The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-09-26
CORK LEGS AND MYTHS.

The term cork leg is a misnomer."
said man who used to be in the arti-
fetal limb business TO a New Orleans
/ Times Democrat reporter. There new
er was any such a thing, and leg act
ually made OF cork would be as un-
! wieldy as a saw log. The up-to-date ar
! tificial limb is very thin shell of
weeping willow. covered with rawhide,
and some of them that come clear up
to the hip have been built as light as
three pounds.
1T is singular fact that a first -class
leg, which is supposed to have a life Of
about five years, will be more than paid
for in the saving of shoes OF course.
the false foot wears a shoe, just the
same as the real one, but for some red-
son that has never BEEN fully explained,
1t isn't as hard on leather. A fiesh-and-
blood leg will wear out four shoes while
It's mechanical mate is wearing out one,
due perhaps to the foot gear never be-
ing removed ait night and the lack OF
elasticity in the tread. The best custo-
mer of the makers is the government,
which pays for a new artificial limb
once every five years for pensioners
MANNED I'm war. The price fixed by law
is $75. but scores of old soldiers simply
draw the money and make the same
leg do for as long as fifteen years at a
stretch. Artificial arms are made very
successfully 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, "A man can
lift his hat and replace il on his head
with a surprisingly natural movement.
The mechanism by which the false
hand is made TO open and Close is con-
troled by strap, which reaches 10 the
opposite shoulder. slight shrug does
the work. and a little practice renders
Vt imperceptible.
There has been a wonderful i'm
provement i'm limb making during the
last ten years. and a properly con-
structed artificial leg cannot be detect
ed by the casual observer. The chief
difficulty with the old style was its ten
dency TO swing outward I'm an arc OF
circle at every step. That has been en-
tirely overcome. Some years ago. when
I was i'm the business at Chicago. / fit
ted out n man who had lost both legs
and both arms In Dakota blizzard.
When I first saw him he was simply "A
helpless trunk lying on "a cot in the
hosnnhaI and his deplorable condition
had reduced him to n state OF despair
bordering on insanity. I took n great
deal OF interest i'm the case, and fiat
ter myself that I did n fairly good job.
when / got Through with him he was
able TO get up Whnout assistance, walk
about. feed himself, and do hundred
and one little things that changed life
from n mere blank 20 somsthing really
cndurable When he found himself
emancipated from total helplessness he
improved mentally and now dare say
he wants to live as long as anybody.
"One Of the great obstacles TO sue
cessful linb-fltting is the carelessness
of surgeons in performing amputations
An operation may be entirely success
mi from n surgical standpoint. vet
leave n stump upon which a use leg
can never he worn WIN comfortl know
mutation has been submitted 20 for tho
exprcss purpose Of correcting such diff
| ac,l,ievyA Every medical college course
ought to include at least one lecture
with practical approximations by a
iimbs II would be of inestlmable value
| 90 fhe stidents In after practice"