Omaha daily bee., 1884-06-05
MULHATTEN IN KENTUCKY.
A Wonderfully wen-Told Lie About q
homeless Man,

Cincinnati Tmes-Star.
Two days after leaving B~arbourville
(ky.) ! spent the night at the cabin of q
poor farmer among the hills, and after
supper some one spoke of Hector Davis.
"the man without bones" | immediate
W asked what was meant by the EXPIRES.
sion, when my host explained that Hector
Davis was of their neighbors, living
some three miles further on among the
mountains, and that he actually had not
q bone in his body.
As | expressed some skepticism, he
volunteered to show me over to Hector's
the next morning. We knocked at the
door of the Davis cabin about q o'clock
the next day, and the first thing that
struck my attention upon entering was a
middlo.aged man sitting bolt upright, and
supported by o rude and peculiarly.
shaped framework. lilo was introduced
to mo as Hector Davis. | grasped his
hand upon first entering, but his fingers
all rolled up together like q cabbage leaf
In u mushy sort of way that made me
glad to let go OF them. Taking hold of
his limbs they yielded to the pressure
until they were tlattcned out twice thor
proper width. Tho only indication of
bone was in the skull, which, while pill
able almost as sole leather, still offered y
kind Of protection to the poor fellows
brain. He shutled of his slipper and
requested me to step on his foot. | did
80, and 1t at once spread itself out until 1t
looked rs if q railroad train had passed
over it. 1t slowly resumed its natural
shape, but it was fullya half hour before
he was able to get the foot in his
slipper again. Perhaps you would
like to tic my leg in n knott no suggest-
cd. l found no difficulty in performing
this feat, while my friend accomplished
the same with the other leg, and after we
had also tied knots in both his arms he
presented a very knotty problem indeed,
and one that would have set n pro-
fessional contortionist crazy. When we
had unravelled all the knots and
Strengthened his limbs again, he requested
lib to lift him gently from his framework
and place him on the floor. This we
found no easy task, for his body slipped
about in our arms like an eel, and it was
only by securing a firm grip on his cloth.
ing that we managed to keep him from
falling. We finally succeeded instraight-
ening him out upon the floor, and then
my friend, who seemed to thoroughly un
derstand tho homeless mans programme,
seized r barrel standing near, aud which
| afterwards learned contained turnips,
and, swiftly Impending it, at once pro.
ceeded to roll it over the PROSTATE Davis,
from his toes up to his chin and back
again to his ltoes. The only manifesto
tions of pain he made was when the bar
rel passed over his heart and lungs, but
it left him in a horrible shape. can
only describe it by comparing it to
that of a man made of mud and then
thrown up and ilattened against a wall.
While his body was was assuming its for
mer shape, | learned from his old spec
tacled mother that Hector, who was 40
years old, had always enjoyed excellent
health and provided well for her until
the beginning of this peculiar affliction
two years ago. She did not know what
the doctors might think of her Hector,
as she chad not seen a doctor up in them
thar hills for nigh on to twenty year."