THE " UNFORTUNATE" YOUNG MAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2288, 6 January 1898, Page 52

THE " UNFORTUNATE" YOUNG MAN.

Ifc is quite probable that rine-tenfchs of those whose eyes meet thess liaes have at some time or other been accosted by that questionable member of society whose only excuse for the intrusion ia that "he wants the price of a meal," and perhaps a bed, too. He says he is " unfortunate," and can't; obtain any work. He is generally an imposter, and tho deserving cases are so far between as to defy discrimination.

The unfortunates are, alas ! nob confioed to able-bodied beggars, but may bs found in all stations and pursuits of life. Who, indeed, may jjsbly be considered more deserving of pifcy than the young athlete who, 12 months ago, when in the zenith of his fatns' as Victoria's largest: sera' eh crack on the cycle track, came to grk-f on the grouud« of the Scotch C >llege, Melbourne? We refer to Dave Kirk, of 471 Elizabeth street north, a popular young fellow with all lovers of the wheel. Wiu i n training, the fcyre of his leader broke, and he wai thrown with frightful violence to the ground. The force of the impact was so groat that not a limb or member of the unfortunate cy diet's frame escaped serious injury, and he who waa but a minute earlier flying round the grounds in full possession of health and vigour had to be removed to the Melbourne Hospital more dead than alive, and quits unconscious from shock and hemorrhag" AH \jh& resources that Hi*J} fully re-

plenished hospital could command were brought into play for the relief of the patient, but the grave looks of fche surgeons in attendance plainly indicated that they entertained bub slight hopes of the young man's ultimate recovery. An eminent member of the profession expressed it as his opinion fchab Kirk would never again ri3o from his sick bed. For seven trying months of pain and suffering poor Dave lay 'fiwixl; life and death— unable to stir hand or foot, unable even to move, a victim o? spinal disease, pleurisy, dysentery, complete paralysis of the bsdy, and Isst, but by no means lea^t, locomotor ataxis, a terrible complaint wbich utterly prostrates the human frame and destroys the power of the will ; so much so thafc the common functions of nature are performed by a power extrancou? to the will. An idea of the dreadful injuries sustained by the patient; may be gathered from the following details gleaned from Kirk by our representative. His left heel had to be removed, and 32 stitches were inserted in that part of his foo!-, 18 being placed in his right leg. Tha kneecap w»3 smashed, and had to be lilted. Altogether, seven surgeens had to do with the sufferer, who was reduced to a very weak and c< motose stats after cine operations had been performed on him. Mortification set in in parts of. the lower limb?, and artificial means had lo be used to draw off tha the urine. The system v»a3 washed internally four times every day with water and carbolio acid, the stomach being cleaned out by means of a tube. Injections were also largely employed. This was a mosi; singular case, and oue which musb have afforded ample play for the physicians' skill and experiment, yet i 5 remained for Dr Williams' Piak Pilla fco efff.cb a radical and complete cure.

After seven months of bed-ridden existence in th« Melbourne Hospital, D-ive Kirk left thai; iastitation with faint hopes of aver being able to gefe abcut without the aid of crutches, and with all hopes vanished aa to his being again able to enter the ejele arena, where, prior to his accident, his had been a prominent form. Ia M>y last Kirk's friends, being impressed, by the numerous and authentic cures effected by Dt Williams' Pink Pills under all conditioaa, induced him to give them a trial as a last resource. We will give in his own words his account cf the chaDge resulting fr; m their use. H-3 says: " Gradually the sense of numbness began to disappear, and the extremities acquired by degree's thciff wonted heslfchy glow and warmth. While under treatmeufc in the hospital the sauce of feeling entirely disappeared, so much so that whin the surgecna would put a needle into any part of my body I waa absolutely insensible to the fact. To be sure of Ihe absence of Iho sense of touch, the doctors would conc?al my v sion, and then question me as to the pai t they were piercing ; but my answers cleaily proved to them that I was absolutely bereft of all sensibility ! Aa a final tesfc to my sense of feeling I received a shock from a powerful galvanic bafcfcery — a shock so etrong that tho operator declared it to behalf & volt more than had been given to anyone in tho institution for 40 years — but I w*s unable to feel its effect. AFfcer a month's trul of Dr Williams' Pink Pills I wa» able to throw aside my crutches. But one of the most powerful effects of the pills was Lha restoration of functional health. Bov?el troubles had bscn a terrible trial to me ever siucß the dsy I m&t wibh the accident. Regularity in this direction was perfectly se 1 . up, and lam now, after four months' taking of these pills, in the enjoyment of perfect health." It wanted no assurance of th'p, as those who had seen the subject of this narrative are not slow to express their surprise at the picture of health and altr.O3b completely resuscitated power of body f>nd mmd presented in the pstsou 9f David K-rk.

