The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-01-10

Sudden PesFlHAeeton ~ bride.
DR.. Jorsck, Of La, in letter to
the New York Sun of Saturday,
says:
ssMr. Fredric Haller is by profes-
sion . lawyer. He early acquired,
however, quite fondness for the
natural sciences, especially geology.
He has perhaps the largest and
most complete geological cabinet
in Louisiana Something over Q
month ago he married, taking as
his bride charming young girl of
16. As physician to her fathers
family and an intimate friend was
an honored guest at the marriage
ceremony. I am sure I never saw
q more beautiful and happy bride.
Next afternoon she and some
three or four of her most Intimate
friends went into Mr.. Haller's 3 .sRock
Study" to look over the cabinet Of
curiosites. Among the curiosities
which Mr.. Haller had gathered were
several round boulders brought
from Arkansas. The boulders on
being broken presented in the cen.
trail space crystalline formation,
and ara usually not much larger
than the double fists. One Of these,
however, was unusually large, meas
uring twenty one inches in circum-
ference. Frequently the internal
surface, always hollow, contains
water, or rather q concentrated SO
luton 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 ineffctual
attempts were made by them with
q geological hammer. They called
to their aid q colored mana serv-
ant on the place, who was request
ed to break open the rock. Apitch
er being placed underneath the
boulder as tho man held it, one
sturdy blow of his stalwart arm
cracked it and the fluid within ran
out and was collected in the pitch
or, scarcely losing q drop, there
being q half pint Of it.
The bride, without ever giving it
thought, conceived the notion Of
drinking the water from the boul
der. She poured mos. of it into
glass tumbler, nearly filing it and,
lifting it to her lips, she drank
first to the health Of her husband,
then to that of the unmarried
friends in the room, wishing them
shortly to be happy brides like
herself, and drained the glass. But
in few minutes the youthful bride
complained of excessive 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..
Haller's Office being near my own,
we received the message almost
simultaneously, and we rapidly
drove together in my buggy to his
house. When we arrived she was
dead, q period of fifteen minutes
having elapsed from the time of
taking the fatal draught to the time
of extinction of life. They were
just laying her ont on my arrival.
To my surprise I found she had
grown in that short period so rigid
as to render it difficult 10 straight.
en- her limbs. In the course of
three quarters of an hour her entire
body became as hard and infexible
as bone.
On more minute examination and
inquiry I found that the dissolved
silica she had taken into her stom-
ach had been absorbed and trans
mitted by the chylopoietic sppara
tus and blood vessels throughout
the system, and that her whole
body was petrifaction. The case
being 80 singular and SO sudden,
the husband and the brides family
consented to a partial post mortem
examination, other medical men
coming to my assistance.
We found it impossible to cut
through any portion with our seal
pels. DIR. Furgeson broke his seal
pei in the first attempt. We were
able only to break through the
chest with . hatchet, finding ex
treme difficulty IN entering the tho
ratio cavity, the contents being all
solidified. The heart was found aa
solid as stone, resembling piece
of cornelian as to both color and
consistency.
A cheereful view comes from the
Fast in roforpnce To tho Enerc;o1