The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1879-03-20
A TERRIBLE DEATH.

Man to StarCe to Death-Patnf,sl Csnse-
q"e"ces Of S,vatlos0t,0 Hts False Teeth. -
According to the report of . Philadelphia
paper man died there recently under very
singular circumstances. His name was Levi
Wagonseller. he was SO years of age, and
was employed in = cotton factory at Fair
mount. One evening in December last he
entered Chestnut street restaurant to Get
supper. When about half through the meal
he suddenly felt something sharp and point
ed going down his throat, causing ahinaz in
tense pain. For . moment he Thought he
bad swallowed large and jagged piece of
bone, but, putting his hand to his mouth in
| stinctively on feeling the pain, he found
that his false teeth were missing, and he
knew that it must have been they which had
gons down his throat. The teeth were three
| in number. They were fastened to q silver
plate, and had been in his mouth for many
years. Recently the hooks holding them in
place had worn loose, and the artificial teeth
bad annoyed him by falling from his mouth
several times. Plate and all had gone down,
his throat, and he could feel them lodged
against his breast. Alarmed and suffering
Intensely, Wagonseller went to his home,
which was in suburb of the city (Heston-
WILEY, in Paxson street, between Fifty-frst
and Fifty-second. He could eat no solid
food, and, for two or three days, took nothing
into his stomach. On the third day he
managed to force down a little bread and
milk. On this day the sufferer went to the
University hospital to see DR.. Agnew, who,
after examining him, seemed to have little
hope of saving his life.
Wagonseller then came to Philadelphia to
stop at his sisters house to receive treatment
from her physician, DR.. Stewart, of No. 1910
Green street.
Dr. Stewart was called upon to visit the
patient on the fifth day after the occurrence.
He advised him to take swallow of gin as
the readiest means of dislodging the teeth,
which still remained in the throat. The pa
tient followed his advice, and almost imme-
diately felt the teeth going down. But this
only led to worse result. The teeth moved
down and lodged about one inch and half
above the entrance to the stomach. Had
they passed into the stomach, according to
medical authority, the Chief danger in the
case would have been over. Rni, lodging as
they did, the patient could swallow nothing,
not even milk or water. 1t Was absolutely
impossible to get anything down his throat.
MILK was recommended, but, when it would
be poured down, as soon as the
| cAAo> "OAAO 10 AouOFoA AIOu upS IL
would come back. exuding from ears, eyes,
moath, and nostrils. The strangest of ali
WAS what followed. The man lived for seven
weeks without swallowing norsel of food or
drop of water. Even the juice of an orange
he could not swallow. From stout, hearty
man, weighing probably 100 pounds, he
dwindled away to mere skeleton. His
hands became horrible to look at by re .son
of their loss of flesh. Strangely enough, too,
all this time the man, who was perfectly con-
scious and rational, had no appetite, no crav-
ing for food. The smell of victuals, he said,
made him sick. From the time he went to
his sisters house, four days after the accident,
he had not stood on his feet, lying alternate
ly Oh q bed and in an invalid's chair. This
posture he kept, at tho recommendation
of his physician, until from lack of
food he became SO weakened that there was
10 option in the matter, and he had to lie
all the time. Operation with an instrument
was suggested by his physician, but this his
sister would not consent to, unless assur-
ance could be given that it would result in
saving his life. This, of course, the physi-
clan could not promise. and no such opera
ton was tried.
After being for over seven weeks without
food. Wagonseller died, death resulting from
inanition, or, In other words, starvation. To
the very last he had no appetite for food.
The day before his death he began to get
short of breath, and told his relatives that
he felt himself dying. Up to the last hour he
retained his senses and talked freely about
his case, instructing his relatives to
have q post-mortem examination made
upon his body. In accordance with
his request the examination was made by
Drs. Stewart and Agnew. The plate, with
the teeth in it, was found about one inch
and a half above the entrance of the stom-
acb, the hooks firmly imbedded in the flesh.
There were marks at certain intervals in the
throat, showing the progress of the plate rs
it passed downward, the prints of the teeth
being in several places plainly visible. Had
the plate, which was about two inches long
and an inch wide. passed into the stomach,
in the opinion of the physicians, it would
have dissolved, and the mans life been
saved. As it was, the plate passed down the
throat in transverse form, and, once lodged
at the furthest point, displacement was i'm