Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1891 — Curing a Blind Giant. [ARTICLE]

Curing a Blind Giant.

Calcutta is a fine, large city on the northeast coast of India, and one who lived there tells a strange but true story of how a doctor cured the biggest patient he ever had. The patient was a huge elephant, who for a long time had suffered from a disease in his eyes, which at last get so bad that he could not see. His owner, an English officer, went to Doctor Webb and begged him to come and see what could be done. He did, and after looking carefully at the giant creature the doctor said: “The best cure that I knqw of is nitrate of silver; but it wiU give a good deal of pain.” Well, the owner said he had better try, and if the animal would not allow' it he must give it up. But—would you believe it —the elephant, like most of his race, was just as wise as he was big, found so much relief from his first day’s doctoricg that when Doctor Webb visited him the next dav he lay down of his own accord, placed his great heavy head on one side, curled up his trunk, and then, just as you or I might if we werei, going to bear some dreadful pain, he drew in his breath and lay perfectly still. The healing mixture w as dropped into each eye, and when the sharp, short pain was gone he gave a great sigh, as much as to say, “That’s a good thing got over.. I feel all the better for it.” When he got up he tried, in his poor dumb fashion, to thank his friends for giving him back his sight.