Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-12

sick room, but the occasional flashes pene-
trated even there. I went straight to the
bedside and took up the withered wrist. At
first thought the patient was already dead,
his pulse was so weak and irregular and the
breathing so feeble. But close attention for
a moment convinced me he was still alive.
A minute later said to the terrified daugh-
ter. He's gone, and SO 1t seemed.
cat that instant there was terrible burst
of thunder. 1t rocked the solid old country
mansion on its foundations. The old man
started up in bed to sitting posture-just
doubled up like galvanized corpse twitch-
ing in every muscle.
"'What's thst?' he asked, the death rattle
in his throat.
1T began to explain that it was a thunder
storm, when he flung his hands aloft and
shouted with an awful oath: TITS the gates
Of hell opening for my souli' And he fell
back corpse.
Died Kissing His Nurse.
II have the reputation of being the pos
SCISSOR of good magnetic powers. In some
cases this influence serves greatly to reduce
and soothe intractable and suffering patients.
Once in an English hospital difficult and
dangerous surgical operation was being per-
formed on man who had been severely in
jured In an accident He was a powerful
young man. and at times two able bodied
attendants were unable to hold him still. I
was called in to assist The moment I
touched his hand he glanced at me appeal
ingly and grasped mine. From that mo-
ment he bore the pain unflinchingly. had
turned his face away from the operators and
laid nv cheek against his. He scarcely
murmured again during the whole time.
"When all was over he placed both Of his
great arms around me, and pressing me
gently to his bosom, kissed me on the lips.
When they disengaged his arms he was
dead.
II remember teamster I nursed once in
the hospital. His legs had been run over
and crushed. An operation had been per-
formed. He was constantly delirious. He
drove his team all day and all night. swear
ing the most fearful and original oaths all
the time. He was the roughest character
ever had anything to do with. His foul
language fairly rang through the ward. He
had probably formerly enjoyed torturing
the poor brutes he managed, for he would
Swing His Right Arm on High
in the act of swapping q whip, all the time
accompanying the motion with curses and
demoniacal laughter. He seemed to be in
tent on putting an eve out, cutting an ear
of, or bringing blood in come way, and
when he imagined he had made an especially
skillful stroke of this kind he would laugh
and curse. It was terrible! He finally
went off in one of these fiendish paro1ysms.
believe that is the only case in all my ex-
perience in which I could feel no human
pity-in which was satisfied to see man
suffer and was almost if not quite glad that
my patient was dead.
II knew case where a genial. good
hearted, whole-souled gentleman in New
York lay sick with quick consumption. He
had been man about town and had hosts of
friends. When he was convinced that he
could live no longer, he called some of these
watchers about him, called for glasses, made
each person fill up with him for the last
time.' and lightly waving his own finger of
whisky above his head, he cried:
"'Well, boys, I've had many good time
with you; here's for the parting drink
Goodbyl' and he died as he had lived, a con-
vivial man of the world"
CHARLES THEODORE MURRAY.