The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1874-01-21
TURNED TO sTONF.
A soLrDIFrED BRIDE.

Di. Jorsck, Of Marksville, La, in
letter to the New York Sun of
I Saturday, says: ''Mr. Frederick
Haller is by profession a lawyer.
He early acquired, however, quite a
fondness for the natural sciences.
especially geology. He has, per.
haps, the largest and most complete
geological cabinet in Louisiana.
Something over a month ago he
married, taking as his bride a charm
ing young girl of sixteen; As
physician to her fathers family and
an intimate friend / was an ,honored
/ guest at the marriage ceremony. I
am sure [ never saw a more bcauti-
fuI and happy bride. "
Next afternoon she and some
three or four of her most intimate
friends went into OR. Haller's Rock
| Study" to look over the cabinet of
curiosities. Among the curiosities
which Mr.. Haller had gathered were
several round boulders brought from
Arkansas. These boulders an being
broken present in the central space
crystalline formation. and are
usually not larger than the double
fists. One of these, however, was
unusually large, measuring twenty
one inches in circumference. FIRE.
quently the internal surface, always
hollow, contains water, or rather
concentrated solution of silica in
water. This fact was known to one
Of the young ladies, who mentioned
it.
At once it was proposed to break
the large one, and several Intellectual
attempts were made by them with n
geological hammer They called to
their aid q coIored man, a servant
on the place, who was requested to
break open the rock. A pitcher be-
ing placed underneath the boulder
as the man held it, one sturdy blow
Of his staIwart arm cracked it. and
the fluid within ran out and was col
lected in the pitcher, scarcely losing
q drop, there being half pint of it.
The bride, without ever giving it
a thought, conceived the notion Of
drinking the water from the boulder.
She poured most of it into aglass
tumbler, nearly filling it, and, lifting
it to her lips, she drank first to the !
health of her husband, then to that
of the unmarried friends III the room,
wishing them shortly to be happy
brides like herself, and drained the
glass. But in few minutes the
youthful bride complained of eXces-
sive pain in the stomach, and began
to realize the rashness of her action. |
A messenger was sent in haste for |
her husband and myself. Mr.. Hal |
lers Office being near my own, we re-
ceved the message almost stimuli |
taneously, and we rapidly drove to-
@ethcr in my buggy to his house. |
When we arrived she was dead, |
period of fifteen minutes having
elapsed from the time Of taking the
fatal draught to the time Of extinc-
ton of life. They were just laying
her out on my arrival. To my sur
prise [ found that she had grown in
that short period so rigid as to rem
der it difficult to straighten her |
limbs. In the course of three-quar-
ter of an hour her entire body be-
came as hard and infexible as bone. !
On more minute examination and
inquiry l found that the dissolved |
silica she had taken into her stom-
ach had been absorbed and trans
mitted by the chylopoletic appara-
tus and blood vessels throughout the
system and that her whole body was
petrifcation. The case being so
singular and so sudden, the husband /
and the brides family consented to
q partial post-mortem examination.
other medical men coming to my as
sistance. .-.
We found it impossible to cut /
through any portion with our seal
pels. DR., Ferguson broke his. seal
pei in the first attempt We were
able only to break through the chest
with a Ratchet, finding extreme Diff
ficulty in entering the thoracic cav
ity, the contents being all soIidifed.
The heart was found as firm and as
solid as stone, resembling a piece
Of cornelian as to both color and con-
sistency.