Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-09-13
FALLS FROM GREAT HEIGHTS.
Some Instances In Which They Have
Not Proved Fatal.
(London Lancet.)


Falls from great heights, not neces-
sarily fatal in their results, are be-
coming so frequent in these days Of
aeroplaning that it may prove of in
terest to refer back to the classics of
subjects, which however, are not as
ample as might be expected.
Writing In 1841 of fall from an
immense altitude which did not re-
suit in death, a French observer, Mr..
Manzini declares that he had search
ed In vain in the annals of science for
similar case. We can well believe
1t. The victim or patient was tap
issier who had been engaged In put
ting up decorations on the occasion
Of the belated Obsequies of Napoleon
the Great in the lofty dome of the
Church Of the Invalides in Paris.
When busy moving q ladder on the
top Of high scaholding he overbal-
anced himself and in obedience to
some obscure instinct jumped clear
Of the ladder and the platform, cry
ing to his fellow-workmen, as only a
Frenchman would, "Tiens, me VOLTA
partt!" 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
and landing finally feet first on the
slate roof Of small sacristy.
Crashing through the states, he
landed 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 be-
came unconscious when put to bed
shortly afterward under the care Of
the great Pasquier. His insensibility
lasted a very short time, however,
and he made an extraordinarily rapid
recovery, having sustained no appar-
ent injuries either external or inter
nal, at the end of month Pasquier
found him quite we'll.
Manzini also records the case of
his own fall from great height
when child and describes the feel
ings of blindness that came upon
him due to the rapidity Of his de-
scent, 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 a typical
Alpine fall, which began on an in
clined splane. He saw beautiful
scenesgand 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 O rock.
Another Alpine faller thought
about his insurance and his family.
"Of the losing Of my breath, OF
which people talk, there was no sug-
gcstion, ana only the heavy fan on
the SNOW covered ground caused nc
10 lose 'suddenly and painiesDly all
con$CiOESnGsS.' Both these Alpinists
tnstsliu on the absence OF anxiety
lcN lao' nin Is when falling, while
one certaiNly describes sensations
similar to those felt by the drowning.
Among classic English falls may be
mentioned that of steeplejack who
IN $500 fell from the top Of the
church OF st. George in Bolton-le-
M0@fa 10 the ground, the whole dist
anco trareraed being some 120 feet
Thc mans skull struck some sheet
lead upon the earth and left its i'm
pace upon 1t, but though this fall was
quite nnbroken as in the previous
case by scaffolding rocks and so
forh, the man was only slightly in
jurcU and resumed work in a few
days
Recently man with his boots on
Tel rom the top Of cliff at Dover,
N height of which was afterwards
found 10 be 400 feet.
he. s%t.s picked up floating insensi-
Bile IN some five feet of water, but
his boots we're off, which proves that
he must have retained sufficient con-
sciousness 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 fourth
floor window and who, as he passed
a lower one, was heard to remark
with great rapidity and clearness,
Ca va bien jusqu'a present pourru
que Ca dure.'