
But the kindly and personal offerings
have been by no means confined to the
family. The ages OF the givers have
ranged from Z years to A., and cuticle
OF all ages and compilations has been
adopted by the wounded child with
equal facility. People who never saw
Jessie have heard of the case and Of
fered themselves to DR.. Jones. Long
thin strips of skin have been peeled
from them, the operation always being
performed in the room next to the lit
lie girl. for the human skin is a deli
cate fabric, finer than silk and more
flexible than elastic webbing, 1t is
cleansed carefully and then cut with a
sterllized knife and laid on the gaping
burn while it Is still warm with some
body else's life.
Twice DR.. Jones has covered the
whole wound, and twice the center
the deepest part-has rejected the alien
tissue. Now he Is grating around the
edges, and the burn is steadily grow
ing smaller as little peninsulas Of skin
grow inward on the waste of uncov-
cred flesh. At the past rate of progress
IL will be eight or nine months before
the ends meet.
Jessie Proudfoot is a frail little thing
with white hands and fingers, slender
as a baby's. Her face Is a delicate
oval, pale, with a faint wild-rose color
at times, and in it are set gray eyes,
dark dashed, that know more than a
child's need of suffering. She is not
a plaintive invalid, but q brave, hope
full lassie, who, through these twelve
months of almost uninterrupted pain,
has never been under the influence OF
anaesthetic but three times, and then
was put to sleep while her wounds were
scraped of the deadly proud flesh. All
she says when they dress her raw
flesh on her side Is to moan softly: 1T
iAuilS' ohc uoeo hob Siy, ioI one udH
learned that tears will not ease her
pain.
The marvel OF 1t Is that the child Is
able to be out Of bed between opera
tions and walk with assistance. She
limps a little, but they say that the
new skin, which is loose and elastic,
and wrinkled, will allow the burned
limb to stretch when 1t is well, and
the limp will not be permanent. For
seven months Jessie lay on her right
side almost without stirring, but now
she drives about San Rafael and takes
a little exercise.