The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-06-29
U@A6 HIS R NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. SHORT WEIGHTS DOWN GAVE QUART MD SECRET M
HUMAN "RATTLEBOx" ASTOUNDS SUR.
GEONS With ITS FEATS.
PERFORMANCE PUZZLES NJ DS MAN SERVING TWENTY YEARS Sc
Wierd Feats of Dislocation by Hos
pital Patient at New York City.
DiSjOintS Neck and HipS.

Disjoints Neck and Hips.
DR.. Drury, night admitting sur
geon at Bellevue Hospital, was wait
ing in the reception room the 9TH
er morning when young man limp
ed in. He said he had fallen and
hurt himself. DR. Drury found the
visitors hip dislocated.
The surgeon got DR.. Jackson to
help Kim, and they worked ten
minutes, but could not force the
bone back in it's socket, says the
New York World.
They were puzzled. 1t was the
first time in their experience that
an apparently simple dislocation
had remained so obstinate to treat
ment. They decided to try hero
ic measures.
When they faced the visitor again
he had become pale and seemingly
was in pain. They then found that
the other hip was out of joint In
voluntarily both surgeons jumped
back, startled. AS they gazed at
MIN he seemed to suffer a mild con-
Vulslon. When the spasm passed
his shoulder was out of place The
patient grinned and said:
I'm Ellis Whitman, known in the
west and in Europe as the human
rattlebox. No, I'm not on the stage,
and I'm not going on il. I've been
exhibiting my dislocating stunts be-
fore big surgeons in private and in
cllncs. / make my living that way
The tricks you've seen are my sim
plest. Watch"
Gave Himself n Wing.
With that Whitman like a flash,
dlslocated his shoulder blade, throw
Ing 1T out so far that it looked like
a miniature wing. He next dislo-
Gated both hips at once. Drury and
Jackson asked if he had any more
tricks" When he said he had a
bag full' they told him to wait,
and summoned Drs. Kenney and
betts and several OF the younger
surgeons.
Before a dozen spectators Whit
man again dislocated his hips and
shoulders. Then, one after another,
he threw out of joint his ankles,
llngers and wrists. He set each one
without help. The doctors said
they never had seen anything to
equal 1t.
Suddenly Whitman Strengthened
up and said he would dislocate his
spine. The doctors pleaded with
him not to attempt so dangerous a
thing, but THE Human Rattlebox''
gave peculiar twist of his should
ers and in twinkling seemed to
have developed curvature of the
spine.
Exhausted by the Strain.
Whitman had stripped to the
waist to prove that his was not a
sham performance The doctors
uncanny exhibition. 1t took Whit
man five minutes to straightep him
self out. That the efforts was
shown by the almost agonized look
on his face to which the blood had
rushed. For several minutes he
stood painting. Then the old indef-
ference smile came back.
AS you seem to be interested, I'll
show the best trick of all--dislocat-
ing my heart" he announced.
The younger doctors received
this statement with derision.
The flexible man apparently went
into a trance. A glaze like that of
death veiled his eyes; his face be-
came pallid. The pectoral muscles
on the left side worked conyul-
sively. Several minutes of this
weird performance and Whitman
beckoned to the surgeons and point
ed to the hearts normal position
He said nothing, though his lips
moved. one after another the ply
sicians put their hands on the
mans chest. Not one of them
could feel heartbeat
Then Whitman placed his finger
below and to the right of his
heart, almost on the abdomen, six
and a half inches froms the heart
region.
Missed n Beat on Return.
The doctors put their hands there
and for ten seconds distinctly felt
Whitman's heart beat. They turn
ed away speechless, except DR.
Drury, who kept his hands on the
torso. He says the heart missed a
beat as it was put back. All four
physicians said yesterday there was
no doubt Whitman had "dislocat-
ed" his heart as he had boasted he
would. Whitman came out of his
trance" with a shake of his head
like man dislodging water from
his ear. Then for the first time he
sat down it was some minutes be-
fore he seemed himself again.
Whitman went to the reporters
room and performed several feats,
such as putting a pencil on his hip,
throwing the bone out of Joint and
swapping the pencil thirty feet
away. 1.-THE human rattlebox' is
stockily built and weighs 1876
pounds.
While nra ctfcinp with biy aaro