The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1873-08-29


l said, forcing myself 10 seem 10 take this
outrageous practical joke In good part.
" An ungrateful generation may or may
not profit by your discoveries, but Ii will
infallibly hang you"
mot so,n ne bluntly replied. 81 ANA
surgeon, who once had a very considera-
BILE practice, but | had to stand my trial
for an experiment, which proved fatal, on
one of ny patients. The jury, unable TO
understand the sacrifices which All earnest
inquirer is ever ready Ia offer at the shrine
Of science, declared me mad, and Twas
placed in confinement. You see that |
can act with IMMUNITY"
And he opened the box. broke out in
a cold sweat. Was Ii all real ? Could the
man be in earnest? " But" said |, "sure-
ly you can get dead bodies to dissect with
out having recourse TO crime? And
again. If generations of ANTAGONISTS have
failed, in twenty thousand Investigations,
TO discover the use of the spleep-if you
yourself have always failed hitherto, why
should you suppose that this one attempt
should be more successful than the 9TH
ersy'
because, my dear sir" said the man,
with the smile of one who has caught
bright idea, all former Investigations,
including my own, have been made on
dead subjects, while | propose to examine
your vital organs with powerful magni-
flying glass, while they are exercising
their normal functions"
what" gasped. "You will never
have the barbarity - And here my
voice choked.
30 yes, | have conquered that preju-
dice against inflicting suffering which Is
natural to the MIND enfeebled by civiliza-
tAt. fAr L n
ticed vivisection upon animals; l once
had cat, an animal very tenacious of
life, under my scalpel for week. But
we have no time TO waste in conversation.
You will not be put to any needless suf-
fering; these Instruments are not my
own, blunted for want Of use; took the
precaution of borrowing the case of the
gentleman under whose care have been
placed, before making my escape"
While speaking thus, he took the hide
Gus little glittering instruments, and ex-
amined them one by one. They were of
various appalling shapes, and | gazed
upon them with the horrible fascination
of bird under the power of snake. OF
one only could tell the use; thin,
trenchant blade, which cut you almost to
look at it. He knelt across me, arranged
his implements on the seat at his right;
laid notebook, pencil, and his watch on
that to his left, and took off my neck
cloth and collar, murmuring: 1.-The
clothes are very much in my way; | wish
that you were properly prepared for the
operation"
II flashed across me, in my despair. that
l had heard of madmen being foiled by an
apparent acquiesence In their murderous
Intentions.
after all" forced myself 10 say,
"what is one life to the benefit of the hui
man race? Since mine Is demanded by
science, let me aid you. Remove these
bonds, and allow me to take off my coat
and waistcoat."
He smiled, and shook his head.
life Is sweet; will not trust YOU"
he said, christening my waistcoat, and
turning back the lapels as far as he could.
Then taking a pair OF scissors, he pro-
ceeded to cut my shirt front away, so that
presently my chest was barred to his ex-
periments. Whether closed my eyes, or
was seized with vertigo, do not know.
but for a moment or two i lost sight OF
everything, and had visions; a sort of
grotesque nightmare 1t was, the figures in
which | recall but very indistinctly, but
remember that the most prominent of
them was pig, or rather pork, hanging
up outside of butchers shop, the APP
pearance of which bore mysterious re-
semblance to myself. These delirious
fantasies were dispclled by sharp pang
the anatomist had made first slight in
cision. | saw his calm face leaning over
me; the cruel blade with which he was
about to make another and deeper cut
his fingers, already crimson with my
blood: and struggled frantically. My
operator Immediately withdrew his armed
hand, and stood erect. Then, watching
his opportunity, he placed his right foot
on the lower part of my breast-bone, so
that by pressure he could sufocate me.
"Listen my friend" he said; :" will
endeavor not TO injure any vital organ,
but If you wriggle about, | shall not be
able to avoid doing so. Another thing, II
you -
He was interrupted by three sharp
whistles from the engine. so shrill and
piercing as to drown his voice.
"Impede me by these absurd convul-
sive movements, | shall be compelled to
sever those muscles which -
He never completed his sentence.
There was mighty shock, a crash as II
all the world had rushed together. was
shot under the seat, where lay uninjured,
and In safety, amidst the most horrible
din-breaking, tearing, shrieking, cries
for help, and the roar of escaping steam.
/ had strained the bonds which secured
my elbows in my struggles, and the jerk
of the collision snapped them; so that
when / began to get my wits together,
found my hands free. To liberate my
legs was then an easy matter, but not so
to extricate myself, the next thing set
about. The whole top Of the car, from
where the stuffed cushion part ends, was
carried sheer away; and amidst the debris
which encountered my movements, lay
the mangled and decapitated body of the
mailman who, intending to assail my life,
had, by keeping me down at the bottom
of the car, saved it.-Engiish Magazine.