The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-18
TAKES ONES BREATH AWAY.
sensation Felt When Falling From a
Dizzy Height.
(From the New York World.

(From the New York Wof!d)
Would you hear beautiful music? Then
throw yourself from the roof of a sky
scraper. A cliff will do, or church
steeple, or the basket of balloon; the
point is that IL you fall from a great
BILE sensations.
The only drawback is that you probably
won't live to remember them.
Several persons who have miraculously
lived to remember how they felt under
such circumstances have described their
sensations to Prof. Heirn of Zurich, who
became interested in the subject after
sliding and falling a mile in the Alps and
hearing beautiful music, all the way until
he landed on his head.
Agony? Not bit of it, The professor
has exploded that flea. All the testimony
he has collected goes to show that falling
is real treat, about a million times nicer
than tobogganning, and that II it were
not for the painful and often fatal conse-
quences it would eclipse golf and automo-
billing as a fashionable diversion.
Although unable to collect evidence
right by falling, Prof Heirn is satisfied
that they felt no more and no less than
his witnesses. most Of whom were dashed
into Inconsistencies at the end of their
trip.
His conclusion is that the act of falling
brings no pain, no paralyzing terror, no
anxiety, no despair. In a word, 1t is far
less disagreeable than almost any other
mode of death, and as a sensation is
greatly to be preferred to presence in a
theatre when some fool shouts, "F'ire!"
Ligrist, the Alpine climber fell back
ward from a cliff and was nearly killed
in the valley below. He told Prof. Heirn
afterward that he was conscious from the
beginning to the end Of his fall and en-
joyed the sensation of being waited like
thistledown through the air. His brain
worked with great rapidity.
There was no breathlessness, there was
no suffering from shock, there was no
pain, even when Ligrist struck the snow-
covered ground and lost consciousness.
Not till he was brought to his senses did
his sufferings begin.
Others who had recovered from the ef-
fccts of falls told the professor that they
seemed to be floating through pink and
green clouds, lulled by ravishing music.
The shock of striking ground in each
case was heard as 4 sound, not perceived
as pain.
Prof Heirns greatest experience was
to slip from snow-c covered crag and
fall feet first. The wind dashed him
against an inclined cliff and he slid down
this on his back, head first. for nearly
mile, decorating his hands in the attempt
to check his speed.
Throughout all this sliding and falling
his thoughts were clear. his mind calm,
and his ears delighted with celestial har-
monies. He thought of the shock when
he should strike the bottom, and he fore
saw that his opening lecture at the uni
versity five days thence would have to be
postponed or abandoned.
When he struck the ground he clearly
heard the sharp clicl: of his head and the
thud of his body. 1t seemed to him that
a large black object was rushing past
him and he cried out
1T didn't hurt me a bit! 1t didn't
hurt me a Bit"
Great was his surprise to learn that his
exclamation was not uttered until after
half an hour OF Inconsistencies.