Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-10-18

r~g =a|tE t.EE 10y III I'LL dlSuAAVAS
with another younth. There was a
fight Young Lawles was stabbed in
the heart. He was placed In an auto
mobile and brought several miles to a
hospital. This took minutes and many
precious ones. When the patient was
finally placed on the operating table
he was still conscious. So startling
was the nature OF the wound that the
Oldest internes paled when they saw
the extent of the injury. Twelve
stitches were required to close the
cash through the heart muscles. The
patient lived. He was living when the
hospital authorities heard from him
last, and that was but a short time
since. His chance Of life when he
was brought into the hospital were
less than nothing. 1t was a notable
case Of the fooling Of death.
Men are hard to kill at times. Lit
tie Andrew Ceramic was accidentally
shot through the head. There vas no
doubt that the ball had penetrated
the brain tissue. No one expected the
child to live. Ten years ago death
would have been more than certain.
But surgery. and especially brain sur
gerry, has made long leaps in that time.
These leaps have benz forward. When
death did not ensue the eager In
ternes saw a chance to say a life.
They did. Little Andrew Ceramic
was discharged from the hospital a
few days ago. HA was apparently on
the road to a complete recovery in
spite of the mutilated brain tissue
that was plowed by the heavy bullet.
Death was tricked Of something that
seemed %certainl! his.
There is wonderful vitality in most
human tissues. 1t does not want or
intend to die. II fights against dtsso.
luton with the inherited vigor that
may have o,n down through ten
thousand generations. In order to
fool death the scientists have
learned to take advantage of all these
things. They have trained the war.
rior cells, the white blood corpuscles
to do things for them.
Thirty-three years was once the av-
erage life of man. Wars, famines ana
pestllences helped to cut down the
duration Of mans span. No one knows
now just how long the average life
Is any more. 1t is changing all the
time by getting longer.
Death used to reach out through
appendicitis and claim his victims In
spite Of the best efforts OF the man
who fought back at him with the
scalpel. There vas something wrong.
This was remedied and the death rate
sank and continues to sink. The good
surgeon has fooled death so often in
appendicitis 8 that 1t is no longer
looked upon as a particularly serious
operation.
Before that time, in the days when
the war hospitals were deadly beyond
the telling. al operation Of any sort
in one Of these places was grave.
They had not learned as yet how to
round up, slay and utterly destroy the
pus germs that were creeping every
where over the unsterilized beds and
planking. clinging to the clothing OF
the surgeon and floating in the hos
pital atmosphere. They do not exist
any more. They are guarded against
and watched by every attendant, op.
orator and inferno Of any hospital. The
death percentage from this has
sunk low and is sinking lower. 1t is
an everyday instance of puzzling. BAT
ding and fooling death.
If you love life you do well to be
living now. You have a better chance
to see more of 1t and live out more
years than you would have had II you
had lived yesterday. You will have a
still better chance tomorrow, for some
scientist poking around with a micro
scope may find something today that
will increase the average life span by
another decade. Some Metchnikon Is
apt to 90 to a step further and sur,
prise the secret of living a lew years
longer from outraged nature. You
have a better chance to swindle death
out OF a few years right now than
you would had you lived in the days
when germs were unheard Of and
bleeding was the most sovereign rem.
edy at the command of the healer.
Edward Schneider. a H6llander OF
middle age. went up on q smokestack
to do some painting. He was working
60 feet in the air when the scafolding
gave way. A rope. poorly fastened.
let a knot slip and he fell, the full 60
feet to the top of a shed, and bound
ed thence to the ground. 1t was q case
He Might Guess.