A Burglar Caught by a Skeleton & Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press (17 page)

‘It is satisfactory to hear, under the circumstances, that no complaint has been made as to undue severity on the part of the nurses.’

The Western Daily Press
, Bristol, November 15, 1884

Singular Accident and Extraordinary Cure

On Saturday afternoon an accident, which was nearly proving fatal, happened to a man named Adam Drewe, employed at the Ironworks, Seend, near Melksham.

It appears that the large iron tube, about thirty feet in circumference, through which hot air is blown from the engine, sometimes gets obstructed by ashes, and then a man has to creep into it for the purpose of removing them. This was the case on Saturday, and Drewe, who is a powerfully-built man, got into the tube for the above purpose.

Not making his re-appearance, a man was sent into the tube to search for him, and found him jammed in a narrow part of the tube, in an insensible state. After some difficulty he was pulled out, still insensible, with several scars and burns on his body.

Now comes the most extraordinary part of the story – the Staffordshire mode of bringing him to life, and it was as follows: A hole was dug in the ground large enough to receive Drewe’s head, and into this hole his head was put, face downwards, and carefully covered up in the ‘mother earth,’ with the exception of a small hole left when breathing time came.

Wonderful to relate, there were soon signs of returning life, and Drewe so far recovered as to ‘unearth’ himself. Brandy was administered to him, and he was soon himself again.

The Grantham Journal
, October 25, 1873

Cocaine in Hay Fever

The therapeutical uses of cocaine are so numerous that the value of this wonderful remedy seems only beginning to be appreciated. Almost daily we hear of some disease or combination of symptoms in which it has been tried for the first time and has answered beyond expectation.

It appears strange that so intractable a complaint as hay fever should be amenable to its influence, and yet such is the case. The account given by Mr Watson, of the Westminster Hospital of his sufferings and subsequent cure by tabloids of cocaine, is too circumstantial to admit of doubt, even had we not received confirmatory evidence from many sources.

It has been objected on theoretical grounds that cocaine must of necessity be inoperative, or at all events of comparatively little use, in those cases in which symptoms of an asthmatic type prevail.

Curiously enough, however, it has been shown that cocaine, when applied to the mucous membrane of the nostrils, has the power of allaying even this spasm. The observation, too, is not new; for many months ago Dr Bosworth, professor of laryngology at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, published a detailed account of a case of spasmodic asthma completely cured by cocaine. He pointed out at the time that many inveterate cases of asthma are dependent on, or at all events associated with, nasal disorders, the relief of which is promptly followed by an abatement of all the distressing symptoms. If this principle of associated treatment should be carried on in its integrity, it will be difficult to assign the limits of its sphere of action.

The Manchester Evening News
, July 18, 1885

Extraordinary Cure of Blindness

A correspondent of the
Sheffield Telegraph
writes: A most extraordinary cure of blindness has recently taken place to a gardener named Geo. Parker, aged 82, who resides at Rose Cottage, Brimington, near Chesterfield. He has been troubled with cataracts and nearly totally blind.

The old man in May last dreamed that he had been applying petroleum to his eyes and had recovered his sight. His sons and the doctor advised him not to try the experiment, fearing it would injure the eyes. He, however, last August commenced to rub petroleum over the right eye, and persevered with his treatment till in the course of a week or 10 days the right eye was restored to its former state.

He then commenced the same operation on the left eye, which had been blind for six years, and in 14 days from his first applying it was able to see a little with that one, but it was feared that the cataract being on the left eye so long it has affected the inner portion of the sight. The right eye still remains perfectly clear, and it has been pronounced by four doctors to be one of the most extraordinary cures on record.

The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser
, October 21, 1881

A Home-Coming and Thanksgiving

An aged couple in Medway, Mass., had a merry thanksgiving. At the outbreak of the war their only son ran away to sea, and served under Farragut at New Orleans and with Cushing in the Albemarle exploit.

Here all trace of the sailor was lost, and it was supposed that he was drowned in the river when the torpedo exploded. His sister died a few years ago, and his parents have been living in retirement and poverty.

Late one night a man with a scar on his face knocked at the door and requested a lodging. He was admitted by the old lady, who asked her aged husband to entertain the stranger while she was making a cup of tea for him. The stranger kept his hat on, and the old lady noticed that his eyes followed her every movement.

To the old man he represented that he had formerly lived in the neighbourhood. When asked his name he gave an evasive answer, but asked if James Merrisk lived there yet. ‘I am James Merrisk,’ answered the old man.

The old lady had been watching the stranger closely. Before he could utter another word she stepped quickly to his side, lifted the hat from his head, gazed a moment to his face, and sank into the arms outstretched to receive her, loudly screaming ‘Jim! Our Jim!’

‘Yes, your Jim; come home for thanksgiving,’ exclaimed the stranger, as he kissed the aged face with joy and turned to his father, whose frame was trembling with gratitude.

After a while he related the eventful history of his wanderings. He had been severely wounded by the explosion of the torpedo, as the scar on his face testified. He was pulled from the river by one of the boats which came to the relief of the crew of the Albemarle.

He lost his senses by the concussion and wound, but after the latter healed he was permitted to go at large as harmless, knowing nothing of himself, not even his name. Finally he fell into the employ of a former surgeon of the rebel army, and with him went to a plantation outside of Raleigh, N.C.

One day, however, the surgeon examined his wound and determined to try an experiment. He opened the wound in the head, and found the skull fractured and pressing in the brain. With the aid of another surgeon the skull was lifted or trepanned, and the wound again closed gradually. Merrisk’s condition improved, but it was fully a year before his memory returned.

The Grantham Journal
, January 3, 1880

A Wonderful Recovery after 65 Years a Deaf Mute.

Dr Livingstone, a resident of the little village of Bennetsville, Chenango County, N.Y., has regained the power of speech and hearing after having been a deaf mute for nearly 65 years.

His wonderful recovery has excited much comment, and is regarded by many as a miracle. The old man is very well known in his own as well as adjoining counties. One night about two weeks ago he awoke in the night with a severe pain in his head, as if he had been struck with a club.

He called out to his wife, who was sleeping beside him. At the sound of his voice she awoke, astonished to hear him pronounce her name. She had never before heard him speak. As soon as she recovered from her surprise she asked him what was the matter. Her words were the first he had heard since he was an infant, and the revelation of his changed condition astounded him.

The pain in the meantime felt less acute, and he and his wife talked until morning of his wonderful recovery. The news spread quickly, and all the next day the doctor was overwhelmed with congratulations.

Conversation at first caused him great annoyance, but he has gradually become accustomed to it. His vocabulary, which at first was limited, has increased, and he has no difficulty in expressing himself. When Dr Livingstone was three years old a severe attack of scarlet fever left him entirely deaf. The few childish words he knew gradually were forgotten, and by the time he was six years old he became a mute.

Despite his past affliction the old man is intelligent and well-read. He is at a loss to account for his strange good fortune, and the physicians in the neighbourhood can shed no light on the mystery.

Dr Livingstone is anxious to have his case investigated by the medical fraternity in hope that some explanation as to his recovery can be given. The pain which he felt in his head gradually passed down his spine into his legs and then left him entirely. Though 71 years old he is in excellent health.

The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette
, July 14, 1893