The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-12-21

on the matter as could, and escaped from the
Office after thanking the doctor for his examina-
ton. When I got outside, as I stood on Doctor
Janeway's stoop, felt stunned. It seemed to
me the world had suddenly grown dark. The sun
was shining, 1t is true, and the street was filed
with the rush Of noise and traffic, but to me the
whole world had lost every vestige Of brightness.
had consumption-that most fatal of diseases
Had not seen it In all its horrors in my broth
er's case? It meant death and I had never
thought Of death beforeI Was I ready to die?
How could tell my wife, whom had just left
in unconscious happiness with the little baby In
our new home? And my rose-colored dreams Of
achievement and professional success in New
York; They were all shattered now and in their
place only exile and the inevitable end re-
mained!"
Trudeau thought that If he had only short
time to live he would like to spend It in the
peace of the great wilderness" He decided to
go to the Adirondacks because Of his love for
the great forest and the wild life. In May, 1873,
after long, tiresome journey, he and friend
reached Paul Smiths, a famous hunting lodge In
the Adirondacks. Mrs. Paul Smiths brother car
ried Trudeau upstairs, and put him down the
bed. Trudeau says he made the comforting re
mark: why, Doctor, you don't weigh no more
than a dried lamb-skinI !" But Trudeau didn't
mind for he was so happy to be in his beloved
woods once more that he forgot the hardships
of the trip.
Life in the mountain wilderness did wonders
for him. In September he returned to the city
with gain of Is pounds. But he soon lost
ground again in his fight for health and again
he went to the Adrondacks to spend the sum-
mer. Then he decided to spend the winter there
too, but it was with difficulty that he persuaded
Paul Smith to permit him to stay, for so deep
rooted was the belief that consumptive should
seek warm climate and avoid colds and storm
that Smith did not want to be a party to the
consequences If Trudeau subjected himself to
the rigors Of Adirondack winter. Trudeau
won the argument however, and stayed On his
hunting trips during that winter the observa-
tons began which resulted in complete revolu-
ton in the treatment Of this disease.
IT found" said Doctor Trudeau, that could
not walk far enough to stand much chance Of
seeing any game or getting shot without feel
ing sick and feverish next day, and this was
the first intimation had Of the value Of the
rest cure. walked very little after this, and
my faith in the cure became more and more
fully established"
From this time Trudeau's health improved
and it was not long before he began casting
about for ways and means to let other sufferers
share In the benefits he was deriving He
CHANGED to read of a Silesian sanatorium, Doc
tor Brehmer's, and he began working on the idea
of one for the Adirondacks.
No information was available on the building
of sanatoria, but Doctor Trudeau felt that close
housing should be avoided and that segregation
such could be secured by the cottage plan
was preferable, as by this means abundant fresh
air supply could be secured and the irritation
OF constant close contact with strangers avoided.
Friends in New York began contributing funds
and Little Red" was the first cottage built. It
consisted Of single room, IA by Is, with a
small porch 1t was furnished with two beds and
was heated by wood-burning stove. This little
cottage, now kept as relic and museum, was
the first sanatorium in the United States where
the modern treatment Of tuberculosis was given.
As Doctor Trudeau's work became known he
began receiving the cooperation of leaders in the
medical profession, and his sanatorium became
an assured success. His single-handed fight to
regain his own health had resulted In so much
good to others that he was looked upon as a
leader in his ield,and when the National Tuber-
culosis association was formed In 1904 he was
unanimously chosen its first president
In the years from 1898 to 1904, when the sana-
torium was growing so rapidly, great sorrow
came to Trudeau and his wife, In these years
they lost their daughter, Chatte a beautiful
young girl, and their son, Ned, a young man OF
great promise, who had just started to practice
medicine in New York. In speaking Of his sons
death, Trudeau says: Through all these terrible
dark days. the tender sympathy and love Of our
friends and his friends shone and shines even
now, like soft light In the midst Of impene-
trable gloom"
In spite Of his sorrow and failing health, Tru-
deau kept his own light burning. It is burning
still, although Trudeau died in 1915 The Tru-
deau sanatorium at Saranac lake is the living
symbol of Trudeau. The Trudeau spirit is still
alive there and It wiz live as long as the Der.
sonality of this man Is remembered Il Is Ike a
lamp set in the wilderness for all those who need
help and comfort In their battle against tuber-
culosis and the CHEEKY colors of this years
Christmas seals at once tribute to Edward
Livingston Trudeau and beacons Of hope to those
stricken by the white plague
eby Western Newspaper Union.