The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-12-08

tim or patient was taplssier who had
been engaged in putting up decora-
tions on the accession of the belated
obsequies of Napoleon the Great In the
lofty dome OF the Church of the In
valides in Paris.
When busy moving n ladder on the
top of a high scaffolding he Overhaul
anced himself ana in obedience To
some obscure Instinct jumped clear on
the ladder and the platform, crying to
his fellow workmen. as only French
man would. "Tiens, me VOLTA part!'
With these cheerful words on his lips
he fell eighty-two feet. bounding i'm
one place off the roof of a little dome.
which caused him 20 describe sec
ond parabola in the air and landing
finally feet first on the slate roof of a
small sacristy.
Crashing through the states, he land
ed astride a rafter where he was
found sitting. surprised but coherent,
for he was able to give his name and
address when asked for them. He had
no recollection of this and became UNI
conscious when put TO bed shortly af-
terward under the care of the great
Pacquier. His insensibility lasted a
very short time, however and he
made an extraordinary rapid recovery,
having sustained no apparent injuries
either external or internal. At the end
of month Pasquier found him quite
well.
Manzini also records the case of his
own fall from a great height when a
child and describes the feeling OF
blindness that came upon him due To
the rapidity of his descent. also the
anguish of recovering bis breath after
IL. Others, however, describe their
sensations during a tremendous fall
as being far from disagreeable.
Thus some nine years ago Professor
Heirn. the geologist of Zurich, de-
scribed "the flood of thought" that
traversed his mind during a typical al
pine fall. which began on an inclined
plane. He saw beautiful scenes and
visions of his past life as he fell and
reflected nationally on his death or
the chance of escape. He felt no pain
on striking the ground, but he heard a
thud, which was the impact of his own
head on a rock.
Another Alpine faller thought about
his insurance and his family. "Of the
losing of my breath, of which people
talk, here was no suggestion, and only
the heavy fall on the snow covered
% NJ
painlessly all consciousness" Both
these Alpinists insisted on the absence
of anxiety from their mind when fall
ing. while one certainly describes SEN
sations similar to those felt by the
drowning.
Among classic English falls may be
mentioned that of a steeplejack who In
1900 fell from the top of the church of
St George in Bolton-l e- Moors, To the
ground. the whole distance traversed
being some 120 feet. The mans skull
struck some sheet lead upon the earth
and left it's impact upon ii, but though
this fall was quite unbroken as i'm the
previous cases by scaffolding, rocks
and so forth. the man was only slight
~ injured and resumed work in a few
days. Recently man with his boots
on fell from the top Of n cliff at Dover
the height of which was afterward
found to be 400 feet. He was picked
up floating insensible in some five feet
of water, but his boots were off, which
proves, that he must have retained
sufficient consciousness on reaching
the water to enable him to draw his
boots from his feet. Both these cases
were well attested.
We wish we could be as sure of the
truth of the story told of an ourrier
who fell from a fourth floor window
and who as he passed lower one,
was heard to remark with great rapid
ity and clearness, Ca va bien jusqu's
present pourru que Ca dure. THE
Lancet.
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