davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21
HUMAN BODY TURNED
INTO ROOT OF TREE.
From the New Orleans Picavune

From the New Orleans Picayune.
CITIZENS of New Orleans have right
IN their midst one of the most inter-
esting curiosities that anyone could
care to see. This is nothing less than
human root tree. Stories of petrified
bodies are common enough, but so far
only two human bodies turned into
wood have ever come to light, and one
OF them is hanging up in the laboratory
VI Or. A. L. Metz, professor of chem
lsiry at the Medical Department of
uane University. The other in in
brown University, and is said to be
uoay OF Roger Williams. Both of these
1uiloslties were found at the root of a
Tee, having the exact shape of a hu-
man body, and were found in the at
.tnpt to exhume a human body, over
.le spot of whose burial a tree had
grown.
Years ago a movement was set on
- 10 locate the exact burial spot of
hoger Williams, the great champion
Iellglous liberty in the old days of
utltan bigotry and intolerance, that
~ remains might be taken up, and
lldced IN handsome tomb, where fit
ing honor might be paid to this great
Isure IN American history, who has
a. Vdlled by historians a Copernicus
~ ms sphere of activity. The exact
sPol was located, where tradition fixed
ila burial place. and over the spot was
l'and huge tree, which, n fact, was
SlNen as the mark by which the place
'bia be known. On cutting down this
zee and digging beneath it, il was
luna mat one Of the roots was in the
'Ndet shape of human body. Evil
t'Hces of a coffin were found, but
,,uere were so signs of bone or ashes.
ne theory advanced was that the
GOT shot down by the tree, had come
NJ contact with the body, followed its
..1lIine' and in the process of forma-
''n mad appropriated the enatter Of
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

the rugged hills that obstruct the path
or float peacefully on the surface of
the water. The one he intends to con-
struct for his Arctic expedition is to be
much larger, being of dimensions lis
feet by IS feet"
Nissen is quoted as saying:
During most of the three years
that DR.. Nansen has been in the Ice he
looked for high points in the pressure
ridges i'm order TO climb them TO look
for another ice. He says: ION May 10,
! climbed to the top of the highest
hummock I have ever mounted.
measured roughly and made IL out to
be about "a feet above the ice; but as
the latter was considerably above the
surface of the water, the hight was
probably 30 feet"
Now, give me this balloon filled
with air to the pressure of one-half
ounce to the square inch; give me an
ordinary Northwestern blizzard at the
rate Of rs miles an hour. and ] will
guarantee to travel over such hum
mocks faster and smoother than the
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

for a big coal firm. The firm had a
contract with the county for fuel at
the poorhouse. This fellow was one
NJ the six drivers who hauled the
coal. II was a long drive out there ana
hard on horses, so that they hauled
the coal a. ton at a time rms partlc-
ular driver of whom l am talking ha1
a dog, a miserable looking cur, but
he thought the world of him. You
never saw the driver on his coal
cart that the dog was not with
him.
ION one Of the trips to the poor
house with the coal the driver happen
ed to look back at his load when about
half way on his journey, and TO his
CONSERVATION saw that he had lost
his tailg'ate and that he had been
dropping his ton of coal bit by bit
along the road. There was snow on
the ground and the dropping coal
made no noise. You can imagine how
almost any driver would feel when' ne
saw he had lost a ton OF coal. IL
never faxed this fellow though. He
Just turned to the dog and says, Tow
ser, I've lost something; go back and
get it. He continued on to the poor
house. and when he got there, by
gracious, there was the dog with the
ton Of coal"
There was DfieI llletNdl VI hlieiiNcl
everybody being speech-struck, and
then all roared. erik looked sheep
ish. He could scarcely utter a sound.
Finally he recovered himself and
said:
"Bni. you had me interested, and I
thought you were going 70 wind up
by saying the dog found the tail gate,
but when you sprang that ton OF coal
on me Il was an on. III buy all right.
bat I think you are cruel 10 mo- Ny
story was true
$50 was mime said McGuigan. with
q laugh, and they drank.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21
FEAR OF BEING BURIED ALIVE.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.

