A WONDERFUL OPERATION.

Bruce Herald, Volume L, Issue 57, 27 July 1914, Page 4

A WONDERFUL OPERATION.

MURDERER'S NATURE CHANGED,

Transformation of a man from a savage, forbidding brute into a gentle, kindly-natured individual by an operation is reported by an official committee appointed by the United States Court of Pardons to investigate the case of Jonah Szikely.

The report of the investigating committee, is published by the Philadelphia Record, and is as follows: — "The case of Jonah Szikely, who is serving a sentence of thirty years from • October 10, 1911, for murder, is one of extraordinary interest. "This man is a large Hungarian of remarkably powerful physique, and it is reported to us that when he was brought to the State prison he seemed little more than a giant brute, with a savage, forbidding countenance, uncouth habits, grabbing his food, spilling it over himself while eating, and, in general, of about as low an order as it seemed possible for a human being to be. "He had received a terrible blow on the back of his head near the top, which had been inflicted, as the prison authorities understood, in the struggle during which the murder was committed. He was unable to give any account to the prison authorities of the crime, or rather he seemed to refuse to talk about it, or very much about anything else. "During nearly three years after being received at the prison he was kept under close guard, and while he seemed never to have exhibited any disposition to injure anyone, lie looked and acted like such a typical brute that the authorities never felt disposed to take chances with him. During all of this timo the prisoner would frequently and suddenly cry out, although he gave no other indications of having any localised pain. "About six or eight months ago the visiting physician, Dr Martin W. Reddan, decided to operate by removing part of the skull to see if there had been a splinter of bone driven in at the time he received the blow on the head, so that it pressed upon the brain. The operation was performed, the splinter of bone was found and removed, thus relieving the pressure, and, as the patient was coming out of ether the attendants were astounded to hear him utter fragments of the English language, which, since he had come to prison, no one had ever heard him speak.

"The doctor and all the prison authorities were wonderfully surprised to find that, instead of the brute features and expression of before the operation, the man now exhibited a bright, kindly, humane countenance, quite intelligent, and has since shown one of the kindest and sweetest dispositions to be found anywhere. "He was constantly helping everybody, doing little things for the other prisoners' comfort, and working with perfect obedience and cheerfulness, so that everybody, prisoners and authorities alike, have become particularly fond of Mm." SDff