| Show T r 7 fr c. c 7 JI y-r y J i 1 Y i. i 11 i r rf F f t r 1 fi 1 V r r rt I 1 S k I 1 t ij 1 S c- c ci i o I f o J Ju k I 7 u HE pleasures plc of ot a D. painful death If It the parI parado par par- I TT ado ado- may bo accepted tho the process pro pro- T teas cess ce of tract fracturing rare human ribs in a err carriage accident tho the evel lovely mental on vIe vis- visIons Ions lons of f fatal wild beast enst wrestles the beauties beau beau- eau eau- ties tics of falling from tron a n precipice aro are re recounted recounted ro- ro counted by an erudite man map from the tho fatherland fa- fa therland who has enjoyed the tho unusual ad advantage advantage all all- vantage c of ot having entered on tho the threshold of ot death through divers tragic accidents yet jet et always to return to life and light Tailing Falling F from a height according to Prof Albert r helm a German physicist and expert mountaineer Is 18 not only cas easy and as a death process Il but t most positively delightful There Is neither mental nor bodi bodily oalIf oal- oal ly If suffering neither terror nor anguish nor despair The hc mind Is active c the he powers of oC thou thought M and action retained the tho mental l Impressions eminently pleasant i and beautiful Into a glorious heaven the sufferer r seems seem to fall a D. celes celestial al spot spat of deepest pest blue flecked with rosy rosy clouds ho 10 Jiwa ways sways s 's to and fro so gently and withal with such a an and subtle gliding that that that- M i. i lo lot all Is s over Consciousness vanishes and death dea h if It has hils cope come has come In peace and quiet Docs Does mortal plan man demand a happier means and aid method moth moth- od 01 of ort off his carpel carnal toll coil S of 1 4 V Felt as If He Na Were FI Flying Yi ng Prof Helm fell vertical through seventy feat or of space CC He lived unharmed through the curious al has narrated his mental 1 experiences In n p T Teutonic t thoroughness and A with Iti r remorseless detail Hs liis accident t t happened as do most Alpine accidents with a startling tar t rapidity and was of at course wholly unexpected ed hs companions all like himself practiced practical mountaineer er I he stood In one of his ascents on a slippery ridge of con congealed Scaled snow with t twp vp rocky peaks towering above ove and n precipices around and below bolow olo A gust of pt wind Pr or threatened to take hi hs s hat he committed the grievous vo U a mountaineering error of or trying to save Savo his unlucky y I headgear thereby lost his footing slipped backwards j and then theon headforemost commenced a terrible descent t with lightning peG H At first he says a s 's ho no seemed to bo be flying through h theair the tho air then at Intervals n s w which were clearly differentiated ho hI heard but did dd not feel teel the impact of head and ad body against rocky He lIe heard too the dull thud ah which he struck ck the earth But nut for tor 1 at least an 10 hour afterwards ho he e tel felt no pa pain pan During the con con- of the Interesting act at of falling a train of ot ott t thought ought at lit once net dial I and logical and so 80 so rl rich h Jn In d detail t that at It t would r require ten fen en times tel ter ten as many minutes tp narrate as jt It t took ook seconds to cn enact et p passed s ed through his s brain c j Indifferent to I S- S r I I clearly cJe saw ho no says the tho possibility of my fate rate 1 said to my myse e ne roc rocky y we Wd 1 um VOl W r 1 cI C CJ I J am now being hurled prevents m my seeing what Is at atthe atthe atthe the base T The snow now ma may be melted here or there or there may be none if there Is any my life ma may be saved otherwise death death is Inevitable If I am conscious on n reaching earth parth arth I have c by me a bottle of or aromatics and my alpen alpenstock tock I will grasp It for Jt U may play serve me mo In good stead I thought too of my eyeglasses eyeglasses Jest lest their splintering might cause Injury Other and gentler Ms for those Iwas I I. I wa was tp leave behind me came over my Ill mind Ind For myself I felt Indifferent re real real- l- l Jy caring carin Ittle w whether c er I should be much or pot bu but from rom motives of consideration for o others er I felt mp as It H w wire were r to make light o of the matter matter- matterI I seemed tp lQ call caH aloud I I am not m much ch hurt Then fJ cn brothers or might t undertake undertake under under- take ake th the climb Hm down to where I J would J be e lying I that hat In fn five I e days more J I was wag p h delivered dell ered rd an n inaugural address S. S and thought thought t 1 