Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-02-21

TAILS WnlCn we can SelOOm escape, Inter
vene; or when the daily occupation o
life is in itself fertile source of ankle
ty, then we find one or other of thes
three safeguards broken down.
A BOARDER'S AWFUL FATE.
Killed by a Cherry Stone Sprouting ir
His Stomach, Shooting Fibers in tn
Abdominal Region Physicians a
Their Wits Ends-Strango Revelation
of an Autopsy.
From the New York Mercury.
A very singular case has lately come
to light in one of the fashionable board
ing-houses situated on Twenty-thirc
street, next door to the Catholic church
of st. Vincent de Paul. Washington
and his cherry tree have been out
done, and the facts are so curious az
to give them almost the color of fc.
ton; yet they are vouched for by re.
sponsible parties, who have studied
the phenomenon from it's inception.
Last summer a bright healthy young
man, residing in the house in question,
partook freely of cherry pie, a dish of
which he was particularly fond, and
by some inadvertence swallowed a
cherry stone. He thought nothing of
the occurrence at the time, as itcaused
him no material inconvenience; but at
the end of a week or ten days he was
seized with violent pains in the ston-
ach, from which the simple remedies
at hand offered him no relief. It was
pitiable to witness his ferings, so in
tense and excruciating did they appear
to be. The young man continued to
suffer, and grew thinner and paler day
by day. At the end OF six weeks he
had become so feeble that be was
compelled to leave his business and
confne himself to bed. His mother,
an estimable lady, who resided in the
interior of the State, was sent for,
and nursed him assiduously day and
night. The most discouraging thing
in the whole case was that none of
the physicians who were called in
could determine the character of his
disease.
The symptoms were entirely unique.
The young man, whose name was
Henderson-the Christian name being
withheld at the request of relatives
said that he experienced a sensation
as if som ething were gradually spread
ing among and tieing up his intestines.
The physicians arrived at the conclu-
sion that he was afflicted with worms,
and treated him accordingly, but with
no effect. Whatever the disease was,
it seemed to battle the pharmacopoeia,
and the doctors and the heart-broken
mother were obliged to stand
idly by and see young Hen
derson die before their eyes. In
the meantime his suffering increased.
Sleep was almost q stranger to him, and
he complained more and more of the
peculiar feeling of a vitality in the in
testines, distinct from his own. After
lying for four months he died In great
agony. Weak as he was, he seemed to
be possessed of fictitious strength,
and at the time Of his exertions of the
paroxysms of agony to which he was
subjected, two men could with difficulty
hold him on the bed. After young
Henderson's death, the case had ex-
cited so much attention in medical cir
cles, the consent of the mother was OBJ
aimed to an autopsy being made upon
eral physicians of the city, and the in
vestigation commenced of what was to
be cause celebre in medical history.
On opening the body, Incredible as it
may appear, it was discovered that the
cherry stone had sprouted in the stom-
ach of the unfortunate young man.
The assembled doctors could hardly
credit the testimony of their own eyes,
palpable although it was before them.
By some peculiar process the cherry
stone, after having become lodged in
young Henderson's stomach, had actu-
ally sprouted as thrifty as if it had
been planted in the ground. The
strange pains of the young man were
now accounted for, for proceeding
FROM the cherry stone were shoots or
fbers which had ramified through the
intestines of the victim, and, in some
instances, had coiled themselves tight
ly around them. In the vicinity of the
heart there were number of these
shoots, and one of them, larger than
the rest, in pressing upon this organ,
had been the immediate cause of his
death. Of these shoots there were in
all fourteen, varying in length from
three to nlne inches. In color they
were white, with faint yelowish green
tinge toward the base. The shoot
which had pressed against young Hen
derson's heart was considerably thicker
and larger than the rest, and had q pc
culiar reddish tinge which the others
had not. The shoots were so closely
twined and twisted around the intes-
tines that it was found impossible to
remove them, and so they have not
been preserved to science. The case,
however, was so entirely sui generis
that in all probability full and scien-
tifc account of it will be written and
published by the physicians and sur
geons interested in it. What has been
recorded here is a plain unvarnished
statement of facts, stripped of all tech
nicalities and speculations.