The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-08
NO LEGS OF CORK.
Up-to-Datc Artificial Limbs Would
I1oo7 Casual Observer.

Up-to-Datc Artificial Limbs Would
Eooi Casual Observer.
New Orleans Times-Democrat
The term cork leg is a Inisnomer,
said man who used to be in the artl-
fetal limb business. There never was
any such Il thing, and leg actually
made OF cork would be as unWieldy as Il
saw-log The up-to-Gate artificial limo IS
a thin shell Of weeping willow, covered
with rawhide and some of them that
come clear up 20 the hip have been built
as light as three pounds. It IS singular
fact that q first-class leg, which IS sup
posed TO have a life Of about tive years,
will be more than paid for in the saving
of shoes. OF course the false foot wears
shoe just the same as the real one,
but for some reason that has never been
fully explained it isn't as hard on leather.
A flesh ana blood leg will wear out four
shoes while its mechanical mate is wear
ing out one due perhaps to the footgear
Aever being removed at night and the
4&ck of elasticity in the tread. The best
customer Of the makers is the govern
ment, which pays for new artificial
limb once every five years for pensioners
manned in war. The price fixed by law
Is SIS, but scores of old soldiers simply
draw the money and make the same leg
do for as long as fifteen years at
stretch. Artificial arms are made sue
cessfully nowadays, and certain amount
of action is secured in the hand, even
when the stump reaches only few
inches from the shoulder. With one of
the styles, for example, man can lift
his hat and replace it on his head with
q surprisingly natural movement. The
mechanism by which the false hand is
made to open and close is controlled by
a strap which reaches to the opposite
shoulder. A slight shrug does the work,
and little practice renders it impercep
tible.
There has been a wonderful improve
ment in limbmalzing during the last ten
years" continued the speaker, land
properly constructed artificial leg cannot
be detected by the casual observer. The
chief difficulty with the old style was it's
tendency to swing outward in an arc of
q circle at every step. That has been
entirely overcome. Some years ago, when
/ was in the business at Chicago, fitted
out a man who had lost both legs and
both arms in q Dakota blizzard. When I
first saw him he was simply helpless
trunk lying on a cot in the hospital, and
his deplOrable condition had reduced him
to a state of despair bordering on 1nsan-
ity. 1 took q great deal of interest in
the case, and l flatteT myself that I did
g. fairly good job. When L got through
with him he was able to get up without
assistance, walk about, iced hlmSef ana
do a hundred and one little things that
changed life from a mere blank to some
thing really endurable. When he found
himself emaneipated from total helpless
ness he improved mentally, and now 1
dare say he wants to live as long as any
body. One of the great obstacles to sue
cessfuI linb-fitting is the carelessness Of
surgeons in performing amputations. An
operation may be entirely successful from
a surgical standpoint, yet leave a stump
upon which a false leg can never be
worn with comfort. know Of a number
OF cases in which a reamputation has
been submitted to for the express pur-
pose of correcting such difficulties. Every
medical college course ought to include
q least one lecture with practical demon
strations by a thoroughly scientific maker
of artificial limbs. 1t would be of inesti-
mable value to the students in after prac-
tice.