THE FASCINATION OF FALLING.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXV, Issue 1833, 5 May 1903, Page 7

THE FASCINATION OF FALLING.

Professor Heirn, of Zurich, maintains that death from falling from a lofty height is a pleasant means of ending existence. Professor Heirn fell and slid down a mile in the Alps some years ago. He slipped on a snow-covered crag and fell feet first. The wind dashed him against an inclined cliff, and he slid down this on his back, head first for nearly a mile, lacerating his hands in the attempt to check his speed. Throughout all this sliding and falling his thoughts were clear and his ears delighted with celestial harmonies. He thought of the short when he should strike b<'*‘ -m. and

he foresaw that his opening at the university live da >■- ti .-rvwould have to be postponed >r abandoned. When he struck the ground he clearly heard the sharp crack of his head and the thud of his body. It seemed to him that a big black object was rushing past him, and he cried out : “ It’ didn’t hurt me a bit ! It didn’t hurt me a bit ! ”

Great was his surprise to learn that his exclamation was not uttered until after half an hour ol unconsciousness.

A labourer who fell 120 ft, and survived, said his whole life passed before him as hel descender!, and that his most forcible thought was that his wife and children would be left penniless. A lady who fell ;six stories during a lire, said : “ I was choking. 1 was sure that 1 was going to my death, but I did not lose consciousness not even for a minute. My mind worked clearly. When I struck the awning I thought, “Well this isn’t the pavement,' and when I slid off the awning into the fireman’s net I was surprised when they asked me. if 1 was hurt.” A remarkable fall of a miner 333 feet down a shaft is recorded. Whilst working in a gallery, which issued in the shaft, he forgot the direction in which he was pushing the truck, so that it went over and he went after it. Ha fell into mud, not deep, but covered by Bins, of water. He did not lose consciousness. But he could recall none of his impressions during his fall. The velocity of his failing body would have been about 140 ft. a second and th 4 time he was falling 4.11 seconds. Had he lost consciousness he would have been suffocated in the mud or drowned, for his brother did not reach him for lit minutes, lie, however, recovoi’i ed, —“Science Sifting*;.” (.l&Uii Q