FROM the PlCtSDurg Dispatch.
The fear of being buried alive which
haunts so many people has been shown
to be groundless, but there might, per-
haps, be some foundation for the APP
prehension of being prematurely sub
mitted to post mortem examination.
The British Medical Journal not long
ago contained the report of the case
of young man whose brain was re-
moved within two hours of death. The
case apparently occurred in South At
RIGA, perhaps in the hot season when
decomposition rapidly sets in, and no
doubt, in the interests of medical sci
ence, 1t is sometimes desirable that
the organs should be examined before
cadaVeric changes are far advanced
but two hours after death is just lit
tie too soon.
Metchnikoff, in his amazing book on
1.-THE Nature of Man." complains that
deeply rooted prejudices make it very
difficult to examine the organs of the
aged dead in good time.
According to the regulations enforced
in France autopsies cannot be made
until twenty-four hours after death,
and even when an examination has
been permitted it must extend only to
the ascertaining of exact facts, and
this must be taken as excluding the
muLllatlOn or the crOpSe.
Metchnikoff frets under these restric-
tions, apparently because they prevent
him from preparing from organs in
which it might be said life was still
smouldering emulsions to be used as
injections with a view to the produc-
ton of serums which are to prevent
old age.
His aim is evidently laudabe, but
were his proposed method of attaining
it much less problematical than it is
the British public would still approve
of the French regulations.
Remote as the chances are of any
trance or comatose or cataleptic condi-
ton being mistaken for death, it is
well that the utmost caution should be
observed, and the signs of death should
be fully declared before any dissection
is allowed. 1t is but decent that a pc
riod of rest should follow the last
dread moment. and the whole body
have time to compose itself in death.
1t is known that certain organs and
tissues live for some time after sys-
tematic death. In the case of certain
infectious diseases the heart may be
removed from the human body, more
than thirty hours after death, and if
placed under proper conditions will re-
new its life and beat for several hours.
Medical science is strenuous, eager
perhaps somewhat impatient IN THESE
days. 1t is advancing rapidly, but it
must not in its progress push roughly
aside the feelings and prejudices of
common men. There are few of us so
emancipated from what Matchnikoff
would call childish conceptions, or in
other words, brutalized by rnaterialism,
as not to resent with horror and indig
nation the cutting up of the corpse of
anyone dear to us within two hours
after death.
tenn observation is mainly compare
tive. so not much will be lost by de-
corous delay, which in a temperate cli-
mate should never be less than TWEEN
ty-four hours.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

| which the body was composed, the root
thus formed taking on the shape of the
body. This curiosity, which is nothing
less than a human root, was placed in
the museum of Brown University
where the visitor to-day can look up
on what is very probably the body of
the great Roger Williams turned to
wood.
The specimen in DR.. Metz labor
atory consists of a trunk, two legs,
on one of which is part of foot, and
one arm. The outline is almost per-
feet, some of the details of the hui
man body being outlined with re-
markable precision. The specimen
was sent to DR.. Metz by what he
calls one of his boys in his usual
method of referring to Tulane Medi-
cal graduates This particular boy"
is a graduate of the class of 1895,
and is now a practicing physician in
Arkansas, where the human root. or
carbonaceous human body, or what
ever one might choose to call it, was
found. DIR. Metz did not care to men,
ton his name, as he said he did not
know whether the gentleman would
care to have it so or not.
The body was found under circum-
stances exactly similar to those TN
der which the one of Roger Williams
WAS lOuilu. "A UOy dDOuL IL ytcll y
old was found dead one day out in
the woods, evidently killed by the
discharge of a shotgun which he car
ried with him, in which was found
an empty shell. He also carried
other hunting palaphernalia, and
everybody came to the conclusion
that he was out hunting and had
accidentally shot himself. He was
stranger in the place. and no one
around capDnpd know where no
came from or who his people We're
After waiting a while to see If any,
one would come to claim him, and
after search and advertising proved
unavailable, a. planter finally took
charge of the body and buried it on
his place, planting a tree over the
spot for future Identification.
Years later, when the sprout planted
by the farmer. had grown into a huge
tree, the almost forgotten incident was
recalled to the people of those parts
by the appearance there Of certain
parties to whose ears he story had
just come. They said that from what
they had heard Of the story, they be-
lieved the boy to have been a relative
Of theirs, whose parents were still live
ing, and who had been mourping him
as dead ever since a fatal day when
he left home on a hunting trip. a day
that correspondent with the time Of the
finding Of the body. They had come
10 that place 10 make further investl-
cations and upon hearing the story
from some Of the inhabitants who stil
remembered g. were convinced that
the body buried under the tree was
that OF the boy they were looking for
Permission WIS given 10 eXhume the
body.
Upon digging beneath the tree they
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