of pf the he grief my death death eath wo ht pause e those ose near and dear Q me me Anon lying as is It H erp on the he limit pf a afar far distant horizon appeared 4 distinct and ly Images and episodes In my past The Tle e mental picture T stood put clear cut pd Illumined by an All An C c Jr 6 m Jt nW II l rl A A 9 iF 7 1 rl U I f L o 7 f S. S i 7 f 5 i 7 r. N J I 9 1 y r Z i. i S L r. r z 11 I 31 ct r S lj zv 7 I 1 I L J IT 11 7 l K Kt t I f A r l q l W p j II J i r J I iW A F J. J J y w h I Z jl hr v I n I i JA I S H il 1 l f fI I 1 it flar UI cI nA lj I F. i 4 w. w hl rf w r dY Pv wi I a C l k iI c U I h jr 4 j t l IP if p U jf a TT 0 i C p JL 11 J 1 tAr tAr- I E moo P I I c things seemed lovely and of oC j good od report there were no ml misgivings no anxieties no sorrow pain path or terror Ic Heard Dull Thud Didn't feel It There Thero were no sensations of oC contest and strife All was Vias merged in feelings of genial good will and kindly feeling Such feelings predominated over all others and formed what a unique and lovely p picture ure Gradually a heaven of glorious hue flecked with crimson on clouds of gossamer lightness surrounded mo me In them I wa was wafted wafted waft wart ed to and fro tro borne up from below b but t p painlessly and pleasantly while a vast and moving SID snow field seemed to accompany meAnon me tt Anon the perception of objects object s subjective thoughts a D. medley of ot various feelings s seemed seemed to circle cir cir- circle cl cle In Jn concentric mazes around myself as DS a center canter Then came a dull thud which I heard distinctly bU but did not feel and antI my fall was ended At that instant a dark darc veil vell passed before me 1 I called aloud two or three times I I am not much hurt grasped my glasses lasses which lay near me mo In the snow and touched my to 10 make certain they were not broken Then I saw my companions slowly al approaching They told me a good half hour had elapsed ed an after r my fall before I spoke I had last consciousness evidently evident ly during those thirty minutes and that explained the dark veil Later on n the tho power of thinking returned In the interval a a. of at nothingness or annihilation had supervened I was conscious of the perception of beautiful images only so 80 long as I was falling At the moment of contact with the earth the tho Impact drove r ve them and consciousness alike away Ft f V V. V Actual Feelings Scarcely Affected v- v o. i-o. r nr J Vr Pr in un il lU Ml HIM i of an Individual are much affected In tl the the e- e crisis of OC fan an accident by the he nature of the accident Itself Itsel In support pf of this he quotes the tho experiences of a traveler Involved In a severe ever railway collision He Ho notes hero here likewise e tho the same absence of oC m mental anguish or panic terror terrel the retention of or a t thinking consciousness the tho power of action tho the apparent lengthening out of time and tho the predominance of ot pleasant mental and antI subjective images Ima On some of these points he dwells at considerable length He lie hol holds s however hoo that the presence of 3 q minor peril does not by an any means produce the samo same results If It unnerves and disconcerts but does docs not call forth the tr tranquil coura courage e or the tho rapidity and of or thought co toppled with the he power of ot action which a amora amore amore more more mora Intense danger r evokes He lie cites aa as an example of this hla an nn alarm of fire This might ml h frighten and unnerve unnerve un un- nerve perve may many a man who could behave ye a hero If he found himself In an actual conflagration fhe Important fact appears to be that the Intensity and near presence of oC danger drives away tho the dread thereof This psychological puzzle may be explained by th the intensity of ot mental m excitement which hypnotizes If I n z ff I J 1 Y 4 Y Ir perceptive and other faculties It plight might be bo as ag It the perceptive the tha So brain or mind could only d deal al with ono no Impression P Pat mental features arc are other The at nt the game samo time vanish holl blurred or wholly 1 OC k 1 No Wo Room for Pain or Fear there them because fear Is felt simply Nether Neither l cr pain nor car that this fact remarkable is Js no room for far either cither It is a and of oC worn many of the horse notably Is s undoubtedly te true a horse horse- to tiro Oro farrier wishes animals It If a n r that is to burn the skin of the ae log deg un unquestionably painful process lie Keeps the animal quiet by twIsting misting Ip It If the horse becomes a loop of cord over Its upper lip UP- result