Page 75 Advertisements Column 1

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1636, 8 July 1903, Page 75 (Supplement)

Health Better than Wealth. THIN AS A SKELETON. Results of a Sluggich Liver.

The Case of SVSr. J. WALLACE. . (by a special reporter.) Wealth doe 3 not always bring happiness. From all parts of the world many instances have been brought to light bearing on the above theory. “Better the honest rasher of toil than the gil ed hoiniiy of luxury,” is a motto, it has beeu said, very much open to criticism, but to judgo by the number of rich men who are unhappy from various causes there appears to be considerable truth in the quotation. Take, for example, the majority of men who follow the | lough from sunrise till sundown. They are cheerful and contented in the enjoyment of their physical strength, without which all the wealth and luxury in existence would be useless to tin m. Mr. John Wallace, of Express Avenue, Wellington, told our reporter he had done a great amount of hard work in his you: g days, and that he was never in better spirits than when capable of performing laborious work. “ I did not Know what a care or a trouble was so long as I had my health,” pursued Mr. Wallace, “but when my constitution broke down I was awfully miserable.” “ llow were you originally affected ? ” “ For a long time I felt seedy and unwell, as if the vitality was slowly leaking from my Bystem. I got up from bed feeling just as tired as I was when I turned in the previous night, and half the day was over before I felt properly awake. Indeed, I was never otherwise than > ull and drowsy, with a disinclination to stir myself more than was altogether necessary. Many a little thing I saw wanted doing about the house or garden, but I had not the requisite energy to fix it up and save further damage. Severe headaches were my daily torment. The healthy appetite I used to have now left me. 1 could not eat as much in a week as I used to take in one meal, the consequence being that I became as thin as a skeleton. My face looked drawn and pinched, with my cheeks sunk right in, and my eyes were deep in their sockets. The light food that was prepared for me proved too much for my weak and feeble system to digest. The food decayed in my stomach instead of digesting, with the result that sour gases rumbled about my inside, causing intense paroxysms of agony, which left me in a state of helpless prostration. The lower part of my stomach was excessively tender, even the pressure of my clothes causing a very painful sensation. Under my shoulders and in the loins my complaint showed very troublesome symptoms, resembling the pricking of needles and pins. One of my greatest ailments was the irregular condition of my bowels. For days I suffered from costiveness, with scanty and cloudy urine ; afterwards I was greatly weakened by severe attacks of diarrhoea. Try what means I would, I could never get over this difficulty, which was a new and unpleasant experience for me. The generation of wind also caused my body to distend, and my heart palpitated so violently that I often thought my time had < ome.” “That is one of the symptoms of a diseased liver. ” Yes, so I believe ; but I thought at the time I had heart disease. I really believed I would go right off' when those attacks were on, and one of my doctors told me my heart was very weak. I often had an idea that a cancer, or something of the sort, was growing in my inside, in consequence of feeling something solid and painful in my side. Nearly every morning I was sick. I believe it was the vile taste in my mouth on arising from bed which made me so; but, at all events, I remember quite clearly how I used to retch and vomit for a long time after getting up. JMy breath was very bad, ioo, and my tongue was covered with a dirty, foul coating.” “ How- did you sleep at nialit ? ” “ Don’t ask me. So many nights passed without sleep that I thought I was a victim to insomnia for life, and you know a man cannot live long and keep his senses without sleep. To lay awake night aftes light, with the body acliLvg and full of torture, is