The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-20

lives OF the human wrecks In this har-
Dor. All that can be done is 10 ad-
minister food and shelter and medi-
sine where medical aid is needed.
On every side Is shown the penalty
that he who fails in life must pay
Count your blessings to-day and be
Had that fate has placed no handicap
lpon your mind or upon your body to
make you lose the fight
But to the truth that Is stranger
han fiction:
Beside a radiator in the hall sits a
nan who was probably almost six feet
all ere he became bent and emaciated.
Va you pass him, he sits uSobservant.
lis eyes are sad and vacant, staring
nto oblivion. You pass again and
jpeak cheerily He pays no heed
is the man blind or deaf or dumb?"
you ask the superintendent.
"No-he can speak both English and
ierman, but he win not talk" replies
superintendent Bartlett. we have
ad him several years, He came here
rom Elgin, where he was in the
sylum"
And then the superintendent told all
Ie knew of the case. The man was
1und originally near Elmhurst, ILL.,, in
l cornheld. He was then. as now, In
, sort of trance. Physicians studied
is case and used every effort to as.
artain his particular ailment At
lst they decided they knew about as
ruch regarding him as did an Irish
innate who gave his evidence thus:
"Oive watched him fer days and
ays. an OIvo led him e eat mlny a
oime, TIL mans hynltized, plumb
hypnitized!"
Speaking 10 him has no effect, A
rudge, however, will send him TO the
lining room and another suggestion Of
this character will start him to eat
'ng. After the meal he returns to his
ahair in the hallway There he sits
III day with that vacant stare in his
eyes
On one occasion. he ran away and
vas gone eleven days. The superin-
icndent found him In the field He
fence and was trying to subsist on
grass and leaves. He was returned
IN the county house and has since
made no effort to escape Occasional.
ly he Is eccentric in his actions, but
hts general tenor is that of absolute
oblivion.
His face has an intelligent look, his
forehead is high, and something about
him suggests that he may be of good
family What tragedy turks behind
his silence probably never will be
known, Possibly at Christmas time
In some home a place is spread for
him who went away and never re-
turned. It may be that somewhere a
woman mourns him or child yearns
to call him father-but whatever the
facts are, he sits there in the hallway
forever silent. forever gazing into the
vacuum OF his own diseased thoughts
"a piece of debris that washes hither
and thither with the flotsam and the
jetsam OF eternity,
o o o
BY the Way.
1t is cheaper to take plenty OF ex'
orcise than it is to pay the smallest
hospital bill.
4 4 n
or course II you have one you don't
want. you can take II back and ex'
change It for something equally fool
ish.
4 4 4
There is really no reason for a Chi
cagoan TO go south for mud baths, He
can get them on Van Buren stree. or
Archer Avenue any day after II
rains.
4 = n
Is there a man among us who had
thirty,hve cents left after paying for
all his Christmas presents? Base
miser, do you net know it is gold that
makes the heart glow cold and
clammy like rubber ball left out In
the horse trough? Easu