Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1893 — WITHOUT A LARYNX. [ARTICLE]

WITHOUT A LARYNX.

Remarkable Effort at Speech With a Closed Windpipe. Fourteen months ago Dr. J. SolisCohen of Philadelphia, in an operation for the removal of cancer, cut away his patient’s larynx and closed up the windpipe. The man breathed through a tube inserted in the operation of tracheotomy. He has recently acquired speech with his windpipe closed. Dr. Solis-Cohen is the throat specialist of Jefferson College, and the operation of cutting away the larynx was performed at his clinic. The man on whom the operation was performed was then and is still an inmate of the Philadelphia Hospital. Six months after the operation was performed Dr. Solis-Cohen noticed the man making guttural sounds. Wondering how they were made, he examined the movements of the man’s mouth, and the process of the sound’s formation was explained. The man drew the air into his mouth and down his throat to where it was sewed together, and then, compressing it, forced it out between the throat muscles, which, acting as the vocal chords, produced the sounds. At the annual meeting of the American Laryngological Association in New York Dr. Solis-Cohen exhibited the man to the best known throat specialists in the United States. They pronounced it one of the most wonderful feats of modern laryngological surgery. The man sang for them, and talked so that they could distinctly hear his voice thirty feet away. Dr. Solis-Cohen had intended to exhibit the man's larynx, which was removed whole and preserved, to the association, but, unfortunately, it arrived too late. ' Dr. Solis-Cohen, who asked for an account of the case, said : “ I found the man in the Philadelphia Hospital over a year ago suffering from cancer of the larnyx. The disease had advanced to such a stage that it was necessary to adopt heroic measures, and I determined to out the larnyx out. As patients in such cases usually die after the operation of pneumonia caused by the mucus and pus running down into the lungs, I devised the following plan: Before cutting out the diseased larynx I opened his windpipe and inserted a tube, so that he could breathe. Then I sewed it up tightly between the aperture and the larynx and performed the operation. No mucus could possibly get down into the lungs, and I was well pleased with the result of the operation. Of course, I never anticipated this curious result. The wounds healed nicely, and all communication between his and mouth ceased. One day about six months ago, when I was talking to him in the hospital, I noticed he was attempting to talk, and was succeeding in making some sounds. Asking him if ho could do this at will, he replied that he could, and so I encouraged him to continue his efforts. He gradually learned to use his throat muscles with better results, and now, considering the condition he is in, talks remarkably well. The aperture in his throat, too, healed nicely, and he only uses* the tube in the daytime now, taking it jut when ho goes to bed at night. The man is a teamster, about 50 years old, and, up to the time of the development of the cancer, was a healthy man.—[New York Suu.

Diplomacy Junketing. “Nearly all of the members of the foreign legations at Washington,” said a gtate Department official to me, “are always ready foj a free junket a( the expense of the government, and they are not afflicted with any modesty in pressing their claims on the State Department. If the department yielded to all their demands the contingent fund at the disposal of the Secretary would be exhausted in the first three months of every fiscal year. I will mention a case in point. The State Department issued Invitations to all the legations at Washington to visit the opening of the World’s Fair. Each legation was requested to state how much space it desired to occupy in the special train. One of the smaller legations put in an applition for eleven sectlonsl Did he get them? Hardly. Secretary Gresham notified the minister that one section had been placed at his disposal. Think of a legation with not over half a dozen employees applying for eleven sections. Doubtless tne minister intended to transport the entire social colony of his nation in Washington to Chicago at Uncle Sam’s expense. He was no marked ex - ception to the rule. Had Secretary Gresham honored all the requests made by the members of the Diplomatic Corps he would have been compelled to secure four or five special trains instead of one.” —[New York Press.

A Great New State. Young America builds bigger than his forefathers. Wyoming is not an exceptional'.'y large State, yet it is as big as the six States of New England and Indiana combined. Indiana itself is the size of Portugal, and is larger than Ireland. It is with more than ordinary curiosity that one approaches Wyoming during a course of study of the new Western States. From the palace cars of the Union Pacific railroad, that carries a tide of transcontinental travel across its full length, there is little to see but brown bunch-grass, and yet we know that on its surface of 36 > miles of length and 275 miles of width are many mountain ranges and noble river-threaded valleys of such beauty that a great block of tne land is to be forever preserved in its pretent condition as the Yellowstone National Park. We know that for years this had been a stockman’s paradise, the greatest seat of the cattle industry north of Texas—the stampingground of the picturesque cowboys who had taken the place of the hunters who came from the most distant points in Europe to kill big game there. We know that in the mysterious depths of this huge State the decline of its first great activity was, last year, marked by a peculiar disorder that necessitated the calling out of troops; but that was a flash in a pan, much exaggerated at a distance and easily quieted at the time. For the rest, most well-informed citizens outside the State know nothing more than the misnaming of the State implies, for the pretty Indian word Wyoming, copying the name of a historic locality in the East, is said to mean “plains land.”— [Julian Ralph, in Harper’s Magazine. Black lace forms the fabric of u vast number of capes and collarettes, and will be much used in dresses also. A novelty among lace materials for gowns shows chrysanthemums of various shades of light brown and yellow on double black net.

