The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1893-12-26
MAN WITH THE MASK,
QUEER DIsFIGuRHiENr or TuD
HAPPIEsr MAN IN FRANCE.
Moroccan is Known ~ the Man with
n wooden Hcud-Mct liis Loss In
uia Country's Service, nnd ilv-
cry Year his Face 81 Painted.


face, no pyce, no mouth nor nose. lie haq
the lower jaw only and tho upper part Of
,ho forehead.
This mans name is Morcau. and he Is
known through all tho country round
shout as theman with tho wooden head
not that his head Is really made of wood,
hut because IL has that appearance. Real
ly the man 9 head, or the front part OF ~,
Is made Of platinum, shaped into the form
OF the features and painted 50 IA TO resem-
bic human Gesh
! 1t must not bc supposed that this man
ia freak of nature. lie was born per.
! fcctly formed md grerup 20 robust man
hood with his senses unimpaired. In fact,
: he was u good looking young fellow when
( nt the age of 20 he shouldcrcd his gun and
/ started out 60 fight for his native land,
/ II was in the midst Of iiercely fought
/ battle, ara Morcau was one Of the gunncrs
/ at a point IN the limo where the fire was
particularly deadly. Four OF his comrades
+ had fallen mt his side and he himself had
[ been slightly wounded. Suddenly, with n
crash aud great roaring In his head, he felt
/ himself spun round eight or ten times Ikea
/ top, but so curiousy poised ON his feet TINT
/ he did not fall He felt no pain aud did
/ not renlize that he was seriously injured,
/ II seemed to him that ball had struck
I him on the head and glanced of.
| After waiting nm hour he saw that
night was coming on, and gathering mp
/ his strength walked 10 ncighboriug viii
lage. for by this time the battle had ceased.
When taken 90 tho military hospital, tho
surgeon who received him, accustomed as
he was TO horrible sights, started back
with nm exclamation of horror The mans
entire face had been shot away, mud in
place of II head there seemed TO remain
| only misshHpcn mass Of red, raw flesh.
The man 3 case was considered hopeless,
| and il was believed that hn would die
within - hours. 1t was hoped that ho
would die,
Curiously enough IN spite Of tho shells
terrible mutilation, one eye had been left
in the shattered socket 80 that MORGAN
was abir TO sec at first but the hemonhage
vas so great that this eye was torn away,
and on tho second day the man was entire.
ly blind
Very much TO every Ono's surprise, the
poor fellow continued to live. and on the
fourth day it was decided to operate upon
his head Thirty-Gvc pieces OF shattered
bone were taken from the gaping wound
some OF them very large pieces. After the
head had been thus treated and the cavity
cleaned ont IT. was found that Morcau $
head looked like an immense hollow cup
with crimson inside and from this his
voice sounded in strange intonntions, some
what like the voice Of phonOgraph, IL
did not seem 10 be a man nj all who was
talking, but some grotcsquc machine.
Owing TO the man : marvellous constitu-
tion, he recovered entirely from his
wounds, which, in course of time, healed
up, leaving him with such mutilated face
as was never seen before In fact he had no
face, not even q forehead, and only por-
ton Of his chin An the rest--cyes, nose,
toeth, cheek bones mud fesh--had been cut
AWAY as ifsome ono had scooped a. cocoa
nut into the shape of Il half moon. And
yet the nun was apparently in perfect
hcnlth could speak hear and feel, and
showed every inclination TO eat, with
good appetite, il only some way Of masti-
eating his food could be- iaund
Here was "a difficult case for the sur
geons, and yet they made the beet Of it,
nnd in a few months they had accomplish
ed wonders The lower Jaw bone being
intact, an artificial set of teeth was Mt
tnched to r. rniged on a hridgrlilte plat
form. and these we're made to work against
another set at teeth fastened across one of
the ribs Of "a musk fashioned so as to cover
the cavity. This mask was furnished
with eyes, nose and lips, so IA TO givo u
certain glastly rcsembnnco TO the human
tace. T. !yag made Of ,ypv
For 10 years Moreau wore this mask
constantly, even ut night. but IN 1881. while
visiting some friends at Nalcncienneg, he
had "A severe uttucl, of brain fever, mud in
one of his dclirious moments he tore or
tho mask and broke IL in pieces. Being
very poor IN fact, entirely dependent upon
his scanty pension, MORGAN could IN afford
10 have auuthcrwax mask made TO replace
the old one, aud for long time he suffer.
ed nRonies Of humiliation because he had
no way OF coucealiug his hideous disfigrfe.
mcnt. Finally, however. "a petition WINS
made 70 the French government, and an
artist was sent 10 make n platinum mask,
and Instructions were given that this mask
be kept ia rcpnir and pulutcd whenever &c
became necessary, 80 aa 10 initiate Ms near.
since then. nbott once n year. m, artist
frnt, purf ,.{gjt, tIo tittta ,.fIi,,., ,,.I,,,.