The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-09-15
A NIGHT In BELLEVUE.
SCENES IN THE SUICIDES QUAR-
TER.
The hazardous Operation by Which
Mr.. HilIman was Restored TO Life.

I on Wednesday, August 18th, was an
! rested at the corner of Rivington stree.
and the Bowery for having attempted {,
I commit felony at the Germania Bank
and III an effort To escape made lea,
from one of the windows-a distance %
some fourteen feet-to the ground. The
fall being attended with serious results
l was transferred by the authorities &
! Bellevue Hospital, whence | now per
tins letter. Before going further / want
I TO dIvest the mind of the reader of any
supposItlon l am martyr or an limo
cent. or that the act for which | stand
committed Is an entity. / may he eN-
| cused, however, TO say that the relations
OF It's existence were surrounded by cir
| cumstances which, phiiosophicallv view
ed, almost justified its preparation. BE
/ this as 1t may, L prefer To abide by the
verdict OF my accusers. who, by their
unforeseen charge, have thrown upon nv
/ lot a most remarkable experience, and
caused me to live through a night, the
| horrors of which have afforded me life-
long "reminiscences. The incidents which
l shall endeavor To portray ! trust may
prove an interesting narrative to your
readers. But of this anon.
In long, narrow strip of space, exI
tending a distance of about thirty feet
from the southwest corner of Ward No
/ ID in the male division of this great dor
mitory, and isolated from the ward prop
er, the visitor will note a group of six
cots with tables, etc, which is supposed
to repre- sent the suicidal quarter of Belle
yue. My lot having been cast in this
sphere, | Immediately began to look
about for material for a sketch, wherein
| might paint to the outside world the
life of the suicide; and | was not long
IN realizing the vision of my desires.
Like Dante's spectres, the mutilated ia
ces, arms and bodies of human forms
lay about me in heterogeneous display
of variegated suffering. Directly oppo-
site noted one-a Sweden the left
portion of whose body the DOCTORS by
interchangeable carving, had effected a
cavity of about eight inches in diameter
and deep enough TO hold a quart of wa
ter, to which IL was treated daily. The
man, whose name is Eckland, attempted
suicide about three months ago, aiming
to shoot himself through the heart. The
bullet, however, took different course
and passed through the left lung, multi
ating that member until il eventually
sloughed away. by skilful treatment
of the surgeons an excelsior of five ribs
was made and the other lung preserved,
thereby saving the mans life. This pa
tient Is now rapidly recovering, and
though now but the fame work of his
former self, will possibly live for many
years.
Another case of seIf-inflicted suffering
is that of one Miller, patient in the
bed al iacent, who, in a frantic moment,
aimed To- shoot himself through the head.
The bullet, however, CHANGING around
the frontal bone, pierced the optical cav
ity, and passing ont of the right eye car
ried that optic with il. The other eye
became infiamed and morbid, and in or
der to save that member an operation is
made daily. 10y which the orb is lifted
from its socket and treated chemically.
These two cases, however, are minor in
cidents compared with the subject that
was presented in the case OF Hillman,
the merchant. who shot himself at the
Grand Union Hotel on Friday of last
week. Your readers will remember the
case; how, having desperately attempted
TO kill himself by putting six bullets in
to his head and body, two of which lOdg
ing in the throat would have been sulii-
cIent to prove fatal, the man WAS con
veyed to this hospital, trephined, trach-
eotomiZed and otherwise carved, until
his life hal been actually placed beyond
danger, Ii is tins remarkable case and
the Incidents of the night following the
operations which witnessed that prompt
the title To this sketch. The patient was
removed here about , p. IN. Within fiji
teen minutes thereafter, under the SUI
pervision Of w. +. Dairymple, who oc-
cupies the position here of ward orderly
for the facilities which IL affords him tu
pursue his medical studies, the man was
washed, dressed and placed in proper
form for treatment. At o'clock Drs.
Mitchell, Howell and Clark began oper-
ations. Placing the sufferer under the
influence of ether. the surgeons, under
the direction of DIR. Mitchell, proceeded
with their knives. Has il ever been your
lot, reader, to witness an operation where
every turn, each movement, each beating
of the heart, Is watched with bated
breath-where the slightest pulsatiou of
an artery, the least variance from an or
ganized purpose, has a significance of
life or death:
For an instant the surgeon waVerod,
then with heroic and steady hand he
cut a slit into the throat and proceeded
to find the ball. Tracheotony Imagine
the idea of cutting mans throat To save
his life ! Separating the glands of the
trachea, probe was inserted, and in an
almost incredibly short space of time the
bullet was extracted and tube was in
serted in the opening of the throat made
by the incisIon, through which the insen-
sIble man could gain and eNhale his
breath. y CHASTITY sight! Verify, for |
noticed even the attendant turn his head
for an instant and gaze into the distance.
But there was work to be done, and
speedy work at that. One of the balls
which had been fired directly downward
through the summit of the head, had
fractured the skull, and a portion of the
bone was pressing on the brain. This
had produced "A partial paralysis over the
left portion of the mans body, and it was
necessary in consequence TO keep hot !
vessels of water applied 10 his neither /
necessary 10 dislodge this pressure at |
once, and rid the brain of the hidden |
bullet, to avert paralysis of the heart. |
Aware of the necessity, therefore, of n |
dual operation, howsoever dangerous, !
the intrepid surgeons ventured upon an |
immediate action. The man lay already !
exhausted from the first operation; his |