The Detroit times., 1909-05-22
av DR.. C.. n. CLARK.

~ WASHINGTON, May Gu thio
effort OF mine TO determine wnal war
ren's mental sensations were. am al,
fempting to make feeble science leii
what only the Creator can best tell
& the story of the last FIVE SECONDS oi
4 the unfortunate mans lie.
Every school boy knows that oooy
heavier than air falls l6 feet the nrst
aecond. double that the second, dou-
/. ble that the third. and so on. SO nVe
And a fraction seconds elapsed from
the time Warren's body was cast on
into space until he struck. Az Feet De-
low. q,
He didn't lose consciousness. as II
nav he nopularly supposed. He was
4 alive to what was happening for every
one Of those awful 4l2 feet-terrioly
conscious Of 1t all.
have. In my minds eye, pnoto-
rraph OF his brain for those nve rate
3 hi seconds | think | can see the
3 1houshts and sensations that were
1fecorded there.
His first and his last second were
the worst, think. although the last
must have found him reconciled TO
= degree to the fate that awaited MIN.
must have brought him 10 fuller real-
ixation that his time had come.
Although IL was with the speed or
s 4 cannon ball, he dropped slowly tnat
Arst second. He only fell 10 feet In
that stage, you'll remember-he ala
not reach the acme OF velocity until
,1fhe last second, when his body COW
ored a distance of more than 264 feet.
< Warren didn't do much thinking In
nc first half second, longer even than
khe nth full second. He had lost his
&oofing. he knew; he was falling. he
< vas terribly frightened.
He recovered himself TO some ex-
\ tent in the latter half of that first
necond. He very likely grabbed in
ntinctively for something that would
save him. for some support.
Il was IN the second second that he
Zkexan to more fully comprehend what
I'D come to pass. He had fallen
&rfom the Metropolitan tower. His
r kody vas plunging down, down, down
TO death. He was thrilled. He felt
col6 chiils. His head filled with
Ebood.
In the third second his eyes began
10 sce. All had been black before.
He had had no time to use his eyes.
XkWL O0W-uOW ut saw Tic CAhy uhASAN
"a bolow him. He had seen II from
klehef attitudes than this before, but
Men. It had always been with indif-
1orence, with the careless eyes that
danger had given the iron worker.
He was plunging down into Twenty
1ourth-st., TO him now but narrow
\ canyon rift in the skyscrapers. There
/. were people down there, many OF them
My God. was he going to hit one
4 He could see great black squares.
/. They were roofs across the street too
\ far away for him to strike. There
was nothing between him and death.
Warren may and may not have been
q praying man, but a heather would
pray at such a time. As he fell the
second stage. his lips moved-he pray
"a. He thought OF his family. his
friends, his life flashed by In swift re-
view, his sins with his good works,
his mistakes with his achievements.
He shut his eyes, and prayed the fast
FER. His lips moved fast, not as fast
a. the brain that impelled them, but
not too fast for the recording angel
above.
Now he has come to the last second,
the fifth and a fraction. He prays no
more. He thinks no more OF the pres
ent or the past--it Is the future that
concerns him. Will | be killed out
right or will God be less merciful, will
~ die lingeringly. Warren had no
/. thought OF life. Death could not be
+. avoided. Nearer, nearer, nearer-he
wasn't dropping To the street. the
k>otreet was rushing up to him.
M Thud! II was all over before his
brain could complete the thought.
II was the merciful. instant death
\ be wanted.