This Dog is an Opium Fiend. There is a dog belonging to some Chinese vegetable gardeners that live in Fresno county, Cal., that does not understand a word of English, but obeysthe word of his Celestial master with the greatest alacrity. The Chinamen have a name for the dog that sounds something like “Waw,” but just what it is doesn't matter. Waw has got the opium habit to an alarming extent, and many days will consume more of the drug than his master. Just how he learned to smoke is something! his pig-tailed owners have forgotten orwon’t tell. They say that he alwayssmoked ever since he was a pup. His habit has endeared him to the Chinamen, and he has a bunk all to himself, fitted with pipes, lamps and all things necessary to indulge in the habit. Waw, as soon as he wakes in the morning, whines for his pipe, and what is more he always gets it. After finishing one pipe he eats his breakfast and. runs arouna for a short time, when he comes back and gets another. If all the men are out in the fields and Waw wants to smoke he simply goes out and whines at the first one he meets. It makes no difference who it is, the man will drop his work at once and go to the house and fill Waw’s pipe. The man arranges everything, preparing the bplum carefully. Waw takes the pipe stem in his moutb. and the Chinamen holds the alcohol* flame over the drug. The dog has a hard time making it draw, but he always succeeds and never stops until he baa consumed all. Sometimes one pipe is all he wants, but at others he wfll want four or five before he goes to sleep*. When he is satisfied he curls himself upend goes to dreamland. But he really looks as if he were dead. He doesn’t, move in the least,and his breathing is so low that it can hardly bo heard. Sometimes his sleep lasts for hours, and the» when he wakes he is a perfect wreck. He shakos as if he had the ague, and it it some time before he can jump dows. from his bunk.—[New York Telegram..

A Pawn-Broking ExperimentNotice is served in the Christian. Uniow of the impending trial of an eleemosynary experiment which has long beendiscussea, and is of unusual interest. In* August or September the People’s Bank. Association hopes to open the first of. several model pawn offices for the poor. The newspapers abound from day to day with stories telling how hard it is for the very poor to borrow indispensable small sums of money, and what exorbitant rates of interest are exacted for sucl»> loans. The legal rate at pawn-shops is three per cent, a month for the first six months, and two per cent, a month for succeeding months,but most pawnbrokers supplement these rates by charges for care of the articles pawned, so that as much us 800 per cent, per unnum is sometimes paid to them for the use of money. The People's Bank Association, proposes to begin by a charge of one pen cent, a month, and expects to start with 1100,000 capital, which is to earn four per cent, dividends for its owners. The ■access of such a movement seems to depend on the shrewdness of the moneylender employed. With the right mas* in the avuncular situation there seems tobe no inevitable obstacle to the success of a plan which, if it does succeed, seems bound to help the right people at the right time. Plans for the relief of pawnbrokers who succumb to competition can be devised later on if they are needed.—[Harper’s Weekly.

How the Moslems Pray, The true Mohammedan is enjoined toprayer five times a day— namely, first in the morning before sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon before sunset, in the evening between sunset and dark, and between twilight and the first watch,being the vesper prayer. A sixth prayer u volunteered by many between the first watch of the night and the dawn of day. These prayers are simply repetitions of the laudatory ejaculation, “God is great!’’ “God is powerfull” “God is all. powerful! ” and are counted by the scrupulous on a string of beads. They may. dc performed at the mosque or any clean/ place. During prayer the eyes are turned to the Kebla or point of the heavens in the direction of Mecca, which ia indicated in every mosque by a niche called Mehrab, and externally by the position of. minarets and doors. Even tne posture during prayer is prescribed. The meet, solemn adoration is bowing the forehead to the ground. Women are tofold their hands on their bosoms and not to make such profound obeisance as the men. They are to pray gently and not toaccompany the men to the mosque. Its addressing God worshipers me to be humble, putting aside jewels and costly apparel.—[Brooklyn Eagle.

Nautical Phraseology. The far East has contributed several' words to nautical phraseology. Junk ia Is in Japanese, and is, perhaps,, found in several other Eastern tongues, including the Chinese. Catamaran is an. East Indian word, and it means bound logs, which is pretty close to the meaning of raft. The Portuguese jagand* has about the same meaning. The simplest words are those that puzzle the etymologists most, and. boat, which runs in various forma ■ through Anglo-Saxon and its kindred, tongues, has not been traced to a certain significance. Clipper and cutter come from clip and cut. The idea in each is a swift shin. Lugger the etymologists diffidently guess to be a carrier, or perhaps a vessel with lug sail* Lighter is simply a vessel that receive* the cargo of a bigger craft, and thuu lightens her. Wherry may mean a crank vessel, or possibly a swift one. Another guess is that it comes from the same rook as wharf, and contains the idea of turning. Yawl and jolly-boat are the same, and they go buck into the Teutonic, where they signify a small boat.. —[New York Sun.

An Odd Little Cactus. There grows upon the sands of theAtlantic, at least as far north as the Virginia line, a little cactus with a pretty, yellow flower. It flourishes in the dryest seasons and where nought butbare sand is visible for many, square yards. The secret of its sturdy growth amid hard conditions is found, perhaps, in the character of its roots. They ere - long and tough, like twine cords, and,. radiating in several directions, they.* convey to the plant whatever moisture the ground contains for yards around,!. Oddly enough, too, this cactus when torn up by the roots and conveyed north seems to live on indefinitely under entirely new. conditions, its roots cut short, planted in clay soil, and abundantly, watered.—[New York Sun.