St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-17
s1O,OOO,OOO year for the children of the
lamp that made Bachelor consider Job
something of an impOster."
ATE A HAIR SWITCH.
Remarkable Disclosure of a Sur
gical Operation.

remarkable DISCLOSURE OF sur
gical Operation.
Los Angeles Special San Francisco Exam
liner.
The Los Angeles Herald to-day pub
fishes an account of an unparalleled
discovery. 1t all comes to light through
remarkable operation performed by
DIR. K. D. Wise, of this city, assisted by
Drs. Whaley, Downs and another young
doctor, whose name could not be ascer-
tanned.
Several weeks ago a harnessmaker
named Reacroft, who lives at Compton,
was taken sick. His case Itaff1ed the
skill of attending physicians. Up till
Tuesday ReacrOft suffered intensely
from an apparent obstruction of the in
testines. 1t was then decided that an
operation would have to he performed
in order to save the mans life, and DR..
h. ID. Wise was called in.
The operation, which was performed
OIL Tuesday, consisted in cutting open
the abdominal cavity and searching for
the cause of obstruction. The result Of
the operation was that the doctors made
discovery which is, as far as known,
without parallel in the history of oper-
ati0ns in this or any other country.
\ Delicate Operation.
After finding the obstruction it should
be stated that its removal could only be
brought about by Sitting open the IN
testine. The doctors report that the
substance inside felt very hard, The
intestine was opened, and the medical
attendants were aStOniShed to find a
large mass of woman's hair. The for
eign body was removed. and the wound
in the intestine carefully seWed to-
gether.
The patient rallied thoroughly, and
seemed for the time to recover from the
effects of the operation; but, although
alive yesterday, it is hardly expected
that he will recover, as his intestineS
were Just yerging on gangrene on ac
count of the long stoppage caused by
the impacted hair. The hair plugged
the intestines as tightly as cork would a
bottle, and the man was on the verge of
death when the operation was per
formed.
The operation was most successfully
performed in three-quarterS of an hour.
1t had to be completed hastily on ac-
count of the great prOstratiOn of the
patient. The switch of hair was two
inches in diameter and about foot in
length. 1t was human hair to GER
tainty. The doctors were all unanimous
on this point, and that it was woman's
hair was proved by its length.
Blonde and Brunette
The strangest part of all is that one
half of the hair is black and the other
half blonde. This was another mysteri-
Gus feature of the case. ALI sorts of
theories are afloat to account for the
presence of the hair in the stomach.
The general impression is that Reacroft
swallowed the hair. The medical gen.
tlemen say that he must have swallowed
it, as it was found above the big ill.,
teStine.
After the operation the patient denied
ever having swallowed any hair. This
statement made the matter more in
tensely interesting for the doctors who
were trying to solve the mystery.
Reaeroft has been married twice. His
first wife was brunette, and Is re-
ported to have had jet-black hair.
Reacroft took unto himself second
wife about four months ago. She
has blonde hair. The suppoSition is that
the switch of hair found in the stomach
was made up of hair taken from the
locks of both wives of the patient. This
theory is probably correct, as is also the
one that Reacroft swallowed it as a
charm. If he did, the charm will in all
probability cost him his life. Another
theory being discussed is that Reacroft
was induced, In conformity with some
fad of the Christian Scientists, to gulp
down the hair, which must have
weighed all of three ounces.