The age-herald., 1897-11-14
HOW IT FEELS TO BE SHOT.
Men Who Have Had the Experience Say That
 There Is Very Little Feeling of Any Sort
From the Chicago Chronicle.


 the verdict, not exactly of people who have been through the ordeal. but of men who have been shot, They declare that the actor is not in the least realistic when 1t comes to portraying the actions of @ man who has been shot. Take the case of the melodaamatfc actor, for instance. who is shot by the villain. He usually chooses the center of the stage as the proper spcls on which to stand while re- ceiving the bullet, and when the villain fires the blank cartridge at him he clutches the spot whtIIe the ball is sup posed to have struck, wllirls around three or four times as if he had been hit with club, and then falls heavily to the floor. Men who have been shdt, who have fsllt the Impact of the bullet and had it out from their flesh later, say this is not the way a shot man acts at all.
 When I was shot I did not know 1t for some time afterward,' said Detective Dennis Iierney, of the Central station, who had a bullet fired through his shoulder while making an arrest in Frefberg's opera house some years ago. ''I was grappling with the man who shot me, and our arms we're around each oSher. While was trying to throw him he managed to gel his gun 'out of his pocket, and holding it up against my shoulder he fired. I heard the report, but did not know who had fired the shot, and when felt a sharp, singing pain in my shoulder for an instant I thought he had stabbed me, did ncIt feel the bullet going through the flesh, just the first sting as it cut the skin, and kept on wrestling with him until landed him. In would ge't f.om pin sticking into me or the scratch of a knife. When I got through with him I examined myself and found I had been shot. But at the time there was nothing about the sensa- tion to warn me that anything serious had happened"
 Detective Welbasky of the Central sta ton had had bullets fired into him while struggling with crooks, and he, too. de clares that there is no particular sensa- tion about being shot, nothing to make a man forget home and mothea. and whirl around three times before failing
 T did nol- know I was shNt aDtI some body noticed the blood running down my arrn," said the officer.9 tiI was in a fight and l reme mber feeMhg a sting in my arm as one eff the guns went off, but padd no attention to dit. Some time after ward one of the boys. obse rved that was bleeding Then I looked and found had been shot was shot another time, and the occurrence was, about the same as the first really did not know l was Shct in the sXciteme mt ef the mo- meDt, as the pain was not exec SsiVe, sim ply that sharp sting I had fels before. But the bullet was there and had 1t dug out l have seen many people shot, and nsver saw one throw up his har s and wEi1 around as they do on tha st 2. -. When a man ge1s 1t bad, say in the e,ton- aoh he usually doubles up as if he had cramp and falls forward on; Ifs face Bri. unless it is a. vital spot that is struck geba.ng shot does not hurt any m5cie than having ateoth pulled"
 Shot? Ye&, I was shot one time" said William Pink eaton.sa q was, not badly injured, but the pain was pretty bad folr a tne. The ball struck me in the side and grazsd the skin, raising a welt just as fhGugh a radhide had bsen laid on the bare flesh and that is about the way 1t felt, too. There was a sharp sting glke a burn, but 1t did not lase long, and did not know what had hap pened until I felt my left foot wet in- side my boot. When I examined it found it was full of blood which had been tTtckkng down my side where the baM had passed. I have had lots eff things hmt me W0rSe."
 Chlasf of Police Dietsch of Cincinnati who was in town last week, was dining with MT. Pinllerton at the time rep reSentatfve of the Chronicle asked about
 
 with the detective that in the majority of cases the man who is shot, even though ha be badly wounded, doss not know it at the instant. Shootfngs us ually occur urd the strt ss Of some great excitement and this serves to keep the mind of the victim off his wound unless 1 it be in a vital spot.
 q was shot during the late wall" said Chief Dtstsch, "and I did not know what 1t was fer quite a while Of course 1t was not a pleasant sensation, just the sting like that of pin or knife where the ball breaks the skin but 1t was nNth- ing ito knock a man down. The force of the ball is not felt unless ,t lis a very large one, and the usual revolver used in fights and brawls Is not of large caJibl,e When the bullet strikes it is felt, but if the man is under gtleat exch; cement he may attribute that prfcksng sensation to some ether cause and not realize that he has been shot, know of many such cases during the war where man did not know he was shot untl somebody showed him the blot'd running down his clothing 7o
 Such also was the testimony of Dr. Reilly, aesisant conlmlssromer of health, who was an army surgeon during the war. He treated many gunehot wounds dufng his time in the service and be- cams quite familiar with the work. In addition to this he was shct himself at Shiloh and is the ref ire calculated to give an expert opinion.
 "A Minia ball passed through my left leg at Shiloh,' said Dr. Reilly. "and did not experience any particular sensation except. perhaps. cne similar to being stuck with a pin. I felt the ball go through the skin, but It left no nsatlon in passing through the musclss. That, eff course, is on account of the gseater number of nerves in the sh.n as com pared with the muscles The ball pass q almost entirely through my leg and was removed later, but I suffered almost no inconvenience. Of course, the place swelied up, as any cut of the Kind would do, but I should imagine that the bullet now in use would cause much less trouble and pain than the old rouipd bull hs't. as the sharp pcint of the 'conical bullet enters the flesh very readily. If a bullet would sb.lke the head or vital spot .n the trunk, of courss, the man shn would probably fall down. but all that would depend largely on tho caMbre of the ball. the distance from which it was fired and the spot in which it struck.
 "Thsre is great deal of nfeappre- hnpe-iOu ae t. f1,6a irtea rsf f,,