Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-07-13
"SMlLlNG JOE"
At LAST CURED
NOted Little Cripple Strap
ped to Bamboo Frame
Now Free


erybody has heard of smiling joe"
the plucky little patient of the Sea-
breeze home at Coney Island.
year ago he was taken there and
strapped to bamboo frame so that
his little spine might have rest while
.nourishing food and the salt air
fought away the tuberculosis germs
that made him a cripple since his
birth.
Today Smiling joe is well. He
has, been released from the bamboo
frame. He runs and romps and plays
in the sand. His old pathetic smile
now is happy grin.
President Roosevelt visited Seabreeze
last year and fingered long beside the
cot of Smiling joe" The little fellow
could hardly fiutter his thin hand. but
his brave smile was there as he look
ed up at the man with big teeth and
glasses that suddenly grew foggy. The
president had to turn away and wipe
his eyes when he looked down on that
smile.
Smiling Joe" made Seabreeze Ia
NOUS Jacob Riis wrote a magazine
story about him, and his picture as he
lay strapped in his bamboo frame was
printed in all the newspapers. Thou
sands read about him and became in
terested in the little colony of tuber-
cular cripples down on the Coney ISL
and shore. Everyone who went there
| 60 yHnn L.
ed when his pain was greatest Joe
| had more visitors than any patient In
the hospital.
| Joseph Burns is 6 years old. When
he was born, afflicted with bone con-
| sumption" there didn't seem to be
much hope for him. He was two years
old before he was able to walk and
there was never a moment of his wax.
ing life when he was free from pain.
One sunny June day last year Tfttl'
Joes mother carried him up Surf ave
nue. to the Seabreeze home and placed
him in the arms of Miss Thompson
who has charge of the home.
The wise doctors looked over hi
shrunken little body and decided oil
heroic treatment. It was necesEar.
that every ounce Of weight and strai
be taken off his spine, and to do thi
they had to strap him to frame q
bamboo poles. This frame fftte
tightly against his back, and his littl
body was almost at an angle. HIS hea
was free, but from his shoulders to hi
feet he was a tightly-bound prisoner
The hours, the days, the weeks, tn
months pass slowly when one is strap
ped tightly in one position. They too
Joe out on the broad piazza of tn
hospital overlooking the ocean, an
there he could watch the stronger chil
dren romping in the sand. When tn
weather was cold he was wrapped Il
blankets. But he was never taken in
doors except on very disagreeabl
nights.
He lay there, in the open afr. an
every time they spoke to him, his gen
tie smile spread over his wan face.
Then the great day came when tn
doctor said they would take "Smiln
Joe'' from his frame. The little cha
wanted to leap to his feet Instant!
but he had first to learn to use then
A year strapped to a bamboo fran
makes one forget to walk, and littl
Joe had to learn again, just like
year-old baby. In few days he wa
able to toddle about the porch aien
EThen they allowed him to go on tn
.beach.
Seabreeze will miss Smiling Joe
His radiant smile made nurses an
doctors happy. But 1t is the crownin
glory OF this wonderful institutio
tthat ne is cured. They have given his
Iiife and health, and his smile may liy
i'm the world.