The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-03

ally a hard, briet}e-looldng substance
which gives a merry ring when the
fakir clips it with his thumb and fore
finger to set suspicious minds at rest. ID
gives a bell-lElSe sound, like that OF gen.
uine glass when lightly struck, and jars
on the senses when ground by the per-
formers teeth. Nevertheless it Is mere
" a hard glucose substance which mefts
IN tho heat If the stomach and assim-
EateS quite as readily as jelly or even
1nolas6es.
There have been and are at present
men living who can eat real glass APP
parently without suffering from the eff
fects thereof / am one of those few
individuals, but take no credit TO my
self for possessing a peculiar physical
quality. Nature gave me a caSt-iron
stomach and think nothing can affect
Il. ] first tried chewing and swallow
ing glass when boy at Nashua, n. II.
Myself and some oGlseT gchoolboys had
been reading In orr leisure hours a
flash book called 1.-THE Gold Hunters IN
Australia" wherein we learned that a
drunken Manifestation had ground up
and swallowed glass tumblers during
his periods OF fnbemperance.
told the boys In q spirit Of bravado
thai thought could do the trick
had frequently ground with my teeth
and swallowed grape seed and judged
that this would not be much harder
feat. The boys urged me on bought
a very thin shell glass and broke out
~ EFAso L
Gne and swallowed No evil conse-
onsnceS followed, and after that | did
the sarno thing with thicker glass.
Eventually l wentinto the show bust
less and made q living out OF my gas
tconcnic toughBeSs- have Frequently
been told by eminent physicians that
Honae day ! viii do the trick for the
last time, as the glass is liable at anv
moment to act into the intestines and
cause congestion, yet 1 have not ex-
perienced tho slightest symptoms of
discomfort, and have ground up and
eaten as many as nine fine cut glasses
In day.
Ny theory about glass eating is sim
pie ] think that in nay case at least no
great danger need be apprehendedi if all
the organs Of the body are in healthy
condition and the stomach is fairly full.
j always eat a hearty meal two hours
or less before I 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 is not fesh-producing or blood
making. Just as peach stones and other.
jndigostible material do. 1t is not
necessary that I should state the salary
j earn, bat 50 far-and I have only been
six years in the business have earned
over nine thousand dollars by the az
hibitiOns l have given. Pretty nearly
all of that money! Is gone, and will have
10 stick to glass eating for awhile long
er If the lad continues SO popular that
: can stiH make capital from il.
BY the way, there are two gentlemen
who belong TO tho -Four Hundred who
can eat glass as wcll rs I and make no
SUss about it, These gentlemen are
George Work, son Of the millionaire
banker, Frank Work. and the eccentric
Fred May. | hope neither will ever
have to follow it for business, for the
pitcher which often goes to the well
will sooner or later be broken. The
fate of the pitcher viii some day bs
mime Z. J. M'KENE.