A few days ago Dave gave a practical illustration of his restored vitality by pluokily capturing a young fellow (who b.*d stolan one of h'l3 bicjcle3) of heavier build than himself, and after vanqjishing him in a willing encounter lodged him in the lock-up. An account of the c-tphira appeared ia the Age of 23rd September. Ha (Kirk) is able to trench hi 3 iarge garden, and walks daily two miie3 to and from his business place.

JSxtracbfiotn the Melbourne Argu3 :—": — " Everyone has heard of Kirk, the crack racer. About a month ago he met -with an accident whilst training, and has been in the Melbourne Hospital ever since. The medical authorisiea say that he will never ride again, »3 his spine has been so badly hurt that he will likely ba paralysed for life."

Extract from the Herald : — "Dave Kirk, residing at th<! Coffee Palace, Victoria street, North Melbourne, sustained severe injuries this afternoon through falling from his bicycle whila training on the £rack afc the Scotch Co'lege ground. Thrf byse of his bicycle burst, and Kirk was thrown v'olently to the ground. He was removed in a eib to the Melbourne Hosoital."

The latter extract »ppe&red in the Herald on the afternoon of tho accident, October 9, 1896. Tb.3 former appeared iv the Argus about a month later, after the physicians and authorities had placed him uuder treatment, and discovered that Li? injuries had resulted ,in paralysis, spinal disease, and locomotor ataxia, and th^t he was entirely beyond their aid. His case was accordingly, by the physicians who examieed him, pronounced incurable, and they told poor Kirk that he would never rise from bis bed again.

Dr Williams' Pink Pills have a remarkable efficacy in curing disease? arising from an impoverished condition of the blood cr an impairment of the rervous sys'em, such as~rh*unaatism, neuralgia, partial paralysis, Sfe. Vitui' dance, nervous headache, nervous prostration, and the tiied feeling therefrom. They are genuine only with the full nsm-;, Dr Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People, and are sold ia boxes, encircling wbich is a blue warning label. The outside wrapper is of vrhito paper, and 13 printed in red ink. Our repeated w&rainga may seem a trifle supe fluous in the eyes of the reading public, but they were never mora needed than now, and the frequency with which they appear is attributable to our de3ira to afford cur customera every protection. Imitators are in every corner of Australasia, and many vendors are endeavouring to pass off a hurtful substitute, as it meaDs a larger profit to them. The public would, therefore, do well to avoid them, for they would just as readily dispense impure drugs. Sold by chetaisba and shopkeepers gpnerally, or tho Dr Williams' Medicine Company, Wellington, N.Z , will forward, on receipt of stamps or post order, one) box for 3s, or half-dozen for 15i 9 ,1. The price at which these pills are sold makes a course of treatment comparatively inexpensive as compared with other remedies or medical treat ment.— Advb.

— On the Yukon at a distance of from 700 to 800 miles from the sea there are many points ■where the river is 20 miles wide. — Vine-growers in Southern France some* times grow black and white grapes on the gams vine. The plan is to take a branch from a vine which produces black grapes and one from a vine which grows whits grapes. The two ends are then tightly pressed together, bound, and planted*

THE NARCOTICS OF THE ANDES.

(By Thomas H. Hodge, Port Chalmers.)

