The Holmes County times., 1906-04-13
BY MARGARET E. eANGsTER.

BY MARGARET E. EANGsTER.
BY the invalid / do not mean the
victim of an acute illness in whose
behalf doctors and nurses are in at
tendance, and who for the time mo-
nopolizes the attention of the entire
household. A grave attack Of disease
such as pleurisy, pneumonia or
typhoid, is thing to be met and
and fought with the courage, persist
ency and resource of the latest medical
skill, and with the continual vigilance
of the very best and most intelligent
nursing. When such an illness in
vades a home it Is turned at once into
a silent but energetic battlefield and
the campaign is not over until the pa
tient is fairly convalescent and pro-
nounced out of danger.
In any one Of dozen houses that
stand on a village street, or are close
ly crowded in the barrack-like con-
tiguity of the town, there may be q
chronic invalid. This person may be
young or old. 1t seems a little sadder
If he or she happen to be young, than
If inyalidism has laid it's withering
spell upon vitality when the sands are
almost run from the hour glass. Still
there are young old people and old
young people, and sunny tempera-
ment may triumph over feebleness
even when the invalid is beyond three
score years and ten. On the other
hand, a morose fretful and disagree
able disposition will make its possessor
a tyrant although she may be not
much beyond the twenties. Some
months ago one Of the monthly maga-
zines published an amusing story OF
a woman whose illness, partly real
and partly fancied, had made her look
older than the mother her caprices
were fast wearing out, and had trans
formed, her into a creature not unlike
a fiend. If any of us are really in
valids and cannot help ourselves we
may as well make up our minds to the
inevitable and not quarrel with fate
or repine at the will of God AS for
our friends, We may be sure that If we
are lovable they will be loving, If we
are serene and even tempered they will
find our company tolerable, and that
they will try to make our handicap as
light as possible.
An invalid's room should be warm
in winter and cool in summer. At
| this season it should be SO situated
that the sunshine will flood it, and
there should be some green things
growing, or towering plant or two
to give it that impression Of life and
health which is cordial and tonic to
a sufferer. It's walls should be paint
ed or papered in soft neutral tint
and there should not be too many
pictures. Nothing is more irritating
to nerves that are ajar than a wall
paper in discordant and inharmonious
tones with set pattern that repeats
itself over and over. The invalid sit
ting in her chair or lying on her bed
begins to count the rosebuds or the
geometric squares and counts on till
the dreary iteration makes her half
beside herself.
Everything about an invalid's room
ought to be keyed to an ideal of rest.
The furniture should not be crowded
in the room, nor is superfuous
amount of it at all desirable. A table
beside the bed large enough to hold
candle and candlestick, book or two,
not too large or too heavy for easy
handling, and if necessary, bottle of
salts or soothing drops is great con-
venience. Let me add here that unless
absolutely necessary medicines, pills,
potions and prescriptions of every va
riety should be kept out of sight. 1t
is not we'll for an invalid to have the
look and the odor of medicine for
ever thrust on the attention.
Whenever an invalid is able to en-
gage in light tasks, such as knitting,
making patchwork, helping child
with a puzzling lesson, or any other
occupation that is not too taxing, the
ennui Of the situation will be greatly
lessened. Idleness and folded hands
are terribly fatiguing. One would bet
ter get a little overtired from at
tempting something perhaps bit be-
yond her strength than be tired out
because there has been nothing to do.
One of the weariest experiences Of in
validism comes from being laid aside,
seeing the procession go BY, and re-
alizing that one Is out Of 1t.
If the invalid is fond Of music the
door Of the room may be set open so
that she may not lose the strains of
violin or piano when player is in the
house. For many years woman once
brilliant as rose in bloom, lay
chained to a couch, unable to move
hand or foot, cared for by devoted
husband and by nurses who relieved
one another, her mind all the time
Fplendidly dominant over her attenu-
ated frame, and her tortured nerves
One thing she was always able to en-
10Y, and that was music. So never
a day passed that music was not heard
in her chamber, the door set wide tAat
the performer on an instrument or the
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