The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-29
A SINGULAR CASE.


 One of the most singular cases that we have lately heard or read of is this reported by The Manchester (N. H.) Union:
 cynics may ind material for reflec-- young negro girl, who was badly burn ed in her home at Palmyra New Jer- sey. few weeks ago. GrAfts or flesn were declared by hospital surgeons to as this fact became known, volunteers began to pour In with offers to sacri- flee portions of their cuttcle. Odd as White W ana % on Wednesday. when efforts to obtain volunteers of the child's own race to submit to the removal of skin had proved futile, the surgeons accept ed the offers Of white persons.
 This is s queer case. any way we look at 1t. We are not informed as to the real reasons the negroes of the vicinity gave for not being willing to help the suffering child of their own race. It may have been the inhuman- ity not uncommon among them, or it may have been the result of some su- perstitious fear that to have part of their own euticls transferred to an- other person would bring bad luck to them. whatever may have been the governing cause of their brutal in- difference, there seems no doubt that the child might have been left to die before they would help her at the ex- pense of little pain to themselves. We are inclined to the opinion that cowardiee and brutality both had something to do with the matter.
 And we are equally in the dark as to the reason So many white people were willing to be deprived of portions of their skins to help the child. It is not stated whether or not all of these voi- unteers knew whether or not all of these volunteers knew that the burned child was negro, or whether that would have made any difference to them. Cases are frequently reported where both men and women-white ones, we mtan--have willingly submit. ted to having bits of their skin rernov. ed to supply others, and 1t may be that these willing volunteers cared nothing for the race or color of the needy one. It may be- also that some of them were actuated by curiosity to see what would De the effect of a white graft" on colcfed stock :"
 Whatever may have been the causes actuatins these volunteers, their of fers were accepted. or as many of them as were considered necessary. and the latest reports from the girl. an- nounced that the patient was doing nicely. and that the experiment. prom. ised to be a complete success. rhe ul- innate outcome of this strange incident will be watched with inter est, not only as to it's final success, but aS to its effect. We naturally sup pose that this engrafted skin will re- main white. and If the patches are pret- ty well distributed the girl can secure 6 good place in a museum. The spot ted girl from Borneo," or some other country would prove a drawing adver- tisement.
 We had almost forgotten another cu- rious feature of the case and that Is the action of the childs mother. When informed that skin-grafting was nec- essary the woman slipped away from the hospital and remained in hiding until she learned that the operation had l been performed and even then she re- sorted to a telephone to obtain infor- nation. We do not know whether she thought the doctors were going to skin her to relieve her child. or what was the cause of her trepidation. but she was plainly in a panic. Altogether 1t is a singular case and the outcome may be interesting.