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Show HAIR TURNED WHITE IN ONE NIGHT. Several days ago an item appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal about hair being turned gray by a sudden fright, and yesterday a well-known saloon keeper in this city met a reporter and remarked. "I know of another instance of hair being turned gray by fright, which is even more remarkable than the one mentioned in the paper. About fifteen years ago a young man named Henry Rickards, who lived at Terre Haute, Ind. [Indiana], was going home one evening about dark from visiting a friend and was walking along the railroad track. Some little distance from town was a very high trestle-work over a creek, there being no planks placed across for walking, so that people had to go over on the ties. Rickards was walking along at a lively rate, and when he arrived at the bridge he did not stop to think that a train coming in was then due, but, being in a hurry to get home, he started to walk across the bridge when the train came slipping arround [around] a curve at a lively rate. He saw the train, at once, and started to run but saw that it was useless, as it would certainly overtake him before he could get off the bridge. He was now in a terrible plight; to jump off was certain death, and if he remained on the track, the train would crush him to pieces. There was no woodwork beneath the bridge for him to hang on to, so he saw that his only chance was to swing onto a small iron rod that passed under the cross-ties. No time was to be lost, as the train was nearly on the end of the bridge, so he swung himself under the ties, and in a few moments was hanging on for dear life. The engineer had seen him just as he swung under the bridge, and tried to stop the train but did more harm than good, as he only succeded [succeeded] in checking the speed of the train, and made it a longer time passing over the form of Rickards. As the engine passed over, the coals of fire from the ash-pan dropped on his hands, burning the flesh to the bone, as he could not shake them off, and to let go would have been certain death. The trial was at length over, and nearly dead from fright and exhaustion with his hands burned in a terrible manner, Rickards swung himself upon the bridge again and ran home. When he reached there, his hair had not turned, but in a short time afterward it began to get gray, and by morning was almost perfectly white." |