Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-04-28
JOINED THE MAJORITY.
SUDDEN DEATH OF DR.. OF
THIS CITY.
A Fatal Mishap Befalls Him While Prac-
Using in h Gymnasium - Graceful
Knew Him Intimately.

"A r8tal Mlsnap Befalts Him While Prac
Using in the Gymnasium Graceful
Tribute to HIS Memory From One Who
Knew Him Intimately.
ITO every man it is appointed once to
die" but not to realize how soon dissolu.
ton must come. Most men when they dis.
cuss the problem OF dissolution hope that
the change from life to death may be swift
and painless. On Tuesday evening up to
about 6 O'Clock DR.. Alva C. Bishop was in
the full possession of his senses and per.
ceptive faculties. He had not the frame of
an athlete, but he was a wiry, spare, active
man. Some Eastern friends of his had
come to town, Messrs. Miller and Salmon,
and he had taken them to the gymnasium
to show them that Butte was as we'll SUP
piled with means OF physical culture as
any city in the country. The Doctor was
an enthusiast in anything in which he took
an interest and he belonged to the gymna.
SUM because he thought it was an ~institu.
ton that every one should support. He
had practiced very little with the appa1a-
tus himself and made no pretensions to
being proficient. A man with his practice
could not arrange his time so as to give it the
steady practice which it needs to become a
proficient. He
PROCEEDED To DEMONSTRATE
to his friends the use OF the vau%lting-horse.
This consists of a round body about five
feet long, covered with leather, standing
upon four iron legs firmly fastened to the
floor, the legs being capable of raising and
lowering. Two leather ridges in the center |
are grasped by the hands il vaulting. |
These he seized and sprang so as to straddle |
tne morse. He did this once or twice and |
grasping the ridges in the effort to regain |
his seat. He was then hanging head down
towards a mattress a foot thick, still grasp
ing the ridges and with one leg over the |
horse" when his hold gave wav and he |
fell upon the Misunderstanding upon the. back
OF his neck. He did not fall twelve inches,
and yet no sooner had he struck than he
exclaimed as he lay on his back: "Boys, /
am going to die. I've broken my spine.n
1t was not realized by those present how
serious the import of the words was at
iirst, but they were not long in discovering
the fatal meaning of the announcement. By
that slight fall his body had been paralyzed
from the neck down, and the man who, a
second before, was full of vitality lay
HELPLESS AS A LoG,
to move a muscle, his body insensi.
BILE to the toughest touch. DR.. Murray
was hastily summoned and by his instruc.
lions a stretcher was procured and he was
borne to his house. only a few yards dis.
from the Turn Verein gymnasium.
Drs. Hammond, Leavitt and Gum
we're called soon after in consultation.
the first it was evident that DR.. }
Bishops recovery was hopeless and it was
only a question OF time how long the
vital forces would survive. It could not be !
he was conscious of his fate and !
'almly quoted the grief of those about 1
him. His mind was clear and he faced in. ,
death growing upon him with i
progress as bravely as on the field /
IL battle he had braved the belching can. '
so, for there b. had the excite /
nent that war brings, while as he Law help :
ess on his bed facing the grim DESTROYER i
here was everything to make a man 4
In dying he left a devoted wife i
md q family of children who were the pride T
his heart; he left life before he had we'll i
cached the meridian; he left hosts ofi =
riends devoted to him, and all that goes y
o make life worth living. But the brave I,
IAN gave way to no ~unavailiag regrets. He y
Iad fought the good fight; he had kent the =,
aith the best he knew how; he had put n
cart and soul into the work given him to n
o, and he did not fear to die. He fingered h
onscious up to within two hours Of his Z