found a carbonaceous outline of the
box in which he was buried, and inside
of this the carbonaceous outline of a
human body. AS in the case Of the
burial place of Roger Williams, though
there was unquestionable proof that a
body had been buried at this spot,
some people living having been present
at the burial, no bones, dust, or other
signs of body were to be found, moth
ing but this human-shaped root that
now hangs in the Medical Department
of Tulane. Il
In discussing the matter with a
Picayune reporter, DR.. Metz said:
1T is one Of the prettiest demon
STATIONS of the indestructibility of
of matter that I know Of"
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

her work at most times, Mrs. Potter
has never given out anything about
her personal life except twice, so far
as 1 can remember.
Just after her divorce, and apropos
thereof, she wrote a paragraph for
publication in which she declared her
self very well satisfied with her life
as it had turned out, and asserted
complete forgetfulness of the Potter
family and everything pertaining
thereto five years earlier. Nine years
ago, apropos of nothing at all, she
consented to an interview for pub
LEGATION in which she said she left
her husband because she liked neither
the Potter family nor the life which
she had to lead as the wife of a
Potter.
Her maiden name was Urquhart,
and she was a New Orleans girl Her
father was Col. David, Urquhart He
was counted very rich man until
about two years before Mr.. Potter
married his daughter.
For some reasOn-Mrs. Potter has
said because of the combined circum-
stances that she was a Southerner
and that her father had lost his prop
erty-the Potter family did not take
kindly to her, and for a year or two
after her marriage she had no social
, standing in New York, though her
iuoOdIlu was COIlS ldIllly appearing DIT
the SWEETEST social functions. At the
time she went on the stage, though
she was very much in society per-
sonally, but this was because she had
been taken up first by the Butler
Duncans and later by the late Ward
McAllister, then all-poWerful as a
social arbiter in the metropolis.
The news that Henry Clay Barna-
bee, for many years one of the most
popular singers of English opera, is
| also to go upon the continuous per
Torrance stage surprises many peo-
pie quite as much as the same an
nouncement concerning Mrs. Potter.
1t is understood that the surprise
was at first a very disagreeable one
| to the Bostonians, with whom he has
| sung for so many years. When they
| found that his continuous engagement
was a short one, and that he would
sing with them later, they felt better.
The Bostonians without Barnabee
would be a disappointment to all
their old and new admirers, but there
must come a time when he will sing
no more, for he is very well along
| in years. Barnabee was one of the
| first to sing the role of Sir Joseph
| Porter in the old "Pinafore" days.
He was far from being a young man
then, and that was twenty-one years
ago. Big pay is, of course, his eX-
! cuse for taking to the continuous.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

The names of certain visitors at the
White House are never published in
the daily newspapers. says a Wash
ington letter of the New York Even
ing Post. Even the regularity of their
arrival and the length of their stay
does not serve to give them a place
among the callers whose presence is
vaguely described as "of political
significance"
For several years past pair OF
black crows have found their way to
the White House grounds about the
date on which Inauguration falls. The
head of this family has made a repu-
tation for himself as weather
prophet" and is so called because of
his habit of perching himself in a
tree opposite the main entrance to
the mansion, and cawing with ex-
ceptional vigor about twenty-four
hours before the approach of each
storm.
But a far larger delegation of regu-
lar visitors is made up of robins and
crow blackbirds. These two varieties
nave been increasing in numbers since
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21
MRS. JAMES BROWN POTTER
Contract She Has Signed May Bring Her q
Fortune
Fortune.

