The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-17

Special to The Globe.
WASHINGTON, d. c., Aug. 16.-At
this time of the year one of the most
important things before the public is
the applicability of the newest methods
for reSuScitating the drowned.
A large portion of our population be-
comes practically amphibious at this
season, and the risks of loss of life
through drowning are very numerous.
The development of the use of the
houseboat, the yacht and the popular
summer resort, have brought this about
more conspicueusly than anything else.
The life saving service here, whilst
utilizing, to a certain extent, the meth
DDS developed by DR.. Laborde, of Paris,
has added others of their own, which
are to be used at the life saving sta
tions of the country generally during
the coming year.
A notable case which occurred re-
Gently at Anglesy, N. j., demonstrated
the practicability of their system. The
fve-year-old child of Mr.. Holmes was
during squall, thrown out of boat,
and remained at least thirty minutes
under water before Capt. Ludlam and
members of the Hereford life-saving
station were able to rescue the appar-
emily lifeless body.
Revived After Four Hours.
OF course no time was lost when the
body was secured in attempting to re-
suscitate the child, although all signs
OF life had ceased, and the task was an
apparently hopeless one. After three
hours of the very hardest kind of work
the child betrayed not the slightest
sign of life. But after persiSting an
other hour or more they We're rewarded
by slight indications of returning con-
seriousness In another half hour he
had been completely revived.
This is the banner instance of work
In this line accomplished by any life
saving station in the United States
Beyond this the most extraordinary
case on record anywhere is said to have
occurred at the sea port of Oleron,
France, in 1774. 1t was that of lad of
fifteen who was rescued after submer-
sion for nearly an hour. The only de-
tails given concerning his treatment
are that he was rubbed, bled and treat
ed with laxative enemata and finally
recovered completely after several
days.
There is no proof beyond the public
ity of the story in the Annals dHygi-
enc.
Whether or not, however, such ac-
counts as this one be true it is certain
that where submersion has not lasted
more than an hour life should not be
despaired of entirely, and with the
new methods in vogue there are album
dant resources which should be faith
Success will, in many cases, require
combination of exceptional qualities
in the operator. Primarily he should
have intelligence and be very cool and
collected, apply established remedies
most Systematically, and finally should
persevere until there can be no posi-
BILE doubt of life being quite extinct.
May Take Five Hours.
To show how long efforts to resus-
oil 70 To icrl,f lN,O i
ing to the reports of the Royal Humane
society, and the statements of Esmarch
and Won NusSbaum, it may take fully
five hours to bring the person back to
condition in which signs of returning
life begin to be visible.
No one has yet solved the problem of
the time which elapses between ap-
parent and real death. 1t probably
never will be decided, as cases vary
enormously.
People have been pronounced dead
and lamented over, and finally after
days have interviewed and the body was
taken to the graveyard for burial signs
of consciousness have betrayed them
selves. In cases which occur in the
hospital far more persons who have
been taken to the morgue as dead re-
cover than we hear of, as faculties are
never anxious to publish accounts of
things which might reflect on their i'm
maculateneSS.
There should be considerable differ
ence made in judging the symptoms of
death between those who have been
supposedly drowned, and such as ex-
pire from other causes.
AS rule, the turning cold Of the
body is a pretty fair sign that the
grand collapse has come when a per-
son dies in bed of in other way than by
immersion.
In cases of drowning, even where re-
suscitation is comparatively quick, the
heart ceases to beat and the body turns
cold. In such cases, however, those
who have been drowned are never re-
ally dead from a scientific standpoint.
The vital principle in dormant con-
dition remains in the body long after
the ordinary tests have indicated the
suspension of life.
The basis of DR.. Labordie's system
of resuscitation is tongue traction, and
the doctor has in many cases restored
life after it has been apparently ex-
tinct for three or four hours
A case of a sailor who had merely
heard of the doctors invention is quot
ed by French medical journal when
boy, who had been under water for
about half an hour, was restored after
three hours work on the tongue. This
was by simply moving the tongue back
or forth in the mouth, rhythmic action
of the tongue.
Suffocation and Syncope.
1t is a means one can easily employ
to save another, even if alone, by the
w.w,r- - ILL.,