The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-03-25
clown OF The HOSPITAL
Sailor" Jordan, Who Fell from the
New Hotel Jermyn,
KICKS AND ENTERS COMPLAINTS
Bnt lie and His Health Arc Frcakish and
the Hospital Officials Like Him-He
Remembers Nothing OF His
Terrible Fail.

On cot in the surgical ward OF the
Lackawanna hospital and in fairly
good health lies Sailor" Jordan.
No especial Importance would be at
tached to either the man or his bodily
condition but for the fact that the man
is freak and his bodily condition is
something almost beyond the ken of
the medical men who are familiar with
his case. Sailor" Jordan four weeks
ago, lacking two days, fell from the
sixth to the ground floor of the new
Hotel Jermyn and today is almost well,
which explains his Importance and the
attention bestowed upon him and his
health.
In his awful fall he sustained n
broken leg, a broken arm, internal
injuries and concussion OF the
brain, and was taken in a more or less
damaged state to the Lackawanna hos
pital. Under such conditions it is not
surprising that his life was despaired
of. But after being for ten days dead
to the world he became conscious, in
sisted upon attending mission services
at the cathedral, complained of hospi-
tai food, criticised the nurses and the
doctors and in various other ways con-
WINGED those around him that he was
yet worth more than several dead men,
Jordan Is a Kicker.
In fact sailor kicked. The word
most aptly explains his recovering con-
dition. However. the hospital force
humored him. enjoyed his queer char
acteristics and grumbling and finally
lNn Ind ~ Yt nf
dawned upon the patient. Since then
he has been dubbed the clown of the
hospital and every one likes sailor"
he likes every one. though he yet kicks
constantly, and there will probably be
certain mutual regrets when he is dis
charged.
Yesterday Sailor told of his fright
full tumble to Il Tribune reporter and
the inference was drawn that the tum-
bic was not so frightful after all. In
fact Sailor" knows nothing about it..
He even does not remember the be-
ginning of the fall, and said that his
last recollection is of trying to lift one
end of a short iron beam.
This is taken by the doctors as an
evidence that his mind power was de-
stroyed during the infinitessimal part
of second that his frightful danger
dawned upon him. There was moth
ing to indicate that he had an epileptic
or other sudden attack. If that were
SO, the fall would have killed him.
Through sailor Jordan no person
can ever learn ''how it feels to fall
through six floors of a towering build
IN, nd Gt,,ils nf
All that Sailor" knows about 1t Is
what he learned two weeks after the
accident from the fellow workman who
stood near him when he fell. He struck
an iron rod or beam on every floor eX-
cept the fifth. His body was tumbled
about forward, backward and side
way and he struck the ground floor on
the back of his head and shoulders with
such sickening force that his body re-
bounded upward for several feet and
fell face downward.
l. Still Kept in Bed.
\ few days ago he was able to bear
his weight on the broken leg, and his
broken arm is so strong that in a day
or SO its plaster cast will be removed.
He is kept in bed because Of some di-
gestive irregularty and because Of
some refraction which might result
from his not too angelic disposition if
he were up and about.
Under certain conditions Sailor"
Jordan could make a good living in q
Scranton museum.
Scores Of persons as they hurry by
the towering frame work of the Hotel
Jermyn daily stop for an instant to
Ga2e at the point from which sailor
took his plunge. y group of idlers can
be deserted at any hour of the day
watching the progress of the work
and talking about Jordan's fail. The
number OF men who saw him as he shot
downward is constantly growing.
When the accident occurred there were
probably not over five persons who
saw the unfortunate man as he whrled
through the air, but now n census
would without doubt reveal not less
than 500 persons willing to affirm that
they saw the fall.
a