The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-04-16
BRUNEI.,S AaIsHAPs.

AlIuOuRu DIuuci ulc uat tue COIL par
atively early age Of nfty- three. il is even
matter OF surprise that he lived so long
He had more periloos escapes from vio-
lent death than fall to the lot of most
men. We have seen that at the outset
of his career, when acting as assistant
engineer to his father, in the Thames
Tunnel, he had two narrow escapes
from drowning by the river suddenly
bursting in upon the works. Some
time after, when inspecting the shafts
of the railway tunnel under Box Hill.
he was one day riding a shaggy pony
at rapid pace down the hill, when the
animal stumbled and fell, pitching the
engineer on his head with great vio-
lence; he was taken up for dead, but
eventually recovered. When the Great
Western line was finished and at work,
he used to frequently hide upon the
engine with the driver, and occasionally
he drove it himself. One day, when
passing through the Box Tunnel upon
the engine at considerable speed, Bru-
mel thought he discerned between him
and the light some object standing on
the same line of road along which his
engine was travelling. He instantly
turned on the full steam and dashed at
the object, which was driven into a
thousand peices. It afterward turned
ont to be a contractors truck, which
had broken loose from a ballast train on
its way through the tunnel. Another
narrow escape which he had was on
board the Great Western steamship,
where he fell down hatchway into the
hold and was nearly killed. But the
most extraordinary accident which be-
fell him was that which occurred while
one day playing with his children.
Like his father, Sir Marc, he was fond
of astonishing them with sleight of hand
tricks, in which he showed consider
able dexterity; and the feat which he
proposed to them on this occasion was
the passing of half-sovereign through
his mouth out at hisear Unfortunately
he swallowed the coin, which dropped
into his wind pipe. The accident oc-
Cured on the Sd of April, 1s43, and it
was followed by frequent fits of cough
ing, and occasional uneasiness in the
right side Of the chest; but so slight was
the disturbance of breathing that it was
for some time doubted whether the coin
had really fallen into the wind-pipe.
After the lapse of fifteen days, Sir B.
Brodie met Mr.. Key in consultation.
and they concurred in the opinion that
most probably the half sovereign was
lcdro5 "t tho hs>.to,,s- 90 III -;e-'N. t--~'a'
upon some chairs, and bending his head
and neck downward, he distinctly felt
the coin drop towards the CLOTHS A
violent cough ensued, and ON resuming
the erect posture he felt as if the object
again moved down into the chest.
Here was an engineering difficulty the
like Of which had never been seen before
by Mr.. Brunei. The mischief was
purely mechanical; a foreign body had
gone into his breathing apparatus and
must be removed, if at all, by some me-
chanica! expedient. Mr.. Brunei was.
however, equal to the occasion. He
had an apparatus constructed, consist
ing of a platform which moved upon a
hinge in the centre. Upon this he had
himself strapped, and his body was then
inverted, in order that the coin might
drop downward by its own weight, and
so be expelled. At the first experiment
the coin again slipped towards the glot-
tbs, but it caused such an alarming fit of
convulsive coughing and appearance of
choking that danger was apprehended,
and the experiment was discontinued.
Two days after, on the 25th, the opera
ton of traoheotomy was performed by
Sir Benjamin Brodie, assisted by Mr.
Key with the intention Of extracting the
coin by forceps, if possible. Two
attempts to do SO were made without
success. The introduction of the for
cops into the windpipe, on the second
occasion, was attended with so excess
i've degree of irritation that it was felt
the experiment could not be continued
without imminent danger to life. The
incision in the windpipe was, however,
kept open by means of quill or tube,
until May 18th, by which time Mr..
Bruners strength had suAlciently recov-
cred to enable the original experiment
to be repeated. He was again strapped
to his apparatus; his body was inverted;
his back was struck gently, and he dis
tinctly felt the cola quit its place on the
right side Of his chest. The opening in
the windpipe allowed him to breathe
while the throat was stopped by the
coin, and it thus had the effect to pre-
vent the spssmodic action of the CLOTHS.
After few coughs the coin dropped in
TO his mouth. Nr. Brunei used after.
A. A. a.