The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1899-09-02

a-.H NF." EEL"H.
civil war.
IN those days a great many people
honestly believed that all American
babies were born free and equal, but
how the ridiculous statement ever.
came to be printed and then accepted
for gospel by intelligent citizers, is
certainly more than ] can understand.
In my Nv case. just as soon MS |
was old enough TO comprehend about
my surroundings, or to watch my
companions at work or play, l knew
very we'll that | was neither free,
equal o similar.
ltut to return to my story.
! said it was during the late un-
p~leasnntntss. and the day was Il very
sultry one, toward the end of July, in
the year 1861. There was great eX-
element among the crowds on the
streets of the city of Boston, especial
ly in the ~neighborhood of thhe bulle-
tin boards. 1t was very hard, almost
impossible to believe the dreadful ru-
astcr" was being passed around, and
many a brave face on that day re-
Elected only too eloquently the stag
SefluS lnleltiSence.
This, of course, was Just after the
first battle of Bull Run. Down at one
of the railroad stations on Causcway
street, anxious, tremulous lines of hui
manity coming in from the suburbs,
met others going out. Over all there
was feverish excitement and a clamor
for news.
just about noon on this eventful
day a thunder storm began to gather,
and very Don broke over the city. 1t
was one of those dry, ominous storms.
when the binding flash. followed by
the clap and the rattle of heavens ar
tillery, is liable to bring the bravest of
us TO a halt aud to make us long for
the bountiful rain to descend. to re-
lieve the tension on our nerves. and to
remind us that God is merciful and
will not utterly confound us, on this
particular occasion, at any rate.
When the storm was well under
way, but before the big drops had be-
gun TO patter on the pavements, the
hurrying pedestrians on the side
walks were called upon TO make way
for a who was being carried
swiftly but tenderly across the street
and into the station.
The kind-Eearted spectators under
stood, or thought they did. The poor
woman had received news from the
front; she was Frustrated with grief
and had tainted away. Perhaps it
was her husband, perhaps her boy.
Who could tell? But the incident
seemed to come right home to every
one, as with deepest sympathy they
made way for the bearers, or turned
aside to conceal their emotion.
The general conclusion in regard to
the unfortunate woina was correct
as far as it went. but there was more
to follow. They carried her into the
ladies' room, and there a short time
afterward l saw the light for the FIRST
time and was ushered into the world
with very little ceremony, while the
electrical storm was ut its height and
a frenzy of warlike excitement pene-
trated the city from one end to the
other.
Eighteen years passed away. My
parents had been dead for some time.
and practically ] was alone in the
world. During these years of child
hood and youth l had been the vic
tim of a malady, or at least an en-
perience u~nexampled, honestly be-
lieve. in the history of the human
race. Nay, more! / still suffered,
and, unless something miraculous in
tervened, was doomed to suffer and to
remain like a feather in a gale of
wind until the day of my death, and,
for all | knew, in the next world and
the next.
From the day of my birth l had
been m enigma and a source of intin-
tie trouble and anxiety to my family
and my friends. l seemed to be con-
tinually in the hands or in the power
of some unseen, incomprehensible
force that batfied their best and kind
liest efforts for my health, my educu-
ton and my prospects in life.
At times ! was just like any other
child, but again, without any assignn-
Bile reason, l lost all pretence to be
classed as a human being. That is tc
say, the conditions. surroundings and
such like, which, under ordinary cir.
cumstances. would naturally produce
happiness or misery, comfort or dis.
comfort, laughter or tears, had no eff.
feet upon me. for the simple reason
that l WAS subject to a different set OF
laws. possessed all of these feelings
and sensations, but they were not
aroused in the usual way. In so many
words, l always had been, and still re.
manned, the helpless victim and the
plaything of the Atmosphere or the
Weather.
This, of course, was not discovered
at once, but dawned upon me grad.
ually when l was grown up and was
mentally capable of making a study
of myself and my peculiar constitu.
ton.
Not only was l governed during CIV
cry minute of my existence by what
you may call atmospheric influence
but / soon found out to my dismay
weather was represented and at once
reproduced in my system by CORE
spending delights, impulses OF pas.
sions. In fact, | was Il Human Bar
ometer, and every degree on the scale
represented the different stages anG
varying composition of my mentn
and physical condition, from an in
conceivable %pugnacity during n thun'
der storm down to Il state of delight,
full, all-embracing benevolencc, sucl
as | was conscious of, when, on some
quiet summer evening | rec!ined at my
case on the seashore. far from the
hustle and the noise of the city ant
watched the glorics Of q %cloudlcss sun
set or listened to the gentle ripple q
the tiny pillows rising and falling
ebbing and flowing OH the sands a
my feet.
Yet another curious fac: remained
Dominating every sensation and ide;
of which | was capable was the fixed
~unWavering conviction that some
where, and to be discovered in solnt
way, there was Il cure for my malady
and a key that would unlock the dis
trpssing combination and. restore m,
to the level Of a natural human being
fortunately was in possession of
snug little fortune. and l could thinl
OF no better way to spend part of i
than by pursuing an Investigation 81
vitality important.
In the spring Of the year 1881
consulted three of the most notct
physicians in the city Of Boston, DIR
Ward, DIR. Wendell and Dir. Humph
4 ~ ~. e. M