Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-07-03
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.


oneer Episodes and Thrilling Adven-
lures Which Show that Truth =
Stranger than Fiction.
The civil tribunal, of Frankfort, Ger
many, has Just rendered its decision in
remarkable case in which mother sued
her eldest son, the legal proprietor of
the family grave, to prevent him from
excluding her from occupying it as her
last resting place by the side Of her hus-
band. The defendant, well-to-dO mer-
chant, admitted that the deposition of
The complainant was correct, but insisted
upon his right to deny her burial in the
family vault, inasmuch as he personally
had bought and paid for it, and erected
= memorial stone, dedicating it to his
father. The mother said she had prom
ised her husband to lie by his side in
death The plot of ground had been
bought by the children, but after the
fathers death was acquired by her un-
isaturHl son for the purpose of blackmail,
II being his intention to refuse her bur-
ial by her husbands side in case she
favored her youngest son in her last will
and testament. The witnesses, on be-
half of the mother, swore that neither
the complainant nor any of the children
knew Of their mother'swiIl. The Judge
told the defendant that he was the most
'sheartless and inhuman wretch" he had
ever seen or heard of, and that he would
give him four weeks time to reconsider
his action. If after that time had elapsed
the defendant was not willing to sign a
paper which guaranteed to the mother
that she should be inferred in the family
grave, he (the judge) would order the
body Of the father to be exhumed and
placed in lot to be purchased by the
mother. The judge also decided that
the inscription, ''To my father, by his
grateful son, " must be removed from the
monument which is to cover the bodies
Of the father and mother.
BEFORE the American Neurological
Association, which met recently in Phila-
delphia, DR.. S. Weir Mitchell related the
strange story of Ansell Bourne, a man
NNo completely forgot his identity for
two years. The story has been told be-
fore, but not by responsible people or in
an authenticated way. Ansell Bourne
lived in Providence, r. l., with his wife
and family, and some years ago disap-
peared 1t was said that he had taken
several hundred dollars with him and had
fed the city Two years afterwards a
man named William Brown, who kept a
molasses candy store in Norristown, Pa,
awoke in the middle of the night and
began screaming with terror Although
he was in his own store, he imagined that
he had broken into some one else's, and
that he would be charged with burglary.
His neighbors assured him that he was
William Brown, and that he owned the
store. He said he was Ansell BourIN
and that he lived in Providence. His
identity was finally established, he sold
his candy store and returned to his old
home and old name in Providence. DIR.
Mitchell investigated the case. Bourne
had no remembrance of the period during
which he was Brown. He has recently
been mesmerized several times. When
IN trance he becomes Brown again and
enn recollect nothing of his state of ex-
iStence as Bourne Some of the doctors
received the story with incredulity, but
the main facts are well authenticated.
A QUEER freak of nature has been on
exhibition at slaughter house in New
York in the shape of double-mouthed
bull. The animal was received along
with large number of others bought
from farmer in Westchester county.
The bull has two separate and distinct
mouths, and both are used for the pur-
poses for which mouths were created
The one in the place where the mouth
ought to be is normal in its formation,
and the superfluous mouth is locately di-
5ectly below the natural one. 1t is per-
fectly formed, save that its teeth look as
II they had been tossed into the cavity,
and had grown wherever they happened
10 strike, and are not strong enough for
the proper mastication of food. The
upper mouth the animal uses for eating,
while he drinks with the lower one.
When one is in operation the other goes
through the motions as well, and it is a
curious sight to watch him chew his cud
with the two mouths working in rythmic
unison. Another curious malformation
which the animal exhibits is that his
night fore shoulder is displaced, the joint
being far down in the leg, thus giving
him queer motion when he walks
around the inclosure where he is con-
fined.
TUE vivid flashes of lightning that lit
up the heavens and made the Schuylkill
River wharves for miles brighter than
day, during recent nights storm, ex-
posed to a keen-eyed customs officer one
Of the most gigantic smuggling frauds
ever known in the history of Philadel-
phia. The German tank steamship,
Energie, was lying at Point Breeze load
ing oil in bulk for Bremen, and had
almost completed loading when Night
Inspector Lamond saw, from the light
sent from heaven, the hurrying forms of
busy men bringing large boxes of
merchandise on deck and lowering them
on small boats lying along the steamships
side Lamond, with loaded pistol in
hand, rushed on deck and succeeded in
catching E Ulrich, poatman who was
m charge of small boat, whom he
placed under arrest, and, with the aid of
the mounted police, locked him up for
the night. The others ran away and hid
ON the Energie, it being impossible to
find them, Ulrich took the officers to a