Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-13
PATHETIC CASES
WIRING HEARTS.
PECULIAR AILMENTS AT THE
COUNTY HOSPITAL
Forms of illnesses and Eccentricltles
of Patients Attract Attention of
Physicians In All Parts
of the World
BY T. SHELLEY SUTTON

There are many strange and pa
thetic things to be seen at any insti-
tute of public charges. but according
to well-traveled physicians who have
had occasion to visit the Los Angeles
county hospital there is no institution
of this kind in the east or west so re-
plete with peculiar characters and
| cases, or containing such a cosmopoli-
| tan mixture, as the Los Angeles in
stitute.
Mexicans, Russians. Chinese, Jap
anese, halfbreed Indians, Portuguese
and all other nationalities are quar-
tered there, with every conceivable all
ment, and from the moment one enters
the main dormitory he is profoundly
| impressed by the sights confronting
him.
Some are connical in the extreme.
even though seriously afflicted, for 1t
is not to be denied that certain all
ments produce certain nervous or men,
| tai eccentricities which are amusing to
the healthy observer, however sympa-
| thetically he may view them. The
| majority of cases, however. are pa
! thetic; some are almost tragical some
mysterious; some scientifically inter-
esting and others ridiculous; but in
the end, as we pass slowly through the
different corridors and wards and real
ize the conditions prevailing there, we
| think of it as great, dark labyrinth
| of misery.
| One old man, as I entered the insti-
tute yesterday, was standing at the end
of the dormitory hail. his pants-much
too large for him-wrapped almost
twice about his waist; his arms, long,
emaciated and bloodless so far as vis-
ible, stretched straight out to their
| f,,I 10, prth nj fi,1o hoolx cD1n6-
ically against the wall, His head was
bowed and bald; there was not a sign
of hair even on the back of 1t, and the
scalp was drawn tight down on his
skull, so that the seams of the skull
were visible through the scalp.
Has Peculiar Ailment
A white closely y-clipped beard COW
cred his swarthy and wrinkled face,
and, looking at him, ! wondered what
was his particular malady that caused
him to stand in such a strange position,
as one being crucified, his extended
arms nervously twitching and the
| backs of his hands beating the white
washed boards. He lifted his head
meaningless stare that puzzled me.
| His eyes were bloodshot, his lips
pressed tightly together. AS he saw
me looking at him his eyes frightened;
| the stare gave way to look of anger
and resentment; then he grabbed his
head and began to stamp his feet
An attendant passed at that moment
and l spoke to him:
what is the matter with the old
man? Is he crazy?"
"Oh, no. You see. it's nearly dinner
time and he thinks the dining room
man is too slow about ringing the bell.
The old fellow always gets so impatient
about meal time that we can't handle
him. After eating, though, he gets
all right again. Why, one day, few
months ago, he allowed his impatience
to get away with him so he actually
fell on the floor and began swearing
violently"
Hurry for Dinner
While I was talking to the attendant
"Uncle" Mclaughlin. the genial old
man in charge of the dining room
stepped into the corridor with an old
style dinner tocsin to ring for "mess. F"
About fifty paralytics consumptives
and other hungry invalids were lined up
against the walls, as close to the din
ing room door as possible, with eager
expressions on their generally distort-
ed or shrunken faces. The first tap of
McLaughlin's hand bell meant a rheu-
matte scramble for the long, white
tables, loaded with their plain. old
1aSn1Oned NlandS always served III
such an institute.
Nov, watch EN-" Mclaughlin said,
beginning to ring the bell. There
amt no cripples now. Just see 'em
hike into that grub room, will you?
Funny how fast those fellows can wig
gle when it's meal time"
And he gave the bell an extra hard
ring and returned to the dining room
with a grunt of genuine amusement
| = 1iccr cf
but, nevertheless, he was smiling.
I watched them, as lie told me. l
observed, too. it was really remark
able how rapidly some of those old
time rheumatic invalids walked to get
a good seat near the meat platters.
One old fellow, whom I had seen a
half hour before lamely hobbling down
a passageway from the north end Of
the institute, was suddenly so reju-
venated that he forgot his ailment.
The way he managed to reach the
table first and throw himself into a
good chair near the range would have
done credit to a college sprinter.
Resembles Campus
Another fellow, who had been grunt-
ing around on couple of sycamore
canes, left the latter standing near
the door and squeezed through to the
goal like a genuine long-haired
quarterback making touchdown.
Watching a certain part of the stam-
pede 1t seemed to me that the dining
room resembled a varsity campus for
couple of minutes more than it did
a messroom. But Mclaughlin was not
altogether right. There were great
many whose ailments still handicapped
them. Long after the majority were
seated and eating there were a score
still hobbling slowly toward the tables.
They had been with the first in the
start, but they were the last to sit.
Some of them had been in the hospital
many years. They had arrived at a
stage when neither meals nor bed could
interest them. A sup of milk, a few
bites masticated mechanically, then a
few more hours sleep; another day.
light; another night, and after awhile
mot long--the end of 1t.
That was what a great many of
them seemed to be looking to. Not a
few Of them have told me they are
anxious for it.
The last meal--the last bell.
The last sleep.
Dread Visiting Days
Many visitors at the county hospital
mean well and dispense much charity
and sunlight; but Notwithstanding
this, the two visiting days are always
dreaded by nurses and patients. Sum
day especially Is the one day of terror
for many of the cranks and chronic in
Valids.