New-York tribune., 1911-04-02

II never Suew infsntile paralysis va,
vuca o scourye as this" said the average
sunsn. her eyes big with sympathy ss
she locked about tho place
''Infsntile paralysis" said the doctor.
has attached Io06o children In the
United States slnce 1905. OF these 100000
enildrcn $4,000 died. and more than 10000
zero lef. with limbs misshapen and para
iySed-mede helpless for the struggle OF
i,fe At the present moment there arc
nearly $4,000 cases in this country
'T know, I've read those figures, but
never cAmo In contact with the thing be-
fore, and / never pictured - to myself.
I had to SEQ this" seld the average wom-
IN, ito realize the horror those figure
meant"
This" was the massage room at the
New YORK Hospital for Defornities and
Joint Diseases A long row OF tables
With padded tops filed one side of the
room; OF each table lay little child with
wasted. crooked limbs. over which expert
nasseuses were working Crowding the
other side OF the room, sitting when they
could end chairs, standing when they
could not. wee women and few men
mothers ard ia . ers, each carrying a little
crippled child, patiently waiting their turn
with the masseuses. And every one of
these children was a victim Of infantile
paralysis.
Some OF these parents" said the doctor
In an undertone. "have been bringing their
children here several times a week for three
and four years. The Improvement is very
slow. but there is an Improvement gen.
orally, and they keep on coming. The pa
tience Of the mothers and fathers is the
r,cst wonderful thing to me-
All through the big out patient depart
me1t OF the hospital IT was the same
crowds Of fathers and mothers. with chill
Cren showing almost every species of de-
fo-rnity under the sun, doctors and nurses
examining them, rubbing them. testing their
strength and weight TO find if they were
making progress The Hospital for De-
fornities and Joint Diseases was originally
three private houses-pleasant houses, look
ing westward from Madison avenue over
Mount Morris Park. Now the three houses
are connected in front by long balcony,
wrere on sunny days he crippled children
who are ward patients are tucked up in little
beds TO get the air. and physical culture
rooms wards. an operating room. a room
fo- electrical treatment, massage rooms,
ohiccs and a large dispensary have so
altered the interiors that il the former
occupants came back they wouldn't know
whore they were.
The physical culture room is unique"
said the doctor. as she led the average
woman down there. The doctor by the
ray was Or Jacoyn Manning. who, not
many years ago. was a physician with
Big practice in Eau Claire. Wis. There, in
he summe- OF 1908. came the epidemic of
nfantie paralysis which Eau Claire will
not soon forget-one hundred and sixty
seven children and adults. mostly children.
struck down in town and county. DR..
Manning as secretary of the West Wiscon-
sin District Medical Society, registered
these cases. as physician she treated some
of them And what she saw made her give
Up her practice and come to the city OF
laboratories and institutes for the study Of
disease. resolved to learn all there was TO
earn about infantile paralysis.
"One must not only learn. but he able 10
convince others she told the average
Voman. out I'm Eau Claire we Of the
County Medical Society knew it was a
,e.m disease and infectious, but do you
,hlnk we could convince the Board Of
Health? After the epidemic had begun a
air was held, in spite of all our remon-
strances; that helped TO spread fl. We could
never tell how much"
Down in the physical culture room DR..
Manning stopped 10 speak TO a demure
little girl who sat waiting for her turn at