The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-05-11
WHAT THE x-RAY SHOWED.

QSluduu.
WHAT THE X-RAY SHOWED.
At the end of fourteen weeks he was
compelled to go to St. Johns Hos
pital, in Brooklyn. To the doctors
there he complained of pain and told
them what he had been doing. The
surgeons were incredulous, but an
X-ray on the stomach showed mass
of foreign material that made them
conclude that an operation was neces-
sary. An incision four inches in
length was made, and through it was
taken a collection Of nails, chains,
pins, needles, brass checks, watch
and several other articles, weighing
altogether several pounds.
As soon as he had recovered Easel
began again the strange career that
he had mapped out for himself, but
with more caution. He studied him.
self closely, and found that it was pos
sible to swallow seemingly impossible
articles without danger. After each
exhibition he rested for several days.
He experienced little discomfort, un-
til recently, when the pains that had
troubled him before returned. He
knew, after the usual remedies had
failed, that an operation only would
save him, and he had planned to be
operated on at the Bellevue Hospital
Wednesday,.
JUST TO PLEASE HIS FRIENDS.
But on Saturday night the John
Easel Association, named after him,
gave an entertainment at Central and
Willoughby avenues, and rather than
disappoint his friends Easel gave his
usual performance The next day he
was taken so violently i'll that he was
removed to the German Hospital.
Again the doctors listened to his
story with incredu!lity. Easel had,
as matter Of precaution, kept a mem.
orandum of the things he had swal-
lowed and knew what were to be ac-
counted for. He told the doctors,
and they smiled at his story, but the
X-ray again corroborated his strange
tale to such an extent that they rea-
lized, no matter what the result Of
the operation might be, it was the
only chance for life House Surgeon
G. C. Pope concluded to perform the
operation Wednesday, and many other
surgeons were at the operating table
to witness the result. An incision four
inches long was made, and gently as
possible the stomach was probed.
FIsHED UP KEY AND CHAIN.
The probe struck something me-
talic, and one Of the surgeons put his
hand into the stomach and drew out a
KEY and watch chain. The doctors
gasped with astonishment. The arti-
cles were among those enumerated by
Easel. Again and again the hand
was gently inserted into the wound,
and again and again brought forth az
ticles such as never before, except
perhaps in Fasel's former operation,
had brought from the stomach Of a
living person. When at last the Or
gan was found to be empty, and upon
the operating table lay the pile OF
hardware, the medical men were
speechless with astonishment. The
operation was a long and delicate one
and had lasted for more than TWO
hours.
The patients vitality had been
greatly exhausted by the long contln-
uance under anaesthetics, and the
shock of the constant probing. Re-
markable vitality indeed had been
d sp!ayed by the survival of the ope-
ration at all, and should he recover,
it will be as marvellous as his feats.
With professional modesty the sur
geons attached to the hospital are
ayerse to discussing the remarkable
operation although acknowledging
their amazement over the patient.
1t was the most remarkable col
lection of substances ever taken from
the somach of a human being," de-
clared one Of the surgeons Thursday.
"Of course we know that there are
glass eaters and nail eaters who ex-
hibit their tricks in public, but l
never before saw a stomach filed with
nails and pins and such stuff.
Easel would probably have had no
difficulty had it not been for the fact
that the weight Of the mass OF hard