Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-09-02

in at least two of the leading clubs
OF this city, the Ananias club and the
Nature Fakir club. Oyster Bay pa
pers please copy. According to this
story Lieut.. James Sheehan Of Fire
| Truck 1 in Bayonne was the owner
Of a big gray cat. The cat was old
and could boast neither of great
beauty nor of an artistic pedigree.
Lieut.. Sheehan. not being given to
sentimentality, considered the animal
q nuisance and with promptness and
dispatch laid his plans to rid himself
OF this nuisance" He placed pussy
in a big, stout paper bag, weighted
it with a brick, and having the mouth
of the bag well tied with a string,
cast the bag with it's contents into
the bay. An hour later, SO the story
goes, Lieut.. Sheehan was greatly sur
prised by the return Of the cat, car
rying a two-pound striped bass in its
mouth. So pleased was Sheehan with
the ransom offered by his cat, that
he decided to let her continue to live
upon his premises.
A few days ago a girl of twelve
! years died at one Of the hospitals OF
this city under circumstances which
make her case of considerable inter-
est to science. About two months
/ ago the little girl was bitten in the
thumb by her pet dog while playing
with the animal. The family doctor
was called and, as a matter of pre-
caution, thoroughly c%auterized the
trivial wound. He examined the dog
but the animal seemed perfectly
healthy and normal and the doctor
did not, fear for a moment that the
injury would lead to serious conse-
ouences. But the mother of the girl
had heard a great deal about hydro
phobia and her %neighbors told her so
many stories about mad dogs, that
she became filled with the fear that
the dog which had bitten her daueh-
ter was mad and her child would
become a victim of the dreaded
rabies.
TO pacify the mother her doctor
called in a veterinary who examined
the pet dog and asserted that the
animal was perfectly healthy and
showed absolutely no sign OF the
rabies. Under the strain of the sug'
gestive fear the mother became hys'
terical and by her suggestion her
child also became possessed with the
hysterical fear Of hydrophobia. The
family doctor called in other doctors.
but their efforts to relieve the hys'
terical condition OF mother and daugh'
ter proved Ineffective. Finally the
girl began to manifest. simulated.
symptoms of hydrophobia and after
considerable suffering she diet. Tho
physicians still adhere to the belief
that the girl Gid not have. hydro
phobia. but died Of hysteria, super
induced by the excessive fear sug'
gested by the hysterical mother OF
the child.
For several years the authorities
of the city have continued their war
fare against unsafe theaters until now
Fire Commissioner Johnson. who has
been leading the campaign, is salts.
fed that the theaters of New York
city are about as safe from fire as
it is possible to make them. Com,
missioner Johnson is of the opinion
that the danger, if there is any, is
not from the possibility Of fire, but
from panic, which may be caused by
any trivial incident, even when there,
is no fire. Commissioners Johnson
recently held a conference with the
managers of the principal theaters OF
the city with a view Of devising means
to prevent the outbreak Of panics in
theaters, and if that should be i'm,
possible, to reduce the danger from
such panics. Commissioner Johnson,
who has made a study of fire panies
has come to the conclusion tmat the
confusion at panics is due to the fact
that the persons in the audience in.
sist upon leaving the house through
the same door through which it en-
tered. Many plans were suggested
at the conference to teach the audi
ence to leave quietly through the
nearest emergency exit instead Of
rushing wildly toward the main en.
trance, but so far no feasible plan
has been suggested that PROCESSES to
be effective.