New York, Aug. 20.-It was in 1886,
eighteen years ago. that Mrs. James
Brown Potter kicked up a big lot of
gossip both in and out of society by
reci+ing at a social function poem
cantioned "Ostler joe" A year later
she went upon the stage as a profess
sional, under the auspices of Kyrle
pal1ew. the actor who had coached her
for the recitation.
in entering upon a professional life
che forsook her husband and her
daughter, then a child, but now a
society girl of the smartest sort.
Since then she has never exchanged
word with either husband or
daughter. Since then, too, she has
lived a life of many vicissitudes, and
mas become an actress of real finish
and genuine power, her name and
fame being known alike in the British
colonies, in London, and the United
states-in fact, wherever the English
language is spoken.
Perhaps-as she claims, because she
Is here Thought of as woman with a
has never been as successful in this
country as abroad. The news, given
out the other day, that she was soon
10 become an attraction at the con-
qfnuous performance theatres has
caused a good deal of surprise.
Mrs. Potter was not divorced from
her husband till four years ago, but
the professional partnership of herself
and Kyrle Bellew, through which her
stage career was possible, was termi-
mated some years before that. Mrs.
Potter has made a lot of money, her
Profits ranking along with Mrs. Les
lie Carter's in quantity probably as
long as she was associated with Bel
lew, but dropping appreciably after
that.
However, unlike Mrs. Langtry, who
has lost fortunes as we'll as made
them, Mrs Potter has always been
a thrifty soul. Before breaking with
Bellew she had invested her savings
in the purchase of a life annuity big
enough to keep her in comfort, if not
in luxury, and she doesn't have to play
in the continuous, or any other thea
tiers. at all, if she doesn't wish to.
Still, it is likely that nothing but
very high pay would have brought
her to the vaudeville stage. 1t is
rumored that the contract she has
signed will yield enough to assure
her a very snug fortune before it's ex-
piratiOn.
Though fairly willing to talk about
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21
Nerve Tension.

A foe 10 health is nerve tension.
scmetimes due to hurry and worry. bur
nine times out OF ten due to Door IN
ar consultation. These conditions a /
react on the mind and Will keen your
nerve on edge II you do not remove
them by using Green's August Flow
er. There is no better stomach medi-
cine ln the world than August Flower
md no surer cure for INDICATION or
dyspepsia Trial bottle, 25c. pig bot
ne. 75c AZ all druggists. Knights
Pharmacy.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21
PineappleS for Sale.

The best for grating. preserving
and table use.
Strictly Fancy Smooth Cayennes,
per crate Of IS, weight about rs
pounds. $500.
n. B.-The digestive properties of
the pineapple are equal TO that OF
pepsin.
Manatee River Guavas, per six
basket carrier crate, S1.25. Octagon
crate $500
Shipments via express 20 any point
Remit by check or money order for
any quantity desired.
WIN. HANSON,
BradontoWn, Fia.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

Empire Express on the finest track
in Christendom.'
The cost Of these experiments, Mr..
Braun tells us, has been borne entire
ly by Nissen, as has everything else
pertaining to his invention. He has al
ready spent about $500. and expects
to spend more before he has gained
sufficient confidence among the people
TO back him up in his Arctic expedi-
ton. Nissen is said to have refused
tempting offers from managers of
amusement enterprises, and to be quite
in earnest in his plans.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

The 1880 monument which has
been trected over the grave of former
GUY. Austin A. King of Richmond.
Mo. has just been accepted by the
state Of Missouri Mr.. King was a
lawyer who came to Missouri from
Tennessee i'm the early sos and settled
In Boone county He was elected to
the Legislature from that county and
later was Judge In the Ray County
Circuit Court He was elected Cover
nor in tS4S and served one term. He
opposed secession and was elected 20
Congress by the Union party He died
Ia 1870. .--..--.--.--
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-21

