Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-07-07
INSURANCE MALADY
WILLIAM ALLEN WAS STRICKEN DUMB
WITHOUT WARNING.

Physicians Say It is Aphasia, Caused BY
a Tiny Blood CIot on the Brain-Is Re.
gaining Speech by Effort of within.
derstands Words Addressed to Him.
Words are slowly returning to Will.
liam H. Allen, the stationer Of Brick
Church, N. j., who was recently
stricken with aphasia. The man is
helping to cure himself by the power Of
his own will. He repeats the alphabet,
reads the paper, attempts to name the
objects about him and seeks to marshal
struggling words into sentences.
The strange afflictionscame upon him
when he went down stairs a few morn
ings ago. He tried to greet his wife.
The words ''good morning" were what
he would have said, only the s~yllablea
would not come to his lips. He could
make only inarticulate sounds. Mrs.
Allen sent for DR.. L. N. Gray, the fam
lily physician, who at once recognized a
case of aphasia. The part of the brain
which presides over language-the third
frontal oonvolution-had been clogged,
probably by some fatty substance. Mr..
Allen had a fit Of sneezing only a few
minutes before he lost the power to ar
ticulate. This may have been in part re.
sponsible for the clot upon the brain.
DR.. William Pierson, who was also
called in consultation, agreed with the
diagnosis made by DR.. Gray.
Mr. Allen understands nearly every.
thing which his wife and the physicians
say to him. When he attempts to force
a sentence in reply to the language adj
dressed to him, he finds that the words
which he needs have slipped away. He
has the thought, but the form is gone.
His condition is like that of a child.
The infant knows the meaning of the
words which are spoken to him long be-
fore he can speak. The impression made
by the mind of the child is not strong
enough to act as a guide in pronouncins
the syllables.
Mr.. Allen is beginning to learn Ian
guage all over again. In many cases,
however, by a strong exercise Of his
will, the words come back in twos and
threes. He is able to form disconnected
sentences. He can write, too, after the
manner in which he talks.
He has been much assisted in his ef-
forts at learning words by his wife. He
began recently by reciting his alphabet.
A primer was shown to him. His face
frightened at the sight of the charac-
ters, and then he began to recite A, B,
G, D, and SO on without the slightest
hesitation to the final letter. He seemed
to feel much encouraged.
He is a man Of rugged health, his
physicians say. He is tall, broad shout
dered, and his cheeks are ford. He
does not 60 to business, but takes walks
about his home, at 20 Halstead street,
East Orange, N. J. He went about the
streets looking at the horses, the wagons
and the trees and trying to force him
self to recollect the names which were
connected with the objects which he
saw.
He went down to his store a few days
ago. His clerks were surprised to see
him. They were more surprised when
he picked up a pad of paper and wrote
down the following orders:
"Arthur stay store. Freeman say
stand"
The first Of these sentences meant
that one of his clerks who had been sent
around town on errands should remain
in the store. The other meant that
Freeman. another clerk, should have
charge of the newsstand neal the rail
road station at Brick Church.
He went to the telephone in his home
the other day. Mrs. Allen called up the
store. The word which is always asso.
oiated with a telephone came to his lips.
"Hello!" he said.
He tried to talk, but could not express
the idea in his mind. His wife told the
clerk at the store that her husband was
better and started to hang up the re-
oeiver. MI. Allen took the appliance
from her and said "Goodby!" into the
transmitter. The hanging up Of the tube
Of hard rubber had suggested a word SO
strongly that he pronounced it almost
involuntarily.
DR.. Gray called upon Mr.. Allen, who
wrote on a slip Of paper the words,
"Recover soon?" The physician told
him that he was not certain, but that
he hoped that he would. Mr.. Allen
smiled. He understood the words per-
fectly.
DR.. Gray then said: "You must take
a long rest. You must go away from
business"
A look Of eager earnestness came into
the mans eyes. II can do il" he said
quickly.
Whenever Mr.. Allen has a sudden
impulse to say o word" said DR.. Gray
to me, che can pronounce it. If he had
in the sentence 4 can do 1.-THE first
connected sentence he has yet uttered
stopped at the words I can and tried
to recollect, he would have been unable
to proceed further"
Mr.. Allen was at home when I called
the other afternoon. He came to the
door in response to my ring. He smiled
and attempted, evidently, to say GOOD
afternoon" The fact that he saw a
stranger before him seemed to embar-
rass him. He muttered something in
coherent and nodded toward his wife.
He then went up stairs. His physicians
had forbidden him to attempt to talk to
strangers.
DR.. Gray told me that it might be
months before his patient entirely re-
covered. Mr.. Allen has everything in
his favor.-New York Herald.
Bounties on Rabbit Scalps.
The commissioners of Sumner county,