The Washington herald., 1913-03-24
HAS spent SO
. YEARS in bed
Remarkable Invalid Will OBJ
serve Eightieth Birthday
Anniversary in Hospital.
WHEN Fl WAS TAKEN ILL
typhoid Fever Leaves Philadelphia
Woman Hopelessly
Bedridden.


special arrangement made by the Sisters
Of Charity in charge of St Josephs Hos
pitaI, Seventeenth Street and Girard
Avenue. Miss SybilIa Schnatz, after being
confined TO her .bed for fifty-nne years.
will celebrate her eightieth birthday anni-
versary next Friday in bright and
cheerful room in that Institution. She
has not been able to move about since
she was young girl twenty-one years
old. No other incurable patient has ever
been taken care of in st. Joseph's Hospital
and the arrangements for Miss SchnatZ .
admission there were made by the Sisters
in charge of the institution at the soliCita-
ton of friends of the woman. who Were
anxious that she might be allowed to end
her long, cheerful life in comfort and
among pleasant surroundings. -
Until last summer she resided in the
home of her sister. Mrs. A Sullivan,
1T36 North Twenty-seventh Street. Her
last birthday anniversary was enjoyed in
the house, 1S49 North Van Pelt Street.
from which Mrs. Sullivan removed TO
North Twenty-seventh Street. Mrs
Sullivan said yesterday that it was with
regret that she parted with her sister
when she was taken TO the hospital. for
although she has been helpless almost
three-score years, she had always been
so happy and cheerful that il was
pleasure to care for her needs. But Mrs.
Sullivan is no longer young. and it was
almost impossible for her to continue to
care for her invalid sister in the manner
she had been accustomed TO do. Through
the efforts of friends of the woman ar
rangements We're made to care for her
and give her n home in the Catholic
hospital. thereby assuring her of pro-
fessional care and exceedingly pleasant
surroundings and comforts throughout
her remaining days.
Wants to Live Long.
Since her admittance to the institution
her health has continued about as it
had been during her long invalid life in
her sisters home She continues 10
have good sight and spends most of her
time reading. She takes great delight
in talking with her few near friends
and those people in the institution who
see her, and she expressed a hope only
a few days ago that she might continue
to live for many years. Her patience is
remarkab BILE. Rarely has any person
heard her complain during all her long
years of confinement to her room.
When Miss Schnatz was twenty-one
years old she was taken i'll with typhoid
fever and after her recovery from this
disease she was helpless and unable 20
move from her bed except when as
sisted. and could not sit up more than
few minutes at a time 1t was at
first thought that possibly her condi-
tion would improve or that she could
be cured: but. after waiting for a long
time and trying practically every treat
ment that medical skill could provide,
she finally resigned herself TO her fate.
For more than half century she has
lived with no hope of ever rising from
her cot and walking unassisted.
More Than 2I..Oe Hours Abed.
More than 1850 hours of her life
have been spent in bed. The only times
she has been out of doors were when
her sister changed her residence during
the time she lived with her. and when
she was taken to the hospital from the
Van Pelt Street house. That trip, which
doubtless will be her last was the first
one the woman had had for about
year. the last one being when her ss1er
moved into the house from which she
was taken to the institution
Although the unfortunate woman has
never been permitted to look upon many
of the new inventions that have come to
benefit mankind during the :-ears that
she has heen confined to ner room, she
il, however. thoroughly familiar with
the advances that have beer made This
is due to the fact that she has been a
constant reader and has devoted much
OF her time to the reading of technical
and scientific publications. When she
was taken i'll with the fever there We're
few railroads in the country; electric
cars were unknown. and telephones,
Photographs automobiles and aeroplanes
We're scarcely dreamed of She has seen
trolley cars and automobiles fro1 her
window, and has talked over the tclc-
phone. but she has never seen an aero
plane. To a number of her friends she
has expressed a great desire to see ore
in flight.
Franklin Pierce was President of the
United States the Crmean war in prog
ress. and the civil war yet to be fought
when Miss SChnatz was taken ill.