COCA. It is little known in Europe. Its use is ia a great measure confined to the native Indians of Bolivia and Peru. The coca is a bush which attains a height of s£t or 6ft, and resembles the blackthorn in its small white flowers and bright greea leaves. It i 3 a native of the tropical valleys which occur on the eastern slope of the Andes in Bolivia and Peru, and it still grows wild in many parts of these countries. That which is used by the people, however, is chiefly the produce of cultivation. In the inhabited parts of the above valleys it forms an important agricultural crop. Like our common thorn, it is raised in ssed beds, from which it is planted out into regular-arranged coca plantations. The steep sides of tbe valleys 'as high ttp as 8000 ft above the lsvel of the sea, where the mean temperatnre ia from 64deg to 68deg Fahr., are covered with these plantations of coca. They are arranged in terraces risincr abore one another as in the vineyards of Tuscany and the Holy Land. The province of Yongas is the principal area of this cultivation in Eastern Bolivia, In three years the bushes come into full beariag, and ia favourable localities yield three and, where irrigation is used, even four crops of leaves in a year. The leaves are abjut the size of those of the cnarry tree, and when ripa enough to break on being bent, they are collected by the woman and children and dried in tha sun. The total produce averages about 8001b of dry leaves per English acre. It is sometimes one-half more, but often also very much lees. When nearly dij they emit an odour similar to that of new-made hay in which much mellilot or sweet-scented vernal grass is contained, hence they I occasion headaches among newcomers, as haymakiDg does with delicate persons among onrselTts. These suu-dried leaves form the coca of commerce. When of a good quality they are of a pale green colour. Dampness causes them to become dark coloured, in which state they are less esteemed, and their smell less agreeable. If they heat through dampness they become altogether useless. Their taste is not unpleasant ; it is slightly bitter and aromatic, and resembles that of green tea of inferior quality. It becomes more p : quant and . agreeable when a sprinkling of qaickiime or plant ashes is chewed along with them. The use. of this plant among the Indians of^ South America dates from very remote periods: When the Spanish conquerors ■ overcame the natire races of the hilly country of Peru, they found extensive plantations of an herb called cocs. And they observed among tb%se races the singular custom of chewing the leaves of this plant during frequent short periods of repose specially set apart for the purpose. Sa genera), indeed, was the use of tbi3 plant, and so common the demand for it, that it formed the usnal money or medium of exchange in Peru. The practice of using this plant was already ancient among the Indian races, and its origin was lost ia the mists of remote antiquity. After the introduction of gold and silver money it became the principal article of traffic. Its cultivation ■was a car© of tbe native governments during the reign of the Incas, and it continues equally to the present day. The beloved leaf is still to the Indian of the monntains the delight, the support, and in some measure the necessity of bis life. He is never seen without the leathern pocch (his chuspa) to contain his coca leaves and his little gourd bottle to hold powdered uaslacked lime — or, if he is a Bolivian, the alkaline ashes of the guinoa, of the musa root, or of certain other plants. When preparing to " accullicar," or chew, he first makes himself as comfortable as circumstances will permit. He lays down his burden, if he has one, he seats himself, and putting his chuspa between his knees, he pulls out one by one the leaves which are to form his new ball. The attsnticn he. gives to this operation is worthy of remark. The satisfaction with which he dips hia hand into the midst of the leaves of a full chuspa and the. regret with which he looks upon his little bag when it is nearly empty— these little things prove that, to the Indian, the custom is a source of real happiness, and not the mere consequence of a want— (Weddell). Always three • and sometimes four times a day he rests from his mining or other labour, or panses in his journey and lays down his burden, to chew in quiet the beloved leaf. When riding or walking or labouring the leaves have little effeoc. As with opium and hemp, stillness and repose are indispensable to his full enjoyment of the luxury it produces. In the shade of the tree he stretches himself at ease, and from time to time puts into bis mouth a few leaves rolled into a ball (an accullico), and after each new supply a little unslacked lime on the end of a slip of wood, moistened and- dipped into his lime flask. This brings out the true taste of the leaf, and causes a copious flow of greenioh-coloured saliva, which is partly rejected and partly swallowed. When the ball ceases to emit juice it is thrown away, and a new supply is taken. The interval of enjoyment conceded to the labourer lasts from 15 minutes to half an hour, and is generally wound up by the smoking of a paper cigar. Repeated three or four times a day, bis average consumption of coca is an ounce or an ounce and a-half in the 24 hours, and on holidays doable that quantity. The owners of mines and plantations have found it to their interest to allow a suspension of labour three or four times a day for the chaccar, as it is called ; and the Indian speedily quits an employer who endeavours to stint or deprive him of

