The evening times., 1899-08-09
FRUSTRATED BY TEA DRINKING.
Mrs. Kelley Stricken With COnvul-
sions by Constant PotatiOns.


sions by Constant Potations.
New York, Aug. 9.-Swelled to enor-
nous proportions because of her slavery
TO tea, Mrs. Bridget Kelley, fortysix
years DID, of 216 East Seventeen Street,
is now a patient in Bellevue Hospital.
The mother of eleven children, nine of
whom have survived, she had not known
serious illness since childhood until she
was stricken down on Sunday by the ef
fects of the beverage she had taken in
great quantities for more than thirty
years. I5-
All the physicians in the hospital are
interested in the case of Mrs. Kelley. 1t
Is the third within the last six months.
and there has been a fatal result in one
OF them. While this patient is suffering
severely from dropsical and uraemic condi-
tions that are serious, it is believed by
the physicians that she will recover.
She is being treated in the same manner
as slaves TO alcohol or drugs, as the doc
tors recognize that her illness is closely
akin TO the ailments of those who have
taken overdoses of whisky or opium. Since
her arrival in the hospital she has con-
stantiy asked for tea, and it was only
yesterday afternoon after the mere men
tion of the beverage had made her sit
up in bed and weep that any was given to
her.
Il have been fond of tea as far back as
can remember she said yester-
day, as she lay trembling on the hospital
cot When l was a little girl in ireland
/ used to drink three or four cups of it
at every meal For the last ten years
must have taken on an average more than
twenty cups a day. Sometimes l took
thirty. y
She said she always had a pot of tea
brewing for herself and she drank it con-
stantly. 1T was strong and black, as only
the strongest could satisfy her craving.
When she was particularly thirsty for the
beverage she would pour the contents of
her pot into a pitcher and drink it so. Tea
was practically the last thing she drank
at night and her first desire in the morning.
She told the physicians she had seldom TAX
en- alcohol and they believe her.
Mrs. Kelley and most Of her children, the
eldest of whom = tWenty-Six years old,
lived at the East Seventeen Street address.
The husband died about two months ago.
Mrs Kelleys grief caused her to take more
tea than usual, and considering her age,
this had an immediate i'll effect. Though
stout already she began TO put on flesh rap
idly and finally. about two weeks ago her
feet began to swell during the day, sign
that drepsy had been brought on by the
weakening of her kidneys by the tea.
At the same time she had difficulty in
breathing, constant headache, her sight
began to fail and she lost her appetite. she
would see specks sometimes black, some
times red, blue, or green, floating before
her eyes. These symptoms increased, un-
til on Sunday she was overcome by dizzi-
ness and nausea and became almost blind.
She was then seized with terrible convul-
sions, brought on by the action OF the pois-
on in her system, and after two hours OF
this suffering became unconscious.
Her family, as soon as she became seri-
ously i'll sent TO the hospital, and she was
removed there Sunday evening. Restora-
tives and stimulants were given to her, and
yesterday she was greatly improved, though
not yet out of danger. She weighs about
225 pounds now, much of this weight hav-
| ing come to her in the last two months.
The doctors have taken an added inter-
est in her case, because the last one they
had was fatal. Peter Phelan, assistant
stage carpenter at the Broadway Theatre
who had drank thirty and forty cups of tea
| day, had his vitality sapped by the pois-
| on and sank under the hands of the physi-
| clans and died on May q, less than week
after his admission to the institution.