Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-30
!" SMILING JOE" CURED
FAMOUS LITTLE PATIENT LEAVES
THE sEABREEZE HOME.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, June 29.-Almost everybody
| has heard of Smiling Joe" the plucky little
patient at the Seabreeze Home at Coney
! Island. A year ago he was taken there
and strapped to a bamboo frame, SO that
his little spine might have rest while
nourishing food and the salt air fought
away the tuberculosis germs that had 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 a 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 looked up at the
denly grew foggy. The President had to
turn away and wipe his eyes when he
looked down on that smile.
Smiling Joe" made Seabreeze famous:
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. Thousands read about
colony of tubercular cripples down on the
Coney Island shorA Every one who went
there wanted to see the little man who
smiled when HIS pain was greatest. Joe
Aoo hAOho tAoAlOFo tIdA ally pdtiCAt AA ZIG
hospital.
Joseph Barron is six years old. When
he was born, afflicted with bone c0nsump
tion.' 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 waking life when he was
free from pain.
One sunny June day last year little Joes
mother carried him up Surf avenue to the
Seabreeze Home and placed him in the
arms of Miss Thompson, who has charge
OF the home.
The wise doctors looked over his shrunken
little body and decided on heroic treatment.
1t was necessary that every ounce Of weight
and strain be taken Off his spine, and to
do this they had to strap him to a frame of
bamboo poles. This frame fitted tightly
against his back, and his little body was
almost at an angle. His head was free,
but from his shoulders to his feet he was a
tightly bound prisoner.
The hours. the days. the weeks the
months. pass slowly when one Is strapped
tightly In one position. They took Joe out
on the broad piazza Of the hospital, over
watch the stronger children romping in the
| sand. When the weather was cold he was
wrapped in blankets. But he was never
taken in doors except on very disagreeable
nights.
He lay there, in the open air. and every
time they spoke to him. his gentle smile
spread over his wan face.
Then the great day came when the doc
tors said they would take Smiling joe
from his frame. The little chap wanted to
leap to his feet instantly, but he had first
to learn to use them. A year strapped to
bamboo frame makes one forget to walk,
and little Joe had to learn again, Just like
year-old baby. In few days he was
able to toddle about the porch alone. Then
they allowed him to go on the beach.
Seabreeze will miss Smiling Joe. His
radiant smile made nurses and doctors
happy But it is the browning glory of the
wonderful institution that he is cured. They
have given him life and health, and his
smile may live in the world.