The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-20


/ ing see Heaven From the Earthly
/ shOres
| From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
/ Berlin.-Dr. Helm, the celebrated geol-
| ogist and professor Of the Zurich Univer-
I sity. declares that sudden death by a fall
| by being run over, or by being swallowed
/ up by machinery. water, or by snow ava
I lanche is the most beautiful way Of leav-
/ ing This life-is indeed preferable to any
/ other mode or fashion Of departure for
/ the unknown regions.
ITO drop from a precipice," says the
1 doctor, means, subjectively speaking, as
glorious an end to the victim of accident
as death on the battlefield. It strikes man
suddenly, with out asking one 70 become
acquainted with those nasty emissaries Of
| bodily dissolution, sickness and pain,
while the mind is clear and during increas-
ed mental activity he takes flight without
the least feeling of uneasiness. have
/ looked into the faces Of many Alp climb
ers who met death by unlucky falls, and.
like others. failed to read Of previous sor-
rows, of fear. anxiety pain or terror.
The relatives and friends Of persons
having suffered sudden death often lament
their rate for a special reason that has
no existence in fact. The dream of hOrri-
Die fortunes to which the departed, in
their opinion. have been subjected. 9th
ers get over the shock by saying TO them
selves, Thank the Lord, 1t was all over
in jiffy.' In reality there was nothing to
| overcome. The death agony-if, indeed, we
can speak of such under the circumstances
DID not last minute, neither was il Of a
second duration. If II had been, its pho
Geographic counterpart would appear on the
victims face: but II you take ten peo-
pie who died in their bed and ten who ex-
PRED in their boots and contrast their
features YOU will find that the facial ex
preston of the latter is far more pleasant.
more tranquil, more hopeful, than that of
persons who apparently departed this life
well prepared for the long Journey and, in
many cases, resigned to their fate.
i nave viewed the bodies of the broth
ers Wettstein, who recently died by fall
Ing on the Jungfrau. The faces OF both
these young men bore the stamp of serene
happiness. l am quite sure that, they
were rolling to their graves, they eXper-
fenced the same lofty feelings that l and
others underwent while standing at the
threshold Of eternity. Their happy and
composed features indicate that at the
time OF death they were above physical
pains, that they had made their peace
with God and the world; a conciliatory
feeling dominated their minds: they were
rushing down into blue, rosy, magnifi-
cent heaven, so soft, 50 blissful-and then
suddenly all was still.
In case of accident followed by sudden
death the state of Inconsistencies is not
preceded by any pain and while the body
Is mot apprOa ching this condition a second
is equal to a thousand years in duration.
TO the mind of the stricken person. When
the loss OF consciousness occurs IL does so
with infinite suddenness Death, follow
ing in the wake of Inconsistencies, works
no change physically or mentally percep-
tible by its victim: the state of quietude,
OF painless eXpunctiOn, remains mistaken.
mo, there is not even that feeling of
paralyZing terror in facing sudden death.
or what appears like sudden death, which
overcomes one in the event of lesser dan
ger. Neither myself nor the half hundred
rescued victims of Alps climbing whom
/ have interviewed on the question ex-
perieneed anything of the sort at the SUI
preme moment Our feelings-those of my
self and my colleagues in danger-eoTTe-
sponded in all respects, we were serene;
our mode Of thinking was uncOmmoniy
rapid, but at the same time full of self
| possession.
Before I relate my own experience I
will give the interview l had with the well
known Alps wanderer. Sigrist, who re-
Gently had a backward fall off the crown
Of the Korpfstock Alp, Switzerland. This
is his report:
Although l fell backward from the
| tremendous hight, 1 experienced none of
the anxiety which occasionally attacks
US In dreams at supposed falling acct
dents; on the contrary, felt as if were
carried downward slowly on giant wings
that protected me against collision.
During the whole duration OF the fall
| consciousness never left me. Without
| feeling the least bit embarrassed or
| frightened 1 reviewed my situation and
| the future of my family, and the vari-
| Gus features Of my own and their cases
| passed before me with unequalled rap.-
| dity. l have heard people say that in
/ falling great distance one loOses his
/ breath; | never lost my breath and when
/ my body finally bounded against the
/ rocks at the foot of the glacier ] became
| unconscious without experiencing any
pam whatever. 1 felt nothing of the
1 many wounds on head or limbs received
! during my journey down the preeipice
| from coming into contact with rocks and
/ masses of ice. The moments when /
| stood at the brink of future life were the
/ 1,aov, I
Der clearly reading the provisions of my
| life insurance policy with my minds eye;
| the big sum of money which death was
| bound TO bring to my loved ones l saw
| before me counted on green cloth ta-
| BILE, all in crisp bills and shining gold "
Dr. Helm i gives the 5e following deserip,
| which, as he fully expected, would end
in certain death. G.
from the summit of the Saints in St.
| Gallen, when, at the hight of g. 400 feet,
| we found ourselves opposite a snow field
/ lying between two mighty rocks that had
| to De traversed. 1t was a perilous path,
| running apeak for several miles, ii seem
ed. My companions hesitated to take it,
| but l decided to slide down on both feet,
standing up boldly. ! went down with
| unequalled velocity, but there was no
danger until made a movement to save
| my hat, which the current of air was
carrying along. l fell and lost all con-
troll of my limbs.
"Ouick as the wind l flew against the
rocks to my left, rebounded, and was
thrown upon my bach. head downward.
Suddenly l felt myself carried through
the air for at least 100 feet, to finally land
| against a high snow wall. At the instant
| / fell 1t became evident to me that /
was to be thrown against the rock, and
| l did my utmost to avert that calamity
| by digging with my fingers in the snow
and tearing the tips of them horribly
without knowing ii. I heard distinctly
the dull noise produced when my head
| and back struck against the different cor
| ners of the rock; l also heard the sound
| ii gave when my body bounded against
the snow wall but in all this l felt no
pain; pain only manifested itself at the
| end of an hour or so.
For this reason, l say. the victims Of
! more or less sudden death by accident
! such as falls, drowning, explosions, being
| run over, or swallowed up by machinery,
die a happy death. They know their fate
but have no time to regret it. They know
that pain is in store for them, but have
no time to feel it. Their main feeling
is one of surprise, but not unpleasant
| surprise. In all cases where death fol-
| lows the Inconsistencies produced i'm
| mediately, without interval. the victim
| should be envied. This summer an old
/ lady whose two sons had been accident
ally killed said to me: oh, If they HAD
only opened their eyes once while / held
/ their bleeding heads in my lap Poor
woman, unconsciously she wished her be-