Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-08-21
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE
Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven-
lures Which Show that Truth IS
Stranger than Fiction.

lures Which Show that Truth Is
Stranger than Fiction.
Broken necks are not altogether I'M
common, but the spectacle OF a man
whose neck was badly broken walking
into hospital and asking for treatment
is so unusual as to be worth recording.
In the fall of 1889 a man rang the bell at
the main entrance of the Long Island
College Hospital and asked to see the
house surgeon. saying that he had had a
fall and feared that his neck was broken.
The attendants laughingly assured him
that his fears were groundless and the
surgeon was summoned. An examlna-
ton showed a severe dislocation In the
upper cervical region of The spine and the
consulting physicians were speedily sent
for. Five responded and after most
careful examination they agreed that the
spine was certainly dislocated. The ex-
PLANTATION of the mans still being able TO
walk and retaining the power OF locomo-
ton was that the vertebra had been struck
in such way as to dislocate it but not to
injure the spinal cord running through
it. The bones were put back in place
and the patient was put in a bed over
which had been thrown large rubber
bag filed with water, thus combining
ease with a rigidity of position other
wise unattainable. In six weeks the man
was discharged and is at present in the
employ of the Long Island railroad com
spany as fiagman. His mental faculties
are as good as ever, and he seems to suf-
fer no inconvenience as a result of his I'M
lucky fall.
ONE of the most remarkable human
curiosities ever seen has just been ex-
amined by M. de Quatrefages, the
French naturalist. He is Provincial,
named Simeon Aiguier, and is thirty
years old. Aiguier, thanks to his peculiar
system of muscles and nerves, can trans
form himself in most wondrous fashion.
At one moment assuming the rigidity of a
statue, his body may be struck sharply,
the blows falling as on block of stone.
At another he moves his intestines from
above and below and right to left into
the form Of large football, and projects
il forward, which gives him the appear
ance Of colossally stout parsonage. He
then withdraws it into the thorax, open
ing like cave, and the hollow look of
his body Immediately reminds one Of a
skeleton. Aiguier successfully initiates
a man subjected to the tortures Of the
rack, as also man hanging himself, and
assumes a striking cadaverous look.
What most astonished NJ. de Quatrefages
was the stoppage Of the circulation Of
the blood, now on the left and now on
the right side, which was effected by
muscular contraction.
DARIUS l.. Corr of Pawtucket, r. l.,
is one OF the proprietors of the great
braid works, but has fancy for mechan-
zeal and electrical experiments. lie has
in his front hall a tall, old-fashioned
clock, an heirloom, which, strange to
say, never runs down. IL stands near
the front door, and is connected with it
by a rod with gearing attachments.
Whenever the door is opened or closed
the winding arrangements are given a
turn, so that the act of entering or leav-
ing the house keeps the clock constantly
wound But this is not ALL BY means
of electrical appliances, operated by the
clock in its movements, the gas jet in the
hall IS raised at dusk and lowered at bed
time. and early rising bell is rung in the
servants hall, later rising bell is rung
TO summon the family from their repose,
and still an hour later the clock rings
the breakfast bell. Whenever 1t strikes
the hour softly musical cathedral chimes
arc struck simultaneously in the cham
bers, and for moment the house is filed
with melody.
IL the trial Of a case at st. Louis there
popped up, incidentally, one OF the
queerest characters of a century. Will
liam Green has a peculiar reputation Of
being the champion eater Of the world,
having defeated all corners in numerous
matches. He had a standing challenge,
open to the world, and which was never
taken. His ordinary appetite is normal,
but when he tries to eat his capacity is
apparently unlimited One of his feats
was to eat S1S.75 worth of solid food one
day in contest with tailor. a con-
stable and a marshal Three eminent
physicians went to his house, and were
disappointed not to find him dead. All
the lunch counters used to bar him. One
day he swallowed ten quarts Of oysters in
an hour against a Connecticut mans
eight quarts. During the quail craze he
ate bird dag for fifty days, and offered
to eat two day on wager. He could
get no answer to his challenges. He is
middle-aged. of short build, weighs $50
pounds, and has never.been sick in his
life.
s'IF people were only taught half so
much about the way to avoid mad dogs
as they are about sunstroke, said Officer
Mulvihill the other day to Pittsburg
Dispatch reporter, "we would not often
hear of case of hydrophobia. A good
thing to know is that mad dog never
turns aside from the course he is running
to bite any body. SO if one is right in
the path of rabid animal he can get out
of all danger by jumping to one side and
out of the path of the dog. But if it is
absolutely impossible to get out of the
way, the man or woman should stand
perfectly still and face the dog. he will
turn aside then himself and run in a
different direction, while if the person in
front Of him screams and runs away, as