The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-08-31
HER MIND WIS BLIND
Terrible Experience of a Vic
tim of Aphasia.
WORDS HAD NO MEANING
She Was Cured by Enormous
Doses of Poison.
WORDS HAD NO MEANING

disease knOWn 10 SC4StS0 a. oPA~7-S-
which without warning steals away th'
power of speach came In the night Il
Miss Helen Williams.
That was four years ago. and today
she Is cured
The cure was as remarkable as the dis
ease, and the successful experiment IL
Miss williams case-for 1t was nothing
short of an expertment-may have far
ndshed treatment that will rob aphasia
of It's terrors.
It was told in the Journal Of how q
physician had given Miss Williams in one
day enough poisons to kill forty persons
In that way was effected the cure which
had transformed Miss Williams from a
helpless creature, half Of whose brain
was shrouded in night into bright, &C.
tive, happy and eternally grateful wo-
man.
When Miss Williams was stricken she
was thirty-nine years of age. She was
then a proof-reader, position requiring
care judgment and great inteilis sn2e. In
her leisure hours she wrote articles for
the magazines and newspapers, and by
means of her two vocaHons she gaiGedl
an excellent livelihood.
"I had gone to bed in perfect heath
seemingly" said Miss Williams yester-
day. 'T felt as we'll as had dona fer q
year. although in that time 1 had been
troubled with a pain in my head occ2s-
ionaily which attributed TO Fall end q
blow received from my brother wh1Ie we
were fencing with stick for swor3s.
During the night I slept we'll 1 re-
member no pain-nothing until l awoke
at -, regular hour In the morning. Then
that something terrible had happened
There was numbness, as II half of my
brain - the left half was still asleep
dead. It felt Like dream, a wierd soUN
of a nightmare.
''I knew that was Gil but I did MOI
know that had been stricken as I was
lay In bed, weak and nervous had
been worl1n very hard. and I thought
that Ihad COLLAPSED at last For a yeal
had dreaded Something of The sort, and
felt that unless I rested would break
down. I thought then that the break
down had come
'T lived In a boarding house, and pres
emily they sent the maid TO see what was
the matter. A soon as she saw my con-
ditIon she hurried downstairs and others
came. Then realized that I was very
dll. and still d4d not know that I had
no control over my words.
'T he maid talked to me but her words
meant nothing. I couldn'tA understand
what she was saying. 1 could hear hel
talk. could see the expression on hen
face, but what she said was as unintel-
ligible as IL it had been expressed in a
foreign language. THAT had never heard
THAT knowledge made me sick With
fright. The maid ran down stairs and
soon others came I couldn't tell what
was the matter. The words uttered were
meaningless jargon, but +, to me they
seemed to convey what wished to say
Except for that strange loss of the mean
ing of words my brain worked as usual
All that I could see was plain to me
I reasoned about it and attributed the
fact that could not understand what
Others said was due to my brain being
tired.
"But did not realize until long after
ward that what said was as unintelli'
bible to others as their speech was to me
When I saw them shake their heads
Thought that they refused to understand
and I got the idea that everyone was my
enemy. and plotting against me-, and
did not recover entirely from that be-
lief until was cured.
1.-The physician who came I think die
not understand my maiady. He told the
landlady that 1 was worn out with over
work and needed absolute rest for few
days and that then probably would be
all right again 1 think he, took 1t for q
form of insanity. perhaps produced by
over-attention to duty.
81 remained in bed ten days, at the
end of that time they sent me with Q
nurse over to Jersey. There became in
q measure resigned to my situation. but
puzzled over 1t a good deal. say
thought 1t was simply a nervous break
down
They had tried to get me TO express
myself with a pencil, but the words
wrote, while appearing all right to me
were as meaningless as my speech. This
also did not realize.
while in ersey I remained absolutely
quiet. Ny progress was very slow. Then
so gradually that 1 did not remember
how or just when it was taken I'd. my
nurse began teaching me as one would a
little child.
she would take q book, and pointing
to the first letter of the alphabet say
"A" This 1 would repeat after her. Ii
was at this time that first realized that
my speech was affected. 1 supposed shat
It was soma form of paralysis. l was
then unaware of aphasia-
MY nurse took up my education faith
fully. It was slow work. Il took me
months 30 learn the alphabet. When !
could say all the letters could not pick
any one called for from among the rest
untt I had gone over all of them again
and came to the one wanted. when ]
would stop. 1t was the same way abou
numbers.
Gradually / learned to say a few
words. Then by chance came 20 a
boarding house where dwelied a younus
physician. II Is 10 him / owe my cure.
IT remainder that when came 1 hat
| to say slowly
~ want a room PaauSing long be
tween each word. DR.. Richards iatereS.
ed himself In my case. He put me unde,
treatment and in i've months 1 was cuie5
cured so that can talk as l talk now /.
am very happy and deeply greatful.''
The strange cure Of Miss Williams AZ
ter she came under the care Of Dr.. wEl
sam NJ Richards. a; his boarding house
No. 145 East Twenty-first STREE. Is due