New-York tribune., 1921-02-19
H. II. Br,aclN1ler
Stricken With
Sleep Sickness
Bronx Borough President,
Overcome at Meeting
of Board of Estimate.
LIS Taken TO Sanitarium
II New Cases i'm a Day
DIR. Copeland Reports 203
Patients and 53 Deaths
i'm City Since January /

Henry R. Bruckner, Borough .Presi-
dent of the Bronx, was pronounced 8
victim of sleeping sickness yesterday
shortly after he was obliged to leave
session of the Board of Estimate be-
cause of his inability to remain awake
DR.. j. Ralph Jacoby, specialist in
nervous diseases, diagnosed the case
and confirmed Mr.. Bruckner's own state
ment that he was positive he was suf-
fering from encephalitis lethargica,
Accompanied by Mrs. Bruckner, the
official departed on an afternoon train
for Providence, r. T., where he will
undergo treatment at sanitarium.
The Bronx President told newspaper
men and other. members of the Board
of Estimate who accompanied him
from the board room that he was "see-
ing double" and that there seemed to
be a partial paralysis of the nerves of
= the eye. He expressed himself as GER
tain that he had sleeping sickness.
Mr.. Bruckner said he had been try
ing hard to fight off an extreme drowsi-
ness that had obsessed him, both at his
home and at his Office in the Bronx,
COR the last several weeks. He had
not been at the Board of Estimate
meeting but fews minutes when, in
q husky voice, he asked to be ex-
eused.
Sleeps 16 Hours a Day
"I have been sleeping on an average
Il
n month" Mr.. Bruckner remarked after
hold up my head. fall asleep if l sit
quietly for any length of time and
when l retire l find it nearly impossi-
Die to get out of bed again. Just now
it is my desire to get to some quiet
place, close my eyes and Sleep"
Another symptom which the Bronx
Borough President said convinced him
that he had sleeping sickness was his
inability to concentrate on matters per-
tanning to his office.
Il can see two of you in front of
me-" said Mr.. Bruckner, as he addressed
one of his escorts. "My eyes seem to
leaving City Hall in the company of
his secretary, Thomas Dolan, he said
he had hoped to sit through the ses-
sion, but found it impossible.
Mrs. Bruckner was notified of her
husbands condition and joined him at
the Grand Central Station, where they
took the train for Providence.
Mr.. Dolan told Tribune reporter
that his chief had been fighting vail
antly to overcome his illness for four
weeks or more.
"He would come to his office in the
Bronx, determined to perform the days
orlr no1a
anything we could say, he insisted on
but he would fall asleep repeatedly at
his desk and then would arouse him
se.f by sheer force of will. We knew
there was something wrong, but Mr..
Bruckner's own wonderful vitality
seemed to keep him up, although he
was obliged to stay at his home for
several days at stretch. He had not
been to City Hall for about three
weeks
Physician Confirms Diagnosis
DR.. Jacoby declined to discuss the
case of his client, saying that to do so
would violate the ethics of his profess
sion. He did say, however, that there
was no question about the sleeping
sickness diagnosis.
Mr.. Dolan said the physician ad-
vised that Mr.. Bruckner would have to
forego all duties and take a complete
rest for about six weeks. The official,
he said, would stay at Providence only
for few days, according to the pres
ent plan, when he would choose some
quiet place to go and regain his health.
The case of Mr.. Bruckner is one of
seventeen additional cases Of the mys-
terious disease that were reported here
yesterday. Dr. Louis |. Harris, director
of the Bureau of Preventable Diseases
Of the Health Department, reported
fifteen of them, four of which have de-
veisped in Manhattan, nine in Brook
lyn and two in the Bronx. Health De-
partment figures show that there have
asen 2o3 cases and fifty-three deaths
reported since January l.
Medical officials have been able to
offer no explanation as to the origin of
1ae malady, or its causes. Whether it
- caused by germ Or other agency
has not been ascertained. 1--WE don't
know where or what the disease comes
from," Commissioner of Health Cope
land said The reason for it seems to
lle IL tie fact that it is a winter-time
sisease. February of last wear was the
5"oath Of the largest number of cases
ported, although at that time physi-
zsans were not reporting all the cases
- this department. | don't think there
,se any more cases this year than last.
:, suppose the interest in the cases re-
~&cted lies largely in the fact that sew
,sral prominent persons have become
sSlteted with the malady."
Is Fifty Years Old
Borough President Bruckner Is fifty
years old, and his home is at 95S Grant
Avenue, the Bronx, in the Twenty-sec-
ond Congre ssional District, which he
served as member of Congress for
wo terms prior to his election as the
Iammany candidate for Borough Presi-,
dent in November, 1917. His term ex-
plres this year.
Aside from his official duties as Bor-
ough President he is president of
Bruckner Brothers, soda water manu-
facturers, of 4l2 East 161st Street. He
has accumulated considerable wealth,
it is said. and is director of the viii
ton Realty Company and the American
Metal Cap Company.
He married Helen zobel, OF this city.
in 1904. He has three children-Henry'
John and William