The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-24

"What for?" asked Tremens.
Because YOU haven't long TO live" said
the house doctor
"Oh, pshawr said Tremens. There S
nothing the matter with me except that I
can't eat"
''Of course, you can't" said the house
doctor, Your stomach is fiat as a col
lapsed balloon"
II suppose that's the drink" said the
patient. mo wonder I can't eat though.
When do you think I'll die"
In two or three days"
Now, see here, gentlemen" said the
patient, 'itu be time enough 20 worry
my friends and family when Tn dead.
But don't believe I'm going 90 die l
don't feel like il. Can't you put a prop
in my stomach and brace il up?"
1T is certainly worth trying" pvt in
the house surgeon. Il am glad that the
suggestion came from you. An operation
can do not HARM and"
you mean if mans as good as dead
already YOU might as well kin him." Ire
mems observed. Now, 1 object to be
being carved 10 death"
There will be nothing of that sort. "
the house surgeon assured him. you
Will not die from the operation"
But there's that liver trouble" sug-
ges$ed the house doctor.
"They always told me that alcohol
would pickle my liver in time" remark
ed the patent whats wrong with IT.
Has it collapsed, or swelled up, or moved.
or WHAT"
"Irs about as good as a tin can fun
of holes" said one of the younger doc
tors fippantIy.
"Your kidneys are in bad shape. too. -
added the house doctor. Your spleen
seems to be affected and I believe there
is some intestinal obstruction. There are
some minor difficulties, but
Never mind those" interrupted the pa
tent. Il ought to make lovely opera
ton, oughtn't /? There's one thing 7
want to know: Is there any chance OF
the operation doing me any good?"
ITS bare possibility" said the sur
econ. Without it you're certain to starve
60 death. if you don't die of The other all
ments first. The operation in itself will
not be fatal"
Then go ahead" said Tremens Don't
mind me"
They say in the hospital that not for
many years has there been SO much in
terest in an operation as there was in that
one. Tremens, under chloroform, was
duly opened up for the inspection and odi-
fcation Of the staff, the nurses ard a num-
Der of students and his interior plan w9s
found to be, as the doctors had predicted
perfect mess of ill-placed. ill-condftonei
organs. They first inflated his stomach
and got that into shape v5han
they turned to his liver took tt,t
out, washed it up and put it back
after which they went the rounds Of his
other organs with all the latest apparatus
and when they were through with him
Tremens was new man.
"Splendidly successful operation" sail
the house surgeon, rubbing his hands over
it. Hell die in an hour or two"
Tremens came out from under the
chloroform in time to hear the end Of
this, and lazily requested a repetition.
''You haven't more than two hours to
live, my friend said the house surgeon.
"Bosh!' said Tyemens. Pm thirsty"
During the next three hours he repeated
this observation very frequently and in
constantly strengthening accents He
didn't seem TO be dying as fast as The
doctors expected. By and by he began u
get peevish and to swear because nobody
brought him any wafer The aft con
suited again and explained the case to
him
If you drink water you will die inn
mediately. If you don't you may live
several hours yet"
Thanks" replied Tremens I've been
going shy on water for several lor g
months, and 1 guess I can stand it for
awhile. How about long cooling sherry
cobbler?'
continued to be thirsty; very thirsty in
time for the thirst that follows chloro-
form is worse even than that which fol
lows drink. Every now and then a doctor
would drop around to see if Tremens was
still alive, and would 80 away very much
surprised to find that he was. Once lie
asked to be bathed in cold water, and as
the nurse sponged him nature assert
itself hercely and he darted his head for
ward biting at the sponge, but missed It
and fell back in faint.
For seventy hours the patient went
without drink. At the end of that time
he was an object 10 give a man bad
dreams. His eyes were points of fire
the skin of his face was like the crumplel
end of a drum and his teeth wouldn'
close because of the size of his tongue
1t became evident that he was near to
death of thirst which is about the most
unpleasant death known outside the his
tory of the Inquisition SO the doctors
decided to give him water. He was still
able to talk when they came to tell him.
"Will Il kill me?" he asked.
They said that it would.
Sure thing?"
Wei, they weren't 50 sure as they
would have been a short time before.
Tremens had destroyed some of their calm
and beautiful faith in themselves Still.
they didn't give him much encourage
ment. On the other hand he would surely
die If he didn't drink. They had been
moved to admiration by his stole endur-
ance of the torments and they preferred
to have him die in comparative comfort
All this they told him.
"Give me the water" whispered Trem-
ems. IF I've got 70 die I'd rather have
1t so. 1 can't stand this much longer,
anyway. But I think I'm going to pull
through"
He absorbed water like a dry sponge,
but not in a huge gulp, for they only let
him have it in driblets In the course of
two hours he had consumed nearly twO
quarts and he began to look almost like
live human being again. Then ne went
to sleep.
Heal die in his sleep probably" said
the house doctor. IT'S best so.
In the course of time Tremens awoke.
drank more water and said he was hun