The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1880-03-11
WHAT WAS TIP
Remarkable Human conundrum in
Indiana l.rsa ef

Inc IolIOwlng letter from Fly-
mouth, Indiana, recently appeared
in the Indianapolis Herald:
A curious creature died in our
county infirmary the other day. 1t
was a personified conundrum that
will never be solved; problem en-
bracing all the mysteries and many
of the curiosities of human life; il
was a stumper on the Immortality
theory and a puzzle to materialists
it was a specimen of organic life for
students of natural history to won
der at; it was growth that would
make a severe draft on the chris
tian's faith and stagger the conyic-
tions OF an evolutionlst. 1t was
neither in the human form exactly,
nor possessed OF human sttriouses,
other than that the material oi
which it was composed were the
same as go to make up a human
body, and yet, as it was the issue
of human beings, IL was classed
| among them and humanity, with
that mysterious reverence it has
for whatever is possessed of human
blood and bones,gave it the care due
a human being. l speak of it in
the impersonsf gender, as an ''It," /"
and yet 1t was not sexless. It be-
longed to the enfranchised sex; it
was undoubtedly masculine He
had a name and 1t was Henny.
That was all, and that was enough.
ANY one who ever saw him would
say at once that a surname would
be to him supertluity.
Henny was--he is not anywhere
now, having become, If possible,
more of negation than during his
uneventful existence-he was in
person pitlable csricature upon
humanity. He was such a result
as 4 child might produce in potter's s
clay by initiating q modeler, a
warped and twisted body, legs awry,
toes and fingers of unequal length,
and spangled in all dn ections. He
was fungus growth of humanity,
sort OF organic toadstool. A
child described him as ''half pump
kin, half human" He had a head
as large as an old fashioned loaf OF
bread, which was principally face.
The back part Of 1t was almost fat,
and fit against the back of large
chair like tidy. HIS face was Dig,
round, fuzzy, and as utterly without
expression as a cabbage leaf. His
forehead was low, his hair hanging
downward toward his eyes, which
were mere Sits in the flesh, like
pigs eyes, red and destitute of
lashes. His eyebrows described a
tremendous semi-circle, high above
his eyes, and his mouth was like
the half of moon in width, and open
as the springtime. 1t has never
been closed throughout his twenty
four years Of life. His tongue,
which was abnormally thick, lolled
from it night and Gay, a promenade
for flies In the summer and . most
disgusting spectacle at all seasons
He had ears of the ordinary size,
and o well developed nose. His
great head hung on a slender neck,
which was the beginning OF one OF
the most shriveled, warped and con-
torted bodies that ever bresthed
the breath of life and was laid in a
pauper's grave. His arms were
twisted out of shape, and his hands
resembled human hands but slight
ly, beng adorned with crooked fin
gers, of variable length, and thumbs
which might have been made for
wardrobe hooks On a slight and
stumpy body were fastened pair
of thin, hairy legs, from birth bent
into acute and opposing angles, and
finished by q pair of long, curved
feet, around which toes of fantastic
shape and odd lengths sprouted in
all directions.
This curious creature could not
move, or speak, or think, or eat.
He could see, but sight afforded |
him no pleasure because he was in
capable of determination, having |
no more intelligence than a toad
stool. The daylight was the same |
as the dark to him, and a dog was
no more than . spot on the wall.
The only part of his body that he
could move was his head, and that
was AL involuntary movement, with
no more Significance than the sway
ing of q columbine blossom He
made a cultural noise sometimes,
like the opening Of rusty gate;
but that, too, was voluntary. AS
for thought, be was farther from it
than an angle worm, which has at
least the instinct spf resentment,
and knows enough TO eat and wind
its way in the ground. Henny
could not even eat. Coarse food
Was maeticated for him and pushed
down his throat; and in this deli
cate manner his valuable lie was
prolonged for two dozen years. His
clothing consisted OF muslin
gown, gathered at the neck and fall
Ing loose little below his knees, in
summer. In winter blankets we're
thrown around him. Sensation he
nay have had, but nobody could be
certain Of it. Flies made a play
ground of his face and tongue, clus-
,ering about his eyes until they re
,enbled black spots on a pale wall, |
ind he seemed in no way disturbed
oy them. Draughts OF cold and
roasting fires alike failed to elicit
single expression or movement in
Of Inconvenience. His
lime was spent in lying IN bed or
packed in o great armchair, the an
yles of his sorry figure protruding
n three directions. He did not
lnow whether he was lying down
,r sitting mp, or whether he was liv-
ng or dead-did not know the diff
'erence between himself and the
noon, or that there was any differ
.nce-did not know anything, in
act, and yet he was kept alive for
,wenty four years.
It would be fattery TO call him
IN idiot. He was as many grades
below q condemned idiot as a hu~
nan creature could be built. What
outrage upon nature he was the ex-
preston of, no one knew; for, al
,hough his mother attended him
until the day he died. she
8 too ignorant to tell to what cause
ie owed his pitiable existence.
That aome mOnRtrOus violation OF