Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-11
FALLS FROM GREAT HEIGHTS.
Some Instances In Which They Have
Not Proved Fatal.

Falls from great heights, not neces-
sarily fatal in their results, are becom-
ing so frequent in these days Of aero
planning that It may prove Of interest
to refer back to the classics of the
subjects, which however, are not as
ample as might be expected.
writing in 1S41 Of a fall from an i'm
mense altitude which did not result In
death, French observer, Mr.. Manzini,
declares that he had searched in vain
in the annals Of science for similar
case. We can we'll believe 1t. The
victim or patient was tapissier who
had been engaged in putting up dec
orations on the occasion of the belated
obsequies Of Napoleon the Great In
the lofty done of the Church Of the In
valides in Paris.
When busy moving a ladder on the
top of a high scaffolding he overbal-
anced himself and in obedience to
some obscure instinct jumped clear Of
the ladder and the platform, crying to
his fellow workmen, as only a French
man would, ITEMS, me VOLTA parti!'
With these cheerful words on his lips
he fell eighty-two feet, bounding In
one place off the roof Of little dome,
which caused him to describe second
parabola in the air, and landing finally
feet first on the slate roof OF small
sacristy.
Crashing through the states, he
landed astride 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 un-
conscious when put to bed shortly az
terward under the care Of the great
Pasquier. His insensibility lasted
very short time, however, and he
made an extraordinarily rapid recov-
cry, having sustained no apparent In
juries either external or internal. Al
the end of a month Pasquier found
him quite well.
ManZini also records the case OF his
own fall from a great height when
child and describes the feelings or
blindness that came upon him due to
the rapidity of his descent, also the
anguish of recovering his breath after
it. Others, however, describe their
sensations during a tremendous fall
as being far from disagreeable.
Thus some nine years ago Prof.
Heirn, the geologist Of Zurich, de-
scribed the flood Of thought" that
traversed his mind during typical
Alpine 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
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, there was no suggestion, and only
the heavy fall on the snow covered
ground caused me to lose suddenly
and painlessly all consciousness"
Both these Alpinists insisted on the
absence of anxiety from their minds
when falling, while one certainly de-
scribes sensations similar TO tnose
felt by the drowning.
Among classic English falls may be
mentioned that of steeplejack who In
1900 fell from the top Of the church OF
st. George in Bolton le- Moors to the
ground. the whole distance traversed
being some 12O fec. The mans skull
struck some sheet lead upon the earth
and left it's impact upon 1t, but though
this fall was quite unbroken as In
the previous case by scaffolding, rocks
and so forth, the man was only sllght-
ly injured and resumed work in few
days. Recently a man with his boots
on fell from the top Of a cliff at Do
yer. 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 are we'll 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 rapidity and
clearness, Ca va bien jusqu'a present
pourru que Ca dure."-Lancet.