Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-07-25
THE BLISS OF FALLING.
Sensations Are Pleasant Even III
Death Does Follow the
Plunge.

According to the Medical Review
Prof. Hern. the geologist of Zurich. an
ardent Alpine climber, stated recently
| IN a lecture that LIE contained few
experiences more agreeable and en-
/ joyable than falling over q precipice
or slipping into a glacier erevasse
Even the landing after the fall was
free from anything of pain or ter
ror. Merely q jar and then uncon-
sciousness. Prof. Heirn first cited the
sensations described by a Swiss
climber. who fell from the top of the
Karpfstock, in Switzerland.
The plunge, which was taken
backward. was in nowise acompan-
dreams of falling. i seemed to be
borne in the most pleasant manner
gently downward, and had complete
consciousness during the entire fall.
Free from all pain or fear, contem-
plated my position and the future of
my family, which I knew was as
sured by the insurance carried.
And this contemplation was accom-
pIished with q rapidity which 1 had
never before known. OF the losing
| of my breath, of which people talk.
there was no suggestion, and only
the heavy fall on the snow-covered
ground caused me to lose suddenly
and painlessly all consciousness. The
bruising of my head and limbs on
the rocks as fell caused me no pain.
The reawakening, however. brought
with it entirely different and far less
agreeable sensations"
OF his own experience of the sem
sations Of falling, Prof. Heirn said:
'As soon as / stumbled 1 saw tha
I should be dashed over the rocks,
and awaited the shock. i dug my
fingers into the snow In the enedavor
TO stop myself, but merely tore open
my finger tips, causing them all TO
bleed, but feeling no pain from so
doing. ] plainly heard the striking
of my head ard hack against the
rock, and the thud when landed
Pain, however, did not feel antil
half an hour later, when 1 revived.
During the fall came a flood OF
thought. Every thought and impress
sion was clear, in nowise dreary and
confused, and was logically connected
with the one which followed.
"First. contemplated the prob
ability OF my fail, and said to myself:
The rock over whose edge I shall
be dashed, evidently descends sheer.
for / cannot see the ground on the
other side. It becomes, therefore,
question whether or not there is
snow at the foot. If so, the snow
viii be melted near the wall and viii
form ledge on which shall land,
and thus escape with my life; If not,
then / shall strike on the rocks be-
low and death viii be unavoidable.
Another train of thought busted
itself with the effect my fail would
have upon my companions / said
to myself that when / landed, no
matter whether I was hurt or not.
I must, if possible, call out with all
my might: i am in nowise iniuEed!'
in order that my comrades might
arouse themselves from their terror
and be able to make the difficult de-
scent necessary for the bringing of
assistance to me. / also thought that
/ should not deliver my lecture which,
five days later, was to mark my en-
trance into the professoxship. real
lied how the news of my death would
shock my family, and in thought
tried to console them.
ssThen I saw, as if upon a stage, my
entire life pass like a series of tab
ieaux before me. I saw myself the
chief actor. Everything seemed glo-
rified as by some heavenly light. and
all was beautiful and free from pain,
from anxiety and sorrow. Even the
memory of sad events was distinct.
but not sad. Exalted and beautiful
thoughts dominated and connected
the single scenes, and a divine quiet
ude sank like sweet music into my
soul Ever more and more plainly
felt myself surrounded by a heaven
of glorious blue, filed with clouds of
rose color and of violet. sank gently
and paiHlessly into it, and saw that
/ was flying through the air toward
a field of snow. Objective observa-
tions,- reasoning and subjective feel
ing were indulged In clearly and 81
multaneously. Then / heard a duh
thud, and my fall was ended. at
the same moment it seemed 10 me
that a black object rushed by me.
and / called two or three times as
loudly as I could: I am in nowise
injured I took some drops of the
liquor. / reached out for my snow
glasses, which lay unbroken beside
me on the snow: / felt my back and
my limbs TO see that no bones were
broken.
when struck lost conscious
ness. Every sensation, every activ-
ity of mind and nerve was annihilated
for a half hour The black object
which passed me was the passing OF
consciousness. And. without realiz-
ing this half-hour interruption,
thought and activity were resumed
exactly where they stopped. Between
the stopping and resuming was an
absolute blank. The beautiful heaven.
ly visions were noticeable only dur
ing the time that was flying through
the air, and could see and think
Prof. Heirn said at the close of his
lecture that death by falling Is sub
iectfyely 8 pleasant death Without
any previous illness or suffering, IL
occurs when mental activity is abb
normaIly increased. and without any
anxiety or pain. The unconscious
state Is entered suddenly and with
,sat suffering