Evening star., 1909-01-17


a railroad accident.
He is thrown on the
track; crushed beneath hundreds of pounds of
weight ground along in such manner that all of
his limbs and even his neck broken, together
with several ribs while his internal organs are bruised
and torn. Subsequently he spends fourteen months
with practically his entire body Splnt so that
he is unable to change his position single inch. In
time he recovers: the bones knit the wonderful
process of repair heals the organs his strength
and activity return to the normal.
How then is to predicate the tenaclty OF lite
with the tremendous range of vitality depending
upon the personal equation? How IS one correctly
to designate injury mortal until after It's fatal
result? Men have been struck through the lungs
liver, heart, BRAIN and even spinal cord, and yet
recovered, whereas one hears again of individuals
who have dropped dead at the tap of a hand, the
detonation of gun, and even a clap of thunder.
In marvehng at the feeble grip on lte possessed
by individuals, must of course exclude
those having organic disease who living
against odds under the most favorable circum-
stances In such cases there is OF course nothing
surprising in the fact that abrupt deviation from
the normal should have fatal result. 1t is like
running smooth road in cart with a broken
axle: bump. and the whole fabric ives way
Yet there is something deeper than this: will
find plenty of people whose health is delicate whose
organs far from what they should be, whose
nerves a-jangle and yet who, when put to the
test, will ver1tably seem to possess the nine lives OF
a cat. On the other hand one finds not infrequenty
individuals of apparent high stamina, robust health
and vigorous organs whose actual hold upon the
elusive of life less than that of rabbit
and VINO at the S1ghteSt deviation from the normal
will fly to pieces like the classic One Horse Shay
The Famous Tunnel Case
DROBABLY most people will remember the mar
velous of the laborer who at work in the
Pennsylvania tunnel under the bed of the East
River when the tunnel roof gave way. l do not
recall the precise details; but the main facts are
these: This working in high air pressure
which required to offset the tremendous weight
of the river above. Suddenly there leak in
the roof of the tunnel through which the air began
to escape. The man puckily stuck to his post and
was stopping the hole with handfuls of wet clay,
when suddenly the edges of the aperture broke down
and scooped larger every moment by the
tremendous pressure of escaping air
So great the suction that the workman
caught up and wedged into the hole, thence ammed
directly upward through about thirty feet of river
bed which was between the tunnel and the river
itself and the terrific power that had crammed
him up through this mass of sand and mud and silt
forced him up to the top of the river and blew
him about twenty feet into the air column of
wind and water like the first stages of waterspout
Fortunately there was tug passing close at hand,
the of which. somewhat surprised to a man
shot up from the river this peculiar way promptly
went to his assistance and fshed him out.
He taken ashore and sent to the hospital
day told reporter that he had decided to take a
holiday, he little stiff and from his
accident. This did not prevent him from wandering
about the waterfront and telling his experience to
his friends.