The Portland daily press., 1894-01-24

pushed twenty-five inches down the
Chevailer throat, and the spectators
marveled
The staff of the Metropolitan Throat
Hospital deny that Mr.. McLone was in
vited to appear before them. They say
that he was brought there by his man
| ager. They are familiar with the feats
| that throat accustomed to distension
will endure, and say that, physically
considered, what McLone did on Friday
was startling, but not especially wonder.
full. He first caused the 22-inch blade
OF Chassepot sabre to disappear up to
the hilt, and then swallowed four sword
blades twenty inches long. The swords
were made for the purpose, and the hits
were in the same plane as the blades
which fitted into each other like nest
| OF spoons.
| Then. taking the sabre, Cliquot fas-
tened at right angles to the hilt hol-
| low rod of iron. attached Il dumbell
marked I'D pounds" Then, raising the
ROD until the point of the sa bre was in
his mouth, he swallowed it again, as he
had done when nothing was attached
to it.
While the sabre was in his oesophagus
McLone gave the bar half twist. some
thing he had never before attempted, ac-
cording to Manager Howell. The d ,ctors
| were asked if they wished to see Il fowl
ing piece attached to the bar and dis
charged while four inches of the sabre
were out of the juggler's, mouth, so that
the sabre would force the blade down to
the hilt, but they declined. and McIIone
prepared to do the next feat. that of
swallowing fourteen swords, the blades
of which were like those in the second
| feat
Howell admits that when the sabre,
with the bar ard the dumbells was
| drawn from it's living sheath, McLone
appeared to suffer, and retched, and
that he should have then desisted, or
| have been made to do SO.
| The fourteen swords were swallowed
like the bunch OF four, and the ordeal
| was little more severe, except that the
distension OF the throat was greater.
Before swallowing the swords McLone
said that If anyone wanted to draw them
1T should be done one by one, and not
| in bunch.
| The swords were not half their length
in Welcomes economy when he appeared
! to be suffering and turned pale.
| Howell had rurned his back when they
were beginning to disappear and he
heard one of the doctors say, My God
this is going too far
He turned, to see Dr. G.B. Hope grasp
the swords by the butts, and sharply
withdraw them, instead of pulling the
out quickly, one by one, as a card play
er deals cards, and as McLone does on
the stage.
McLone gave groan, and leaned for
ward. He appeard to be IN great agony,
and could not speak for several moments.
He then complained of severe pain in the
| stomach and throat. After Il hypoder-
mic injection OF morphine had been
| given to him, he was taken to his hotel
| in a cot.
1t was at first feared that either his
throat had been lacerated or that there
/ was a puncture of the stomach, and
that an operation would be necessary,
but there was no hemorrhage, and his con-
dit on had so far improved yesterday af-
| ternoon that he was able to drink some
| kumyss.
Manager Howell was convinced that
! the new trick of turning the sabre with
| the bar and dumb bells attached was
too great strain for organs that had
/ been strained and stretched to fit them
| for abnormal uses. He expected how
ever, that McLone would be able to go
to Toronto to fill an engagement at the
end of this week. His wife who aids
him IN his performances, was SO salts
! fed with his condition that she went
out for walk with a friend.
| The staff OF the hospital say they were
not responsible for Welcomes collapse.
| Before he gave his hibition his throat
was examined, and, while it was found
| to have become distended, it appeared to
be healthy. McLone admitted that fire.
| quently after he had been idle for some
time he swallowed food with difficulty,
| and had several times been choked by
food. He also suffered from dyspepsia,
wheii not lin practice but found re-
| lief when he swallowed sword. He was
advised not to attempt any feat that
| would tax his throat more than it had
been, and to keep it exercised.
There was, the doctor said, absolutely
nothing new in McIlones performances.
They were simply taking violent lib ar
ties with delicate organs which had
| gradually become accustomed to disten-
| ton, but had lost tone and muscular
| health. They could well be compared to
rubber tube which constant distention
or initiation had robbed of it's original
| elasticity. Welcomes throat was before he
| juggled with swords the same as any
| healthy mans. There was nothing alb
normal about it then. 1t was extremely
probable that his three weeks rest
brought the muscles to nearly normal
condition and that in his desire to excel
! he overstraned them. When warned
against allowing his throat to relax and
/ cautioned against straining it more than
| it had been, McLone said there were now
| limits and that no physician had up to
then seen any peril in his feats He
not only swallowed swords, but watches
and, when in practice, large one with
chain attached gave him, Comparative
| ly, little inconvenience, and he smoked
a cigarette while it licked in his inter-
nal anatomy.