In the mirrors of to-day the light
is reflected by a layer of silver on an
amalgam of tin, but a proportion OF
light Is lost in the process Of refiec-
ton, and the image is less luminous
than the original. The value of a
looking glass is usually estimated by
the thickness of the glass, because
the thicker 1t is the stronger it must
be. But, speaking scientifically. thick
glasses are defective because the out
lines OF the image reflected are less
clearly defined. An ideal mirror is one
with a perfectly fiat surface. But It
is only possible to obtain this result
In comparatively small glasses.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-11-07

Anaeonda Copper. 50c.; payable, Mo- vember &; books close. October 22.
 Atchison R. R., per cent; payable, December i; books close November 10.
 Chesapeake & Ohio. per cent; pay able, November 30; books close, No- yember 27.
 cleYeladn & Pittsburg R. R., 1 S-4 per cent; payable, December IS; books close November 30. l New England Telephone 6 Telegraph, n 1-2 per cent; payable, November 15; books close, November l. .. North American, If per cent; pay able. December l; books close, Novem- Der 5. .s..
 Pennsylvania R. R. per cent; pay able, November 30; books close, No vember 5.
 Pratt & Whitney. preferred. 1 1-2 per cent; payable, November 15; books close, November 8.
 Pressed Steel Car, preferred, S-4 per cent; payable, November 2s; books close, November 9
 Proctor & Gamble c, per cent; payable, November 15; books close, No Yember l.
 Pullman Co.,. per cent; payable, November 15; books close November 1.
 Rome. Watertown & ogdensburg, ii-4 per cent; payable, November IS; books close, November l.
 Reading, 2d preferred, ? per cent; payable, November 10; books close, Oc- tober q.
 Twin City Rapid Transit, 1-4 per cent, payable, November 15; books close, November 1. U. s. Express, per cent; payable, November Is; books close, November 1 U. s. Rubber, F per cent; payable December l5; books close, November B.
 U. $. Steel, preferred, S-4 per cent; payable, November 30; books close November 3.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-11-07
ATTEST FAIR HAVEN NEWS
|NOW AND WILD GEEsE---HAR-
 BINGERS OF WINTER.

ast Side Firemen's Whist, November 1e-Quinnfpiac Canoe Club Arrang- Ing Dance--Rev. Carl Stackman on for South Africa--Lecture on Ha- waiian Islands at Grand Avenue Bap- list Church.
 Yesterday was sort of cheerless day, he clouds giving out threats of storm, shich, however, did not materialize, i've a few flakes of snow, aftermath t the first snow of the season falling Ae evening previous. At about 10 clock flock of wild geese flew over his section, sign of cooler weather. khey came down the river and when ter the harbor seemed confused in the lick atmosphere, and 1t was some time sfore the leader got his little army in #der of flight southward. The threat A,ing weather somewhat affected the orning congregations in point of at kndance, but larger number attend- n evening worship. It was the month
 communion service at most of the Aurch. Two persons, received by let kr, were given the right hand of fel- wship by the pastor into the Grand Svenue Baptist church.
 In some of the churches mention was ade by pastors of the election of the seek and asking divine guidance and lisdom for all voters in making choice
 their rulers.
 sThe polling places in the Fair Haven ards are as follows: Eleventh ward
 Wolcott street, corner of Poplar; twelfth ward, old Quinnipiac rink, cor kr of Grand avenue and Bright street; fourteenth ward, engine house, East rand avenue; Fifteenth ward, engine buse, Forbes avenue. Polls will be psed at 5 o'clock.
 lThe shell fish commissioners have bard nothing further concerning the
 commendation of the United States
 gineers for the removal of oyster lakes from the harbor, and it is not klieved that the change will be made
 The flremen of the east side will give bother whist in the engine house or
 e evening of November 16 at 8 o'clock he whist last week was very success.