The Northern Pacific farmer., 1882-11-09
LIFE AND DEATH.
Marvellous Cases Of Recovery from
Supposed Mortal Wounds.-How
Little is Really Known Of the Great

Secret Of Nature. -
From the New York Herald
One day last week the people resident
in Astoria were startled by the report
[two reports, in facD, that one William
Scheever, German shoemaker of tnat
vicinity, had shot himself once in the
mouth and once in the ear
with "bull-dog" revolver, and was dead
Inquiry showed that he was not dead,
but the physician hastily summoned said
he must speedily die, as he had two bull
lets in his brain. He was brought to
New York and placed for treatment in
the Roosevelt Hospital, and after a few
hours was sufficiently composed to
arrange for his comming death
by signing over all his property
to his daughter. He then went to
sleep, and on the next day asked for
some Frankfurter sausage and lager, say
ing that he was hungry. The next day
he said he was very sorry and walked
away from the hospital, apparently in
pretty good condition. One bullet was
found to have glanced off outside bis
head, but there is considerable doubt as
to where the other one u.s. ''It may be
in his brain, it may be lodged in one of
the nasal bones or he may have swallowed
it," said the physician who attended
him in the hospital Time, it thus ap-
pears, may or may hot show whether
VIM. Scheever's name is to be added to
the long lit of persons who have re-
covered from what are ordinarily mortal
wounds. Whatever the truth may be in
this case the circumstances are sufficient
ly striking to recall the other cases,
many of which are truly marvellous.
The extinction or continuance Of
the vital l,p spark" Phys1elans aaas serad ayree
until tie final extinction is absolutely
determined. 1t is easy to tell that a
man is dead, but it is very seldom GER
cases of recovery that no sane man
would think of ofpredicting. For example,
no person would have supposed for a
moment that the man in Massachusetts,
whose case nas SO often been quoted
would have lived twelve years after liav-
lnga tamping iron blown directly through
his head, entering under his jaw and
coming out through the roof of his skull !;
vet he did live for that time, and even
enjoyed good physical health. And it
would not occur to any ordinary man
that he could live long with whole IN
the side of the stomach, yet if st. Mar
tin had not done that very thing the
physicians agree that comparatively lit
tie would be known to-day of the III r.
velous processes that so on inside the
la oratory OF the body.
On the other hand, one who is accuss-
toned to seeing the enormous strains
and shocks the human frame withstands
is often surprised at seeing how little a
thing will "loose the silver cord" Not
to speak of the swift and fatal maladles
that are often brought about 10y SEEM
ingly absurd trifes, such as little too
much ice water when one is overheated
or the swallowing Of some indigestlbe
morsel, the accidents that cause death
are often trivial in all but the result. A
man steps on bit Of orange peel, or MS
friend sportively pulls away his chair,
with the idiotic idea that he is joking,
and the victim sits down too far. fractures
his spine and is picked up dead. A
of lockjaw. A large man, bending side
ways in his chair, trying to button his
shoes, loses his balance, rolls bver on a
carpeted floor and breaks his arm. Gan
creme sets in and he dies. Such cases
are on record, and go to show how slight
the real hold on life is. Yet slight as
is the tenure by which men Stay in
this world, there are innumerable cases
on record far more marvellous than hat
Of WIN. Scheever, even supposlng that
he has bullet or even two in his brain.
The inevitable death that was formerly
supposd to attend upon any serious ac'l-
dent to the main organs of1he body does
not always come, and men live not only
with bullets in their brains, holes II
their stomach, dislocated spines and ac-
tual wounds in the heart itself, but even
with open wounds clear through the
body itself. Gen. Henry a. Ba1num.
Of Brooklyn, wrote, while President
Garfield lay dying, letter to the press
in which'he told of his wound, which he
received in battle Turing the civil war
1t remained au open aperture through
his body and has never healed, and for
years his treatment Of it has been sim.
ply to wear in the hole roll of prepar-
ed lint. This is renewed daily, and the
supperation of the wound is constant,
times less, but never @ entirely
ceasing. Gen. Shields, of Missouri, had
similar wound extending through his
body and open in frOntand behind. His
wound, it is said, was received in the
Mexican war, and he wore. not lint, but
silk handkerchief in it. This he could
draw directly through his body. Some
three or four years ago boy in Pater.
son, N. j., picking up shavings in a car
penter's shop fell backward against d
buzz saw that was revolving with i'm
mense rapidity. Recovering his equili
brium he walked unaided to drug store
near by and asked to have his wound
dressed. He complained of having 6
terrible headache, and this was not
doubted when it was found on examina
ton that the saw had divided his head
almost IN two. One end of the cut was
halfway between the forehead and the
crown of the head, and the other end
was just 1T the base o;the skull. A right
line from one end to the other would have
passed almost through themiddle of the
head, but the saw was small one and
its outside edge had-beyond question
cut far beyond such right line. Yet
the boy lived several days and retained
his consciousness to the time of his
death. 1t was sup: osed that the saw
had pas Led between the two lubeS ut-n,
oraln, out tilat pC.nt was ieNe: >eitt'
positively, as the boys father tr'nsej t.
allow post-moriem examination. II
reporting this case the writer iealIed OF
two men, both living in Paterson at the
time, each Of whom had carried a bullet
in his brain for a number of years. One
Of them had been shot in the eye, and
the physician who attended HIM declar-
ed that the bullet was beyond doubt
lodged against the skull at the back O.
the head. Both these men enjoyed
good health. A fracture of the skull is
generally supposed to be fatal in
jury and generally proves so, yet
there are not lacking cases where death
has not ensued, at least for a long time.
In the Gutermuth case it will be remem-
bered that the victims skull was badly
fractured and yet he was supposed to be
recovering week alter the injury was
received, and was we'll enough to walk
out and pay visits-or at least supposed
himself to be. Other cases could be Cit
ed of similar nature if it were desirable
to make catalogue.
There are ses on record-there
many of them during the war OF