The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-08-25
THE ST. LOUIS STORM.

Physicians Experience and Some Of
His Cases.
Little has been said of one of the sad
dest as we'll as one of the most serious
results Of the recent tornado. There
are hundreds of persons in st. Louis
who, although they passed through the
storm apparently uninjured, are now
suffering from various forms Of hys
terra, or neurasthenia ~(nervous pros
tration). The great excitement of that
dark day has caused some persons of
nervous dispositions to lose the power
OF speech, some have become blind,
some have lost the sense Of taste and
smell, and others have been made 80
lame that they have never been able to
walk upright since the storm swept
over them. These cases we're all due
to the effect upon the system
and not to any external violence.
D.. Warren B. Outten, chief surgeon
of the Missouri Pacific Railway hos
pital and editor of the Railway Sur
geon, who for years has made an esp9
cial study of hysteria and neurasthe-
MIA in cases caused by great shocks to
the nervous system, such as railroad
wrecks, ETC., has collected some valua
BILE statistics and information concern
ing the many eases caused by the tor
nadO. In speaking Of the matter he
said:
Nervous shock under the il fuence
of q tornado seems almost the same as
a nervous shock from any other source
where sheer intensity of circumstances
makes it productive of all the degrees
Of this passion as expressed by the
words, fear, dread, terror al d conster-
nation. The psychic condition was one
Of general obliquity to external i'm
QressiOns in which many voluntary
acts were performed almost autometi
cally, the higher mental faculties alone
being in allegiance. Here strobe q wo
man up the street Immediately after
the cyclone had ceased with her dress
nigh up around her waist, oblivious to
surroundings, with fixed look, staring
straight ahead, carrying beneath her
arm a flower pot and in it q ruined
plant. Another woman followed almost
in a nude condition, carrying a bird
cage minus its occupant. They acted
al in a dream, thoroughly dtz ID, and
having the vacant stare Of the hyp
motto.
Person after person aimleesly wan
dered, unconscious Of their surround
lngs or O. the calamity which had oc-
Cured One person informed me that
he had wandered for four hours in this
condition, utterly oblivious of what
had occurred or where he was that he
was so daz3d that be lost his way home
m any times, and at times found that
he was talking at an excited rate; also
that when he arrived at home there
was an aim 1st irresistible impulse to
still aimlessly wander. On the faces
of many could be noticed a blank, yet
plnched expression, al ~inattentive,
plunted mentality, a seeming inability
TO concentrate attention or to think,
while in others an Increased impress
sionabllity arose, making them refrain
from conversation, and, as some tx
pressed it, On, I want to be alone,
entirely alone The change in voice
was very noticeable. Some talked
with cyclonic explosivenese, while
others had a hating speech and again
others a whispered ~utterance. In
many claiming to be unaffected by the
tornado was seen the hysGerical invol-
untary symmetry of movement 50 fire.
quentIy characteristic of this disease.
Some would detail stories, showing
plainly that peculiar excitability pres
n in hysterIa, where energetic move
menrs we're necessary to prevent irri-
tating mental effects.
MANY persons spoke of the inordi,
nate oppression Of che silence which
followed Immediately after the terrific
and almost Supplying roar of the cy-
clone. The Influence Of this silence
seemed to add an intense impression
ability in many persons, creating an
additional element of hystericaI cause.
Speaking in regard to the loss of
voice by persons VINO passed through
the storm, l may mention the interest
ing case of a mother who rushed to her
child Immediately after the disaster,
and, taking It in her arms, saw its lips
moving, but could hear no sound. She
at once eurmised that the child had
lost it's voice, and it was some time be
fore she could be brought to the realiz4-