The morning news., 1897-08-17
WHEN PINE MEETS SKULL.
William PrOctOr's Head RepuIses
Block of Wood.


The relative hardness Of good, sound
yellow pine and the African skull was
put to a practical test yesterday after
noon and the honors were easy The
block Of solid heart pine was not split
and neither was the mans skull. one
corner Of the block was chipped off, but
whether this came about through the
impact with the head was not disclosed
by an examination. The skull at all
events had nothing Clipped off, so that
there may exist point in its favor that
should not be overlooked. The struggle
between the head and the block occurred
yesterday afternoon when the proJecule,
through sailing from the extreme top OF
the scaffoldng about the top of the In
dependent Presbyterian church spire fail
ed 10 penetrate the protective armor OF
William Proctor's hair Proctor IS the
assistant of the sexton of the church. lie
and his superior were sitting IN the rear
of the building and had just reached
that condition Of comfort IN, Inao
follows a good dinner Will
liam had leaned over to adjust the cover
over the remains of the meal, when
crack! with a sound as loud as a small
pistols report, came the missile of pine
against his head, William, with a total
disregard Of facts, said, "Oh, I'm killed.
The SEXTON did not observe the evident
absurdity of this remark. His sympathy
and solicitude are too readily aroused to
allow him, in emergencies of such ma
ture as that of yesterday, to waste time
in bubbles over an injured mans phrase
olOgy. In fact. he fully believed what
William had told him, for he knew that
the top of the spire was 200 feet in the
air and, glancing down, he saw that the
missile was not a chid's toy block, and,
besides, he did not comprehend the thick
ness of his assistants skull.
The sexton got William to the hydrant
and turned on the water. There was
blood galore welling from the triangular
cut made in the scalp by the corner of the
block, but this soon ceased to flow. DR..
Waring sewed UP the scalp wound, and
al last accounts the impenetrable casing
of Williams brain was resting easily on
his pillow at home.
The block that came so violently in con-
tact with the invincible Uranium was of
dimension and a weight that are truly
surprising when the distance from which
it came and the unbroken continuity of
the skull are considered. The edges of the
cube are fully four inches, and the weight
is at least five pounds. 1t is now pre-
served as memento of what well organ
lied bone matter can Withstand. 1t was
said by the workmen on top of the spire
that the blocks had fallen and been swept
by the breeze more than 100 feet from the
perpendicular. A view of the relative
situations of the point from which the
block began it's career and where it was
brought to an abrupt end by William in
terposing his skull. would put a very de-
cided negative upon this statement. Man
ifestly it would have been impossible for
the block to have been blown so far out
of a vertical line as the length of the
church A theory is advanced that the
workman threw the block towards the
back yard, thus intending to get rid of it.
He could not see the two men sitting at
their dinner. The block had been sawed
from the main support of the scaffolding,
which interfered with the rotation of the
weather vane which had just been put in
pace.