Is that The Tho resmo the loop Is tI tightened listened the curious whole attention on animal concentrates Us of the severer the neglect sensations In tn the upper lip to pain In Its Us log les beasts beauts wild seized by Tho same sanio Is true of the tho men scattered through the There are numberless Instances have and explorers literature of or travel where sportsmen lions horned or been mauled by tigers torn by rhinoceroses and yet have crushed by toy buffaloes and lived to tell teU their tragic tales A classical Instance Is that of the celebrated Dr Livingstone A lion sprang on him In a moment he ho heVa Va was un under er the animal which Instantly crushed his right arm The great traveler tells tolls us ho flit felt no pain no mental anguish no misgiving lug Ins The Tho thought of death was present Indeed but It H took no unmanly or nightmare form Neither the power pow pow- lost He lie felt the tho er or of action nor of clear thinking was full significance of at his peril but bu t ho he could meet It and deal with It unnerved neither b by mental weakness s nor bodily pain Nor are the accounts of others who like President Kruger ant and Sir E E. Bradford have gone one through like disasters In any essential regards r ards different differ differ- ent r Counted Fractures as They Occurred Dr Helm mentions that In a carriage accident In to which lie he received Injuries he ho could distinctly hear and amI count the Individual fractures of bone some seven In number which he received They caused no pain pirn at the moment but he heard them Ho He quotes the evidence of an Italian who fell ten from a height ht to exactly the same effect It Is probable that these sounds depend essentially essential essential- ly 1 on some somo disturbance of tho the blood circulation In the cerebrum and Inner ear The same game would apply awl to the ocular su subjective sensations I If It tho the optic nerves are stimulated at all oil they must respond by giving apparent images mages of at light or color or of the tho figures ures s-ures of familiar and well known objects object Use Else the Individual would see ace nothIng nothing nothing noth noth- ing which moans means the Che same as being In darkness This T ls darkness was WI perceived at the moment of oC the physical Impact and shock and being Interpreted meant physical Injury r to the visual brain center or area The absence nce of Qt mental pain or panic terror mn may he be explained by the dominant notion of danger er neutralizing all else anI and as It were hypnotizing other and Y 0 Fall Fan While Delightful It Lasts Tho absence of physical pain is not so sq easU easily accounted ac ac- ac- ac coupled counted for but the following tollo has been essayed The researches of ot the great t physiologist ha have demonstrated that an appreciable interval pf of f time is required In order that a sentient nerve may realize and carry to the tho brain any Irritation Thus with a blow on tho feet teet In order to be felt the tho Impression caused by bythe bytho t the tho e blow must be carried to the tho brain It H must travel up one set of nerves and antI down the tho other Eventually the pain Is felt and the foot perhaps Is unconsciously w v H n th hv t v tho action of a totally different s set t of of nerves nerves Now Now- this t transmission SOn ui 01 VL 1 u Helmholtz succeeded In n ac actually measurIng measurIng measuring ing it and the Interval Is at least appreciable A modern rifle bullet traveling at perhaps 1200 feet teet a second would pass through tho the fleshy portion of r a mans man's arm arm- three e Inches thick In the part of a second of time and would woud Q of co course rsc be bo unfelt until later So with the shock of a fall tall Before the pain can be realized consciousness consciousness con con- con coI- has been lost Theoretically Theoretical a n man would fall sixty four feet In Into two to seconds and would strike the ground traveling tm at a speed of oC about thirty live miles an hour These figures ures must actually and In practice t be e somewhat mo modified owIng owing owing ow ow- ing to atmospheric resistance Nevertheless the unfortunate unfortunate unfortunate un un- fortunate victim would receive a parlous shock at nt the moment his fall ended Until that momentous moment his sensations would have e been most agreeable As a Frenchman remarked Falling through the air was wasso wasso so delightful delightful so so long as as It lasted Dr Helm holds that he retained his consciousness to the tho last In such sucha a conjunction loss Iou of or life liCe or loss of consciousness was practically practical Il Identical c |
