Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-24
MEN WHO EAT STONES AND GLASS
WRITTEN FOR THE D1sPArcH.l

He called himself "Feretsa, the Man With
the Iron Throat" As soon as a dozen
people had paid their dimes and entered the
tent Feretta would bring out his sword and
! pass it around for examination. There was
no deception about it. 1t was of steel,
about IA inches long, an eighth Of an inch
thick, half an inch wide at the hilt, and
slightly tapering toward the tip. Feretta
was very deliberate in his movements.
| Assuming posture intended to be graceful,
he would throw back his head, insert the
point of the sword in his mouth, and gently
push it downward until the cross-piece. or
guard, prevented it going any further. Then
he would throw both arms behind him for
the space of four or five seconds, after which
the sword was withdrawn as carefully as 1t
had been swallowed.
A DANGEROUS TRICK.
Then would follow a bow and smile, which
appeared rather forced. Feretta told me the
operation often cost him considerable pain,
but of this he never gave public manifesto
ton. He also said the utmost care was
necessary In performing the feat to avoid in
! Jury to the throat and stomach. Notwith-
standing his caution he occasionally hurt
himself, and was obliged to suspend sword
swallowing for a few days. But he had
other ways of entertaining his patrons. He
developed an appetite for pebble stones,
| which he turned to account by swallowing
| about three every half hour during the day,
| to the wonder and admiration of those who
| assembledin his little tent. This was not
trick. The act was done too slow to admit of
deception. He placed the pebble on his
tongue, permitted it to remain in view for
| moment, and then closed his mouth. The
pebble reached some destination within his
| internal economy, and must have found a
resting place in his stomach. He did not
pretend that the stones were digested; but he
said they never gave him any trouble.
Feretta was also an all-around sleght-of-
hand performer and juggler, as well as a
| good talker; so it will be seen that he was
| quite host In himself, and well able to give
| 10 cents worth ofamusement to the audiences
| that passed in and out of his humble little
| tent.
AN ovERCRowDED PROFESSION.
Glass eaters have become so numerous
that they find their profession crowded /
| have personally known two of this class of
attractions. One OF them was fellow
about 20 years old, who was ludicrously shy
and efeminate (off the stsge) in appearance
and manners. His only robust feature was
| a magnificent set of teeth, with which he bit
| them almost into powder with apparent ease.
The other was a youngster of not more
than IA, known as "Little Glass SAM" He
was a bright boy, and had amassed quite a
stock of knowledge about people and places,
on which he could talk intelligently and en-
tertainingly. His teeth, too, were white
! and sound and he masticated chunks OF
| glass and swallowed the fragments with
neatness and dispatch. He performed the
feat in private before a committee of physi-
clans, who were forced to admit the fact but
who were able to advance no explanation of
how it could be done without disastrous
| effects. But no injurious results followed.
never knew glaSs-eater to cut his gums,
tongue or any portion of his mouth.
The stories of princely salaries which
| these queer-throated and tough-stomached
! people receive, are for the most part fcti-
tious. "Little Glass SAM" being only a
! boy, and small for his age, ought certainly
to have been a drawing "card" in his line
of work. But he was frequently thrown on
the world, and ready to do odd Jobs of any
sort to keep soul and body together I have
known him, within a week, to discard the
tights and spangles of the variety stage for
the soiled garb of stable boy, and consider
himself lucky at that.
AN ECCENTRIC SAILOR.
Perhaps the most remarkable case of ee-
centric swallowing on record is that of John
Cummings, an American sailor, scraps of
whose history have been handed down in
medical records. In the year 1899 Cum
mings, then % years old, was sojourning in
a village on the coast of France, where his
ship had put into port. He and others of
the crew attended small theater at which
professional juggler was astonishing the
spectators by pretending to swallow clasp
knives. Cummings, believed that the per-
formance was genuine. Besides being cred
ulous. he was boasttul, and also fond of the
soup that i1ebriates."
That evening, on shipboard, he boldly an
nounced to his companions that he could
swallow knives as we'll as the Frenchman.
He was just drunk enough to be reckless,
and promptly accepted challenge to per-
form the feat. He placed his own knife in
his mouth-not without some misgivings, as
he afterward acknowledged-and, greatly to
the surprise OF himself and the spectators, it
slipped down his throat easily. The wit
nesses of the feat were not satisfied, and
asked him if he could swallow another.
"All the knives on board the Ship" he an
swered, in a spirit of bravado. More knives
were produced, three OF which he bolted like
SO many pills; and thus the company was
entertained for the night, as Cummings
himself said: ''By the bold attempt OF q
drunken man."
His stomach was readily relieved of its
unusual burden, and the affair was passed
over merely as an episode which had served
to enliven few leisure hours.
MADE HIS WORD GOOD.
Cummings gave no more attention to
knife swallowing for six years. In March,
1906 while in Boston, he related his ex-
plot to a party of carousiug sailors who
were engaged in friendly contest of telling
marvellous stories of their experiences. No
one believed him, and, being again drunk
and reckless, he swallowed six knives IL
the course of the evening. The story Of his
performance was quickly spread about, and
the next day, in the presence of crowds of
wondering visitors. swallowed eight more
knives, making IA in all.
The exploit nearly killed him. He was
taken to hospital and Tor month suffered
great tortures. He was finally relieved,
and started on another voyage to France.
The course of his wanderings at length took
him to England. where, being again under
the influence of liquor, he boasted of his
former feats. He was again challenged to
reneat them and again coTnnlied stdisdain.