The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-21
DAMAGES FOR STOLEN SKIN.
An Irishman Wants $25, 900 for Hide
That a Frenchman Is Wearing.
From the san Francisco Examiner.


From the san Francisco Examiner.
Michael MCGOWAN values seven strips
of his epidermis with \ inches, length
s inches) at 81, 600, and in a day or two
he will ask the superior court of San
Francisco to see that he is reimbursed in
that sum for his loss of it, Michael lost
his skin while patient at the City and
County hospital. He did not know he
was going TO lose it till he awoke from an
anRstheJic sleep and ii was gone. Physic-
ally Michael 5 pain was not great when he
awoke from the influence of the ether ana
found seven patches of raw flesh where
there had been a whole hide, but when
DR.. Barrett informed him that those
strips of skin had been used to fill a
hideless gap on the face of Frenchman,
| Michael's wrath was great
Jean Forrest was the beneficiary of the
operation, and all might have gone well
in this international grating opera
ton had not the ludicrous side of the
affair presented itself SO strongly to Jean
that one day, as the two men lay near
each other in the hospital ward, the
Frenchman turned his patched face
toward the Irishman's couch, and. with
as much of an ironical smile as the heal
ing patchwork would permit, tauntingly
remarked:
"I've never been so close to an Irishman
before"
THE Swede in the next bed is nearer
| to you than am" returned Michael
"But I've got your skin on my face, -
said jean. THAT makes me part Irish,
don't itl'
You'll be Dutchman when get out
of this bed. I'll tear that skin of mine off
your face as soon as | get well, l will, -
said Michael. And when the other pa
TENTS in the convalescing ward began to
laugh at the man who had been robbed of
his skin to patch a strangers face,
Michael's wrath Increased.
This occurred last March, shortly after
the. grating operation was performed,
and Michael's anger against the French
man has hau time to cool.
Fresh skin has grown over these seven
spots on Michaels right thigh. yet all his
anger has not faded. He valued his skin,
ana though ne no longer bears ill-will
toward the man whose face is patched
with 1t, he means to do all he can to dis
courage the infant industry of skin steal
ing, and to gain some redress for the
great mental and physical pain" he says
he suffered III consequence of Dr. Bar
rett's experiment in international graft
ing.
And so Michael MCGOWAN has employed
Attorney II. K. Mitchell to prosecute his
claim against the city and county of San
Francisco for those seven strips of stolen
hide, size 56xS inches each In the novel
complaint that will be filed in a day or
two Michael MCGOWAN recites that San
Francisco is municipal corporation; that
as such it is owner and proprietor of the
hospital where seven pieces of his skin
were stolen; that the hospital was and is
maintained for the relief of the INDECENT,
infrm, and diseased, and that on Oct. "a
he was admitted for treatment for an
ulcer on his right ankle Then he al
leges that in March last. while under the
influence of an anRsthetic, administered
ostensibly for the purpose of operating on
the ulcer, and without the knowledge or
consent of the patient, the physicians
then and there did cut and mutilate his
body by cutting from the right thigh
large quantities of his skin, which were
used in grating fresh skin on other per-
sous"
Some of the cuticle cut from Michael's
thigh was grated on n female patient,
who has since joined the great majority.
Michael calamity makes no mention of
this patient in his complaint, and says
now that if his mutilation had ended
there his whole life would not have been
embittered to the extent of $4,000. But
when 1t came to stealing the skin of Il
Celt TO patch the wound of a Latin, and
never so much as, by your leave" this
was more than Michael could stand
The eleventh count in Mr.. MCGOWAN IS
complaint reads THAT plaintiff, by rea-
son of the wrongful acts aforesaid, has
been mutilated and disfgured for life :;
that since said operation he has been de-
pressed in mind and weak physically, and
ever since has suffered, and still does
suffer great mental and bodily pain"
OF course it is possible that jury may
not value Michael's skin as highly as he
does. According to his own figures Mich
ael values each of the seven lost strips at
1851 43.- True, he has new skin in its
place. but the old skin was brought wit h