OCR Text |
Show CHLOROFORMED PATIENT Knew the Elevator Shaft Was Empty, but Was Powerless Pow-erless to Give the Alarm. The severnl recent accidents In Wash- I Ington of persons falling down delator shafts recall to me nn experience I once had which I woull care ncicr to re- peat," said n tlerk In nn uptown hotel i "I was Hi Ing In Philadelphia nt the j time. My phsstclnn odilsed me to undergo un-dergo nn opontlon nnd 1 assented Arrangements Ar-rangements were undo for mc at one I of the large hospitals of the Quaker Cits, where I would haie good ntten- ! tlon and n prlinte room I left the surgeon sur-geon s oflke, actompanslng him nnd my brother across the street to the hosrlta! On the way the doctor suggested sug-gested that I stop In n drug store, where, nn his prescription, I took a, stiff drink of whisks Mo nil Joked, its men nro npt to do In the face of danger, ns to whether It wns in be ms 'last drink.' though I confess I did not feel at nil humorous ns I was npprehenslie of tho outcome of the operation "When tho towel snttirated with ether wns applied tn m nostrils I said 'good-bse' 'good-bse' und passed Into unconsciousness Then enmo dirkness nnd nhllvlon, nnd In nn hour I returned to my senses w Ith buzzing head, ier weak but with that ingue. peculiar, Indescilhable reillza-tlon reillza-tlon that I had not died as I had feared from the failure of a wenk heart, nnd tho faces of the surgeons nnd attend-nnts attend-nnts nrodnd me became gradually dls. 'The hallwajs of the hospital were spacious, and the eleintors nnd their entrances nf corresponding width to admit ad-mit of the carrying and rolling of patients pa-tients from the operating room to their wnrdsorprliate npirtments on the different dif-ferent floors on a specially prepared table ta-ble with rubber rollers upon the mattress mat-tress of which the patient Is lifted from tho operating tnble. "I felt msself being pushed nlong the hnll toward the delator shift I was Ijlng with my hend townrd the nttend-nnts nttend-nnts hands, m feet being toward the shaft I noticed thnt the door leading Into the shaft wns open, nnd, ns the tnble tn-ble npproiches It, I faintly wondered why tho attendants did not slack speed, but they went on toward It As weak nnd despeintely nauseated, ns I wns fiom the effects of the nnnesthellcs and the opei itlon, I enw to my honor that unless the momentum of the tnble was stopped I would be plunged down tho delator shaft. In thit moment of terrible, ter-rible, helpless ngon, I seemed to sci cam loud enough to be heard n, block nwny, but In reality my lolce scarcely rose aboie a whisper. Then I heard the excited tones of lolces I felt that the attendants were s'ldlng upon tho smooth, wooden floor In their futile cf-forts cf-forts to dig their heels therein and to check the momentum nf the table. The next Instant It was upon nnd over tho sill of the delator shaft entrance, nnd I wns hurled thltty feet below, to the bottom of the shaft. ' The hcnsitlons of thnt frightful In-stnnt In-stnnt of time consumed In my poising nt the entrnnce sill tn the shaft, nnd then feeling myself slip off Iho table nnd descend Into space, wero such thnt the ma be heller left to tho Imagination, Imagina-tion, for words aro not rafble of their pnrtrasnl It seemed ns if lie hospital building had collapsed nnd lallen entirely en-tirely upon me, nnd then my senses In-stnntls In-stnntls left me When I came to seieral sei-eral hours afterward, I was Is Ing fn bed In ms room with my brother nnd the hsuse staff standing anxiously by my bedside. ' To shorten n story nf long suffering, my miraculous est ape from Instant death wns due to the providential slip ping of the thick mattress from tho table, ta-ble, and It so fell with me that I lnnd-ed lnnd-ed upon It at the bottom of tho shaft, bieaklng tho fchntk of tho fall nnd saving sav-ing in neck Tin doctors ngrced thnt It wns onl my lemirkahle constitution that enabled mo to Hie thiough such a lerrlllo double shock lo the ssstem nf un operation nnd a high fall while In the senuelne of the operation nnd within with-in nn hour Luckily, my wound wns such thnt the fall did not seriously reopen re-open It." Washington Htnr. Hand-Fainted Illbbons Most dob ctoblo are the white sitln rib lion sashes, hand-patntrd wllh graceful bunches of dilsles or lloleta nt the ends nnd single blossoms scattered artlstlralls oitr them or those eoiered with sprain of the most natural-looking wild roses |