St. Landry democrat., 1879-11-15
A Foolish Wager.
now A YOUNG MAN SUFFERED THE
- NToRTURR OF HANGING, ON A
T., BET OF FIVE DOLLARS.
TIaaiyjIla Hpraid

y
Tho following affair occurred a da,
!. or two since at !: mining shaft Oh ths
Big Evans. Three yeung men interes
ted in the property had gone ont tc
look at their claim and indulge in anti.
cipations of the prospective millions in
the hole, and while their workmeu
were discussing theirdinner in a neigh.
boring cabin, sat at the mouth of the
/ hole c0nversing on general TOPICS. In
. the course otsth talk death by straueu-
lation came up, and one OF the parties
: expressed the opinion that by the exer-
else of a little judgment and nerve a
man could Sustain lie for consider
atile length of time, even when sus-
pe1ded by the neck from the end of d
rope. Of course ibis position was
vigorously combatei by his compa-
mans, who said thai man when un-
aefgoing the hanging process had no
control whatever over his muscles and
that therefore he could not prevent the
rope from Gutting af his wind. The
y s3proponentaef the ideas insisted that he
was right, and instalced several cases
of which be had rad, in which the
parties hanged had prevented the rope
from compressng tle blood vessels by
a vigorous exercise o. muscular power,
q hole in the windipe giving the air
necessary to sustain life. He claimed
that all that was necessary was to bold
the head in such a position that the
pressure OF the ropeshould come upon
the back OF the hdd, instancing the
acts of trapeZc perbrmers, who hang
unharmed from a Nose by simply hold
ing the head well back. TO a chal-
lenge to illustrate hi theory in lis own
,,orspn t,o pay1iu1 fttt ba xr.,c
willing to do so, AMI offered to bet S5
he would permit is companions to
haul him, suspendd by the neck from
The end OF the hu&et rope, from the
bottom of the aaft-seventy feet
deep-te the surfaGa and that he would
then walk off unh@ tined, except from
the abrasion of the kin. The bet was
foolishly taken, I'D the foolhardy
>>.tIeOrist at once dsccnded the shaft
Ind commenced lEparations for his
! hazardous experiIent. Tying the
pope around his ned, he threw his head
back firmly upon til knot and gave the
signal to hoist ava The signal was
obeyed, and in b instant he was
swinging i'm the 4ir. Instead of the |
pressure of his hsd upon the hnot |
having the effect aticipated, however,
it caused the noosdo contract, as any !
one gifted with shnmon sense could !
have told him, ;t1cHeI q few seconds sLe !
became painfully :fale that he was in
immediate dangeli Of sacrificing his |
life to an idiotic scory. He tried to
call out to his assaiates, bnt The pres
sure Of the rope ubn his throat made
this impossible. he rope still con-
tracted; the blondmpeded in its pas
sage, filled his heal alalmost to bursting,
his eyes protrudeI from their sockets,
his swollen tougu began TO make it's
way between his Ips, and then he be-
came unconscious. Il
His friends, to b them justice, hav-
ing no faith in theeXperiment, hoisted
as fast as possibleand the ascent was
made in much horter time than is
usually occupied b the passage Of a
bucket of ore fol the same distance.
BY the time, howder, that Their inani- |
mate burden rea1ed the surface, it +.
presented an aprarance of the most !
horrible characterhnd almost tmralyzed {
with fear, as wei as worn ont by the {
violent and untcustomed txertion, {
they were unableto draw theiE friend
from the mouth Il the shaft. FoTtu- {
nately the cabinHas but a sort dis t
tance off, and bJf vigorous !ell they c
thought out tile Varkiuen, wh0dragged L
the body out upofhe platform. 8
AT first it was tbught that tae young
man was dead, b careful sxamina-
ton of the bodyIonEinced miner of /
eyperience that fe was not extinct, t
and q vigorous r1lbing, with he addi-
fional influence 1 liquor forcd down t
the throat, had be effect of restoring 4
consciousness in be course oil half an t
hour. After q lbt of severa hours, a
the Young man ecoyered sufficiently
from the fatigudof his perilas jour II
ney to ride to theity. One nore ex- +
perience has beelgained, and le is now fl
convinced that Anging Willproduce p
death as certain as the bullet, and is
when man has rope aroundlis neck, n
and is suspended thereby, lH has no
control whateverIver the situfion.