Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-11-13
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE
Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven
lures Which Show that Truth I
Stranger than Fiction.
IHE Kew. j. Murray, in his work O
the creation, relates that on one occasio
an acquaintance of his was out shootin
ducks. On reaching a bend of TIL
stream he saw six wild geese out of range
lie crouched down in the hope that the
would presently come nearer. Will
thus concealed he observed fox steal
ing down to the bank on reaching whic]
he remained motionless with his eve
liked on the geese. AZ length he re
tired, but presently appeared carving i,
his mouth very large bundle of moss
He entered the water silently, sank him
self, and then, keeping the moss abov
the water. himself concealed, he tloatet
among the geese. Suddenly one of then
was drawn under the water, and the TO.
soon appeared on the bank with tn,
goose On his back. Close to the water
edge he found a hole. caused by the up
roofing of q tree. This hole he CLEARED
out and enlarged, placed the goose al
the bottom of it, and covered his priz,
with leaves and dry litter, OF which thcr.
was abundance close ut hand. The TO,
then took his departure, and the inter
ested watcher went to the hole and re
moved the goose, taking care to restor,
things to their former appearance Their
he resolved to observe Whit followed
In about half an hour the fox returned
in company with another. They went
straight to the place where the COOS,
had been buried and removed the earth
No goose there. They stood looking at
each other for some time, and then sud.
denly the second.fox attacked the Other
most furiously, as if enragcd by having
trick played upon him.
WlNoNA, Mimi, is stirred up over the
awakening of Herman Harms, known as
the Minnesota sleeper, who has been tax
ing sixteen years nap. He is very
much cmaciatcd, but appears to be en-
tirely rational and there is hope that he
may recover. The case is most peculiar
and uncommon one; one that has batfled
the skill of the best physicians. 1t is
also one that presents vast field for re
search. Mr.. Harms lives on farm a
few miles north of ST. Charles, Mimi.
He was born in Germany in 1888. He
was married to Miss Buseman in 1868.
and his faithful wife has guarded him
through all these years Of torpiditv
Some sixteen years ago he was attacked
BY fever and had intense pains shoot
ing through his head. His physician
recommended him to move to a colder
:limate-Minnesota. He accordingly
moved to Minnesota thirteen years ago.
During his stay in Illinois he did not
sleep all the time, but since he came to
Winona he has slept all of the time ex-
cept an interval Of year an half be-
ginning with 1881 and two months of
1889 and 1890. When he was sleeping
ne could only be awakened by his wife
touching him on the head. Calling had
40 effect on him. He took no uourish
nent at oil to speak of and then only
when aroused from his comatose
condition.
JAMES Carson, a hunter and trapper,
has taken to Hebron, Neb., large num-
Der of petrifactions from the Bad Lands.
There are fish, bugs and reptiles in large
quantities, but the most curious of all is
the perfect petsifaction Of a human
skull and that of some sort of flying
snake. The conformation of the skull
is rfect, the sutures in the bones being
plainly visible. The interior is of solid
rock and it weighs about fifteen pounds.
The head is rather larger than the head
OF the ordinary man, measuring nine and
three-fourths inches in its largest diam
eter. The forehead is heavy, but the
back of the head is flat Tho flying rep
tile is perfect in formation, being about
four feet long, with two legs, and evil
dences that at one time wings grew at the
back. The head is elongated and it evil
IDENTIFY had bill like a bird. Carson
says that these petrifactions were found
in an almostinaccessiblc part of the Bad
Lands, and he had reason to believe that
there is rich field there for some one
who understands the value of the find
The head of fish was sticking out of
the shale, and in an idle moment he dug
it out. This led him to make an inves-
tigation and he found perfect mine of
the specimens.
PROFESSOR Thomas j. MURRAY of
New York tells wonderful story of the
results of his kindness to a common
house fly: "For two weeks the fly flew
around my house without much notice
being taken of him; then he began to
make advances and soon permitted me to
handle his wings. We called him
Dick; at breakfast every morning
Dick was fed sugar to his hearts con
tent, and would sit on my finger and
corkscrew his legs and rub his head.
Presently I made endeavors to teach him
various tricks, which, at first, were some.
what of failure. Soon he had ad
vanced in the art until he would allow
me to lift him up on toothpick. Soon
after I could place two of the littl,
splinters under him and by deal OF pa
tiencc and coaxing induce him to stand
on his hind legs. Then again could
place him on the table and have hin
jump over them successfully, like cir
Gus rider jumps the hurdles. One of Tho
most singular habits he has is to fly Al
my finger like bantam cock at an enemy
whenever he becomes enraged."
A FEW days ago q gentleman visited {