It Fears Neither Army nor Navy"

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XX, Issue 2318, 5 January 1893, Page 4

It Fears Neither Army nor Navy"

.', "Those things used to be called the wooden walls of England." The scene was the Naval Exhibition at Chelsea, in the summer of 1891. The , speaker was a young man, and his ' auditor one of those lithe, bright-haired girls one so often sees in this island. "And aren't they the wooden walls of England, nowP" she said, as a child t :;_ might ask when Noah might be expected in Liverpool with his ark. ,*•" "Not; exactly," replied her escort tenderly; "they are rather out of style. dome; I'll show what sort of walls we have now," and he led her off in the direction of the beautiful models of the great steel ships of war. The young fellow was right in assuming that this country bad a big and 'powerful navy, but the chances of war decrease with the preparations made to meet it. Besides, the interests that would be put to hazard grow constantly larger and nations avoid fighting as long AB possible. ■ This is a hopeful consideration, and if England had nothing to be afraid of beyond tbe danger of being attacked from abroad, we might sleep in peace. But there is an enemy against which neither army nor navy is of any avail. It defies the gunboats in the Channel and the redcoats on the shore, and kilte more people than are ever likely to fall in battle. If we could stop tbe ravages of this foe we should soon be able to surprise our distant colonies with the arrival among them of a splendid class of our surplus population. We allude, of course, to disease. Not to epidemics of cholera or influenza, but to diseases 'which are at work year in and year out, in every season, carrying off rich and poor alike. ■ Unquestionably ■ ,the worst of these is the one that attacks the digestive system, the one from which springs the majority of ailments, which go under various names, aB, for example, rheumatism, gont, bronchitis, consumption, the several fevers, and others which ' were formerly, erroneously, supposed to have distinct characters, and to require distinct treatment. Now, however, the best medical authorities recognise these ailmentß as symptoms and out< growths of indigestion and dyspepsia, aud treat them accordingly. In illustration of what ' can be done, we cite a single case. A man named Edward Kelly, who resides at 27, St. Vincent Street, London Road, Liverpool, having previously had perfect health, experienced a dull pain in the right aide, a bad taßte in the mouth, furred tongue, loss of appetite, discoloured skin, unnatural languor and fatigue, and what he describes as a " sinking feeling, as though the supporting power were exhausted beneath him. This was in 1887, and he bore it without obtaining relief from the usual medical treatment until April, 1890, when one day, when he was working in a bonded warehouse, he says, " a dreadful pain struck me in the back, and I had great trouble tn getting through my work. Getting worse," he continues, "I went to a doctor, who said it was inflammation of the kidneys. He gave 1 me medicine and attended me off and on for six months, but with no beneficial r suit. He said he could not understand how I could keep on with my work, Still, I did struggle on, though the disease was wearing me out. From a atrong, able man, I became thin and weak, and was afraid I should have to give up my work. Last July, 1890, a Custom House offiser recommended me to try an advertised preparation, entitled Mother Seigel's Syrup. I did so, and before I had finished the first bottle the pain left my back* aud I began to digest ms food and gain strength. By continuing to use this remedy 1 was soon as well as ever in my life. My master, Beeing what the Syrup had done for me, also took it for indigestion, with so much benefit that now he always ke9ps it by him. I have no interest whatever in testifying thus, and only speak of tbe medicine as I found it." Mr. Kelly evidently had a narrow escape from Bright's disease, a malady very common among all classes in England, and one of the surest and most direct products of torpid liver, itself a symptom of indigestion and dyspepsia. We mention this case not to put money in anybody's pocket, but for the sake of the Bnfferers who need help— no matter what it comes from.