Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-07-23
SWALLOWING ODD THINGS.
QUEER ARTICLES THAT EAVE
GONE DOWN SOME THRoATS.
Little Girl Who Swallowed Big
Ball of Lead "A Watch In His
Stomach.

SuSNt lLOun NhuG dDpedTeIl 10 ne certain
death. She was playing with lump
Of lead, out of which her brother pro-
posed to make bullets, when, by some
unaccountable impulse, she put it in
her mouth. A second later she was
scared by vicions COW and swallowed
the lump, which was as large as me-
dunn sized walnut. She suffered ex-
cruciating agony, and lay for an en-
tire day without proper attendance.
lhen two physicians were summoned,
and one of them regarded the case rs
hopeless. The other stated that there
had been hundreds of worse cases
cured, and after three or four days
treatment he succeeded in getting rid
Of the unnatural occupant of the
stomach without an operation, which
would have been impossible unless the
child could have been removed to q
hospital The child was out playing
within an hour of vomiting the lead,
and does not appear to be suffering
any inconvenience at all from the eff
fects of the accident.
1t appears that the capacity to swal-
low objects of great size varies very
much in different people. A burly
New York policeman, who looked
large enough to swallow almost any
thing with impunity, once detected a
burglar in the act, and chased him
vigorously for several blocks. Slip
ping on the edge of the curb, he fell
heavily, became unconscious, and the
burglar got away. The officer was
taken in an ambulance to the nearest
dispersary, where he was carefully ex-
,mined. No external injuries could
be found, but he died within two or
three hours. An autopsy revealed the
TACT that when he fell he swallowed his
false teeth, although he had kept his
secret SO we'll that no one suspected
him of having any. That lady should
be able to swallow her artificial teeth
md live quite long time afterward,
while man of exceptional strength
should be killed almost instantaneous
ly by the same process, is one of those
medical mysteries not easy to solve.
In another case bartender had nm
alteration with n customer, who
threw q glass at him and hit him in
the mouth, knocking out three teeth,
which, unfortunately, the bartender
swallowed. He was not otherwise
badly injured, but suffered pain al
most necessarily after the occurrence,
and after two years died from the
effects of the peculiar accident.
In exact opposition to this is the
case frequently quoted of lunatic
who swallowed watch and Fever suf-
fered in the slightest degree in con-
sequence. The case, which is an
authenticated one, took place in an
Eastern asylum, where II lady had
called upon her incarcerated husband
After trying various efforts to quiet
him sufficiently to enable him to talk
with comparative reason, she took her
watch out of her waistband, and point
ing to the face said that in two hours
the mans time would be up and he
could go home with her.
Without n moments warning the
maniac snatched at the watch SO vio-
lently that the chain broke. He i'm
mediately swallowed the watch and
about two inches of chain. The
shrieks of the lady brought the at
tendant in from the door, he fearing
that the patient had become violent.
When the actual facts were explained
the doctors were hastily summoned,
and the general opinion was that the
asylum would soon be rid of patient
who had been perpetual source Of
worry and annoyance for years. The
watch was n small one, but it was
more than an inch in diameter and
more than a third of an inch thick,
the situation being aggravated by the
fact that it was an open-face watch
and that the danger of the glass break
ing and cutting the mans insides to
pieces was obvious. No difficulty of
any kind occurred, however, and after
about three years the lunatic was re-
ported cured and sent home. He
lived for several years and finally died
with typhoid fever. His physicians
were very anxious to have a post-mor-
tenn examination with view to locat-
ing the watch, but the friends OF the
deceased man objected, and the mys-
terry, as well RS the watch and section Of
chain, were buried with him.
1t is comparatively common for
children to swallow buttons, marbles
and small coins, and, as rule, the
effects are not serious. Yet there are
cases on record in which the swallow
ing of shoe button, a comparatively
small object without any sharp pro-
iections, has caused death. A con-
iurer who had gone through the pro-
cess of apparently swallowing knives
and billiard balls with impunity for
some years, turned deathly pale on
one occasion when performing before
n small audience, and announced in n
deep voice that he had actually swal.
lowed the knife he had had in his
hand minute before. 1t was in
reality a small dagger which FORUM
ntely he had swallowed handle first.
Possibly the liberties he had taken
with his throat for so many years had
hardened it comewhat, for several
days elapsed before he died. Nothing