The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1876-01-06

dIW Nu8OCcE pslIllS 6IlcW HIS aXes
As if some Pantheon's marbles broke
Their stony trance, and lived and spoke;
Life thrills around the allowed hall,
The lords OF thought await our CALL
MISCELLANY.
THE PHENOMENA OF DEAD FACES
from the New York Times.]
There is no longer any doubt Of the
fact that the faces Of the dead change in
expression even as do those of the living.
The subject is CHASTITY one, and should
only be treated by Poe. Hawthorne, or
a Victor Hugo; but it has side Of hu-
man and scientific interest-one which
the physician and the philosopher should
examine. It may bear upon that dread.
full and sufficiently investigated subject
of premature interments, and upon the
propriety Of cremation, and Of willow
basket collins, which last subject brought
together gay and fashionable crowd at
Stafford House, and gave rise in London
to innumerable witty epigrams, rather
lighter than the occasion demanded. Here
is one of them:
When start for Styx, (and nobody knows
How the message will come, } must quietly
yield,
And be sent by express, like lot of old
clothesi
Or be packed up in moss, like present of
game,
In wicker work coffin, of cheapes: design
While on wired tag Is my age and my name?
(Oh bless me, ye gods, il that isn't fame y
III was old Charon my place I'd resign,
Ere I'D Terry acrOss-nO matter who'll ask it.
Such badly packed, badly-fllcd, rickety
basket.
However, the author Of the above did
not contemplate the possibility of his
supposedly rigid face smiling at his own
wit when old Charon should refuse him
as freight or expressage, even as petite
vitesse or otherwise.
But dead faces do smile - they blush,
as:did Charlotte Corday's after her head
was cut of and the annals of the French
Revolution arc full of horrible stories Of
eyes which winklcd, shed tears, or short
angry glances, and of lips which smiled,
scornfully or resignedly, ere they kissed
the fatul basket into which they were
tumbled. The explanation Of this was
that tho guillotine's sharp and sudden
administration left the brain we'll charg.
ed. with blood, and it could continue its
functisns for dreadful moment after the
body had ceased to belong to it. If this
is true, the guillotine is by far the most
cruel Of oil the arts Of decapitation. The
Spanish garrote, which by one fell screw
in the back Of the neck parlyzes all sensa-
ton at once,is far more merciful, although
no one who has been subjected to it's
tender mercies has ever come back to tell
us if there be one instant of intense agony,
as there probably is.
The next anecdote is perhaps as re.
markable. It comes from . Western
city, and has been mentioned in one or
two medical works. The story is of q
lady about 80 years fage, remarkably
beautiful woman, and the mother of four
children, three sons and daughter. She
had suffered much from the unreasonable
jealousy of her husband, who, although
he loved her much, had one of those un.
goycrnably jealous temperaments which
Hannah More has delineated in her char.
acter Of De Montfort, in the ''Plays of the
Passions" She was woman of remark.
able propriety Of conduct and patient
with his infirmity; an excess of goodness
not often found in tho innocent, who are
not fond Of being suspected, as . general
rule.
Her best friend and constant defende,
was the sister Of her husband and the
wife Of the family physician. It was ia
her interference that the poor lady owed
what peace she enjoyed for the last few
years other life. She was attacked by
heart disease and suffered greatly, but
was able to go out and drive about for
several months. During the progress Of
this illness her husband took up = terri.
bio jealousy OF the family physician, his
own brother.in.l law, 4 fact that he did not
communicate to his sister, the physician'a
wife. One day the poor invalid,
while drying, felt ! paroxysm
of pain coming on, and told he1
coachman to drive to the house of the
doctor. He did So. She got out, went
M and finding him with other patients in
his office, received . draught Of digitalis,
or some other we'll known remedy. at his
hands, and partially recovered. But
having to leave her Immediately to take
care Of other patients, he called his wife
and left her in charge other sister.in.law,
telling her to take care of her and see hel
to her carriage, as she Was in precariouf
condition The two ladies talked togethe,
for half hour, when the sufferer arose
and declared her intention Of going home
She had just got the door Of her carnage
when she fell dead on the sidewalk. Sht
was Of coarse brought back to the doc
tors Office, where, every effort to resus
citate' her had failed, her husband wa
sent for and her limbs wero composed il
death. ,,@ ~.
When the jealous man arrived his fur,
knew no bounds. He accused the DEAF
in opprobrious terms; he accused the doc
tor ct having ruined his domestic peace
hS5avsd like . mailman; nay, he even re
fused to have the remains brought to hi.
own house. and declared that his VII;
might i Be buried in tho street for oil b,
cared. This awful scene was ended b,
the, arrival OF the eldest son, younf
man Of remarkable character, decisive
snd energy. He took his father, LOCKED
him up and caused the remains Of hi
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