Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-01-11
A REMARKABLE CASE.
How Tcnneesee Negro WAS Cured
of Jon@-stnnding Men
tai Amiction.

"Speaking of unexpected discoveries
in therapeutics said Tennessee man
the other evening in a physicians office,
according to the Detroit Free Press,
81 cured a crazy man once in less time
than it takes to tell it, Permanently
cured him, too, and yet my means will
scarcely he adopted generally by in
stitutions for the treatment of the
mentally affected.
at happened this way: We had a
colored boy who al the>age of ten years
had been kicked in the head by horse
and almost killed. When he got on
his feet again he was of his head so
to speak, and had all kinds of queer
notions. lie grew no worse as he grew
older. and. while he could not he trust
ed with any important tasks, he was a
very fair general utility boy about the
house and kitchen. BY the time he
was 20 he had become powerful fel-
low. and | used him as a kind of a man
to look after my effects and drive for
me One day we came in late from
call. and he was acting ugly, but he
had such spells. and ] took no particu-
lar notice of it. My dinner had been
kept for me and | told Henry to go
down to the kitchen and bring it up.
lie obeyed in a surly fashion, and just
after he had put the things on the table
and | had begun 10 eat he gave an
omnous growl and sprang at my
| throat
81 was no wealiling myself, but was
no match for the negro, sitting down,
and the fight would have gone hard
with me. but | managed to get one
arm loose and | reached for a heavy,
old-fashiuned glass salt cellar near my
plate With this ! began humping
away at the boys head wherever
could hit it, and before he had succeed
ed in doing me much injury had
cracked his skull and knocked him in
sensible. Other servants had come to
the rescue in the meantime. and when
they had cleared away the wreckage l
looked like butcher and my black boy
looked like beef / thought ] had
killed him, but as soon as | could get
my nerves steady and my muscles in
shape again / set to work on him to see
the extent of the damage.
81 found his scalp cut in score of
places by the sharp corners of the salt
cellar and his skull fractured just over
the place where the horse had kicked
him ten years before. He was still un-
conscious. but alive all right, and. fixing
mp the cuts, had him carried off to his
bed until | could recover somewhat be-
fore undertaking to repair the frac-
ture. At six o'cIocE ~ the evening he
WAS still unconscious, and, calling in
annt her physician, we at once went
after the break in his skull. 1t was a
| case of trcphining, hut not difficult
one. and before n great while we had
relieved the pressure, the patient
showed signs of improvement, and
when we left him in the care of nurse
| he was sleeping naturally, Next morn
| ing when / went to see him he was
awake, and l was startled by the
changed expression of his eyes. The
old look of the mentally unbalanced
person was gone and there was in its
place the clear eve of the sound mind
felt then that ! had done something
| l Hdu not IHOuSHI VI uOihS' p"' was
not sure, and sent at once for the other
physician. When he came ! simply told
him to look at the patients eyes. He
did so, and then he looked at me al
most as if he were frightened We did
not have to tell each other anything.
We knew we had cured the boy of his
insanity, and though he was too weak
just then to realize the great change
that had come to him yOu may be sure
he did as he grew stronger, and when
he was able to get out of bed a week
later he had as clear "A mind as any
body"
| rronYIn1rnr mn or,nrD Iy1rr