The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-22
a Glass Nibbler.

The majority of glass eaters are takirs of
the first water. l refer particularly to the
"artists" who chew up tumblers and china>
ware in the Bowery and east side museums
The trick they perform is very simple. The
glass; ls generally hard, brittle looking
substance which gives a merry ring when
the fakir clips il with his thumb and fore
finger TO set suspicious minds at rest It
gives bell-like sound, like that of genuine
glass when lightly struck, and jars on the
senses when ground by the performers
teeth. Nevertheless it is merely a hard
glucose substance which melts In the heat
of the stomach and assimilates quite as
readily as jelly or even molasses.
There have been and are at present men
living who can eat real glass apparently
without suffering from the effects thereof.
l am one Of those few individuals, but take
no credit to myself for possessing peculiar
physical quality. Nature gave me a cast
iron stomach and think nothing can af-
feet it. l first tried chewing and swallow
ing glass when boy at Nashua, N. II. Ny
self and some other schoolboys had been
reading in our leisure hours a fash book
called 1.-THE Gold hunters in Australia, u
wherein we learned that drunken yankee
sailor bad ground up and swallowed glass
tumblers during his periods of intemper-
ance.
1T DIDN'T HURT.
told the boys In a spirit of bravado that
thought could do the trick had fire.
quently ground with my teeth and swell
lowed grape-seed and judged that this
would not be much harder feat. The
boys urged me on. / bought very thin
shell glass and broke out piece of it. This
ground exceedingly fine and swallowed
No evil consequences followed, and after
khnk I NJ ~
glass. Eventually | went into the show
business and made living out of my gas
tronomic toughness. [ have frequently
been told by eminent physicians that
some day l will do the trick for the last
time, as the glass is liable at any moment
to get into the intestines and cause conges-
ton, yet have not experienced the slight
est symptoms Of discomfort, and l have
ground up and eaten as many as nine fine
cut glasses In a day.
My theory about glass eating is simple. l
think that in my case at least no great dam
ger need be unprecedented if all the organs OF
the body are in healthful condition and the
stomach ia fairly full. | always eat a
hearty meal two hours or less before give
performance. The glass thus gets mixed
up with the food, and not being nutritious
passes away in the course Of digestion with
food which fs not flesh producing or blood
making, just as peach stones and other in
digestible material do. 1t is not necessary
that should state the salary earn, but so
far-and | have only been six years in the
business, have earned over $1,000 by the
exhibitions have given. Pretty nearly
all that money is gone and / viii have to
stick to glass eating for while longer il the
fad still continues so popular that can
still make capital from IL.
By the way, there are two gentlemen VIII o
belong to the Four Hundred who can eat
glass as well as l and make no fuss aboutit.
These gentlemen are George Work, son Of
the millionaire banker, Frank Work, and
the eccentric Fred May. hope neither
will ever haveto follow it for a business,
for the pitcher which often goes to the well
will sooner or later be broken. The fate Of
the pitcher will some day be mine.
E. j. MCKENNA