these periods of indulgence. During these periods his " phlegm " is something marvellous. No degree of urgency or entreaty on the part of his master or employer will move him ; while the confirmed " coquero," when under the influence of the leaf, is heedless of the thunderstorm which threatens to drown him whore he lies ; of the roar of approaching- wild beasts, or of the smoking fire which creep 3 along the grass and is about to suffocate or scoTch him in his lair. The Indians of the Peruvian Andes are subject to fits of melancholy, or are generally perhaps of a gloomy temperament. "In their domestic relations," saya Yon Tschude, "the Indians are unsocial and gloomy. Husband, wife, and children live together with but little appearance of affection. The children seem to approach their parents timidly, and whole days sometimes elapse without the interchange of a word of kindness between them. When not enpaged in outdoor work the Indian sits gloomily in his hut, chewing ccca and brooding silently over his own thoughts." Dr Weddell, who has travelled in B jlivia, bears a similar testimony in regard to the appearance and manners of these people. "It ia difficult," he says, " to have lived for any time among these men without beiug struck by the expression of concentrated me'ancholy i "which can be read upon their features, j and whfch seems to speak of an undefined i but constant suffering. This ghypicgaomy | is above all remarkable among the A mar as, whose character is almost more tacfciturn than that of the Quechuas, who inhabit along with them the tablelands of the Andes." One would hav3 supposed that when ths free republics of Sou'h America were established the trials of ths long-oppressed aborigines would have been at an end, and that something like political equality would have been established among the different races. But sach is not the case. In Bolivia every Indian to 50 years of age is subjected to a poll tax of sdol if he is a labourer, and from 6dol to lOJoI if he is^a proprietor, and this tax ia collected half yearly. No equivalent tax is imposed upon the whites, and from this source four and a-half million dollars are derived, the total yearly revenue of the republic being only ten and a-half million dollars. The unhappy race, therefore, is still ground down by the dominant blood, and the melancholy feeling of inferiority is still perpetuated. It does not appear, however, that the coca adds to the gloom of the unhappy Indian ; on the contrary, he takes it to relieve himself for the time from the peculiarities of his temperament. Silence and abstraction are necessary to the enjoyment, bat the use of it makes him cheerful ; and it is to the unhappy, often oppressed, and always poor Peruvian tire source of his highest pleasures. It has come down to him a3 a relic of the ancient enjoyments of his people ; and daring the fantasy it produces be participates in scenes and pleasures from which in common life he is also excluded. Dr Weddell very sensibly remarks that as a relic of the past he attaches " superstitious ideas to the coca, which must triple, in his imagination, the benefits he receives from it," and that its value to him is further onhanced by its being the " sole- and only distraction which breaks the incomparable monotony of his existence.''

The coca leaf acts differently according to the way in which it is used. When infused and drunk like tea it produces a gentle excitement, followed by wakefulness, and 4£ taken strong retards the approach of hunger, prevents tbe usual breathlessness in climbing hills, and, in large doses, dilates the pupil and renders the eye intolerant of light. It is seldom used in this , way, however, but is usually chewed in the form of a ball or quid, which is turned over and over in the mouth as is done with tobacco. In this way its action is more gradual and prolonged than when tbe infusion only is taken. It is also very different in its character, because the constant chewing, the continued action of the saliva, and the influence of tbtß lime or ashes chewed along with it extract from the leaf certain other active constituents which water alone does not dissolve when it ia infused after the manner of tea. The cultivation and use of the coca have extended from the slopes of the Andes eastward to different parts of Brazil, and to the river of the Amazons. But here it is used somewhat differently. The leaves ate dried and reduced to powder in a wooden mortar along with the ash of the leaves of Cecropia peltata, and in this mixed state are preserved for use. From time to time a portion of this greenish grey powder is introduced into the mouth, especially when it is desired to overcome hunga-r or drowsiness. It augments- the secretion of saliva, produces a sensation of fulness and warmth in the mouth, stills anger, and increases bodily activity. It is a pity that this plant has not been introduced into New Zsaland.

I have no detailed account by an actual chewer of the leaf of the special effects which it produces, but these muot be very seducing, since, though long stigmatised and still very generally considered as a degrading, purely Indian, and therefore despicable vice, many white Peruvians at Lima and elsewhere retire daily at stated times to chew the coca. Even Europeans in different parts of the country have fallen into the habit. A confirmed chewer of coca is called a "coquero," and he 13 said to become occasionally more thoroughly a slave to the leaf than-Uhe inveterate drunkard is to spirituous liquors. Sometimes the coquero is overtaken by a craving which he cannot resist, and he betakes himself for days together to the silence of ths woods, aDd there indulges, unrestrained-in the use of the weed. Young men of the best families in Peru become sometimes addicted to this extreme degree of excess, and then are considered as lost. Forsaking cities* and tbe company of civilised men, and living chiefly in woods or in Indian villages, they give themselves up to a savage and solitary life. Hence the term a " white coquero " there has something of the same evil sense as irreclaimable drunkard has with us. The chewing of coca gives a bad breath (abominable, according to Wendell), pale lips and gums, greenish and stumpy teetb, and an ugly black mark at the angles of the mouth. " The inveterate coquero is known at the first glance. His unsteady gait, his yellow skin, his dim and sunken eyes, encircled by a purple ring, his quiveriug lips, and his general apathy — all bear evidence of the baneful effects of the coca. iuine when

taken in excess." — (Yon Tschudi.) Its first evil effects is to weaken the digestion ; it then gradually induces a diseass locally named "opilacion "; then bilious affections, the painful symptoms which attend them in tropical climates, and, above all, gall stones are frequent and severe; the appetite becomes exceedingly uncertain, till at length the dislike to all food is succeeded by a inordinate appetite for animal excrement j then dropsical swellings and boils come on, and the patient, if he can get if, flies to brandy for relief, and thus drags out a few miserable years till death relieves him.